The Lost Mansion, Baron Hill, Anglesey
About half a mile west of Beaumaris stands the overgrown and spectacular ruins of one of Anglesey’s most stately of homes, Baron Hill.
Once you bump into this 10 feet wide tree you really have arrived at the ruins.
A short walk through a wooded area along well-trodden paths reveals exotic gardens, palms, massive pines and twisted knuckled bark all overgrown and offering surprising viewings.
Although huge in its entirety, no obvious photographic views presented themselves or were easily found due to the mass of brambles and other vegetation. Roofless and too ruinous to enter even though we did spend long periods of time inside, Baron Hill, although violently tumbling and emphatically reclaimed, is a beautiful and calming experience. Sun light flickered fleetingly through the heavily canvassed tree tops and large sections of fallen dressed stone stood, as monuments, alongside the ruin.
It was built in 1612, both reduced then enlarged into a very grand house, it was finally damaged by fire during the Second World War and thereafter remained vacant. Sixty years of rain and wind, frost and snow, has taken its toll, as expected, upon its walls. Sixty years: a generation of trees, once small saplings, have grown as high as its walls have crumbled.
The large blocks of dressed stone are soft and weathered, thin layers worn off over the years. The vegetation completes its yearly cycle and slowly eats away at mortar and takes hold of any gaps in the stonework, all contributing to the demise of house and character
There are many outbuildings, all ruined: stables with enormous large wooden doors, all rotting and overrun with brambles. Sneaking views around the grounds show the foundations of greenhouses and other outbuildings, the stone work covered in moss, the beams, windows and door frames damp and rotten, inevitable as time, eating and furthering the decay and finality of collapse.
All Images shot on a
Fuji GSW690
Ilford Pan F 50 Black and White Film.
Induro Tripod and Cable release
Kingjoy A86 Tripod Review
After over twenty five years of using Manfrotto tripods (mainly a 055 classic pro) i came across Kingjoy through my good friend Marcus who has been now using them for maybe four or five years, i knew that if he was using them on the rugged and wild landscapes of Isle of Skye that they must be good, but also good enough to withstand the wild weather that comes with the territory, so last February i went up to Skye for some photography and to see Marcus, after several phone calls with him i had originally decided on one of the C models but on arriving on Skye he didn't have one in stock so decided to go with the A86 which was the right decision in the end.
Now this is a beast of a tripod but still weighing in a whole pound lighter than the 055, well that was a positive start to say the least. The A86 is also a very tall tripod, to tall for me but there has been several times in the past when the extra height would have been handy so i went with it, the 39mm wide upper carbon fibre legs make this a extremely strong tripod holding upto 30kg or 66lb in old money, the leg adjusters which are a breeze to use are o ring sealed which is a massive advantage for the coastal photographer, not allowing sand to travel up inside the legs. I use four different cameras on mine and the Kingjoy large ballhead(sold separately )never fails either. It handles all four cameras with ease, it also looks the part too especially when the large format camera is in use.
It comes in a zipped bag and is boxed with screw in spikes and rubber feet for different terrain, i bought the extra long spikes which gives the tripod amazing stability on soft ground and in extremely windy conditions. The legs also splay out to several heights, the lowest being a crazy shooting height of 4 inches!! All in all this is by FAR the best tripod i have ever owned and compared to other models with these stats i would say it's very reasonably priced to at £499 tripod only. So if you are thinking upgrading of buying a tripod i highly recommend these extremely well built Kingjoy ones, go on you know you want too.!!
To buy this model or browse other models go here..
www.kingjoyuk.com
www.skyephotoacademy.com/shop/equipment/heavy-duty-carbon-tripod
After over twenty five years of using Manfrotto tripods (mainly a 055 classic pro) i came across Kingjoy through my good friend Marcus who has been now using them for maybe four or five years, i knew that if he was using them on the rugged and wild landscapes of Isle of Skye that they must be good, but also good enough to withstand the wild weather that comes with the territory, so last February i went up to Skye for some photography and to see Marcus, after several phone calls with him i had originally decided on one of the C models but on arriving on Skye he didn't have one in stock so decided to go with the A86 which was the right decision in the end.
Now this is a beast of a tripod but still weighing in a whole pound lighter than the 055, well that was a positive start to say the least. The A86 is also a very tall tripod, to tall for me but there has been several times in the past when the extra height would have been handy so i went with it, the 39mm wide upper carbon fibre legs make this a extremely strong tripod holding upto 30kg or 66lb in old money, the leg adjusters which are a breeze to use are o ring sealed which is a massive advantage for the coastal photographer, not allowing sand to travel up inside the legs. I use four different cameras on mine and the Kingjoy large ballhead(sold separately )never fails either. It handles all four cameras with ease, it also looks the part too especially when the large format camera is in use.
It comes in a zipped bag and is boxed with screw in spikes and rubber feet for different terrain, i bought the extra long spikes which gives the tripod amazing stability on soft ground and in extremely windy conditions. The legs also splay out to several heights, the lowest being a crazy shooting height of 4 inches!! All in all this is by FAR the best tripod i have ever owned and compared to other models with these stats i would say it's very reasonably priced to at £499 tripod only. So if you are thinking upgrading of buying a tripod i highly recommend these extremely well built Kingjoy ones, go on you know you want too.!!
To buy this model or browse other models go here..
https://www.skyephotoacademy.com/shop/equipment/heavy-duty-carbon-tripod
