Aerial Photography Wexford

For my 40th birthday I received a voucher for a one hour flying lesson with Wexford Flying Club. Initially I was nervous; there were so many stories in the news around that time about small aircraft crashing. It put me right off, in fact, I did’t book my lesson for over a year.

I finally plucked up the courage and set a date (October, 2016). The leaves were falling off the trees, the shadows were stretching across the landscape, and the small aircraft flying season was coming to a close.  I really wanted to get some good pictures and booked an afternoon appointment hoping for some dramatic lighting.

The airfield turned out to be exactly that: a green field somewhere near Taghmon, Wexford, and upon arrival I saw a small airplane coming in to land – on its one wheel. A few beads of sweat trickled down my back.

I was greeted at the Office/Control Tower, by Kay, who was very nice and put some of my fears at ease. Inside the Centre, Peter Tawse (the pilot) went through the basic workings of the plane (D-KIAH SF25C) with me using a scale model. It was a lot of information to take in, and my brain was almost fried by the end of the pre-flight session. I wondered if I would remember anything once up in the air.

As a teenager I spent some time playing flight simulators (Apache Gunship, F15 Strike Eagle, F16 Combat Pilot) on the trusty Commodore Amiga, and  had a ‘basic knowledge’ of flying, but this was different, now it was for real: No ejector seat options today.

My heart quickened when Peter said he will be turning off the engine mid-flight, and that we would be gliding, and landing, with the engine turned off. There was no turning back now. Only the day before I was watching some majestic Buzzards soaring high on the thermals, watching them through a pair of binoculars way up in the sky, so high that they were barely visible to the naked eye. I always wanted to fly like a bird, and now here was my chance. The opportunity to soar.

Once we were up in the air, it was only a few minutes before Peter handed over the controls to me. The plane was beautiful to fly, the controls only needing small adjustments to make noticeable changes in pitch, roll, banking. The hour up in the sky flew by so fast. It was totally amazing. Far more enjoyable than any flight with Ryanair, or Aer Lingus.

I meant to take more photos but I was so immersed in the whole experience that I forgot, which is fine, because the memories are now ingrained in my being, and not buried somewhere on a memory card or hard drive.

Our flight took in the following areas: South East coast from Cullenstown to Saltee Islands, to Carne, Rosslare, and Ravens Wood. Then across the Slaney River, Wexford Town, Forth Mountain, and back over towards The Airfield at Ardenagh, near Taghmon, Wexford. We touched down shortly before sunset, and the light was amazing.

I think the highlight was when Peter switched off the engine and we removed our headsets. It was just us and the plane, up in the clouds, and the sound of the wind. I stuck my hand out of the small sliding window and shifted it as a bird would its wings, feeling how it would be to really fly. That didn’t last long as the air temperature was pretty cold at 4000ft. As we soared through the air, and the fluffy clouds, there was little or no sound, other than the tiny air gaps in the cockpit canopy. Finally, I was flying like a bird.

Our Carriage awaits.

Wexford Town, River Slaney, and surroundings.

Ravens Wood, and the ever shifting sandbanks of the Slaney Estuary.

Slaney Estuary, Rosslare Strand, and Harbour.

Kilmore Quay, Forlorn Point, and surroundings.

Looking SW towards Hook Lighthouse, and beyond.

Keeragh Islands, Cullenstown, and Burrow in foreground.

Coastal Protection Works at Bastardstown, Kilmore

From March to July 2017, I documented the construction of Coastal Protection Works at Bastardstown (i’m sure there is an interesting place-name history), Kilmore, County Wexford, Ireland. I documented the process while taking beach walks with our dog Pepper.

The past few years brought drastic change to sections of the coastline here in South East Wexford, and Bastardstown – or Seaview as it is also known – was no exception. Large sections of the coastline were eroded during the storms of 2014, and it continues to this day. See some of my earlier posts documenting the storms.

Erosion is an ongoing process. The land is always changing, whether its seismic movement, man-made, or the sea reshaping the coastline; it is in constant flux.

When the erosion of land threatens somebody’s home they are left with few choices: Sell up and move, sit tight and wait for the inevitable (which may take decades), or take action and use resources available to protect their land and home.

This project was commissioned by a private client in order to protect their beachfront property from eroding to the point of their house collapsing into the sea.

Large rocks were transported from a quarry on heavy duty trucks, and slowly, and strategically placed along a section of coastline to prevent or delay progressive erosion due to storms, high tides, rising sea levels, and other factors.

It is questionable as to whether the placement of these rocks increases risk of erosion elsewhere along the coast. As a long-time and regular visitor to the beach, it is my opinion that the introduction of Rock Protection around the access slipway altered the surrounding beach landscape and erosion patterns. Some people I have spoken to on this subject think that erosion in this area was exacerbated after the construction of the Kilmore Quay Marina.

There is a notable lack of tree planting in this area. It is hard to grow trees here – though not all species – due to salty sea air, and relentless winds. Tree planting would go some way towards slowing down the erosion process. However, it might take away from your view of the sea, which, over time, may get a little too close for comfort.

Many of the photos are taken from the beach access slipway which already has rocks protecting it, and can be seen in the foreground above.

7th April, my first sighting of the Swallows or Swifts. I wondered what would become of their homes as the construction progressed.

The beach access slipway. the handrail is now in very poor condition.

All photos were taken with the iPhone, and batch processed in Adobe Lightroom.

02.10.2017

Its been a while since my last post.

Heres one from the archives.

RGB: Red, Green, Blue

Red berries, green grass, blue skies (almost).

Berry Picking at Ballyteigue Burrow

There is nothing as relaxing or rewarding as a good berry picking session. I love blueberries, and I love blackberries, but we are lucky enough to have Dewberries growing wild in our locality. Dewberries taste like a mix of blue, and blackberries. Even the dog loves them.

Late-summer evening light.

Getting stuck in. If only the kids saved half as much as they ate!

Busy bees….

The reward. Time to make some Apple & Dewberry pie.

 

Coastal Protection Works at Bastardstown, Kilmore.

Coastal protection works recently commenced at Bastardstown, Kilmore. Hopefully we won’t see winter storms like those seen in February 2014 for a long time.

 

 

Irish Architecture: Empty Rural Buildings

Spotted in rural Ireland on a road trip to the midlands.

 

wordless Wednesday: Weather

Some photos taken on the iPhone 5S. A great camera when used in conjunction with the Camera+ app.

Things: Rocks at Kilmore Quay

The rocks at the southern tip of Kilmore Quay Village are said to be 570 million years old. That kind of timespan is impossible to comprehend. They seem so permanent, yet they too are subject to the passing of time, the struggle against entropy: Just like us, but on a totally different scale.

 

The First Faint Noise of Gently Moving Water….

This scene caught my eye on a recent visit to Dun Laoghaire: The words of James Joyce in the foreground, and in the background, right of centre,  the controversial new library.