Sun & Chalk, Code Breaking Library and Entangled

Sun & Chalk :- A shot and image taken at low tide looking West towards the City of Brighton from the beach at Ovingdean Gap. The entire City was being engulfed by a heavy storm that had rolled in from the sea. Parts of it were already emptying their load over Worthing and Shoreham in the distance and it wouldn't be too long before Brighton itself got a drenching. At the same time the sun was setting and every now and then there'd be a break in the clouds that allowed the golden light to spill through and illuminate various sections of the coastline. I managed to grab this shot just as the sunlight saw its chance, made a run for for it and lit up the entire face of the challk cliffs. The contrast between the dark, moody sky and beach and the warm chalk face was stunning.

Code Breaking Library :- Standing here now in this peaceful and exquisite library that's within a large mansion house it's hard to imagine what it was like 70 odd years ago. Back then it was hive of activity with everything on a need to know basis. No computers or technology to help back then ... just paper & pencils and a lot of hard work and logic. This is the Library in the Mansion at Bletchley Park and it's in here that the Codebreakers of the Government Code and Cypher School worked. This room became the Naval Intelligence office and had a direct telephone line to the Admiralty. It was also just next door to the office of Commader Alastair Denniston, head of GC&CS. Bletchley park is now open to the public and well worth a visit :- http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/

Entangled :- I love this place. I have known of it for a very long time but it was only last year that I finally got to visit and see it for myself. This is Wistman's Wood set deep within the vast explanse that is Dartmoor National Park in Devon. I knew of it because of the illustrations and artwork by Briand Froud (who went on to create the world's of the "Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth") and Alan Lee (who designed the entire look of Middle Earth for Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" and "The Hobbit"). They lived on Dartmoor back in the 1970's and many of their fanciful works contained elements of the moors and Wistman's Wood often featured somewhere along the line. It's actually one of the highest oakwoods in Britain as it lies at an altitude of 380–410 metres in the valley of the West Dart River. It's full of mossy rocks and boulders and mainly consists of pedunculate oak but there's also rowan, hawthorn, holly, eared-willow and hazel. Most of the small trees are also covered in mosses and lichens. It's a most enchanting and spectacualr place to fine yourself. Various legends say that it's also haunted or the home of the hellhounds.

All Photography Copyright © Justin Hill