Ireland, England, Scotland and Lockdown: 2020 to Date

My year to date hasn’t been too good for getting outside and taking photos, what with sh*te Scottish weather, fleeing home across the Irish Sea when lockdown came in, managing to damage first one and then both of my camera lenses, and finally falling off my bike and being off my feet for the past month.

I’m hoping to get out a bit more in the coming weeks though as my foot is on the mend, lockdown restrictions have been lifted and my camera should hopefully return fully repaired from England soon (glad I’d been paying for insurance). Sadly Irish summer weather is only a little better than Scottish winter weather at the minute.

In the meantime, and because I’ve neglected this blog once again, here are some photos from the first half of 2020.

Top image: The River Thames at Hammersmith Bridge, London in January

A couple of shots of beautiful Lower Lough Erne from a visit to see friends in Fermanagh early in the new year, before I flew back to Scotland. The first was taken at Castle Archdale Country Park and the second at nearby Tom’s Island jetty. 

A sculpture of Christ, ornately carved from native Irish oak at the Garden of Celtic Saints in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. A really interesting attraction that I’d long wanted to visit; as well as the various figures and scenes, there’s a lot of information on Christianity in Ireland.

Back in Scotland and an enjoyable walk along the western end of the Forth & Clyde Canal, between Clydebank and Bowling Harbour. I’d previously walked a few sections of the path around Edinburgh and Glasgow. 

I spent a very enjoyable long weekend seeing friends in London before my birthday and fitted in a lot of walking: 1) An important historical marker beside Borough Market, 2) Taking in an exhibition at White Cube, Bermondsey, 3) On the Thames Path just east of Tower Bridge, 4) Cat sculpture along the Thames at Bermondsey.

A visit back home for family birthdays in January and an evening walk around Derryadd Lake, part of Peatlands Park, County Armagh. 

Back in Paisley and a view over the town from Saucelhill Park in what must have been a rare sunny day in early February.

Ticking clock: a close-up of Manchester Town Hall when I visited the city for a work course in late February. Looking back now it seems surreal that we were going about as normal when the Coronavirus was raging in Italy at this point.

A fiery sunset at Peatlands Park on 14th March, when I was home for a week-and-a-half’s leave before lockdown. I remember this being a very unsettling time. I flew back to Scotland for just two days to tidy up work and my living arrangements before fleeing home again on the ferry on 24th March.

One of my daily ‘quarantine walks’ while staying with my sister’s family outside Belfast for two weeks. This 9km loop took me up to Lisnabreeny Rath (or hillfort) and back, and gave excellent views over Belfast City and south across County Down to the Mourne Mountains. 

An evening walk in the fields behind home in April. Monty has lost weight since then, some of us have gone the other way…

Walking along the Coalisland Canal on 1st May; it was great to have this tranquil, off-road path almost on my doorstep during lockdown.

A (very) zoomed in view of the Mourne Mountains again, this time from home.

A  few shots from a glorious May evening walking Monty in the fields behind home; lockdown really made me appreciate my surroundings.

Back at Peatlands Park in late May and early June, after it reopened with the easing of lockdown.

Lovely little Ballyclog Old Church near Stewartstown, County Tyrone on a drizzly evening in late June. The church was apparently built in 1622 and I was searching for a gravestone for a Facebook contact in Australia (no luck on that occasion but I’ll return).

I’ve enjoyed looking back on where I’ve been in the first half of 2020, even if life has been lived in narrow surroundings for the majority of it. Stay safe, until next time.