HHOM

Just got back from a lovely weekend being trained in quite specific skills to do with a particular system. I was billeted at Halton House Officers’ Mess and I am glad the course changed from RAF Wittering to RAF Halton. I hadn’t stayed or seen Halton House before Friday and I was slightly worried I’d never get to see it as Halton might be shutting down.

Halton House Officers' Mess
Halton House Officers’ Mess

The light was pretty good when I arrived and you can see that in the picture. I try not to use filters as I think that’s cheating, unless there is a very specific effect you are going for. The above picture is filter-less, just aperture adjustments. I was given Room 8. This looked out over the main balcony.

The Salon
The Salon

The Salon, above, is the main hall but we don’t call halls halls anymore. In this particular picture my room was in the top right hand part of the balcony. It was such an amazing place to stay and I took photographs of every room.

The Staircase
The Staircase

The staircase has one of the best rise/step ratios I have seen and it is perfect for people in flowing dresses. I should have taken one with me and glided down this artifact. The house was bought by the air ministry after one of the Rothschilds didn’t want it and sold it at auction. It’s a lovely place and one I can tick off my list of great places to visit that are quite difficult as a member of the public.

The house has been used in numerous films, even a Bond film, and you can see a list on Wikipedia.

My Window
My Window is one of these

Manor

Because we all need to have a lovely time away from it all I went to Cobtree Manor Park yesterday. Although it costs money to park there, quite rightly, the park is very nice and glorious in the sunshine.

Cobtree
Cobtree

The part of the park I have circled is the best bit. The paths have been made all weather since I was last there. The whole place has a beautiful collection of trees that even a heathen like me can appreciate. It’s really worth a visit.

Cobtree Arboretum
Cobtree Arboretum

Amazing

Isn’t our planet amazing? It always manages to impress even when not doing much at all. This is the view of a rainbow over Maidstone, early 2015.

Maidstone RainbowI don’t have anything else to say which given the context of recent Fooyah.net communications is a good thing.