Boxing Day South Shropshire Hunt

Leaving the Red Lion Longdon Common 

Byan Ferry's son, Otis Ferry, master of the South Shropshire Hunt gave praise to the emergency air-ambulance and fire services for freeing his youngest brother Merlin who was critically injured after a head on crash on the A458 near Cressage, Shropshire before sounding the bugle at the start of the hunt. It was a crisp overcast morning and snow fell a few hours later. 

Time to go

Meaningful conversations

A morning trot

Shrewsbury Christmas

Castle Gates

Castle Gates

Fish Street leading into Butchers Row

Castle Street

Shrewsbury Station built 1840

Barrack's Passage 

Texting Father Christmas?

The Market Square

WWT Sunset

Welney WWT sunset

Evening light and it was cold

Flying back to Roost

G & T time

Welney, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust WWT

5 months old

Whooper Swan

Mute Swan

Not everyone flies Ryanair!

A Whooper Swan similar to the Berwick swan but it is bigger and the Berwick 

Whooper Swan amongst the Pochard ducks

It takes a good eye to tell the difference between the Bewick swans and the Whooper swans. Bewicks are smaller and their black beaks sport a small yellow blob, rather than the Whooper's extended yellow wedge. I have discovered that  these yellow and black beak patterns have been extensively studied and illustrated over the years and are unique to each swan.   I am no expert on Swans and may have incorrectly identified them.  I am sure someone will let me know and that would be great!

Persian Cats with Attitude

Tilly

Dylan

Dylan

Stonehenge

Stonehenge

The world heritage site, Stonehenge was built as a temple, a place of ceremony, a place of burial (built 3000 BC to 2000 BC). The word henge denotes a particular type of Neolithic earthwork consisting of hanging stones, a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch. I discovered that there are different classes of henges:
Class I henges have a single entrance created from a gap in the bank 
Class II henges have two entrances, diametrically opposite each other 
Class III henges have four entrances, facing each other in pairs.
Stonehenge is not a true henge as it has an internal ditch with a banked enclosure opposed to a ditch on the outside of the banked enclosure.  I learnt that Stonehenge was atypical because it was more than 7.3 meters (24 feet) tall, and the extant trilithons supporting the lintels are held in place with mortise hole and tenon joints.  (A joint used for thousands of years by woodworkers round the world) It is certainly imposing and there were many foreign visitors wanting their photograph taken in the foreground of the stones. 
The day I visited the press announced that the government was planning to build a tunnel under Stonehenge to divert traffic from the A303.  As I walked around, the press were busy filming and interviewing Simon Thurley, head of English Heritage,  I missed a photo opportunity! It was bitterly cold and no one seemed to be hanging about.

Weymouth - early morning

Sunrise

Sunrise Weymouth

Sunday 31 November 2014 was beautiful, sunrise was spectacular and the temperature was warm enough to sit in a T-shirt in the sun.

The Corniche Weymouth

Dawn - Weymouth

Weymouth