2,000 miles

So that’s how far I travelled on my week-long photography trip to Scotland. Setting out early on a Sunday morning, my first destination was Bamburgh in Northumberland. I had never been that way before and my plan was to drive up on my favourite road, the A1. I hadn’t been going for very long when the overhead signs started alerting drivers to an incident ahead, informing us the road was completely closed. It took a 40-mile detour before I found myself in the last place I wanted to be – the M1. It’s not that I particularly mind motorways, but in a tiny Smart car I get buffeted about while passing large vehicles, so it can be rather stressful and tiring on a long journey. Thankfully the traffic was light and in a couple of hours, I found my Sat Nav diverting me back to the A1 as it skirted east around the Yorkshire Dales.

Some time later I passed Scotch Corner, where previously I had turned towards the Lake District. I had no worries missing out this time because I would be staying near Keswick on the return part of my trip. Eventually, I reached Northumberland and the scenery changed to rough fields and rolling hills. I took an instant liking to the area and wished it weren’t so far from home. I finally waved goodbye to the A1 as I turned down a narrow lane towards Bamburgh. The village is tiny, with a population of fewer than 500 people and seemingly at odds with the enormous 6th-century castle towering over the high street.

I was booked into a hotel at the end of that road, so had a good view of the castle as I carried my gear from the car. I dropped everything in my room, rang my husband to let him know I had arrived safely and set out immediately for the beach. As I parked up I noted the temperature was just 4C, so I donned my hat, scarf and gloves. Emerging from the dunes about ten minutes later, I was struck by a biting easterly wind and the first of the rainstorms that would plague me for the remainder of the evening. The light was appalling and nothing like the YouTube videos I had watched at home. Still… I had to make the best of a bad job, so hunting around for some foreground interest, I found this wonderful rock covered in barnacles. It was my first attempt at focus stacking and I think it turned out pretty well.

Next I found this lovely seaweed covered rock, but having set up the camera, we were both hit by a horizontal hail storm. The camera rode it out wearing a waterproof coat. I wasn’t as lucky and by that time I was soaked to the skin and shaking uncontrollably.

Finally I discovered a wonderful tree stump sitting just under the dunes and with the light fading fast, I headed back to the hotel. It took more than an hour to clean and dry my gear with the hotel towels (sorry). I had to drag a little writing desk away from the wall so my soggy clothes could take it in turns to dry on the only radiator. In fact, I had to get up several times in the night to move everything around, but by the time the alarm went off at 4.00 a.m., it was all warm and dry. I, on the other hand, had barely thawed out.