Hi all,

I hope you're all well. I've not been on here much recently as I got into Microsoft Flight Simulator and have been taking a bit of a break from photography. A lack of energy maybe, and a considerable number of bleak days... I guess I just needed a bit of a break from photography, and the weather up until a couple of weeks ago hasn't been particularly inspiring, so I figured it was a good time to have a break and come back re-energised.

Anyway I decided to head out yesterday. I noticed these high clouds were lingering around on Saturday and persisted into Sunday so I figured it might be worth a trip up to Mam Tor in the Peak District to go and photograph an idea I've had for several years.

I was hoping for a nice sunset so I was really grateful to see one like this and I don't think I could have imagined it any better! I love this winding road to Edale which is at the back of Mam Tor, the hillside I'm stood on here, and so I took some long exposure photographs which help to highlight the road with the use of car headlights and tail lights. Fortunately the sky stayed like this for quite a few minutes so I could wait for the right opportunity.

Really pleased with how this came out, a stunning sky and a minimalist look is just what I wanted.

Tags:   #minimalism #peakdistrict #mamtor #your_peakdistrict

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I think it was Napoleon who described the English as a nation of shopkeepers, and when I was a young lad in London, it seemed that every street corner had a small shop. I was actually doing my Economics A level in 1964 when Retail Price Maintenance was abolished. Until that happened, you couldn't sell goods for less than the minimum price set by the manufacturer. We forecast then that it would mean the end of small shops, as supermarkets could undercut them.

There are still a few village shops left, mainly where there is no nearby supermarket. The village shop at Hornby in the north of Lancashire (pictured) is excellent and seems to sell everything. But the local villages near where we live have all lost their village shops. The last budget can only hasten the end of those still remaining.

Tags:   Lancashire Hornby villages village shops street scenes

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