The days are rapidly getting shorter - as we head for Michaelmas, when there's 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark ... then on towards the time of the year with the shortest days at Christmas. Goodness - I'm talking "Christmas" already.

This afternoon, I took a short walk in the fields behind our home (something I'm prone to do far more often now that we have a dog, and one who understands the word "Walkies" too!). And the sun is getting lower, earlier, leading to some spectacular photos. The buzzard (I'm told it's a buzzard) that nested in the trees on the field's edge this summer was soaring over the field, dramatically lit by the sun behind.

Only a few weeks ago, it seems, the grass crop in the field was turned into hay, but already there's a good new crop of clover and thistles, and the odd confused buttercup or two is flowering as well.

Both Thursday and Friday of last week, I met visitors off the 19:11 arrival at Melksham - again very much in the low light, as we head to the time of year when it won't be possible to photograph a train in daylight there. Let's hope that with some movements we've seen in our campaign, and
all the support we have that this will be the last winter with this depressing state of affairs. Come Lady Day in March, longer days will bring back light on the trains, and come May there's perhaps the best chance yet of a decent service.
(written 2009-09-13)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z202 - Just Pictures [298] Sharing pictures of Wiltshire - (2005-05-02)
[360] Spring turns to Summer - (2005-06-26)
[365] Letterbox Pictures - (2005-07-01)
[412] Bristol Balloon Festival - (2005-08-13)
[416] Mixing up swallows and martins - (2005-08-16)
[548] San Francisco - (2005-12-30)
[557] A new sign - (2006-01-07)
[625] February pictures - (2006-02-26)
[708] Linescapes of Mull - (2006-05-03)
[713] Pictures from my travels - (2006-05-07)
[772] Training in Liverpool - (2006-06-21)
[786] First Light, Bootle Docks, Liverpool - (2006-06-29)
[870] Autumn comes to Wiltshire. - (2006-09-17)
[958] Plain Ole nice pictures - (2006-11-30)
[1005] Stirling at night - (2006-12-23)
[1064] Light and shadows at Beach - (2007-02-04)
[1099] Passenger flows - (2007-03-04)
[1152] Course, right place, right time - (2007-04-17)
[1162] Cheddleton, Staffordshire - (2007-04-26)
[1172] May day 2007 in pictures - (2007-05-02)
[1216] Five of the best - pictures from London - (2007-06-03)
[1233] Horses of Brugge - (2007-06-15)
[1234] A review of a week and a trip to Brugge - (2007-06-16)
[1392] Autumnal lighting on a London trip - (2007-10-15)
[1398] Someone else's wedding - (2007-10-21)
[1400] Dark Dawn - (2007-10-22)
[1489] Pictures of December - (2007-12-30)
[1546] The geometry of East London - (2008-02-19)
[1620] Norwich and London - (2008-04-23)
[1740] Vertical London - (2008-08-06)
[1770] 3 hours from Milton Keynes - (2008-08-24)
[1818] Icelandic Badge - (2008-10-01)
[1838] Oxford in Pictures - (2008-10-13)
[1854] Three Seasonal Pictures - (2008-10-25)
[1919] Transition - (2008-12-03)
[1931] Frosty Morning, foggy evening - (2008-12-08)
[1981] Bitter cold - (2009-01-07)
[1986] Walk to Bowerhill - (2009-01-10)
[2006] Contrast - (2009-01-23)
[2034] Through Snow and Flood to Linux and Tomcat - (2009-02-10)
[2093] Leading Lines - (2009-03-20)
[2098] A room without a view - (2009-03-22)
[2101] A B C D of GA and TN - (2009-03-23)
[2121] Out in the Vale of Pewsey - (2009-04-07)
[2140] Beware - giving copyright away when you upload a picture - Dogs Trust - (2009-04-25)
[2146] An evening excursion to Devizes and Avebury - (2009-04-30)
[2168] In honour of the photograph, I present ... a walk from Reybridge to Lacock - (2009-05-10)
[2202] Bright Colours - (2009-05-26)
[2266] Travelling - (2009-07-02)
[2298] Melksham Carnival Parade - the people - (2009-07-19)
[2412] Autumn Fruits and Bristol Old Station - (2009-09-20)
[2464] Beauty in pictures - (2009-10-20)
[2518] Through the arches - (2009-11-29)
[2549] Christmas Day ... - (2009-12-25)
[2553] On a short walk from home - (2009-12-27)
[2582] Starting to arrange the picture library - (2010-01-16)
[2611] Sunday Evening, City of London - (2010-01-31)
[2677] Blowing out the winter cobwebs - (2010-03-14)
[2756] Same subject - different pictures - (2010-05-09)
[2760] Views of Scotland - (2010-05-11)
[2767] Back from a Python course in Glasgow - (2010-05-16)
[2819] Some more pictures ... - (2010-06-19)
[2888] Recent Pictures - (2010-07-27)
[2914] Older picture. - (2010-08-10)
[2989] Oddballs in Plymouth - (2010-10-08)
[3096] Contrast in pictures - (2010-12-20)
[3101] The week before Christmas - (2010-12-23)
[3195] Sunny day - Clanger and Picket Woods, Shearwater, and Westbury - (2011-03-06)
[3220] Panasonic Lumix TZ20 - (2011-03-28)
[3241] Spring in the countryside near Melksham - (2011-04-10)
[3289] New Camera - very first picture, and next from first films - (2011-05-14)
[3350] A set of pictures without point - (2011-07-08)
[3356] Holiday patterns - just the art, not the content - (2011-07-13)
[3473] Picture - Havant Station at Dusk - (2011-10-11)
[3562] Christmas Day - for unique pictures - (2011-12-26)
[3616] Bus top - colours of London - (2012-02-17)
[3655] Sights and scenes - more London trip pictures - (2012-03-16)
[3678] Potteries and Staffordshire in the Sunshine - (2012-04-01)
[3713] Verticals ... last month - (2012-04-29)
[3837] Evening behind Melksham Spa - (2012-08-12)
[3846] Signs of Autumn - (2012-08-22)
[3894] A wet Saturday - (2012-10-13)
[3907] Weather pictures - (2012-10-29)
[3925] Red sky at night - (2012-11-17)
[3990] Stripes of Snow - (2013-01-25)
[4133] In the hills above Harlech, and on the coast too - (2013-07-06)
[4740] Labelling images - (2017-06-24)
[4741] Catching up on labelling more images - (2017-06-24)
[4742] Third and final set of older picture for today - (2017-06-24)
[4743] Further picture labelling! - (2017-06-25)
[4744] Updating image labels - (2017-06-25)
[4745] More pictures - final labelling set for today - (2017-06-25)
[4746] Image library - labelling continues! - (2017-06-26)
[4747] Image feed for Tuesday ... - (2017-06-27)
[4748] A second batch of images for today - (2017-06-27)
[4749] Pictures for Wednesday - (2017-06-28)
[4750] Thurday images - (2017-06-29)
[4752] Welcome to July. Picture labelling continues! - (2017-07-01)
[4754] A quiet Sunday afternoon - (2017-07-02)
[4755] Back and continuing to feed pictures! - (2017-07-08)
[4768] 2017 - the final six months - (2017-12-31)
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