It’s been a few weeks since my last ‘AA 50 Walks in Cornwall’ attempt so it was good to get out yesterday and do another walk from the book. I’ve come to realise I will probably not complete all the walks in the book, mainly because they are not all circular. I typically need to squeeze these walks in between school-runs, so the thought of walking 5 miles+ and going back on myself isn’t appealing. Whilst I could probably do it I would constantly be clock watching and needing to cover quick ground. The other reason for doing these walks is to get out with the camera, if I spot a scene I don’t want to be rushing.
As a lover of the coast, I have a massive tendency to head there. Yesterday was almost the same. I thought I was decided on my walk the night before, a forecast of cloud convinced me to head to the woods. However, in the morning there was lovely golden light and I nearly changed plan. After the school run it clouded up somewhat so it was back to the original plan. As it happens the sun came out anyway and the light in the woods was lovely.
I love trees. If you look at my portfolio you’ll find the odd lonesome tree in a field. Yet when it comes to woodland, for me it’s the old age cliche of not being able to ‘see the wood through the trees.’ I really admire the work of photographers like Mark Littlejohn and Simon Baxter and their ability to find order out of chaos. This is probably why I often favour the vast expanse of the coast, it’s not that I don’t like the woods, I just struggle to find a shot.
In the end I was glad I stuck with the original plan. Bizarrely in all my years in Cornwall I have never been to Idless woods. Because I have covered much of Cornwall’s coast a lot of the walks in the book cover familiar ground. Probably another reason for not getting out of my ‘comfort zone.’ In the end it was nice to go somewhere new, and when I arrived the sun crept back out.
The walk was relatively short compared to some in the book, but I covered more ground as I wandered off the track to take some shots. It was a much slower approach compared to the previous walks which I enjoyed, spending much more time behind the camera. It helped that the light was nice, especially at the start before the sun got too high. As per the previous walks it is one I would do again. There are a couple of spots I would like to return to especially as the leaves turn. I was surprised to see how green everything was still looking.
A few shots from yesterday’s walk…
