Today’s ramble was quite a lengthy one, starting from Carnforth Station and following the Lancaster Canal north east to Capenwray.

Keer Viaduct at Capenwray.

This is a lovely tranquil spot, where the River Keer, Carnforth to Leeds railway and Lancaster Canal all meet. The Keer Viaduct is an attractive landmark and if you’re lucky you’ll catch it with a train crossing (there are only a handful each day).

The tiny packhorse bridge over the River Keer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s right underneath the viaduct where you’ll spot something delightful; an ancient and picturesque packhorse bridge. It’s great for a photo, especially if contrasting with the towering viaduct over it. I liked the lighting as the bridge is highlighted by the low winter sunlight.

Snowdrops make a nice photo.

Early snowdrops were bursting into life and when snapped against a dark shaded backdrop are worthy of a close-up photo. For those in the know, I added a touch of ‘diffuse glow‘ in Photoshop to add contrast to the flowers and give slightly softer edges. You may benefit from a macro (close-up) lens setting as well, which is available on any ‘half-decent’ digital camera these days.

Lovely scenery on the northern edge of the Lune Valley.

 

 

 

 

I left the canal behind at Capenwray taking a quiet country lane to the church and right, past Capenwray Hall and uphill passed Lord’s Lot Wood which I promised myself to explore another time.

Gently rolling hills make this a lovely area for walking. I always keep my eyes open for something a bit different with my photography and the rusting details on this farm gate, I thought made an interesting foreground feature.

Moss-covered wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s something about a carpet of moss growing on a dry stone wall that I find very appealing to photograph. I love the texture, contrasting with the stone and the vivid greens, especially when you have different species of moss sharing the wall. This one (I think) is Common Feather moss.

 

 

Hair Cap moss looking striking on a wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you venture in closer with your camera, you will discover that moss is really beautiful, especially this one, Hair Cap moss, which is a darker shade of green.

Gressingham looking towards Hornby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking on a mile or two, we cross the main Kirkby Lonsdale road and head down the valley into the charming little village 0f Gressingham, close to the River Lune. The village has some lovely old houses, but it was the attractive church that caught my eye.

Gressingham.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was back to snowdrops again which made a nice feature in this photo of the church tower. I crouched and help the camera almost on the grass to get a very low angle, which shows off the snowdrops better and adds foreground interest as well as contrast.

The light was great and the sky a nice contrasting blue. A passing crow even adds some movement to the scene. The angled horizon wasn’t an accident as I think it adds a touch of drama to a photo. Either that or it’s just a bad habit of mine from newspaper days!

Selfie on the bridge!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the record I often like to include the odd selfie, which makes a nice memento from a good day’s walking. A good spot seemed to be on Lloyn Bridge over the River Lune.

Our destination, Wennington Station.

 

After a muddy squelch over a hill, we descended to Tatham Church and left along the main road to Wennington and our final destination, the railway station. How this tiny village keeps hold of it’s station is nothing short of a miracle. It used to be an important junction with the line to Lancaster, which forked to the left after the stone bridge.

For those interested, the walk took us about 4.5 hours with a couple of short stops and was about 9.5 miles long. It’s largely relatively flat apart from a couple of modest hills and is a mix of canal towpath and roads with a couple of miles over fields towards the end. It’s not as strenuous as it might seem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An attractive signal box (below) stood just beyond the bridge up until 2006.

Wennigton signal box back in 2005, shortly before it was removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A look inside Wennington signal box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t much used after the late 80s, but shortly before it was demolished I went for a peep and took this photo through the window.

The signal levers, most long out of use (painted white) show the signalman would have been kept quite busy. It was a lovely nostalgic look back in time.

MORE PHOTOGRAPHER’S RAMBLINGS COMING SOON!…