Cameras,castles,and colour-changing trees.

Over the weekend, I spent some time with my dad and grandpa (and Archie), visiting Winchcombe, and Sudeley Castle. My grandpa is part of my dad’s side of the family, so I don’t get to see him that much- he makes an annual visit during September time to come and visit us and sometimes we travel north to see him.

My grandfather is 93, fought in WW2 and has recounted many vivid memories of his time in the Atlantic and around the Mediterranean, the people he met and the experiences he had have always been ingrained in his memory. Along with his thick northern accent, sense of humour and white hair, my grandad is well known for his love of steam trains and photography. I developed a love of photography from him after he showed me a number of his different cameras and lenses that he’s collected over the years- I vividly remember a time where he proudly showed me and taught me the workings and showed me the images from one of his cameras, the corners of his mouth rising as he handed me the camera and let me view photographs of his garden, dog, and his home up north.

Sudeley

This was the first time I had visited Sudeley for many years, and the first time I visited in Autumn. Archie enjoyed racing around the fields adjacent to the grounds, smelling rabbit scent and bounding towards Grandad and his beloved camera, hearing the click of the shutter as Archie skidded to a halt. I enjoyed seeing the leaves fall from the trees and noticing the technicolour of leaves, from deep reds to bright yellows; I love autumn for the range of colours, mixing on each individual leaf.

Although we didn’t explore the castle grounds, I saw the children’s playground and the treehouse that was installed a few years back, the sounds of children laughing and having a whale of a time took me back to my childhood- corkscrew curls, muddy knees and flushed cheeks after running around the woods all afternoon, building dens and climbing trees made me think of the constant state of happiness I was in when being in  nature. Autumn was always a time where the wellies were retrieved from storage in the morning and caked in mud by the early evening, a day’s adventures done and dusted.

Amongst the sun shining through the trees, and the thumping of Archie’s paws on the soft earth, the feeling of contentment arose. I was happy, and in a good state of mind, the troubles of the past week hadn’t bothered me on Saturday, unlike the other days of the week where I began to question my confidence in myself. This was an exception on Saturday, where, for the first time last week, I felt good about myself.