The last month has been another busy one, particularly as I started a new job, finally finished my masters dissertation and had another visit down to Wales! Because of such, I haven't been out in the last of the sunshine as much as I would have liked to have been, but now that my dissertation is over I will have plenty of free time to enjoy Autumn! September has been a fantastic month for rainbows appearing between the showers, there were a couple of weeks where I saw multiple rainbows each day! Once again this month, my mum and I explored plenty of our old haunts, such as the Helme or local walks around the area, it's been lovely to see Autumn slowly coming into bloom in these places which I have fond memories of within vibrant summers or when spring has creeped upon us.
We decided one day to drive out to Ingleton one afternoon so that we could explore around the viaduct, an area which we hadn't really been before! We ended up going for a walk across some fields with an open view of Ingleborough all the way round before ending back in Ingleton, where I got a fantastic shot of the viaduct framed by autumn-turning leaves! On the way back from Ingleton we decided to visit Ribblehead Viaduct and Dent Head Viaduct rather than travelling back via Kirkby Lonsdale. When we arrived at Ribblehead Viaduct I managed to get a few photographs before it began raining and we ran back to the car. There were beautiful rainbows amongst the hills and winding roads which would have made fantastic photographs but the rain was so heavy that I really didn't want to risk breaking another camera, and also due to our less than savory luck with mum's car recently, we thought it was best to get home before the weather got too bad! We did however manage to quickly run to get some (slightly blurred due to shivering in the rain and trying to keep my camera under the wobbly umbrella!) shots of the Dent Head Viaduct. It's definitely a place we will visit again, especially as we are now familiar with the roads in this area!
At the end of the month, it was my 24th birthday and I had a lovely day spent with my family, however it was also the final countdown to my dissertation deadline which meant I spent 6 hours of my birthday proofreading all 18,000 words and sorting it ready to print the next day. Thursday was spent travelling down to South Wales so I could hand it in and actually get round to reading something which isn't an article or a textbook some point soon! I decided to stay in Caerphilly and travel to Treforest to hand in my dissertation, so that I had no excuse not to visit the castle which I wanted to do the whole time I lived in Wales! The train journey down went smoothly until I landed in Cardiff, and there had been a fire on the Caerphilly line! After an hours wait in the station we were informed we could use our train tickets on the buses, and so after a painstakingly slow bus journey I finally arrived! In true Northern style, I sat by the castle to admire the view whilst eating a Greggs pasty before making my way to the hotel.
I visited the Castle with one of my friends from my masters course on the Friday after handing in my dissertation, it was a beautiful and peaceful day so we were able to enjoy the sunshine and take our time as we wandered around the ruins with coffees in hand. The castle is a really stunning place, majority of it is still in tact and there's a lot of interactive activities placed within many of the rooms. A lot of the castle is also situated outside so you can walk around the moat and the castle walls or enjoy some 360 degree views of the town of Caerphilly from the top of two towers. There was a wedding in process when we visited, however this only meant that one room was out of bounds so we didn't miss out! I thought it was fantastic that you were able to enjoy some of the castle grounds without having to pay to enter the castle, if the weather had been nicer I'm sure we would have had a picnic in the castle's outer grounds!
Whilst I was in Caerphilly I also had a little wander around the town, looking for a few souvenirs for my family! It would be ridiculous to travel all the way down to Caerphilly and not buy some of the cheese the place is famous for! I had also managed to buy some welshcakes for my family to try! It was raining on the Saturday when I had to get my train home so my last glimpses of Caerphilly, and Wales in general were done so from the warmth of my taxi/train! It's a place I would definitely love to visit again!
Now that I've officially finished my degree, I cannot wait to get out more with my camera and embrace Autumn!
