Snakes and Lakes

Today has been glorious! We set off in the morning for the Saxon town of Cricklade, near Cirencester. It is the right time of year to be viewing the snake's-head fritillaries in the North Meadow nature reserve. They were both profuse and amazing, and CleanSteve has done them justice, but I was unable to do so because of the lack of viewfinder. It was a bright, bright day and I couldn't light meter accurately on my compact, and the flowers kept moving in the stiff breeze!

Later, we headed off for the Cotswold Water Park, which is a large area covering many miles of villages and flooded ex-gravel pits that have been turned into lakes, with opportunities for fishing/boating/watching nature. We found a lovely one to picnic beside, off the beaten track. On the way home, I could not resist popping into the area called the Cotswold Country Park, because it boasts the largest inland beach in the UK, and offers a type of waterskiing on a flying fox, as well as Zorbing. We couldn't drive in or we'd have had to pay, so I just skipped in through a side gate and took some reference shots so that I can persuade my next set of visitors that they really need to go there! This shot shows one of the lakes with zorbing balls in front of the restaurant building. All of my photos were disappointing today, so I have added a distressed effect for fun.