Southtown: Great Yarmouth to Gorleston

The few miles walk from Yarmouth quay to Gorleston and back. A cold day, bright and clear followed by darkness and sleet. Many windows looked dark, the wind harsh.

The End Times Are Quiet: Buckenham Marshes in the Mist

A muffled world.

Woods Be Dark: Cawston Woods

Cawston Woods, Norfolk, on an afternoon bombarded by rain, sleet, snow, thunder, lightning.

Midwinter Hauntings

It's easy to see these East Anglian landscapes and see where ghost story writer M R James would have got some of his inspirations from.

Iceni: Frozen Fields at Caistor St Edmunds

Shooting through the ice of the flooded fields at Caistor St Edmund, the site of the Roman village Venta Icenorum.

Tree Sprites: The Fairies by Norwich Market

Christmas fairy lights in the trees on Gentleman's Walk, Norwich. It wouldn't be the most energy-efficient idea in the world, but I propose a cultural shift: instead of Christmas lights, towns and houses light up over the winter with more general 'seasonal' lights. Mid November through to late February, say, to help counter the New Year blues a touch. The stripping of the lights in the grey early days of a year always feels so harsh and brutal.

Christmas in Doggerland

Another couple of images lurking on my hard drive, from (I think) January 2011. It was certainly into a new year. Have always quite liked the image of discarded (natural) Christmas trees following the festive season. They make the unremitting misery of January feel even more bleak. This tree, dumped in the wash on the beach just outside West Runton, also ties into my neverending fascination with the decaying coast.

Midwinter at the Arminghall Henge

As feautured in an entry on May 8th called 'Prehistory and Power,' this site at Arminghall, just outside of Norwich, was the location of a prehistoric (around 3000 BC) timber henge. Nothing remains today - the rings that marked the earthworks of the henge are barely perceptible, and the site was only rediscovered in the 1920s by an aircraft flying overhead, the markings clearer from the air. The electricity pylons seem to be the only things of any real physical note these days.

Nevertheless, I made my way here for 5.30am this morning, to mark the moment of the winter solstice. The Arminghall Henge was orientated around this celestial occurance, after all. Yet whilst ancient worshippers were there for the sunrise, and the returning of the light, I was more interested in being present at such a long-forgotten place of light worship in the midst of the longest night. It was my attempt at paying my respects to the darkness, as much as the light. I'm no religious man, but being respectfully aware of our basic utter insignifance against such overwhelming - if deceptively simple - concepts as 'Night' and 'Day' seems fairly common sense, to me.

I took a few pictures. Using a flash would of course have been totally self-defeating, so here are three, blurry and all, using only the pre-existing light available.

Snowscapes

Yep, everyone is sick of it by now, but snow is just inherently fascinating to me. These were taken of the Bunkers Hill area of Bowthorpe, Norwich, on a morning when a very familiar world seemed mysterious and shifting. Glad to get back for a cup of tea, mind.

Cheapest Seats in the House

Somewhat cold-looking seats dumped on Bunkers Hill, Bowthorpe, Norwich. They were faced with a beautiful view, though.