The Old Cemetery, Ipswich

It’s been a busy family Easter.

Fabulous early morning light.

But there have been early morning opportunities to walk my sister’s dog, Bertie, in the Old Cemetery.

Dandelions in the wilder part of the Old Cemetery.

It was surprising to see some dandelions already turned to fluffy seedheads

End of a morning walk. Just checking to see who’s lagging behind.

As Bertie is a fairly large dog he needs two good walks a day. So, of course, that’s another opportunity to be in the Old Cemetery during the golden hour, but this time in the early evening with more wonderful light.

Getting a pep talk before my evening sprint and workout.

This April the Easter weather has been surprisingly good in Suffolk and not what had been forecast at the beginning of last week. All in all it has been truly pleasurable to have a well-behaved and patient dog in the house.

Can I have an undisturbed rest now thank you?

Five Sunsets and a Daybreak

As I write this the jury is still out on whether the Omicron variant is making people more or less sick. However, there’s already been confirmation that this new variant is more transmissible than our old enemy Delta, sigh. With all the gloom I thought it was time for a glass-half-full blog post.

Dawn lighting up the view from my office – Stratocumulus?

Okay, it’s winter, there’s already been a couple of nasty storms and the days are short, but, oh my, when the sky is not overcast the winter light is gorgeous as the sun rises and sets.

Golden skies above the Old Cemetery – Altostratus ? perhaps

Add a few clouds, and there’s mystery and drama. Who can resist a slightly eerie stroll through the Old Cemetery as the sun sets whilst absolutely making sure you reach the grand, iron gates to exit before lock up.

A pink mackerel sky at sunset – Altocumulus, I think

And, when was the last time you walked down a bog-standard, terraced street transformed by a pink, mackerel sky into the dramatic backdrop for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film.

A very still Ipswich Waterfront at dusk – some Cirrus in the upper sky

Of course, not all winter weather is stormy. There are those surprisingly still days and, with the sunsetting as early as 3.45 in the afternoon, there’s plenty of opportunities to capture some inspirational sunset photos.

That’s the sun going down on Sunday, 5 December at 15.38 (precise time from my phone’s photo info [don’t you just love technology!])

It may only have lasted for a mere five minutes or so, but the rich, fiery orange of the setting sun reflected off the low clouds was most dramatic and in a way uplifting too.

Sunsets on the Waterfront

During the last two months of 2018 the weather was surprisingly benign with a number of clear winter days ending with beautiful sunsets. 

The low sun and the still water down on at the Ipswich Waterfront provided a variety of opportunities for interesting images, some vivid and some gently serene. Here’s a selection.

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Golden Hour in a Fine Urban Park

Although Ipswich, a town of about 134,000 people, is not a large place it has some beautiful parks. Recently I went along to Christchurch Park for the first time. The so-called golden hour for taking photographs may be a great time for capturing a weak wintery sunset and the fabulous rich colours of the last leaves, but it was a bitingly cold afternoon.

Nevertheless, despite my fingers becoming stiff with cold, I managed to take a few interesting photos. As I have already mentioned previously my favourite park in Ipswich is Holywells Park, however probably the most well-known park is Christchurch Park.

Originally, this parkland was the grounds of the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity founded around 1177.

However, the land has changed ownership several times since it was seized by the Crown as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. The park is also the site of the beautiful, late-Tudor mansion, Christchurch Mansion.

Christchurch Mansion. Red Tudor brick built between 1548 and 1550. The mansion’s upper storey was rebuilt after a fire in 1674 and some remodelling was carried out in the 18th century by the Fonnereau family.

The Mansion’s last private owner, Felix Cobbold, gave it to the community in 1895 on the condition that the Ipswich Corporation purchased the rest of the associated property within which the mansion was set. And, as an urban space open to the public, it has belonged to the people of Ipswich since 1895.

The park is slightly bigger than Holywells Park with more open spaces and vistas, and consequently feels less intimate and domestic than Holywells. It is more like a traditional urban park, but still offers a restorative green space within a five minute walk of the town centre.