Unsuspecting Tourist

From the Archives

Another old shot, which didn't quite work out as I had hoped. The mist was too heavy for me to get the contrast in the trees as I wanted. I'll just have to wait for the next snowfall to have a re-shoot.

Dales Drama

By no means the best shots I have taken, but a few oldish shots from the fringes of Wensleydale and Swaledale on an evening which provided some very rare spectacular lighting.

Fresh out of the Garden

A taste of springtime today, as I harvested the first Rhubarb from the rather large crop we have taking over the back garden.
Stewed with a little ginger and some sugar, it made for a very tasty dessert!

Oradour-Sur-Glane

The only non-motorsport based stop on my recent trip around France was to visit the ruined town of Oradour-Sur-Glane.

The town was annihilated by the German Army in 1944, who were seeking to exact revenge on the suspects of the murder of a German officer. They mistook Oradour-Sur-Glane for the town of Oradour-Sur-Vayres and killed all the inhabitants and burned the bodies in the streets.

The town has been preserved as it was in 1944 and now serves as a memorial to those who lost their lives. 

It was a very interesting, yet harrowing experience. That the town remains how it once was provides an interesting insight into past times, while also making the atrocities committed here all the more real.

I can't explain it....

But I have a strange liking for tatty farmhouse windows!!!

Harewood Hillclimb - MSA Championship

After the heady heights of sunshine, Le Mans and an entry list to drool over in France, it was back to the UK Motorsport scene and a wet and windy day at Harewood Hillclimb in Yorkshire. The day was cut a little short by the cancelling of the third round of heats due to an off at the bottom section of the course. As always with Hillclimbing, the climax of the day was the Top 12 shootout as the finale. Event after attending a handful of Hillclimbs, it still amazes me as to the power of the cars on such a tight and technical track.

Tour Auto 2013 - Bellac

Our farewell to the Tour early on Saturday morning, before hot-footing it back up to Le Havre to catch a ferry back to the UK.
Managed to see a decent chunk of the cars coming into town for a checkpoint. I didn't have time to experiment with shots as much as I would have liked. Still, it was a great pre-breakfast activity!

Tour Auto 2013 - Pompadour Special Stage

Completely unbeknown to me, as the cars exited the Chateau at Pompadour, they headed about 1KM down the road to the start of a closed road Special stage. BINGO.
A touch of rally style racing to dilute all the track racing I had been subjected to.
Unfortunately the rain was very heavy, and a competitor went off the road, meaning the end of the stage was delayed quite substantially. Conditions were definitely not ideal for this sort of stage, but the Stratos seemed to relish the wet surface.

Tour Auto 2013 - Arnac-Pompadour

.....and then the rains came.
A torrential downpour all afternoon didn't put pay to the photos. The cars all pulled through the grounds of a magnificent Chateau before heading out onto a closed road for a Tarmac rally stage.