With the weather turning for the worse, we jumped up at the first sign of a non-rainy day, threw our big coats on and jumped in the car to have a little trip to look at the local Wentworth follies.  I talked about the follies on THIS blog post a while back, but hadn't really had a chance to check them out until now.
I love autumn.  The colours, the leaves - everything is a photographer's dream. 

The first stop was Hoober Stand.

Hoober Stand is a pyramidal tower that stands just shy of a hundred feet on a little hill at roughly 157 metres above sea level.  Construction was completed in 1748 and was to commemorate the quashing of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion.
And it looks awesome. 
I love pyramids and angled buildings.  Shooting this from the side reminds me of one of my favourite buildings in New York - the Flatiron Building.  The setting where it sits is also quite nice.  My kids love the woods and there was a nice little bit of woodland here for them to go crazy in.

Next stop - Needle's Eye.

The Needle is just down the road from Hoober.  A quick 150 yard walk up the footpath from the roadside brings you right to it.  It looks pretty bizarre, a sandstone pyramid just sitting at the top of a little rise on it's own. 
I do love a pyramid though!
The story behind this one is a little vague.  It was apparently built in the mid-18th Century for the Marquis of Rockingham to win a bet that he could drive a horse and carriage through the eye of a needle.  Measurements confirm that it would have been possible - so that brings a little bit of merit to the story.  Rich folk have far too much time and money on their hands if you ask me!
There's also a little part that made my missus get a good case of the goosebumps - along one side of the pyramid are a grouping of musketball holes at head and torso height, suggesting that this may once have been a site of an execution by firing squad.

Next stop - Keppel's Column. 
On the way we happened across a field of Highland cows, so obviously had to stop for a few snaps.  A snorting big shaggy cow is a pretty awesome sight when it's a foot away from you.  I'm glad there was a gate in the way!


The Column is a 115 foot tower built to commemorate the the acquittal of the court-martialled Admiral Augustus Keppel after the Battle of Ushant.
The tower sits on another hill, not quite as high as Hoober, but still a pretty good viewpoint.
The tower is in a bit of a sorry state.  Not open to the public anymore, but it still stands tall and impressive on the rise. 
This one is basically 'park at the side and take a photo'.  The kids didn't even get out of the car.


And that's the follies!  Here are a couple of snaps.

Gear used:  Fujifilm X70 with the WCLX70 fitted.

This afternoon we had a little home-ed trip to Heeley City Farm in Sheffield.
It's a pretty small place, with about 3 million chickens, some pigs, goats, and other livestock.
There's a few reptiles and spiders too, but they were mostly hiding away.
There's a little cafe on site and a little play area for the kids.  And a little petting zoo.  And a little garden centre.  And a little veg stall.
Like I said, it's a little place!

Alfie had some animal photography to do for one of his projects and Freddie Jay enjoyed looking at everything and going crazy in the playground.

Oh, and it's free entry!  Pop in and have a nosey if you're passing by...

Click Here for more info.

Some snaps.

The weather has been a bit pants lately.  Everyone in the family has been ill on and off for weeks and it seems as though it's been forever since we've had a decent family walk.  So, this afternoon we donned our big coats and boots and whizzed across to the YSP. 

Alfie has been doing a home education project on America and one of the topics he chose to look into was Native American art.  Once we found out that a genuine Totem Pole was carved at the park (by Tim Paul, an artist of the Nuu-chah-nulth people) it was deffo time for a visit. 
It was cold, damp, muddy and, after about an hour of walking, it started to snow!
Our oldest lad, Joshua, moaned most of the way - in a typical teenage whine, our middle boy, Alfie, had a great time with his camera, and ran around as only someone with 11-year-old-boy energy can and our little monkey, Freddie, absolutely loved the colourful octopus and also jumped in everything that looked like a muddy-puddle that he could find!  (That Peppa Pig has a lot to answer for!)

The YSP is a cool place.  It's pretty much out of season at the minute, so there's lots of work going on and lots of paths closed due to the weather etc.  There's lots of installations and exhibitions - some I like and some I'm kind of 'meh' about.  But that's the beauty of art I suppose - if we all liked the same thing, it'd be a boring world!  For more info on the park click HERE.

I had a new camera to test, so took far too many photos. 
Here are a few.