An afternoon walking near Castle Dyke at Ashcombe, Devon today. Spring colours were the main attraction but there's obviously been plenty of rain in the dyke over the last few months which has pooled significantly and reflects the colours from the leaves and the sky.

Book giveaway!

Jack Cornish of @ramblers.org.uk has written this beautiful book. There's a flavour in the article he wrote us here: buildstories.slowways.org/pilgrims-rad...

Fancy winning a copy? Just repost and comment below and we'll pick five people at random.

@michaeljbooks.bsky.social

Last spring in a favourite small wood I made images 1 & 2 here in soft shade. They spoke to me about the dying saving all they had for the living. Last week I looked at all the images I made that day and found a few taken on the edge of the woods in open sunlight. Image 3 image is one of those.

An Uncertain Path by @iainsarjeant.bsky.social is, I think, pretty much an essential purchase for anyone who loves photo books. Subtle, thoughtful, haunting images, really cleverly sequenced (of course) - it's been well worth the wait and I love it.

I went to a talk by Robert Darch at Exeter library yesterday afternoon, and another by Chris Chapman in Widecombe last night! (It's either famine or feast here in Devon.) Both hugely enjoyable. At a pitch black Widecombe I looked up to the lovely church and took this on the mobile. Quite a day.

From Bench Tor, Dartmoor again, watching the infant Dart weaving through the valley between the Downs. You might just be able to make out the mast on North Hessary Tor in the distance, top left.

From Bench Tor, Dartmoor, 30th January, watching the Dart, way down below, pursue its long-etched journey to the sea.

A final post from my late January walk to the remains of the Golden Dagger Mine. I'm still struck by the colours in the water, especially in the second image. The final photo is one I should have posted at the beginning of this little series - the top of Birch Tor looking toward Challacombe Down.

The path through Dartmoor's Golden Dagger Mine is often as much liquid as solid, and in late January when these photographs were taken, the water seeped and collected everywhere it could. Mineral rich, luminous, and against a backdrop of heather and bracken, almost otherworldly.

More from the watery wonderfulness of The Golden Dagger mine, Dartmoor. The day was all mist and greyness, but the colours around Redwater brook, perhaps teeming with minerals, were extraordinary.

More from the remains of the Golden Dagger Mine. This is Redwater Brook, once rich in tin, and still full of colour depending on the angle and intensity of light. More images of this very watery area and its amazing colours to follow.

Here's an odd thing. On the strength of having loved Max Porter's 'Grief is the thing with Feathers' a few years ago, I ordered a 1st edition hardback, signed copy of his 2nd book 'Lanny', which arrived in 2019. BUT I HAVE ONLY JUST STARTED READING IT AND IT'S MAGNIFICENT!! Why did I wait so long??!

@robhudson.bsky.social Thanks for the repost, Rob, it all helps get started on here! 🙏

Continuing the series from a late January walk around Challacombe Down and the Golden Dagger Mine, Dartmoor, here are a couple of images of the Miner's Dry - an area where tin miners, soaking wet from a day's work, could keep their dry clothes. More soon..

Some weeks after signing up to Bluesky I've decided to post the odd image. Late January, 3 days before my 66th year on planet earth (hello state pension) I walked a favourite Dartmoor route from years ago to see the remains of the Golden Dagger tin mine. It began near here, atop a drizzly Birch Tor