Photographers – Think Differently..
week five.
So with a mini heat wave this week I got out on the motorbike. I done one off the Irish photo rally points. http://www.irishphotorally.ie/
For those that look at the I. P. R site this photo is number five on the map.
The date above the door is 1857, not sure if it was a post office from that date.. Today it could be somes home.
The m/c is a BMW r1200gs and me and this old girl has covered many happy miles. Hopefully a few more this year.
This weeks photograph come from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It was one of the Photo points (No.6) on the Irish photo rally 2020. (Link below) The idea is to ride and photograph your motorcycle at each of the given locations. You get to see parts of Ireland you would never dream for going to.
Picture info: Nikon D7200 camera, Sigma 17 – 70mm lens: 1/20sec @ f11 22mm and ISO 126
Irish Photo Rally 2020 info here: http://www.irishphotorally.ie/map
Thank you for visiting.
George.
So after leaving Wales I headed over to the Peak District in mid England.
The ride across to the Peak District was an enjoyable ride with a few detours due to road works. When time is not a problem I love detours, on the motorcycle I just take any road and see where it takes me. Sometimes I do this just for fun. I have seen great little gem’s of the country side by doing this or ended up in dead end’s or farm yards. It’s still great to explore to little roads.
So my destination was The Royal Oak in Hurdlow, Nr Buxton, SK17 9QJ,
This was home for two nights staying in the Bunk Barn.
The bunk rooms are up the stairs, they are clean and also have a small shared Kitchen area if you wish to cook or just make coffee, tea etc. Toilets and Showers below them has seen in the photo. Because the barn is built into a slope the bunk rooms are at ground level on the other side of the barn.
Last year I camped here before going up to tour Scotland, saying it rained is an under statement. I never seen any of the Peak district. This year the ground was burnt with no rain for a couple of months. 
Where most of my meals where had and a few pints of ale enjoyed. There was a large music festival due to start a few miles down the road. So it was busy and no shortage of people to chat to, it’s the thing I love when touring alone. The people I meet, local and others travelling. Some great true stories, and others boasted by too much ale. You have got to love it.
An old Ford Transit motor home owned by a family of festival goers.
Red tailed bee and a few shots around the Peak district.
The Royal Oak sits on part of the National cycling network route. I walked around 10 mile of it in the evenings. With it being based on old disused railway lines in this area, it was enjoyable to walk and not have any traffic. While walking I left the camera, just enjoying the walk for what it is. Before leaving the Royal Oak I would like to say, Having stayed here twice I would highly recommend this place, staff and service is great and the ale worth trying.
My next stop is in North Yorkshire in the Market town of Skipton. It’s here I have to apologize for no photographs from this part of the trip. When replacing the SD card in the camera, I didn’t push it fully home and it was not till I was in Skipton I discovered it. So a full days photos in some scenic parts where lost, plus photos of a place I want to see for years. the town of Holmfirth in Yorkshire. Where the longest running British television sitcom was filmed. ‘Last of the summer wine’ the series run from 1973 to 2010. I always want to get a cup of tea in Sid’s cafe, a place in the sitcom. So I made it there and got my tea and thought I had my photographs, So it will be another trip back to see Holmfirth and another cuppa.
Skipton in Yorkshire is a place I have been to a lot, I was going to visit friends there for the weekend and do some walking but the weather there was thunder and lighting storms so with the bike parked for the weekend we went to Salts Mill a few mile from Bradford. About Salts Mill
The Church where a wedding was taking place.
Something different from the wedding cars you normally see.
The sign at the old police station.
Hockney 1853 gallery , Some views of the work on display in the David Hockney gallery. Here’s Andy adding scale to the famous Hockney chair.
In a gallery being artistic with slow shutter speed.
Heavy weight reading here in the book shop, detail from the slinging hook used in the old mill. It was nice to see how a lot of the old mill has been restored or just used has it was, like the old stone flooring and other features like the windows and doors.
A coffee in one of the coffee shops and it was out into the sunshine.
The mill chimney from different views.
Beside the mill runs the canal where we where going to walk but just has these photos below where taken the storms moved in.
some off the local wildfowl coming to greet me.
then ignore me.
Others check the camera out.
Looking across the River Aire beside the Canal.
It was a drive back to Skipton and enjoy the rest on the weekend with dear friends who always look after me with five star treatment, love you both. I left Skipton with heavy storms looming has I set off for Scotland to catch the ferry back to Belfast. Just made the ferry with minutes to spare, like the last one on board. Supper on the ferry and a mild crossing I rode into Belfast around 11pm and another half hour till home.
Hope you enjoyed the end to my trip ‘Short tour of Wales’ It was a good trip with kind weather and good friends, old and new. Remember a adventure does not mean travelling around the world or cost thousands. It can be a few mile away and with planning, cost’s can be kept down. So what ever you are into get out there and explore, meet new people and the most important thing enjoy life.
Thank you,
George.
So this the last post on my recent tour around North Wales. Today we’re of to Harlech Castle or Castell Harlech in the native Wlesh language. This is Wales most famous castle and also a world heritage site.
First a few links for those that are interested in a little history.
Men of Harlech A version of this tune was us in the movie “Zulu” (1964)
Lyrics Various version’s of the above song.
Has can be seen it was a warm day but great for biking, so arriving at the car park has usual there is no motorcycle parking provided. So a no parking area was used and it frees up a couple of car parking places. Just has we parked up another couple from Germany pulled in along side us.
Cable locks secure the helmets to the bikes and with my panniers empty I store my riding gear in them making it more comfortable to walk around in the heat. Into the castle entrance which can be seen in the above photo. With our wallets a little lighter it was across the foot bridge into the castle.
Will leave the photos to tell the story.
A sample of the photo’s taken and photo’s of the two friends I was touring with.
After four days in Wales it way time to go our own ways, With me going to the Peak District in England, another going to the south of England and one back home to Ireland. So a final breakfast and with the bike packed it was back on the road alone.
a few photographs has I made my way across Wales and below is my final photo and what part of motorcycling is all about.
The roads.
There is going to be another part of the trip through the Peak District and up into the Yorkshire Dales but that is another post.
Hope you enjoyed the trip in Wales, it’s a beautiful country with unpronounceable place names and the people warm and friendly. That’s my third time staying in Wales and not my last. If you ever get the chance come and see Wales you will not be disappointed.
Thank you for joining me on this short tour and I happy to bring you along.
George.
This is the first post in a short series on my motorcycle tour of North Wales. I include a couple of links on the history of Portmeirion and the filming of the Prisoner, a cult 1960’s television series filmed there.
My Photo essay a walk through Portmeirion.
Parking the motorcycle in the car park and entering a place I recall from television. It was a little overcast but warm has I start my photo essay.
Lets enter, notice the painted ceiling in the archway.
One of the bikers I was travelling with.
Tides out, the following photos off a young blackbird are taken at the railings on top of the round platform in the photograph.
Moving on.
Up into the village.
Through the archway and into the gardens.
I liked the scale this child gives to the chest pieces.
A short climb back up into the village.
A short stop to play my respects to the Buddha.
He had a great view across the gardens from his lofty perch.
some little teasers of the garden has I make my way around the village.
The garden from another view.
It ‘s down hill from here, with a steep decline to the shore.
Things aren’t always what they seem.
With the last shot looking at the climb back up to the motorcycle, but not before a coffee and a short chat with other visitors.
Thank you for company on the walk around Portmeirion, Hope you enjoyed it and I’ll spare you the walk back up that hill. There are some longer walk in the grounds around Portmeirion, but walking in motorcycle gear is not recommended. Well that’s my excuse…
Feel free to comment, good or bad let me know, have a good weekend.
George.
For those that don’t know the Photo rally points are, they are from The Irish Photo Rally 2018. Info about the photo rally and a map with the photo points on it are HERE .
So my route for my first photo today take me across Ireland toward the west coast. It’s number 21 on the map and it’s in county Sligo. It was a foggy start to the morning but traffic was light and after 30 mile the sun had broke through. It was going to be warm, my first stop for a coffee and fuel was in Enniskillen . Jacket air vents opened it was southwest to the village of Belcoo
Lough MaCnean
then Manorhamiton. A few miles pass Manorhamilton I turn onto the R826 , pass the shore of Lough Gill and on to the town of Drumahair. I followed small single track roads till i was south of Sligo Town. Back roads around to the Beach Bar and follow the coast through Easky where another coffee had my name on it. Continuing on the R297 till i was south of Enniscrone at the Photo rally point ‘ The Black pig’
The Black Pig.
With the photo taken another motorcyclist arrived and a few minutes chatting about the rally points and where I was going next. Well my next point was number 23 on the map, County Rosscommon . Put the coordinates into the Sat-nav and set it of winding roads. Love doing this for it takes all the small roads that winds through the country side. I stopped a service area to get a bite to eat and refuel the bike. Sitting outside in the sun this Blacksmiths workshop was across the road.
I looked the internet and found he is an artist/blacksmith. a link to some of his WORK.
One of my problems while riding is I enjoy it so much, I forget to stop and take photos. I keep saying I will but ….. so not a lot to show on this next leg of my trip. My next point was the Albert Lock.
The lock on the left with Lough Nanoge in the background. The lough os part of the river Shannon network.
The Lock keeper’s cottage.
A chat with the lock keeper and the chance to see a boat using it it was time for a long ride home. That ride would see me cover another six counties. Near 12 hours on the road that day, it was a tired body that walked into the house.
Thank you for visiting and joining me on my trips.
George.
On the road again and another few Irish photo rally photography’s in the bag.
Rally Map link : Irish photo rally map
Set off around 7.30 am on a bright dry but still cool Sunday morning from my home on the NE side of Ireland in County down. My first rally point was in county Longford. My satnav tells me its just under 3 hours away. I head west before turning south through County Cavan and into Co. Longford. Number 7 on the map and its an aqueductjust north of the village of Abbeyshrule.
On the photo rally site they call this the Whitworth Aqueduct but the sign says..
Maybe its got two names????
Has happens when doing the rally points the locals stop for a chat, wondering why motorcycles are turning up and photographs taken. most welcome the interest in their home area. Then it was down to the town of Athlone where I was meeting some friends for a coffee and a chat. Been a few months since we got together, a few of us will be going over to Wales in the UK for a few days later in the year. Another post.
The next stop was in the county of Kildare, number 9 on the map. Another canal, this time the Grand canal 3km north from the town of Monasterevin.
MacCartney’s Lock and bridge over the Grand Canal in County Kildare. I was here I met a local man, 92 years young. A fresh looking man for his years who spent some time telling me about the lock and the near by mill. A story about a canal barge worker that was killed when a barrel of beer fell while unloading, senting the injured man into the canal where he drowned. I love the people i meet while travelling.
Thatched cottages beside the lock.
Lock gates holding the water back. For anyone not sure what a lock is, its where the water level differ due to a difference in land levels. There are gates at each end so if a Canal boat was going for the higher level to the lower, the gates at the lower end were closed and the upper slowly open which lets the lock fill up. The canal boat comes into the lock and the upper gates close. then the lower gates open and the water level drops and the canal boat is now at the lower level and sails out of the lock.
Turning north and my next stop was to stop in the town of Edenderry in Co.Offaly. Time to catch up over another coffee with a couple of friends before doing my last photo for the day. It was now raining hard, a wet ride a short distance north to the Hill of Down post office in County Meath.
The hill of Down post office and shop and pub. Has you can see it’s still raining. I only got one photo here and has I was packing up another bike pulled in. So has I was to discover his name was Terry from the town of Ardee in County Louth. We sat talking bikes, motorcycle racing and traveling and the rain just got heavier. Saying goodbye and around 30 miles later the rain stopped. The next few hours was in dry and a fuel stop and a warm coffee, well it was getting cool and i like coffee. With both fuelled it was a relaxing ride north.
Thank you for visiting.
George.
Another Sunday morning and I’m off for another day on the road. Going to do numbers 4,5,6 and 22 on the rally Map but not in that order. With a bright morning it was of to County Armagh and the Benburb Heritage Centre. Link here Benburb centre.
Not sure if this centre is still open, it was closed the day I was there. Below is a detail built into a wall of some gear wheels at the start of a cycle trail.
Next up was number 6 on the rally map, Coolbuck Church of Ireland in the county “Fermanagh/Tyrone” region. This is the smallest church in Ireland that is still used on a weekly bases.
Across the border (UK/ ROI) to number 5 on the map on the county Cavan border.
It was the old Bawnboy Workhouse, more info here workhouse
Cloud cover was building up and I decided to try of one more before the rain started. So we jump to number 22 on the map. Which saw me heading to county Leitrim and my next rally point Jimmy’s Hall. Has you will see in the photos there is no hall but a monument to the man. His name was James Gralton the only Irish man that was ever deported from his home country. A flim was made about his life and some history can be found here. about the flim James Gralton history
With the weather catching up with me it was time to turn north and the three hour ride home. Got caught in a few rain showers but overall it was a grand day on the road.
Thank you for visiting, take care.
George.
Hello my friend’s , it’s been a few weeks since my last post. Has I stated a short while back I was unable to walk due to an injury. I had a bit for a relapse so was back out of action. But I’m back on form and out on the roads around Ireland. This years photo rally points are out and I have started to do a few.
Here is a link to the map and site of the Photo rally: Irish Photo rally 2018
There is no order in which these points have to be done, so for my first day out I decided to do number one on the map. This is in County Donegal and was the stone map at Glencolumbkille folk Village. Any Photographs that include my motorcycle are the rally entries.
Glencolumbkille folk Village, and the beach beside it.
My second stop on my trip took me up and across Donegal and into Northern Ireland. I crossed the Sperrin mountains and dropped over to the Glenshane Pass where my next photo point was. Ireland highest Pub/bar. The Ponderosa Bar.
Even with the sun shining this is not a warm day with temperatures getting to 8 degrees centigrade/ 46 Fahrenheit. So a coffee was in order before my final point for the day. This was a short ride to the town of Portglenone in County Antrim where the Piper and dancer was waiting.
This was a hard one to get a good shot, with the tree and cars in the background. With the temperatures dropping and rain moving in it was time for the final leg home. My day covered around 260+ mile over some beautiful landscape and with a hot shower plus a bite to eat I had my first three photos for the photo rally.
Thank you for visiting
take care.
George
Okay this is my last post on my Scotland tour. This covers my last two days and has we get into the last day you will understand why I have combined them. So let’s go.
After a great nights sleep on what turned out to be the coldest night of the trip. I awoke and it was still dark, opening the tent door I could see the stars like fairy lights through the tree tops. A thick mist on the water, plus the sound of something close by doing whatever it does. Out and a quick pee it was back into the warmth of the sleeping bag and with my woolly hat pull over the ears I rolled over.
With light showing I looked out to see this,
The view from my tent across the Loch. I grabbed the tripod and had a walk along the shore.
Why there is a lifeboat moored on the loch shore I have no idea. Breakfast was enjoyed listening to the birds and the gentle sound of a stream running into the loch. Packing up the bike was down to around 15 minutes, getting good at breaking camp. The overcast sky was breaking up and the sunshine showing has I rode into Fort William. Heading towards Onich I got the ferry for the short ride across to Corran and pointed the bike for the most westerly point in main land Britain. The point of Ardnamurchan. Turning off the A861 and onto a single track road that follows the shore of Loch Sunart. If I recall right some of the wood lands that border this road are so of the oldest oak woods in Scotland. Now I might be wrong on that but they make a grand view with them on one side of the track and the loch on the other. With the batteries running low for the camera I stopped at a lovely cafe / gift shop and asked if they would charge up a battery while I was out at the point.
I would like to thank Hanna and her folks who run the Cafe for there help. Talking to Hanna she was saying she does a little wildlife photography. When I had internet I was checking out the cafe/ gift shop when I came across a link to Hanna. I hope if you are reading this you will take the time to check this out.
Hanna the modest lass who does a little photography. All I can say is thank you and much respect for the work you are doing.
With the sun shining it was out to the lighthouse at Ardnamurchan.
I spend about half a hour here and it was back to collect my battery and treat my self to a coffee and a bite to eat. Has I ordered a coffee and a homemade custard tart I looked around for a seat and there was a lady waving at me to join her. The lass I had met in Ullapool was enjoying a bite to eat. So it was her motorcycle parked in the parking lot. A chat and it was back to the ferry and a B&B I had stayed at before. With my clothes laundered and breakfast shared with a couple from Switzerland I set off on another day of travels. South down the shore of Loch Linnhe to Connel where I turned east and onto another single tracked road which followed Loch Awe back south west towards Ford . It was on this road which wandered through the forest. After climbing a steep winding hill I pulled off the road into a viewing point.
I got talking to Paul who was touring Scotland on a Mountain bike. He had stopped for a break from climbing hills on this road. Has we were travelling in opposite directions he asked about the road ahead. Well I’m glad I had 1200cc powering my bike and not two legs. Not wanting to be photographed I got him heading off down hill.
There he goes …..
At the end of this road I turned south and down the Mull of Kintyre To Campbeltown where I returned north up the B842 to Claonaig. You can see the Isle of Arran most of the way while on this road.
Two Photographs with Arran in the back ground.
I stopped over night on Arran with the tent set on the road side along the shore. The weather turn for the worst overnight and its here My photographs end. I left on the ferry from the other side of the Island to Ardossan where I turned south for Stranraer and then east for Carlisle in the north of England. After the ferry crossing to Ardossan the weather got worst. With heavy rain and strong winds it became dangerous to be on a motorcycle. I have been riding for over 40 years and only once have I ever felt I was at risk. Getting into Stranraer I got a bite to eat and decided to keep going east. After another 50 mile I called it quits and found a hotel that had a room for the night. In that last 50 mile I saw three accidents. I could just about see a large lorry from about 30 metres, so at what distance could I on a motorcycle be seen from behind. So before I go I would like to thank you all who have got this far and yes I left Scotland the next morning. My last Photograph of Scotland is of the refuge I found than night.
Travel safe where ever you are, and may your road be straight and the wind at your back.
George
George McNeill Photography 
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