Corfe Castle Catches the Moon

A rare view should not be missed. Dramatical ruins of the Corfe castle, Dorset are lit by the warm sunset ray, but look, the moon is already there, almost full and clearly seen in the sky!

Broadway Tower, Cotswolds

A beautiful place in Cotswolds is the Broadway Tower on the Broadway Hill, the second high point in Cotswolds after Cleeve Hill. There is something magical about this tower, standing alone on the hill and overlooking the neighborhood. Despite the fact that to get there in the high snow is almost impossible on a 'hair dryer engine', it is so worthy a walk up to the hill.

Plenty of sheep like the Tower. 

And with the thorough look deer can be also spotted.

Apparently, the Broadway Tower is the perfect place for winter fun both for children, and for adults, - not counting dogs!

Back to 2012

As the New 2013 Year is quickly approaching, it may be nice to look back at some moments left in the year 2012. Somewhere in the second middle of 2012 I have started this blog. Not that much of experience yet and not really promoting, only shared with my family and friends. But even to make this possible, greatest thank you to someone who made one of the best Birthday gifts ever, my lovely Canon, and who inspired me for everything created, and is inspiring even more ;)

A lot of good material is still not added, as so much to learn yet, and swept-out me is still trying to battle with some oceanic size waves of the photo material. Nevertheless, was so nice to discover that it is a hard job to choose twelve posts of the leaving year.

The blog start has happened just before the Olympic 2012 started in London. So, obviously being in Olympic London was a good opportunity to share the spirit of the world's most awaited  sport competition. I was lucky enough to have the Olympic Torch Relay passing by my offices before the Games.

And the Team GB full of medals parading on 21 floats afterwards.

   

Both the Olympics and Paralympics were not missed either. Not only I followed the Paralympics tightly and even tried myself in the sport journalism with conducting the interviews with Paralympic athletes and coaches, but also was cheering for the athletes at the Olympic events such as thriathlon, cycling, female football, foil fencing finalle:

and archery. Here, btw, the only one qualified Iraqi (and female!) athlete of the Games 2012, Al-Mashhadani Rand  as participated. And despite the results was maybe the most cheered and warmly supported athlete of the Games by the visitors:

My personal warmest memories were filled with some really sweet people (is that is why the country called Sweden?) including one little but incredibly cute, smart and independent creature...

If not the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and dedicated to it scenes from the Saxon rural life of those times, I would not know how many people like history and reading... If not the love to the cute babies in general and Alexandra in particular, this article would be the most read for the entire time of my blog.

Another thing mastered in the past year was the night photography. I even entered some dodgy photocompetition with a bit crazy London Eye. With more lights, less light, shining in blue, white, red and yellow, now, I love the nights in my camera!

It was also fun to have a different experience of the urban photography.

What is good about London - there is always something on, and often in your area and unexpected, like ice-cream festival at King's Cross St. Pancras, or a Christmas Market in Jamie's Oliver restaurant Fifteen. The most surprise for me was probably the feather snow just at the end of Paralympic: never before have I seen so many adults with absolutely marvellous childish happiness!

After several years living in London, I finally managed going to musicals. The unforgettable experience has started with brilliant Chicago. Well done was the timing - it appeared to be the last day of the performance of 25 years of the Chicago on London stage.

The second part of the 2012 was also the the good time to travel around England. Never before have I seen so much of English countryside. There are collections of English beauty on the way but one of the interesting events attended and published was the Fish Festival held on the last summer day in the small Cornwall fishing village Newlyn.

Sometimes while travelling I saw really funny things:

And I hope to find even more, and to share them... as I see them through my lens ;)

Happy New Year to my friends!

Rural Life in the Saxon Campus XI Century

  

1066 Battle of Hastings

- I has been killed. Then I has being lying for a while in the grass, stood up, and went into attack again. On the Norman side...

If only William the Conqueror would have known that his great battle to open English land will be turned into a show in which the soldiers would  quack, creepingly come to life and get to the combat again and again, and the battle itself will be played two weekend days each year, I  feel he would at least have brought celebrities and asked Coke-Cola and Nike to sponsor it from the very beginning. However, there were no  big boards at that old time. And unlike the other decorations, the only walls of the castle remained same.

According to the sequel, the Battle welcomed the very young warriors!

William brought quite a global army which consisted of Normans and all the nations previously warred down like Flanders, Brittany, France  and other Italians. Harold had his Essex fellows only, quite a few but not as organized and trained as his foe. And not as many (Wikipedia has  different from English Heritage opinion on this though). 

William has not been called "the Conqueror" yet, and English did not know that he would conquer them. So they were standing and waiting.

Just-William (of Normandy, of course) has galloped along his army with the "Yes-We-Can" speech, like in those movies, you know. Then he called for the  archers. English, by the way, also had archers. But just a few, and those did not fancy running in the field and collect their used arrows after  shooting, hence this professional area was not highly rated and highly developed among them, and they shot at sixes and sevens. William, on the contrary, has paid attention  to  his archers, provided to them trainings and other shootings. His archers performed by a big crowd and aimed into a defined part of English  infantry to make a hole. And they shot high and almost far!

The next action point of William was infantry.

He really believed the English are crawling-crying after his archers. But no. English have looked at what's on, and decided - to there!

The first combat was not really big. The parties probed each other, and left tired. But while the Norman infantry was resting and massaging, English were not up to that. William had another nice surprise for them: Norman cavalry!

English, however. kept confident, held the ground creating a wall of spears, swords and axes. Norman cavalry bad some fancy footwork around  and galloped away.

William was persistent. His infantry got up and gained the new instructions.

So the Normans went ahead again

But English warriors are fearsome!

Beware Norman!

Again has fleed away the Norman infantry. And again has remembered William about the Norman cavalry

And again the cavalry has galloped to the English side

No success this time, either!

Here, William has started getting bored. And he already wanted to have this battle won somehow. He started thinking and remembering... And he  remembered how, when his infantry was drawing back, English followed them and broke their line, just like English football team on the counter-attack with some Spain. William was a smart cookie, and he decided to bob out the English into the battle field. There was the third time that the William's archers nocked on their bows, and sent their arrows to awake some of English, and the third time that William  sent his troops against firm Saxons. The bloody combat has begun

As Harold has been killed by that moment, and there was no one to tell the English troops to hold the ground anymore, they swallowed the William's bait, and Normans managed to crash into English line. This was the last battle. Normans attacked again and again

Then they have squeezed the Saxons into the very corner. There was no place to drop back, the spectators were just behind the backs, plus the rain has started pouring. Well, tough it was!

Many were beaten-down in that combat. This time many warriors were even lying crooked until the very end of the battle

Finally, Normans won. After the Victory they went on the knees, and prayed

After pray, the warriors collected their trailing around swords and arrows, took up their injured and dead, and walked to their camps. The sky was terrific, and no one wanted to get wet under the rain

Thus, the Battle of Hastings made it into history. And sure, William of Normandy upgraded to William the Conquerorю