Poppies

I knew that today was going to be hot, but I decided to go see the poppies at Langley Vale Woods in Epsom. The woods is the largest of four First World War Centenary Woods owned by the Woodland Trust, and the land was purchased in 2014 as a centenary project for England. There are some wonderful sculptures in the woodland, The Regiment of Trees is well known, comprising twelve soldiers sculpted from sandstone to commemorate Lord Kitchener’s inspection of troops.

There is no parking nearby so I had to park at the Epsom Downs race course and then walk 2 miles in the heat over the downs to get to the poppies. I had taken plenty of water for Xena and it was a pleasant but a very hot walk. The poppies were stunning – fenced off so they could not be trampled on, they are a mix of red and lilac coloured poppies, an unusual colour combination but it works. As expected it was too bright, the colours were a bit garish, and so I planned to come back later although I did not fancy that long walk again. On the 2 mile walk back up the hill in the heat, as I was nearing the top and was all hot and sweaty, I unexpectedly met a photography friend (who was on the Iceland and H&L trips with me) and he was also going to recce the poppies. We decided to go back later today nearing sunset when the light would not be so harsh, and thankfully he told me of a closer location to park.

It was such a hot day that the crows were not flying, they were scattered all over the downs sitting on the grass with their beaks open trying to cool down. I have never seen so many crows dotted all over the fields, just sitting like that.

Gavin was out at a work supper tonight, so I had a light supper then left home to meet my friend at 8pm to go photograph the poppies. The light was so much better now, although disappointingly there was no colourful sunset. 


This image was taken at about 9.30pm tonight, when the light was much softer. I could not choose which one to blip tonight, so my other favourites can be seen  here.