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Living in Bradley Stoke can be both a blessing and a curse. Quite a few people live there but there is no real town centre and no high street at all. One of the good things about it though is that there are a lot of 'green paths' around so although you are near to very busy roads you can still feel like you are surounded by nature. As I'd been having trouble recently finding places to park legally when out exploring with my camera I decided I'd just explore what I could walking from my house. I'd finally bought the OS map for my area so map, compass (I like the security it gives), water and camera in my bag I set off.

Patchway Brook

I was intrigued about how moving cars would display, if at all, when taken with the infrared filter. I set up overlooking the M4 and was stopped by a woman out looking at birds through binoculars. We had a chat about looking at birds and I despaired that my zoom lens was still being repaired before she moved on. The cars appear to have manifested as a slightly paler streak on the image but the road still looks completely clear. I doubt you often get the motorway looking like that for a six second exposure - especially on a bank holiday Monday.

M4 Looking Towards Frampton Cotterell

Continuing along the side of the M4 you eventually have to leave the main track but it appeared there was the remains of one continuing further so I gamely carried on, trampling the long grass down as I went. I always imagine it's not the best idea to go wandering around in areas which are very overgrown with grass. I always think that there might be adders or grass snakes around. It was always something I thought I had to beware of when I ran around the local grasslands near my parent's house. Thankfully I didn't get bitten but I got covered in spiders webs that were strung all over the place. Not pleasant at all.

Spider

The track ended up going no-where disappointingly so I backtracked up the hill and rejoined the main path to walk towards a small road that crosses over the top of the M4, allowing access to the Gaunt's Earthcott area. The footpath on the map passes through a golf course and then continues cross country up to a lane that runs through the village. The path through the golf course was obviously well marked but where it diverged and went cross country was more hit-and-miss. I noticed an overgrown track where I thought the foot path should be and decided to give it a shot. It appeared that it hadn't been used recently as it was very overgrown. Thankfully I had a t-shirt on with long sleeves but I still got stung, pricked and generally hung up in spiky bits of greenery. Eventually I emerged into a field full of cows which, while enabling me to pick all the loose greenery out of my hair, did contain cows which I really am not comfortable around. Thankfully they left me alone and I continued without incident following the right of way. I thought that the overgrown section would have been the worst area of the walk but at one point I had to walk through an area of brambles to get to the the stile to take me into the next field. I guess this area is not well loved by ramblers. After being barked at by mad dogs and chased by oddly haircutted sheep I eventually ended up safe in the Gaunt's Earthcott lane, seperated from the sheep by a sturdy fence.

Sheep

The lane heads through the village, crosses the M5 just before junction 15 and continues towards Almondsbury. By now the sun was starting to go down and I was still quite far from home so I kept to the roads for a while but there were still some pretty sights to be had.

Sunset Over Almondsbury

I headed cross country towards Almondsbury, crossing the M4 through a scary underpass that echoed eerily as I walked through, hoping to make it in time for some good views of the Severn Bridge at sunset. The main route through Almondsbury sits on a large hill and by getting close to the edge you can get a good view of the two Severn Bridges. Unfortunately there was a really low lying clound behind the brisge so I was doubtful if I would get anything interesting. I set up and took a look through my lens but at it's maximum at 55mm I wasn't really getting anything interesting of the bridge - it was far too small. However while I was setting up, an older couple pulled up in what looked like a brand spanking new Porsche Boxter. They smiled at me as they were heading towards a bench to admire the view and I jokingly remarked to them that my lens wasn't long enough. To my amazement, the guy asked me if I wanted to borrow a lens and headed back to his car to grab a 300mm zom to let me use! I had fun with his lens and showed him the infrared filter I had. He didn't seem like someone really interested in photography but I took a picture with his camera with the infrared filter so he had something to take away for letting me borrow his lens. He got a few shots of his own using my tripod so hopefully he had fun. I chatted a bit with the woman and they both seemed like very nice people and his letting me borrow his lens was amazing.

Unfortunately I was right in that the large bank of cloud messed up the shots with the bridge big enough in fame so I just concentrated on trying to capture the gorgeous colours of the sunset. After that it was a quick half hour walk along the road back to my house followed by a frozen meal nuked in the microwave for dinner.

Sunset - View Over the 2nd Severn Bridge