Trans Pennine Trail and the Cuckoo Way

A few weeks back I decided to go for a walk on the Trans Pennine Trail. I’ve walked the stretch close to where I live before, reaching as far as Renishaw a few miles to the south, but I’ve never followed it any further than that.

So, on the day in question, I decided that I would see what was down there, walking the stretch between Renishaw and Staveley and then following the Cuckoo Way on the return journey.

Looking east from the Trans-Pennine Trail towards the village of Mastin Moor. The Cuckoo Way meanders its way north over near where those pylons stand.

The Trans-Pennine Trail follows the path of an old railway along this stretch of it’s route and is relatively straight as a result. It’s also flat and doesn’t tend to get muddy at all. The Cuckoo Way, on the other hand, follows the route of the Chesterfield Canal and can be hiked all the way from Chesterfield to the River Trent – about forty five miles away as the route takes you.

Looking west from the Cuckoo Way. The Trans Pennine Way is where the row of trees is on the horizon. The houses are on the outskirts of Staveley.

The Cuckoo Way is easy to walk in many places, particularly sections where the canal still exists, but this stretch just winds through fields, sometimes with little sign of where the waterway once flowed. This particular stretch was quite muddy. Not wet sloppy mud, but the thick stuff like you find on a playing field after a game of football has been played when the ground isn’t dry. It quickly clogged up the soles of my hiking boots with it’s thick clay-like weight and took quite some time to wash off when I got back home.

Heading back north and following the former route of the canal. Teh Cuckoo Way is just off-camera to the right.

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

Lost toy

Perched inside a leaflet box affixed to a map and information board on the Trans Pennine Trail at Renishaw, there sat a tiny princess.

I’ll leave it to you to complete the story. 🙂

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

Shelters by the sea

The weather in the UK is, being generous, changeable. A day at the seaside, no matter what the forecast might promise, always bears a risk of it raining for the full duration of your visit. So what are you meant to do in these situations? Get wet?

Well we inventive Brits have a solution to everything, and so many seaside resorts around the country have you covered with a selection of shelters in which you can attempt to avoid the elements. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes, from simple bus-shelter-style to grandiose Victorian architectural gems. And if the weather is nice, maybe you can just take the weight of your feet and enjoy your fish and chips or an ice cream or something.

I really like this couple of photos. I don’t think there are any other shelters like this in Cleethorpes, but I know there are many dotted around the country’s resorts. maybe a long-term project is a possibility?

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

Interesting house

I take a lot of pictures of buildings of all shapes and sizes, but sometimes I find one that grabs my attention because it has a particularly interesting design.

The photo in today’s post illustrates this quite nicely. I have no idea of the history of this structure, but it’s an unusual shape to be sure. The wedge-shaped roof of the far section, to the oddly narrow middle section, then dropping down to a single storey section that has, what looks like, a more recent extension. It looks like an interesting place to live (I’m not sure, but it might be made up of apartments) and, as I walked past it in late December, I could see the Christmas decorations still present within, giving it a very homely feel.

Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

Willys Brewery

I’ve had a day of travelling today to attend a team meeting, which means I’m tired and that this will be a short post.

So here’s a picture of Willys Brewery in Cleethorpes.

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

Open and closed by the sea

Seaside resort during the off-season are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of what is open and what is closed. Some cafes were serving hot drinks to the December tourists, some of the arcades were taking their money in exchange for amusements while others were shuttered, fish and chips were readily available, just not from everywhere, and an ice cream could still be had by the foolhardy (i.e. me).

Unsurprisingly the deckchair hut was closed though.

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

People on the beach

A couple of photographs of Cleethorpes beach. Although December, it wasn’t especially cold, so there were quite a few people about, albeit no-one making sandcastles or paddling in the sea that I saw.

The fenced-off area at middle-right of the first picture is the site of the new lifeboat station and boathouse – at the right edge of the image you can just make out the concrete supports that will hold the boat ramp when the building is complete.

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

Beneath the pier (with a spot meter)

After yesterdays picture of Cleethorpes pier, here’s a picture showing what it looks like underneath.

This is one of the first photos I’ve ever spot metered handheld. I have a Reveni Labs spotmeter that I bought from someone second-hand. I’ve only used it at a basic level so far – looking for a Zone 3 area (dark, but with detail) to take a single reading and place it on middle-grey (Zone 5), and then underexposing a couple of stops from what it tells me (I don’t think I’ve explained that very well…).

It’s worked pretty well on the handful of shots I’ve used it for so far. I’ll likely continue to use an incident meter where possible, but it’s good to have the option to be more precise when I can’t get into the same light as the subject.

The upper part of this picture is pretty dark, but that’s what it was like (and there’s no way I could capture setail there without blowing out the brighter parts of the scene). My intent was to retain detail in the vertical struts, which I’ve managed to do.

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

Papa’s once more

It seems that every time I visit Cleethorpes, I photograph Papa’s fish and chip restaurant. Or, rather, I photograph the pier. Papa’s just happens to be the current tenant. It’s a photogenic scene though, so I’m not surprised that it draws my lens.

I think this is the third time I’ve featured the pier and chippy on the blog (here and here, although it might be in some other posts too , just not where I’ve mentioned it by name).

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023

No ice cream

I had an ice cream on my trip to Cleethorpes. Just the thing for a cold December day… 🙂

I didn’t get it from Jade’s though. They were closed. A pity, as the Yorvale ice cream they sell is pretty good.

Maybe in the summer, eh?

Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 28 December 2023