They don’t stay still very long and they’re very cute – so they make for a great day out. Up in Hawes again with red squirrels. The last time I was here, the weather in Hawes car park started off at -1°C. Fortunately it was very pleasant on Sunday morning, despite having not slept very well. Excellent Dales breakfast at the Cornlee Guest House with my mate Pete Stockton set us up for the day. Superb pies for lunch which Pete brought from Stokesley – yummy!

I looked at the email from the Royal Photographic Society and thought – “I’ve not been on a course for a while” – so I paid the money and charged my batteries. A day of architectural photography with Martine Hamilton Knight down at Nottingham Trent University. I had been told that the park and ride/tram into Nottingham was the easiest way in and it really was simple. Park at Phoenix Park, return tram fare for the day £4 and just simple.

Trent University is a great building with lots of lines and light (maybe why Martine chose it) and after an introduction to the subject we were let loose. Some images inside and some outside. Here are a selection from the day. If you get chance to take this course – go on it – Martine is an excellent tutor and a real pleasure to be with. I hope these images do the day justice.

We decided to visit Llandudno for a few days as the weather was mainly forecast to be on our side. The first afternoon was a bit dull but we managed a fair walk and were set up for more on Monday. We tried a new restaurant, nearly next door to Sue’s brother who lives there. Carlo’s – brilliant food and service so we’ll go again sometime.

Monday morning and it’s chucking it down with rain but we’ve got a decent sized brolly so we’ll brave the elements. We decided on the west shore and set off in light drizzle. 200 yards down the road and the heavens opened. We had to point the brolly into the wind and hope. Well we stopped at a bus stop for a bit of shelter and by this time our jeans were soaked from the knees down. A bit further on the wind got worse and the brolly blew inside out but cleverly we turned head on into the wind and it went the right way but with a broken strut. Wringing wet we squelched home and got dried out. In the afternoon we drove down to one of our favourite gardens, Bodnant – it was lovely and we had a good trek around. There was a new bit called Far End, which we’d not seen before. It includes a boat house, a lake and other features such as a small picnic area and cafe. It has taken staff 5 years to restore and has extended the walk considerably.

The next day was a joy and we walked up the Little Orme. The sun was out and we nearly had the place to ourselves. We stayed up on the top for quite some time and just enjoyed the sun after the dismal showing the morning before. The image below is taken from the trig point on top of the Little Orme. We had booked a table at another restaurant we’d not been to before, The Seahorse – again excellent food and service.

The final morning was spent walking along the promenade at Rhos on Sea where we used to walk with Sue’s mum when she was alive. The tide was out – we haven’t seen that often when we’ve been to Rhos. That meant people on the beach enjoying themselves, buckets and spades, splashing about and all the usual seaside stuff. Before leaving, we dropped into Colwyn Bay to Porth Eirias restaurant for lunch. Third new place, third good meal.

I thought it might be a good idea to try and help to make our City of Culture year a success in whatever small way I could – so I volunteered to be a … volunteer. So, a couple of training sessions later I’m a little more knowledgeable and looking forward to whatever comes my way.

One of the sessions included a walking tour of the old town with Guide, Paul Schofield. I’d never thought about a walking tour of Hull or what it might entail but it was both informative and entertaining. I took the opportunity to take the GX8 around with me and so here are a few images from the morning.