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A chance encounter near North Berwick

North Berwick was famous for its witch trials at which over a hundred witches were accused.  It all started because James VI, while returning from Denmark in a ship, was hit by a storm. Many of them confessed under torture to meeting the Devil and attempting to sink the ship, and were burned.

It was reputed that witches sailed to sea in a sieve. Or as Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth:

 

“Aroint thee, witch!” the rump-fed runnion cries.

Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master o’ th’Tiger;

But in a sieve I’ll thither sail,

And like a rat without a tail,

I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.

 

© Sylwia Kowalczyk and Simon Crofts

Meet Joe, the Green Man

Last night Sylwia and I caught a glimpse of the Green Man resting in the forest. Well okay, we took his portrait. Joe was utterly charming and patient with us while we experimented in the forest on tank traps left over from World War Two.

Alnmouth

Every time I take the train to London. I look out of the window of the train as we pass Alnmouth and always think “I must go there one day’. And of course, never do.

Well today, we did.

 

An impromptu Rembrandt-style portrait of Sylwia in nearby Ellingham Hall

 

The harbour entrance is idyllic

 

When we arrived, we joked that there was bound to be a big white van parked in the middle of the harbour view. There always is. So we went for a coffee, sitting outside in the cafe’s yard with a view out across the golf course to the coast. And a minute later, look what parked in front of us (and incidentally on top of the ‘Keep Clear’ sign)

 

 

 

A football pitch, Northumberland style

 

I must down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by

 

The trail is actually from a horse:

 

… who wasn’t welcome on this path:

 

Many houses in the town suffer from obsessive-compulsive hedge trimming. While we loved the town, and the hedges were truly impressive, we’re glad we live in a nice big city.

We had a chat with a local who asked where we lived, and of course we told him Edinburgh. We turned the conversation to Alnmouth, and told him how lovely it was. Every time we did, he nodded in agreement, then added wistfully: “Edinburgh’s nice” and “I really like Edinburgh” and “I do love to visit Edinburgh” and “how long does it take on the train to Edinburgh?”

Maybe we won’t move just yet.

 

Jonathan - I’ve always fantasised about going to Alnmouth – I couldn’t imagine what it was like. I could imagine Alnwick, I may even have been there, and I know Eyemouth, but Alnmouth?

Lovely beaches on that coast…

Юрий - Привет, Саймон! С удовольствием посмотрел твои фотографии. Особенно понравился портрет Сильвии в стиле Рембранта – глубина смысла поддержана тональными оттенками. Мне очень приятно наблюдать твое движение в сторону классики :-) )

admin - We wanted to get to Alnwick too – never been, only passed through, but didn’t have time to do both. So Alnwick’s for next time!

Privet Yuri! Ochen rad shto tebe ponravilos’ portret Sylwii. Zhdem s nieterpeniem poezdku v Kherson, skoro uvidemsya!

Beltane Part 2 – the preparations

I have made a small selection of some of the pictures that Sylwia and I took of the preparations for Beltane. An enormous amount of effort, dedication and organisation went into the weeks in the run up. It is fascinating to see these Celtic pagan traditions being kept alive, and reinterpreted, in a modern context – Beltane is not a historical reenactment, but a living, constantly evolving collective experience:

All images © Sylwia Kowalczyk and Simon Crofts

 

 

 

 

 

Beltane Fire Festival

Last week Sylwia and I photographed Beltane, the ancient Celtic festival welcoming the onset of summer (or spring, depending on your point of view  - anyway, the relatively warm part of the year) as part of a project that we are working on at the moment. We photographed some of the preparations as well as the night itself – I’ll do a separate post with a selection of preparation images, but here are some from Beltane night itself. The whole thing was an impressive and extraordinary spectacle, and an awful lot of fun to take part in, hard work and exhilarating at the same time, and an interesting technical challenge – because for most of the night there is very little light except that from torches and bonfire.

All images © Sylwia Kowalczyk and Simon Crofts

A handfasting ceremony under way:-

 

 

 

Roy Pritchard - Super images