Silver Linings

17Aug09

Clouds ! (Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire)

A Sunday afternoon spent in the quintessentially English pursuit of discussing the weather.

We travelled to Tattershall Castle in the heart of Lincolnshire to attend a Cloud Appreciation Society event, where Ian Loxley (the Photo Gallery Editor for the Society) was to take ‘us on an informal tour of the afternoon sky’.

Rather perversely (given the (incorrect) suggestions that the summer has so far been blighted by cloud and rain) the forecast for the afternoon was for clear blue skies – however the gods capitulated a little and a small amount of cumulus was offered up to view.

Ian’s talk (which was accompanied by the sound of roosting bats) covered all the various cloud types and featured many of his great photographs – including as previously alluded to the legendary ‘Cumulopiggussextoleggus’ – and then continued outside on the Castle’s lawn in a somewhat thwarted attempt to spot some clouds.

Ian’s a man who plainly loves the wonderful world of clouds and as such if you get the chance to wander along to see him talk about his passion then your time will be well spent.

Also if you get the chance Tattershall Castle is well worth the visit – over one million bricks put to very good use – and if you can cope with heights better than me then the view from the roof is wildly impressive, especially given the nature of the surrounding flatlands.

Graffiti (Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire)

Finally, and perhaps as an attempt to apologise by someone for the less than spectacular cloud coverage, as we slowly wandered back to the car a Spitfire suddenly appeared in the skies above us, disappearing from sight almost as quickly as it appeared and leaving us a little puzzled (although finding this on the map later explained things).