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Walking Group One 25th April 2024
Five hardy souls collected today at Happy Valley for the first Hill Walk of the year .The temperature was cool with a North Easterly wind blowing and a hint of rain on arrival.
Off we set heading towards Russadale Quarry, spotting a Buzzard on the way.Turning into the footpath we remained sheltered from the wind all the way to the top of the hill.
The sun was out at the Quarry and a Greenshank was feeding at the edge of the Lochan. Then it was up the Peat road to the summit with spectacular views across Stenness and Harray Lochs, plus a view of the Closed Road beyond the Watch Stone. On the other side we looked over the Flow and down towards the Oil Platform and South Ronaldsay
Then it was back down after a stop for a snack and finally a walk around Happy Valley itself. The Daffodils planted by James and others were looking lovely and the Bluebells are days away from opening. Then it was on to a well deserved lunch at the Pier Cafe, having walked 4 miles and gone up 800 feet (and down again )
The next walk will be on Friday 24th May and hopefully more hills and views.
Keep moving.
PHOTOGRAPHY - GROUP ONE
by Tim Wright - 23:38 on 24 January 2018
Fourteen of us met today at the computer room in Dounby after the possible photographic session around the village had been stopped by strong winds and rain showers .We were treated to three presentations .
Judy O'Connor took us on a trip from Moscow down the river Volga to St Petersburg . The churches of the region featured heavily with e multi coloured and gold leafed Domes very prominent. The grand architecture and plus the statues and monuments were all massive and exotic scale .Interestingly, they were storm bound on a lake far inland and when the ship finally turned to go ahead the lurch meant that the crockery and glasses all ended up on the floor with a crash . Not an unknown happening in Orkney on occasion .
Tom followed Judy with a set of photos taken within the confines of his property in Finstown . As he lives right by the sea ,birds featured heavily and beautifully with action photos of a lot of the local exotics .Also included were skies from sunsets to cloud formations to reflections and some excellent Aurora photos . He had even taken photos of the Kirkwall to Finstown road in heavy rain with lots of spray from the traffic .One car was on its roof in the middle of the road but his medical skills were not required on this occasion .
Tim then gave a quick instruction on taking Night photos .Apart from a tripod a ,torch is an essential as is plenty of warm clothing and a still night with a hint of rain to show reflections . Beware of rain drops on the lens too.He then showed a few recent photos taken at Scapa and around Kirkwall .
Three excellent presentations by the contributors and many thanks to them for their time and effort in putting them together .Tea was taken along with a lovely selection of cakes .Many thank to Hilary and everyone who contributed to the repast .
" A Winter Scene " was the project for the month . The recent snow had given everyone a really good excuse to get out and take photos .We had everything from snow scenes ,items covered in snow ,birds in snow ,Blizzard conditions and even someone in the group
sledging . Christmas photos also featured as well as the Ba. A lovely photo of the sunrise on New Year's Day was the pick of a great selection . Well done to everyone who took part .
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 21 st February at 2 pm .in Stromness .The place of our get together will be decided nearer the day depending on the weather as will the place we go for tea .
The project for the month will be " Night Photo" . So get out and about after dark and not just to go to the pub !
Keep clicking ,
Tim
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