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 Snowy Scenes
Birchwood, January 2010

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Park | Brook Path | Risley Moss | Encounter | Ice | Video

Early January 2010 saw almost the whole country covered in snow. Locally it began on Monday evening 4th January and continued through the night and for much of the next day, leaving the thickest blanket of snow that I can remember seeing in recent years.

Unable to move the car, I was out and about with my camera and the photos below are a small selection of the many that I took to record the wintry whiteout in Birchwood.  All of the photos on this page were taken on 5th, 6th and 9th January.

Some of the images, particularly those taken on the Tuesday when the skies were grey and the snow still falling, look almost as if I have taken them in black and white or used special effects afterwards to reduce the colour. They were all taken in colour with normal settings on the camera and the images merely capture the scenes that were before me.  By the next day, with brighter skies and even a sunset, there was much more colour to the snowy scenes.

Some of my Risley Moss images have also been used in a display within the Risley Moss Visitor Centre.  The display also includes images not shown on this page.  Thank you to Gaynor who arranged the display so nicely.

Birchwood Forest Park

All of a sudden, snowmen were being built all over the park and the old bunkers and landscaping made ideal hills.

Birchwood Brook

This is the section of the path that borders Risley Moss and leads into the park.

Risley Moss

Much quieter than the park and a very different environment.  When I walked around the path on the Tuesday, several trees had fallen under the weight of the snow and there were eerie creaks and groans as branches strained and moved under the weight of the snow.

It is a credit to the Risley Moss Rangers who do such a valuable job in this unique and beautiful setting that the fallen trees were removed so quickly.  Risley Moss is both a Local Nature Reserve and SSSI and the Ranger Service is so important to the upkeep of this environmentally sensitive area.  It is vital that this service does not suffer in the Borough Council's budget cutbacks.

Pestfurlong Hill, Gorse Covert Mounds and Encounter

I just had to get some pictures of Birchwood's most famous landmark in a wintry and snowy environment.  All of these photos were taken on the Saturday.

Frost and Ice and Slippery Roads

Saturday was a particularly good morning for photos of icicles and frost.  There had been hard frost overnight which helped to enhance some of the the ice crystals on branches that were still partially covered with snow.  For both Image 44 and Image 37 above, I was kneeling in the snow on the top of Pestfurlong Hill and I was aware of strange looks from at least one passer by.

Video

Here's a 3 minute video of 3 clips that I took in the woodland paths of Risley Moss in the days that followed the snowfall.  They were all taken with one of my cameras, rather than with a video-camera.

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Updated 26/05/11