Towards the Great Orme

January 9, 2026

When I visited north Wales, back in July, I took my Rolleiflex along with me for some slower paced photography. This also gave me the opportunity to use up some of my film stash, including a couple of rolls I’ve had for ages which have now passed their ‘shoot by’ date.

I started off on the west shore of Llandudno, walking towards the Great Orme, shooting a roll of Fuji Pro 400H - a film I bought in Cambridge years ago and have been waiting for the right moment. Fuji stopped production of this emulsion in 2021 so this one was definitely likely to be past its prime! One of the unpredictable elements of shooting with expired film can be the colour. Over time the emulsion changes and sometimes this results in curious colour shifts. As I expected, the negatives had a slightly green hue when developed, but with a little tweaking in Lightroom they don’t look too far from the reality I saw before my eyes.

My second roll of the day was some Silberra Color 160 - a film that’s been in my stash for a very long while. With this one the colour shifts were even more extreme, with a distinctly orange glow to the shadow areas. I’ve made some adjustments in Lightroom, but some of them retain this somewhat surreal, Martian look. This unpredictability comes with shooting expired film and I quite like the effect, even if they don’t quite reflect reality!

The west shore of Llandudno definitely doesn’t have sand quite this orange - distinctly martian!

A photo from later in the day as I drove round the Great Orme.

Despite its warm hue, I rather like this one - my favourite photo of the day!

Photos taken 19 July 2025

The church above the lake

November 14, 2025

Just a few miles from the church of St Peulan stands St Mary’s, Tal-y-Llyn. This time I was able to park right outside this incredibly remote church and was rather surprised to be greeted by what sounded like a swarm of giant bees. In fact there were no insects, but the sound I was hearing was the whine of motorbikes racing around Anglesey’s motor racing circuit four miles away. Evidently the wind was blowing in my direction to carry their sound!

St Mary’s is all that remains of an Anglesey town that was wiped out by the plague, sitting on a raised mound overlooking Llyn Padrig. Despite its isolation, it was originally built as a chapel of east to Llanbeulan, the place I’d just come from.

Opening the simple oak door I found a simple space with a huge contrast gloom at one end and the clear leaded windows at the other. It took my eyes a minute or two to adjust, but fortunately my camera was able to cope with the relative darkness.

Once again I found some delightful small scenes to photograph, many of them bathed in golden sunlight.

This accident building is simply built, but built to last with immensely thick walls, as you can see from this small window. Just to emphasise its rural location, there were cows right outside the window!

More little details, and a lone butterfly…

As I went to leave I couldn’t resist one last photograph, capturing the soft light cast through the archway onto the weathered west door.

Photos taken 18 July 2025

A day of two churches

November 13, 2025

While I was staying in north Wales in July I built in some free time for photography and knew ahead of my trip that it would probably include some churches. The Friends of Friendless Churches look after a number of redundant churches in Wales, so I head to their website in search of places to visit. I found three churches, all within a few miles of each other on Anglesey so that was where I headed, feeling uncertain whether I’d manage to visit all of them in a day.

My first church of the day was St Peulan’s, which stands beside a narrow country road in Llanbeulan. It soon became clear there was nowhere to park by the church, so I found a safe spot half a mile down the road, donned my walking boots, and walked back. The first view of the church comes across the hedgerows and fields - a small island in a sea of green. The path down to St Peulan’s is a a narrow track, deeply rutted from farm machinery, so I was glad of some sturdy footwear.

Stepping inside the church I was immediately struck by the beautiful soft light, despite the harsh July sunshine outside. The scene below immediately captured my imagination, with its simple pews and the thoughtful flowers and framed photograph on the windowsill.

Looking around the church I found some beautiful small scenes to photograph, illuminated by the sunlight, including a stone font, which may have originally been -art of an ancient altar.

I was inevitably drawn to the small harmonium organ, but sadly it didn’t look like it was in a fit state to be played - something I’ve done in other churches. I sneaked up into the pulpit whose slightly raised view gave me a different view of the church, with a hymn book in the foreground.

I always find the small details of churches, particularly fascinating, and at St Peulan’s this includes a sneaky autograph left behind a Victorian glazier, scratched into one of the leaded light windows in the 19th century.

After an hour or so I’d had my fill of this small but perfectly formed church and headed on towards my second destination for the day, the photos from which I’ll share in a separate post.

Photos taken 18 July 2025

The rolling hills of Wales

October 17, 2025

After all our students had gone home from Llanerchindda Farm, after our May course, I made the most of the free time to go for a gentle stroll down the hill towards the Cynghordy Viaduct. Once again the dappled sunshine was just perfect for black and white film so I found all sorts of scenes to pique my photographic interest.

Photos taken May 2025

Llandovery explorations

October 16, 2025

One of the advantages of a half frame camera is the number of photos you can take on one roll of film. A couple of days after my stroll around Maidenhead I was still using up the same roll of film so I took it for a walk around Llandovery too!

Logging Lorrie’s driving through the town.

I can never resist a classic car…

Life springs up in the most unlikely of places…

I kept finding bicycles of all sizes around the town.

Photos taken 9 May 2025

A moment of Welsh solitude

October 16, 2024

During my recent travels to Wales I spent a night staying in the village of Cilycwm. I arrived mid afternoon and decided to make the most of the day’s remaining light to take a short stroll around the village. To my surprise the village church was open so I wandered in and spent some quiet time there exploring its photographic possibilities.

For some reason I’m always drawn to solitary chairs…

A lovingly crafted cushion on one of the pews.

There had evidently been a wedding in the church within the last few days and it was lovely to see the small posies of flowers adorn the pews.

Photos taken 19 September 2024

A slice of Welsh life

May 19, 2024

I may not have had much free time during my recent visit to Wales, but I did manage to sneak in a walk before breakfast each day. The fields around Llanerchindda Farm were filled with sheep and lambs, so I couldn’t resist catching a few of them on camera.

The early morning light was glorious and even the most insignificant details take on a beauty of their own - like this small fern growing out of the top of a fence post.

Of course, there’s always time to catch a photo of Jasper, the resident canine too, complete with his own Andy Warhol-esque painting the background!

Photos taken 15 & 16 May 2024

A Welsh idyll

May 13, 2024

I’ve been coming to Llanerchindda Farm for twelve years now, but have never really ventured very far off the beaten track with my camera - largely because my free time has been limited by the work that’s brought me here. This morning I wanted to get out for a stroll before the rain arrived but, after a busy weekend’s conducting, I wasn’t in the mood for anything too energetic. I donned my walking boots and headed off along one of the farm tracks, in search of the pond - a little uphill and down dale, but nothing too taxing.

When I arrived at the lake I found the resident Canada Goose waiting to greet me with a solitary gosling. Sadly his or her partner (I’m not sure how you sex Canada geese!) was killed, probably by a fox, a while back so this was a single parent family. No wonder my presence elicited some hissing - I was undoubtedly deemed a threat.

As the first drops of rain began to fall I took that as a sign to head back, enjoying the swathes of bluebells across the hillside as I carefully picked my way down the steep, rocky incline which was more like a stream than a path in places,

Photos taken 13 May

The striking bronze exterior of the Welsh Millennium Centre

Tiger Bay

April 17, 2024

There was a time when Cardiff Bay was the largest coal exporting docks in the world, but you’d barely know it now. Known among the locals as Tiger Bay, on account of the fierce tidal current in the nearby stretch of the River Severn, it was home to workers from more than fifty countries at its peak. As coal exports declined it fell into a state of decay and the local area lost its sense of purpose for many years. Today it’s a thriving destination for tourists, the arts and the Senedd, home of the Welsh government, so I was excited to explore the architecture with my camera.

It may have been a Saturday when we visited, but the Senedd was open for visitors and it was fascinating to compare its in-the-round central chamber with that at the Scottish Parliament Building, which we visited last spring. Looking up from the viewing gallery allows you to see the cedar lined funnel which brings light and ventilation into the debating chamber.

Back out into the public area of the building, the funnel leads into a ceiling with the most amazing, swooping lines. These lines are made from Western Red Cedar cladding, a timber chosen because it will require no treatment for a century or more.

I spent ages looking for interesting juxtapositions withing the lines and these three are my favourites. I’m sure it contains many more possibilities, given enough time and a variety of different focal length lenses!

After lunch we popped into the imposing Pierhead building, which was built as headquarters for the Bute Dock Company in 1897. It was designed by William Frame, whose mentor was William Burges, the architect of Castell Coch, which I visited last year. With its Victorian gothic brickwork and colourful ceramic tiles you can definitely see the shared architectural genetic lines between these two buildings.

Some of the ornate details to be found among the terracotta features of the Pierhead. Click on any image to see it enlarged.

The terracotta fireplace caught my eye, but I wonder how clean those colourful tiles in the hearth would have remained in the days of coal fires?!

Looking back down that imposing staircase.

Photos taken 6 April 2024

In the footsteps of Charles Rolls

October 26, 2023

I love visiting the beautiful redundant churches cared for by the Friends of the Friendless Churches, but on occasion it does take some persistence! Finding St Cadoc's in Llangattock-Vibon-Avel, near Monmouth, proved to be a serious challenge. It’s hidden away down a long drive, from where you park in a field of sheep and then have to walk through yet another field before you even reach the churchyard!

My first attempt to find St Cadoc’s failed, but once I’d backtracked to a place with a phone signal to check the exact location I finally made it and it was worth the effort!