Graveyard, Co. Durham

It was one of those breathtaking moments when you see something magical and you actually have your camera with you and you just know that you're going to get a good picture. This was taken in the graveyard at the church of St. Brandon at Brancepeth, Co. Durham. We had just finished lifting our jaws off the floor at the amazing castle nearby - a huge pale-stoned building straight out of a fairy tale with towers and castellations. It was an unexpected sight to see such a big and old (it dates back to Anglo-Saxon times apparently) castle standing magnificently and proudly there on flat ground at the end of a short driveway - it really was extraordinary. Then we walked up towards the church and found this - a beautiful old graveyard made even more special by the sun filtering down through the trees so that shafts of light were randomly hitting different parts of it. When I saw this cross, with the light striking it, I knew immediately that this was going to be today's blip. In fact I took no more photos today after this, and we were here at about mid-morning. I won't ever forget how stunning this graveyard looked bathed in beams of light, which illuminated the whole area green from all the moss and grass growing on and around the stones.