A B & B With Resident Sleepers

When I walked over the Braemore bridge a couple of days ago, I was aware that Jackie wanted to photograph Queen Anne’s Lace against the sky.

I hadn’t known that she had photographed me wielding my camera. When you understand that the screen of the Canon SX700 HS is badly cracked, reducing visibility to a few centimetres at the bottom, you will realise that we have a whole new perspective on ‘point and shoot’, and that my lady has done really well. I found these shots this morning.

Today’s clouds allowed the sun an occasional look-in, but mostly they kept bursting into tears. Nevertheless we took a drive into the forest.

The entrance to Old Chapel lies on The corner of Coombe Lane, Sway, and

Chapel Lane, along which the building,

and its graveyard stretches. Beneath the sward lie sleeping residents.

Originally constructed as a Baptist Chapel around 1836, the building is now a self-catering bed and breakfast facility. There is one large bedroom, and the wherewithal for the morning meal is provided. As so often on Trip Advisor, the majority of reviews are very positive and there is one disappointed customer. An Indian restaurateur once opined that the poor reviews were placed by rivals.

As early as mid-afternoon, the constantly changing light offered variable skies over the darkening moorland.

By 3 p.m. the lights of a transport van we followed through the narrow lanes were reflected Β in the gradually filling pools on the road surface from which were propelled billows of spray.

Yesterday’s dinner was so enjoyable that Jackie raided the larder and the freezer and repeated it this evening. This was followed by mixed fruit crumble and ginger ice cream. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Madiran.
 

0 comments

  1. Ah yes, dark at 3pm – I remember it well! Here we are not getting to enjoy the long hours of light due to skies that don’t just weep, they are howling torrents of tears. Many of us are loading our rowboats with supplies and practising our oaring abilities!

  2. Our skies this morning look like those in your photo – and it’s just started raining. Bad luck for the lady golfers with an early tee-off, good luck for our continually parched earth. But where is our spring, I wonder?
    I once gave an establishment a well-deserved roasting on TripAdvisor, and was told it didn’t meet their criteria. I reworded it twice with the same result. Then I noticed that other negative reviews for the same place on the same day were disappearing from the site. I have no idea how, but I suspected the owner had some clout with TripAdvisor. So I closed my account and stopped reviewing. No one seems to have missed my otherwise positive input πŸ™‚

  3. Looks like another great day of walking and photographing. I did some reviews and recommendations with Trip Advisor and they harassed me for more for years. I do think it’s hard to get thorough reviews on some of the sites–that could help you decide on a place. She people are just mindlessly negative–and likely competitors do say bad things about each other ! Who would have thought?

  4. Your clever title made me smile. I really like Jackie’s photos–just something mysterious about them.
    It is getting dark so early here, too. Wonderful shot of that tree.

  5. Looking at these pictures reminded me we have a pioneer graveyard just down the road. I’ve often thought about photographing the headstones but never have.
    Since we have no plans for our holiday tomorrow I think I’ll try to head there. You and Jackie are such inspirations!

  6. The old chapel makes for an unusual B & B. Self-catering is also new to me. I don’t know how Jackie turns out so many excellent dinners. Fruit crumble and ginger ice cream sound like a great way to end the day.

  7. Beautiful photos of land, sky, trees, you on the bridge, etc!
    That’s an interesting and lovely B&B…quite a history!
    Old cemeteries fascinate me. I like to walk quietly, read the headstones, and let the people resting there know that someone is acknowledging them and their life. They are not forgotten. The oldest cemetery I’ve visited dates back to the early 1700’s.
    Now I’m wanting some mixed fruit crumble. πŸ™‚
    HUGS!!! πŸ™‚

  8. Loved the Old Chapel Derrick and so pleased you had some gaps in the clouds yesterday.. Not so here… And yes it went dark very early here too..
    I loved the bridge.. and its good to be catching back up with you again..
    <3

  9. These are some of my favorites! The bed and breakfast sounds a bit odd with its view haha. I love the colors and the animals in the photo against the sky! I think they are ponies or maybe I’m still sleepy.

  10. Most interesting photos, Derrick. The pics of the graveyard relay a peaceful feeling. The photos of the sky and the transport van reflection are stunning.

  11. Fruit crumble and ginger ice cream would be my perfect pudding. The shot of the red reflections from the white van’s lights is another classic. You must have been quick off the draw to capture it.

  12. I always distrust review sites – bad reviews are too easy to post, good ones are from friends and nobody can be bothered to post an average review. My jaundiced view anyway.

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