I returned to Cambridge after a holiday in good old Chennai on the 21st of January and it was getting warm in England, at least in Cambs. It was over 10 degrees anyway and so, let us say, relatively warm. And with the passage of the next few days and a couple of weeks, it did look as if Spring was coming. And if daffodils are anything to go by, spring was upon us - daffodils were blooming, in the village of Sawston, in the University's Botanical Gardens and on the Genome Campus. And what lovely weather we had last Saturday, clear blue skies, the perfect temperature - neither too warm nor too cold, though one had to wear a layer of woolen. And I did take advantage of this excellent weather to take my first trip to the North of England in nearly two years. I went to Marsden Moors, a National Trust estate in Yorkshire, just north of the Peak District National Park. It was not trivial getting there, having to change trains thrice. I spent more time on the train and in train stations than on the moors. The consolation is that this estate lies just adjacent to the Marsden train station. Forget the following: (i) I lost both my graduated ND filters and the filter holder (ii) I almost got lost on the walk from the moors to the Marsden train station - well I did get lost, but had the presence of mind to retrace my steps and get back to a point from which I could reassess my situation and take appropriate corrective action (iii) on the return journey, one of the trains was late by a few minutes leading to my missing my connection and having to wait another hour and a quarter for the next train. Forget these, and the trip was a real pleasure. Beautiful hills running alongside little streams flowing on rocky surfaces; the brilliant sunlight creating alternating patches of shadows and highlights; and mountain goats or sheep grazing on the hills and possibly looking for opportunities to knock me down from the back, but I would never give them that chance - I would run away from them before they could run at (or more often run away from) me. Well, I cannot describe this location in words as Hardy describes Wessex, but I hope the sample photos below would tell you more than what my words can.
Please see http://picasaweb.google.com/aswinsainarain/MarsdenMoorsYorks for all pictures taken on Saturday, 9 Feb 2008 at Marsden Moors, Yorkshire.
How fickle is the weather here? Just three days after the glorious day described above, we had today, a crazy and cold day, which was foggy with visibility down to a few metres for most of the day - the fog just refused to lift until, God knows when!! It was foggy at 8AM, foggy at 12 noon, foggy at 7 PM (when the pictures below were taken) and NOT foggy at 11 PM. So, fog for at least 11-12 hours of a day that was just three days behind the glorious weekend! Bah!
Please see http://picasaweb.google.com/aswinsainarain/FoggyNight for all pictures I took on the foggy evening of 13th Feb 2008.
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