Whistling Sands
A few shots of the popular Whistling Sands beauty spot on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales:










© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
A few shots of the popular Whistling Sands beauty spot on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales:
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
Built in the early 19th Century, the faux-medieval castle of Penrhyn stands overlooking the Menai Straits near Bangor in North Wales.
Although it’s an impressive piece of architecture, it’s important to point out that the Pennant family who built it, made their vast fortune in both Welsh slate and Jamaican sugar, the latter from plantations using slave labour. So like many other country house estates it’s a monument to the uncomfortable legacy of Britain’s colonial past.
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
A few weeks ago we went for a walk around Chirk Castle estate, a medieval castle (later country house) with over 700 years of history:
© Mark Simms Photography (2021)
A few shots of a visit to Formby Point a few weeks ago, with it’s beautiful mix of beach, sand dunes and woodland:
© Mark Simms Photography (2021)
A few images from our recent visit to Attingham Park in Shropshire:
© Mark Simms Photography (2021)
A gallery of images from the neo-classical Berrington Hall in Herefordshire:
© Mark Simms Photography (2019)
The late 18th Century Berrington Hall is a neo-classical country house about three miles north of Leominster in Herefordshire. The estate grounds at Berrington were the last to be designed by Capability Brown….landscape architect/gardener to the fabulously wealthy British landed gentry:
© Mark Simms Photography (2019)
I like taking shots of the interiors of country houses, the fascinating details, rich colours and window light:
© Mark Simms Photography (2019)
A few shots of the exterior of Dunham Massey Hall near Altrincham in Cheshire. Although originally built in 1616, the buildings have undergone extensive re-modelling at various times during the following three centuries upto 1976 when the management of the house and estate passed to the National Trust:
© Mark Simms Photography (2019)
We’ve recently returned from a whistle stop visit to Northern Ireland including a couple of days in Belfast and one day on the North Antrim coast which is perhaps most renowned for the world famous Giant’s Causeway.
This spectacular landscape is made up of over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. Science explains that this geological wonder is the result of ancient volcanic activity, but I prefer to believe the more romantic stories of myth and legend which tell of the mighty giant Finn McCool who carved the causeway out of the rocky coastline.
Whatever you choose to believe, the Giant’s Causeway is a truely remarkable place and definitely deserves it’s place on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
© Mark Simms Photography (2018)