29 March 2006 - Morpeth.

We needed some stock photos of churches and bridges in Morpeth, so we took advantage of a glorious spring day with ideal conditions.

The first daffodils are flowering along the banks of the River Wansbeck and hopefully many more will soon follow to provide some bright spring colour for photography.

This photo was taken from the north bank of the River Wansbeck looking towards Telford Bridge.

25 March 2006 - Druridge Bay.

This afternoon we decided on a beach walk at the north end of Druridge Bay in Northumberland.

We parked near Ladyburn Lake nature reserve and set off north along the beach towards Hauxley. The tide was on it's way out so the sand was firm underfoot and made for pleasant walking.

Most of the time the sun was behind the clouds but later on the sky cleared for a while. It was not the best of days for taking photos but we took some all the same.

This photo was taken at Bondi Carrs rocks looking north along the beach to Hauxley.

23 March 2006 - Longshaws near Netherwitton.

Another fine day for a walk near Netherwitton in Northumberland.

Starting at Old Park Wood, we walked along tracks to the River Font, returning along the road and a footpath through pasture lands. This walk and photos will be added to our Northumberland Walks website.

This photo shows the track leading to the River Font from Longshaws.

22 March 2006 - Teesside.

The return of blue skies after a fortnight of dull weather provided the opportunity to visit Teesside and take stock photos of the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge.

Opened in 1911 it is the largest transporter bridge of it's kind in the world still operating.

For anyone with an interest in engineering this bridge is well worth a visit. It has a visitor centre with free parking and foot passengers are only charged 50p each way on the bridge.

Vehicles and foot passengers cross the River Tees on a gondola suspended by steel cables as shown in this photo.

More snow again this weekend and a dull snowy day on Sunday meant no "sunshine and snow" scenes like last week.

However by missing out the bland grey sky there are still some good landscape photo opportunities for those prepared to venture out with a camera.

Rivers and woods make good subjects all year round but a covering of snow transforms them completely.

Here is a view of the stepping stones across the River Wansbeck at Bothal, surrounded by snow covered trees. The river was running high enough to make crossing a bad idea!

06 March 2006 - Near Mitford.

A beautiful sunny day today for a walk inland near Mitford, west of Morpeth along quiet country lanes.

Buds on the Chestnut Trees were swelling and look as if they will not be long in opening. It certainly felt much warmer than the last few days and less windy.

These leaning pines look as if they have seen enough wind though!

05 March 2006 - Druridge Bay.

A walk along the beach at the south end of Druridge Bay near Cresswell this afternoon.

There was still a strong and cold north wind blowing and the sea was quite rough. Snow was still lying on the seaward side of the dunes providing a day of sun, sea, sand and snow!

An interesting sight was the large amount of sea foam being generated by the waves and the incoming tide. This seems to have been much more common lately on beaches along this coast.

This photo shows the foam being left as waves receded - it was then blown along the beach.

04 March 2006 - Amble Harbour.

Overnight snow soon melted away in the fine winter sunshine where we live, so we decided on a trip to Amble to test a new camera.

We were surprised to see how much snow there still was at Amble, in fact some of the town roads were very slippery with compacted snow turned to ice.

A walk around the pier and harbour in the cold wind soon blew out the cobwebs and gave the chance for a few trial shots.

This photo of the quayside shows the snow still lying in the late afternoon sun.

01 March 2006 - St Mary's Island, Whitley Bay.

Today started with an early morning trip to the coast to photograph the sunrise at Tynemouth.

Unfortunately a big bank of cloud over the sea blocked out the sun rising over the horizon!

However, the day wasn't wasted as the sun soon rose above the cloud to provide a bright sunny morning for taking photos.

From Tynemouth we went to North Shields Fish Quay and then stopped at St. Mary's Island on the way home for some more photos.

A selection of photos from today will be added to Tynemouth and North Shields sections of our our Tyne Photos website.

Here is a photo of St. Mary's Island Lighthouse, taken shortly before lunchtime, which has been added to our new St. Mary's Island website.

© Copyright - All photos on this website are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced on any website or in print without prior permission. To use any photo please use the enquiry form at les-bell.com

© Copyright - All photos on this website are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced on any website or in print without prior permission.

To use any photo please use the enquiry form at les-bell.com