As nearly all my family is originally from the UK, trips to the motherland happen frequently, with each visit revealing another piece of Britannia that I haven’t seen before. Some good, some bad - I'll leave out the bad names to avoid hurt feelings.
On one of these visits, I found myself in the town of North Leigh, a small village (by my standards) located in Oxfordshire, being home to less than 2,000 people. Where these 2,000 people were hiding - I have no idea, as I barely saw anyone else during my time here.
Can't beat the golden hour for some amazing lighting
One of those 2,000 people clearly liked this persons table.
I had an afternoon / evening to pass during my visit, so instead of driving to the larger nearby town of Witney, I decided to venture out on foot and see if I could find any hidden gems to photograph. As per usual, I had my Canon DSLR out, and also decided to use my Sony cellphone for a few snapshots, which you'll see mixed in below.
North Leigh has two main landmarks, being St Mary’s Parish Church, as well as the very dilapidated North Leigh windmill. Since the windmill was an uphill walk from where I was staying, and I was feeling lazy, I decided to head in the direction of the church.
The road map of North Leigh is pretty much in the shape of a big "X", with four roads running off in different directions. Technically, none of these roads can be considered the main road, as all of them are equally quiet, with only one or two cars coming past during my walk.
The thing I love the most about being out in the countryside is all the paths that you’re free to roam on, respecting the rules obviously. Close all gates, no littering, leave it as you found it etc. Back in South Africa, you’ll be met with a hail of gunfire for standing too close to someone else’s fence.
It didn't take long to find the church, which didn't look especially well used. I did take a brief walk around the graveyard, trying to find a date to get an idea of how long people have been buried there for. Every tombstone was either covered in layers of mould, or completely blank from years of inclement weather, so that didn't help much.
Luckily, a small plaque on the gate mentioned that a bell tower was first created here in the early 11th century, and the church had been around in various forms since then. That's right - 11th century. Talk about being vintage.
Behind the church, I found this road branching off to what looked like a luxury country hotel. Since the actual building was still quite far in the distance, I figured it couldn't hurt to walk along the road a bit and see what photo opportunities there were on offer, and what a photo opportunity I found.
No, it wasn't this horse, but it's probably the most photogenic horse ever created anyway.
I was gifted with this great sight of the sun setting over the winding roads, which looked good to create a panorama from. There was a lot happening - old stone wall, road, trees, sunset etc - so it only made sense to try a panorama. I created this by shooting four individual photos using my 50mm (for the depth of field), and then merged in Photoshop.
With the daylight fading, it was time to walk back and get prepared for the next location. Thanks North Leigh, you were pretty great. I'll be back.
HONOURABLE RANDOM MENTION: No matter where you go in the UK, there’s guaranteed to be a fish and chips shop at arm’s length away. Seriously, doesn’t matter where you are, there will be one. I can’t remember the exact name of this place, but damn, they did well. Chips, hake, and mushy peas - always a winner.