Making time to see your world

Don't miss what is around you

I have a busy job.  It sometimes involves travelling to other parts of the UK with occasional overnight stays.  It is easy to focus solely on the job, concentrating on that to the extent that everything else around just doesn't seem to exist. When you are rushing from appointment to appointment you don't get the chance to stop and look around you, I mean really look around you. I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago and made a decision,  I will plan to build in extra time in my journeys to stop and take a look around. Not only will this help to clear my head, it will also lower stress levels (as long as I leave enough time in the plan) and I will have the opportunity to see some of the wonderful sights that exist around us.

The first trip I built extra time into was heading across country to Lincolnshire.  I planned a short stop (only 20 mins) at Rutland Water, partly because the only other time I had visited that area the weather was very foggy so I never saw the water properly. On this visit the sun put in an appearance and I could actually see to the far side of the water.  It was great to stretch my legs after almost two hours driving and I strolled along the waters edge watching the bird life and taking some photos. I came across a sculpture called The Great Tower by an artist called Alexander which you can see below. It made me think of the prow of a ship but I'm not sure what the artist intended.

The Great Tower sculpture

The sun was shining through the winter bare branches of a small copse of trees at the side of the water and creating silhouettes with shapes like a work of basket weaving. I saw flocks of birds, I'm not sure what they were, but as I approached they scattered across the water and took to the air.

Rutland Water and winter trees

The fresh air cleared my head and I continued my journey to the Fens.  The land around here is very flat and after I had finished work I noticed that the sunset lasted for ages!

Sunset in Lincolnshire

A few days later work took me near Oswestry and I passed through a small village called Whittington where I was delighted to see an ancient castle.  I decided to stop here briefly on my way back to take a closer look.  The castle dates from the 13th century and is mainly a ruin but still impressive to see.  Water to the front of the castle is a haven for birds and was probably a moat in the past. When I parked up it had started to snow so I just had a very quick walk around the site and took some snaps with my phone.

Whittington Castle

Behind the main building is a cafe for drinks and snacks, with a car park to the side.

Whittington Castle sign

The ducks were fluffing out their feathers in the cold breeze.

Ducks at Whittington Castle in the snow

Although I didn't spend more than ten minutes taking a quick look around the castle it was lovely to change my viewpoint and switch off however briefly.

Yesterday I was heading across the Woodhead Pass to cross the Pennines from Manchester to South Yorkshire.  The snow had remained on the ground and temperatures were below freezing (minus 6 degrees C when I got in the car).  The crawl of traffic climbing to the top of the pass was annoying so I decided to pull into a parking area at the top to let the bulk of the lorries pass by before continuing my journey.  Those few minutes were spent enjoying the far reaching views as the snow glinted in the sunshine, beautiful scenery - I soon felt much happier!

Pennine vistas from the top of the Woodhead Pass

So far this seems to be working well.  I hope I can keep it up..