We were surrounded by "twitchers".......

Last weekend we went to the Forest of Dean. I decided on Thursday, and this time I was going to avoid Puzzlewood. The reason for this is because it had become the highlight of the trip, to the detriment of the Forest of Dean which was playing second fiddle to this wondrous slab of ancient forest.
So, at the ungodly hour of 4.30am on Sunday, I stirred my lazy behind from my bed, staggered through the shower and hit the road just after 5am with my youngest daughter in tow. She was asleep within a mile so it was just me and the radio for company. I found out that at Waddesdon I could pick up Jack FM, a brilliant Bristol radio station that plays music from all eras, one after the other. Depeche Mode rubbed shoulders with the Cult, Blondie and XTC. The banter between the songs bordered on offensive in places but with enough humour that I laughed like a drain. There were several stupid jokes:

There are 2 1/2 million obese people in this Country but that's just a round figure.

The library in Swindon burned down and they lost both their books, one of them hadn't even been coloured in!

Anyway, long story short, the journey there and back was plenty of fun for me. Our first stop was Tintern Abbey. I'd seen the pictures on line and it absolutely lived up to expectations, except that at 8am on a Sunday morning, nothing is open. Next stop was Symonds Yat Rock. This was impressive, perched high above the River Wye, watching it wind it's way through the gorge upon which I was standing. We were surrounded by "twitchers" and just when I started to become concerned, a nice lady told us a little about the birds they were watching. In the cliffs alongside us, are a pair of nesting Peregrins. In the tiny Islet in the Wye, somewhere below us, were a pair of Kingfishers. As the lady explained that the Peregrins will catch pigeons in flight, I started to worry about the Kingfishers, they had really picked a stupid place to nest. Peregrins are the fastest creatures on earth, reaching speeds of 100mph. The Kingfisher would become little more than a tuft of bright blue feathers in swift breeze.
From here we walked the half mile down hill to Symonds Yat East but as that was little more than a village with a wide variety of hotels, we walked back up the half mile hill that was now feeling like a cliff climb.
Back at the car I consulted my faithful OS map and decided that Fancy View looked like the place to see. It wasn't. It was certainly high up and is apparently a good place to view Sparrowhawks but the trees that stretched to the horizon weren't overly impressive as there was no concept of scale.
Next stop was back to Tintern. The morning visit there had been a visit to a sleepy village/town. The afternoon visit was to a busy, bustling and bric-a-brac centre of craft and history.
My first visit was to Stella Books. A Second-Hand Emporium of Literary wonders. I found a couple of wonderful books. One of Famous Composers, written in 1899 and another, more recent, 1982, on Virtuoso Musicians. As I opened it, it fell open on the page that mentioned about Fritz Kriesler seeing the 13 year old Heifetz play. It had several references to Leopold Auer. My wife learns with Edmund Reid. Edmund learned with Sascha Lassersson, Lassersson learned with Auer. Auer was also the teacher of Heifetz and as Lassersson was the older pupil, Heifetz held him in some regard. Edmund met him on several occassions and I hear some of the stories through my wife.
Our next visit was to Tintern Abbey. For those that know nothing about it, it was a thriving community of Monks. With the dissolution of the Church under Henry VIII, many monasteries, including this wonderful Abbey, were destroyed. It is hugely imposing, roof open to the skies and the massive front window, devoid of the wonderful glass that must have once shone with a myriad colours with every beam of light.
There is a breathtaking shot that has probably been taken by every photographer since they were called Daguerreotypes. It is to the side of the main hall, a series of pillars and arches stretching down to an eyeless window. It is atmospheric and you just have to take the picture, no matter that it has been taken millions of times before. As you line up the shot, waiting for the throngs of people to clear, watching the sunlight spilling through the windows, creating the light and shade effect. You take a final glance to make sure that the focus point is correct and....wait a minute, what the hell is that through the open window, the very focus point of your shot? A bloody chimney with an aerial on it? Of all the spoilers to have in a shot, this is possibly the worst, right up there with litter and power lines. The thought did cross my mind to edit it out, even my wife suggested that but it really seemed like cheating. If ever there was a challenge, this was it. How to take that shot, knowing that from every conceivable angle, the rooftop, chimney and aerial would be showing, there is no simple way to hide it. Well, infrared is the answer, it distracts from the real by fading them out and creating an unreality that actually worked far better than the actual shot I could have taken.
Tintern Abbey is huge and there is a real feeling of peace about it. It is truly a religious building and the feelings of faith and harmony have remained ingrained into the walls. I stood there lost in thought, the sunlight playing through the windows, a light breeze softening the summer heat, truely at one with the World. The rumble and roar of the motorbikes reverberating around the empty ruins with the screaming children and tinny toy music of the Ice Cream van thumbing it's nose at the long dead Monks, truely a place where truth meets reality.

Tintern Abbey should be on your hitlist. On my next visit, I will be visting both Tintern and Puzzlewood and my quest to find the Heritage Centre, somewhere in the Forest of Dean, will continue. I have planned 2 very different trips next weekend and it is threatening to be either a phenomenal weekend or a washout. I will, of course, keep you posted after the event.