Western Mourne Mountains 29 June 2021

 Click on the images for a larger version.  All images copyright Leslie Ashe. 

For a change we decided to visit the western part of the Mourne Mountains.  We started with Hen and it wasn't until we reached the summit of Cock that the sun started to break through giving us fleeting glimpses of Spelga Dam.  Much of the day was hazy and so didn't lend itself to landscape photography.

As we descended off Cock the low cloud dissipated revealing feathery high cloud which seemed to radiate from a single area.  In the very bottom of the image is a figure for scale.

5 frame stitch panorama from Pigeon Rock

Wall and Slieve Bearnagh

Reed pool

Mourne Mountains 18 June 2021 - B26 engine, weather station, waterfalls, Binnian tunnel

      Click on the images for a larger version.  All images copyright Leslie Ashe.

Fascinating day in the Mourne Mountains. Not a day for bagging summits.  We found the engine of the B26 Marauder which crashed on 10 April 1944, a weather station in the middle of nowhere, waterfalls galore and finished with an inspection of the Dunnywater end of the Binnian tunnel.  It’s been fairly dry recently so there wasn’t much water in the rivers and the waterfalls were a bit underwhelming but showed a lot of potential for wetter conditions.  A return visit later in the year is planned.

B26 engine

Weather station

Panorama of Binnian, Lamagan, Cove, Commedagh

Waterfalls

The Dunnywater end of the Binnian tunnel.  Constructed between 1947 and 1951, it is over 2 miles long and takes water from the Kilkeel River to the Silent Valley Reservoir.

Belfast Lough sunset 11 June 2021

    Click on the images for a larger version.  All images copyright Leslie Ashe.

The prospect of between 50 and 60% low cloud, some high cloud and a rising tide over the sunset period got me out to Grey Point on the south shore of Belfast Lough.  I arrived about an hour before sunset and scouted around for a few compositions based on where the sun would be setting.

The low cloud was a bit stubborn around sunset itself restricting the view of the light on the high clouds.   However, patience paid off and about 30 minutes after sunset I was treated to some lovely fleeting colour in the sky over Black Head.  The foreground rocks are not what I would have wished in the final couple of images but when the colour appeared it was well to the right of where I would have expected it and I didn't have time to move to a different location.

The following images were taken over a period of about 90 minutes.  Shutter speeds ranged from 30 seconds to 4 minutes.

When the weather forgets it's summer

     Click on the images for a larger version.  All images copyright Leslie Ashe.

A misty and windy day in the Mourne Mountains.  At times it felt like the middle of winter rather than early June.  Misty conditions for much of the day, only really clearing as we were walking out.  It was an opportunity to visit a lesser frequented part of the mountains and an area to go back to in better conditions to explore around the crags.

Through the keyhole

Cascade