A few hours walking on a frosty morning .

12.12.12

I started this post five days ago !!! All i had typed was 12.12.12 !!! My mind went onto other things . I had lots of clients work to get through and , also , photos to take for clients as well . So here i am five days later , hoping i will finally get the words together and show you some of the images that i was able to capture on a very cold and frosty morning .

The UK weather had taken a turn from constant rain and , i mean constant rain !!! To a very cold snap . I am based in a fairly central location within the Uk and surrounded by water . I have The Grand Union Canal at the rear of the house , plus The Great River Ouse just a short distance from the front of the house . So when we get a frost , it seems to really kick in around us . Hoar frost is something that we see on a regular basis during the winter months . And it looks amazing on the trees if we have a few days of minus temperatures over night and cold temperatures during the day . As the frost doesn't have chance to thaw out , it just gets thicker and thicker . Making the trees look like something out of a winter wonderland .

I  had been watching the weather forecast for the week ahead . It was looking good for the days that i was fairly free , work wise . So it was up early on this particular morning and out with my camera bag and the two mad dogs !!
The Canal was looking fantastic in the frost . The water had frozen slightly . So the ducks were having to walk on the ice . But the Swans were able to break a path through the ice . You will see a photo of the swans later in this blog .

There are about half a dozen Narrow Boats moored up on our side of the canal . A couple of them are occupied full time and you can see the smoke coming from their chimney. The smell of the wood burning is fantastic . Some of it smells really sweet , even if it does make the dogs sneeze !!!

About a mile along the canal is a big field with the remains of an old church called St Peter's  . Very little remains of this church . But the link shows it in its former glory . It makes for a wonderful subject for photographers . I have seen quite a few people there, with cameras over the years .

As soon as the dogs get into this field they go crazy , running around like a pair of loonies . They love big open spaces to charge around in .
I spent around an hour wandering around with my camera . Below are some of the images from our walk in the cold .

 Frost covered ropes on a Narrow Boat

 Hoar frost on spiders web , on cabin of a dredger.

 The water has just started to freeze over .

 Wonderful frost on the trees and shrubs .

 A view of the frozen canal , with a path made by a boat that has come through .

 Another view of the path through the ice .

 Frost on a gate post .

 More views of the frost covered trees .

 Hoar frost on a wire fence . Converted to black and white .

 Lone jogger out for a cold morning run .

Looking across the field . With the ruins of St Peters church . With a fantastic dead tree next to it . In the distance you can see the spire of Hanslope Church .

Hope you have enjoyed looking at these photos and found some of the links of interest . Thanks Mark.