Paintings Art etc.: 2018

Friday, July 20, 2018

Avon Dam Reservoir

Had a nice walk out to Avon Dam Reservoir on Wednesday to see how the water level was going on account of the long period we have had without rain in the UK. The reservoir is just north of South Brent and on the edge of Dartmoor. The level was further down than I expected it to be and seems noticeably empty at the northern end. It's quite a difficult walk all the way round as the path dwindles away first to sheep tracks and then to seemingly nonexistent. It turned out to be much easier to walk on the newly created 'beach'. Considering that there hasn't been any rain here properly for a few months the bracken seemed very green and healthy, like long grass does because it keeps it's own moisture when not cut. Some interesting features have been revealed by the drop in water. We found plenty of stone walls that indicated buildings with rooms, remaining in good condition whilst submerged. Hopefully we'll get rain at some point. Wales is getting plenty today but nothing here. About a week ago it rained properly for about five minutes and the sounds was so unexpected that I had to run outside to look at it.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Old woodland

I found a nice little bit of old woodland when I was walking around here the other day. A lot of the trees are quite small but are probably older than they appear, maybe a hundred years old or more. Some of the ancient woodland is difficult to spot as it doesn't always look that spectacular - no massive trees or anything that looks that grand, so easy to miss when walking.

Sunday, June 03, 2018

Car park and saucer from maiden castle

Not a flying saucer, more of an earth saucer. The whole landscape around Maiden Castle is covered with these barrows, used for burials. This large and prominent Bronze Age one is just to the north of the castle and is 55m in diameter and 3.5m high.