On one morning during my stay at Bridge of Orchy in Scotland I awoke to find everything covered in soft, white fluffy snow. It was a sight to behold. There was only the occasional muffled sound of a car on the normally busy A82 due to the still lightly falling snow. With little to no wind the trees were laden with perhaps 2 - 3 inches of snow and their branches bent over under the weight. It was definitely a photography day!

Shortly after arriving at Bridge of Orchy a day started with the hills obscured behind thick grey clouds, there was a biting cold wind and snow was falling at road level. It looked unpleasent outside the hotel windows! Inside the hotel, dry and warm, I reasoned that if the weather broke there would be some good photography so, suitably booted and dressed for a day on the Scottish hills in winter I headed out and up one of the hills overlooking Loch Tulla. Not that you could see the loch or much else! Fortunetly, I had scouted the lower paths the previous day and was confident the higher path would be ok.

February is generally acknowledged to be the snowiest month in Scotland. Most years it's a fairly safe bet that there will be snow on the mountains, probably down to about 500 metres. At lower altitudes the snow often falls as rain so any snow at ground/road level is often wet and doesn't hang around for long. By February the days are getting longer, there is more light and it's possible to shoot all day as the sun doesn't climb too high in the sky.

Porthgwarra has a great little shop which does amazing tea and cake in the summer but, sadly, it's closed over the winter months. Quite understandable as Cornwall is beautifully quiet in mid-winter with none of the maddening tourists!

In 1996, work brought me to Bristol or Brizzle as it sounds in the local dialect known as Bristolian. Listen here. Over the years I've really grown to like the place.  It is not too big nor is it too small and it has history. It can be linked to many significant events such as the discovery of North America in 1497 by John Cabot, the construction of technologically advanced ships including the Great Western in 1837 and the SS Great Britain that launched in 1843, blue glass production (known as Bristol Blue) and many nautical phrases such as Shipshape and Bristol fashion whose origin is rapidly fading into the mist of time.

I'm writing this sat outside under the shade of a pear tree, its 26 degrees Celsius, cloudless and the hottest day so far this year.  What really makes it unusual is that it's a Bank Holiday Monday also known as a public holiday here in the UK.  Its tradition that Bank Holidays are always wet and windy.  Something is very wrong!