Winter Droving 2021, Cumbria, Autumn
It’s been a while since my last post, for which I can only apologise.
A lot can change in a month, and this particularly applies to the British weather. After one of the warmest Septembers on record, and a particularly dry summer, October developed into a wet and blustery month. By Wednesday 27th October, Storm Aurore arrived and dumped 361.6mm of rainfall in almost 36 hours over Honister Pass (for context, the UK record for highest rainfall in 24 hours was recorded at Honister Pass; 341.4mm due to Storm Desmond in December 2015).
So yes, this is all to say: it’s been a bit too wet to properly get out hiking and do some photography.
Thankfully, a break in the dreadful weather arrived Saturday 30th October, the final day of traditional Winter Droving Festival at Penrith. Despite living in Cumbria for nearly a decade now, I’ve never been to the Winter Droving Festival so it was definitely time to correct this. Lisabet and I teamed up with my Dad and we all enjoyed what turned out to be a fabulous day watching live music, dances, gymnastics, marching drummers, incredible street food, and so much more.
Plus, it’s always cool to hang out with my Dad and talk photo tech.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my shiny new Fujinon 23mm f/2 prime lens. Images developed in Lightroom from Classic Chrome RAW files using my own custom-made preset, then finalised in Affinity Photo.
There’s something wonderfully incongruous about colourful fairground rides juxtaposed with old monochrome stone houses.
Halloween decorations were out in full force.
Even though we arrived at the opening of the 3rd day, Penrith town centre was already filling up.
A fun and colourful “gingerbread house” set amongst the old stone houses of Penrith.
Lisabet already getting lots of snaps in.
All manner of sweet treats available.
Our first destination we wanted to check was St. Andrew’s Church. This was where the larger-than-life animal lanterns were being displayed. In years before, these lanterns were lit from within and paraded during the evening of the 1-day festival. This time, as the festival was being held over the course of 3 days to manage crowding, the lanterns were arranged in the grounds of the church.
Lisabet and my Dad, catching up.
More weird and wonderful juxtapositions I enjoyed framing together.
The smells emanating from this Jamaican street food stall were godly.
The Winter Droving animal lanterns, with autumn foliage everywhere.
Kudos to the people who made these, incredible skills.
This ram’s head was probably my favourite of the bunch.
I’m guessing each lantern was also sponsored by a local business, providing some funds for the Eden Arts group who organise the Winter Droving every year.
The sunlight hit this fantastic wolf lantern just long enough for me to snap a composition.
Slightly creepy eyes on some of these lanterns, too…
We met Lisabet inside the church, who was happily browsing through bargains galore.
£3 for this beautiful woolly hat. I just had to snap a photo.
I’ve never been inside St. Andrew’s Church in Penrith before. It’s bonny, and houses some lovely stained glass windows.
This scene and light caught my eye as I was browsing amongst the goodies on offer in the church. It put me in mind of a still life piece of art, so I set up for a photo.
Lovely light aided this atmospheric stained glass window.
Amongst everything else on offer, some handmade shepherd’s crooks.
Time to pay up.
Back outside we followed the booming and crackling sounds of drums.
The Drum National samba band, in full swing.
The faces of joy and concentration. I miss drumming…
Loved the headwear and outfits too.
I mean, look at those horns.
The only person who didn’t seem to be having as much fun as everyone else…
A little donation to Penrith Mountain Rescue as the drumming band passes.
This lass was cool! I think she’s called Nula Hula. A “one woman” hula hooping show.
Taking off clothes whilst stilling hula hooping? No problem.
Applying makeup whilst hooping? Peasy.
A drumming family, finished with their event for the day.
The Ferris wheel proved popular. That’s a no from me, though.
The Jamaican Street Food stall beckoned us once again with those exquisite smells. So we broke for lunch.
Looking for a table to sit at, I came across this Viking family who were understandably attracting a lot of attention.
This goat curry was sublime, and a first for me in two ways: I’d never had Jamaican food before, and I’d never eaten goat before. Absolutely delicious; the goat was slow-cooked on the bone, too. It came with rice, pickled coleslaw, and “festival”—that is, Jamaican Festival bread.
After our tasty food we watched this guy do his incredible balancing tricks and acrobatics. Dude got the whole crowd pumping.
I mean, that balance. Those skills.
We meandered around the outskirts of the Winter Droving festival, ducking in and out of Penrith’s various yards. Two old friends were steadily making their way into town, happily chatting away.
Not only were all the various bands and troupes super talented, their outfits were amazing too.
Next to the Sainsbury’s supermarket, there was a display of classic cars that we unfortunately missed.
Lisabet fancied a nibble of something, so we stopped at Penrith’s famous butcher/deli the Chopping Block. A firm favourite of Lisabet’s is Pastéis de Nata, Portuguese egg tarts.
Back in the town centre, all the fairground rides were in regular use and full swing as the sun was beginning its trajectory below the horizon. I wanted to see if I could get some motion blur shots of the Galloping Horse carousel. Didn’t turn out too bad!
We decided, with the light getting low, that we would venture for a small hike up Penrith’s nearby hill, Beacon Pike, and see what views and light we could get. But first, we needed to navigate through the crowds.
Gorgeous autumnal light.
We found Fell Lane and walked up the road to the permitted footpath that takes you up Beacon Pike. Horse chestnuts everywhere!
Beacon Pike is covered in a dense woodland known as Beacon Plantation. The autumn colours were glorious.
See? Stunning.
Our final destination of the day: Beacon Tower.
Glorious warm sunset light and incredible views across the Eden valley towards the Lakeland fells.
It was great to be back out again.