Anyone who knows me will be aware that Nik is highly interested in photography, recently I have updated her website to be a great deal more flexible.  So here comes the shameless plug…please visit her site and if you really feel generous order a photo or two!

Incase you are still here the website is www.ridgity.co.uk

Severe gale force winds are pounding the Cornish coast line in one of the winter’s worst storms. 80mph winds have brought down trees causing problems on the roads and 2,000 homes in Cornwall and the Isles of scilly are without electricity.

And Nik has had one of her photos published on the BBC website!  I will try to get some further pictures up on my site soon.

Nik has now uploaded a number of her photos of Porthleven from the 10th March 2008 storm and you can find them from this link: http://www.ridgity.co.uk/gallery2/v/storms/

Having just bought a Crumpler “Loyal Chap” bag and am very pleased - but…. I’m was probably just being very dim, but I did not understande what the “3rd leg stabiliser” achieves and how it works? Until this clear and simple explanation was given to me.

“What you do is put the strap over your head from the right, so the pad goes on your left shoulder, and the bag on your right waist. Rotate the bag round onto your back, and move the shoulder pad down a bit so the rasta man logo is in your front. The third leg will now dangle from the front end of the shoulder pad, towards the left of your body. The clip attachment on the bottom corner of the bag will be at the left side of your body so the 3rd leg can be clipped into it. You end up with the main strap crossing your chest from left shoulder to right waist, and the 3rd leg crossing from upper left chest to left waist. This is surprisingly comfortable when you get used to it.”

 As I mentioned previously when I was in Wales earlier this month I found a fantastic Bed and Breakfast location.  It is called Plas Llanmihangel and is located near Cowbridge in South Wales. Plas Llanmihangel has been described by The Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments as “one of the finest and most complete gentry houses in Glamorgan”.  It was a superb change from the run of the mill Travel Lodge and Holiday Inn that I normally find my self in when on work business.  To top it all off it was only £30 per night, this included a full Engligh and Continental breakfast.  More images can be found on my gallery.

Well I have returned from the WRC Wales Rally GB 2007.  After a brilliant stay in a ‘find of the year’ B&B (more to follow on that one) we made our way up to SS 9/12 Halfway.  On route to the stage we took the A4069 right through Brecon Beacons National Park, how the three of us wished we were in our own cars, Focus ST, Golf R32 and Golf Anniversary MkIV instead of the Vectra 1.9 diesel!  We were passed by Seb Loeb and Petter Solberg, which was superb for one of my mates as it was his first WRC.

Once at the stage we decided to scramble up and sit on the side of the famous quarry section for the first run through, it was lashing down with rain and very very slippery, how no-one fell I am not sure.  There were many photos and much video footage taken. I have now got the gallery online, you can view the photos by clicking on Photos menu link at the top of the page.

For the 2nd run through we decided to locate to an alternative viewing location nearer to ground level, this turned out to be a smart move.  The view we had was excellent, no obstructions and the feeling that you could reach out and touch them.

All in all even though the weather was terrible it was not a problem because we were well prepared with water and cold proof clothing and there was a lot of conversation all the way back home about the day, including all the good, bad and stupid things we had done (trying to out run a WRC car at full tilt!)