The UK has so many amazing landscapes that it is often easy to forget the lesser known areas. The Mountains of Mourne - with a name so wildly romantic it is positively Tolkienesque - is one of those places. The Glens of Antrim along the North Coast of Ulster, with the Giant's Causeway as its star attraction, tends to get most of the tourist traffic and attention. County Down, in the South of the province bordering the Republic of Ireland, is a hidden gem: the Mournes are very visible, but there are many other lovely locations such as Tollymore Forest Park, Killeyleagh and Strangford Lough and the delightful seaside town of Newcastle. It isn't a super touristy area and as a result lacks simple things like easy parking spots for taking photos over the best views. Which makes any views you do manage to photograph hard-won and all the sweeter for it!
P5L52 Mountains of Mourne, County Down, Northern Ireland
P5L53 Mountains of Mourne, County Down, Northern Ireland The moody Mountains of Mourne
V20L3 Mountains of Mourne, County Down, Northern Ireland

P5F42 Shimna River, Tollymore Forest Park, County Down, Northern Ireland Tollymore Forest Park, the location for several Game of Thrones scenes.
V20G1 Belfast Botanical Garden, Northern Ireland
The Palm House, Belfast Botanic Gardens - the original design for a curviliner cast iron glass house. It was the template for Kew Gardens!

V20L2 Killyleagh, Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland Killeyleagh, a beautiful little village on the shorts of Strangford Lough. It has a most impressive Castle and The Smuggler's Table - one of the finest small restaurants in Northern Ireland. V20L6 Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland Newcastle. No, not that one, this is a seaside town just to the North of Slieve Donard, the highest peak in the Mournes. V20L4 Newcastle and Slieve Donnard, County Down, Northern Ireland Newcastle and Slieve Donard P5W4 White Waterlilies, Silent Valley, County Down, Northern Ireland A stunning - and  very large - display of absolutely perfect wild waterlilies at The Silent Valley
V20AN4 Grey Heron Fishing, Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland This male grey heron wolfed down his lunch - a small fish - right in front of me. He was showing off so it would have been rude of me not to photograph him! P5F41 Scots Pines, Slieve Donnard, County Down, Northern Ireland
Young Scots pine plantation on the slopes of Slieve Donard.

I've travelled to many parts of Britain, but not to the area just north of London called Bedfordshire. The name 'Bedford' had only one connotation in my mind: that of a 1970's truck! So, when attending the Cheat Code bitcoin conference recently, held in that mysterious town, I thought it would be worth photographing. I was more than surprised to find that it is a rather lovely place, with the beautiful Embankment area the jewel of the town, alive with swans, Canada geese, ducks, rowers, runners and walkers. Add in some fine old buildings and the determination of bitcoiners to put the town on the map - including taking the local football club from the bottom rung of English football to the Premier League! - and Bedford suprised and delighted.
P5C15 River Great Ouse, Bedford, Bedfordshire, UK
P5C16 Riverside Bedford Bridge, Bedford, Bedfordshire, UK

P5C14 River Great Ouse, Bedford, Bedfordshire, UK

V20C5 Colourful Umbrellas Art Installation Bedford, UK V20C8 Reflections of Bedford, Bedford, UK V20C2 St Paul's Church, Bedford, UK V20C3 Statue of John Howard, Bedford, UK V20C12 Rowers and Swan, River Great Ouse, Bedford, UK V20C13 River Great Ouse, Bedford, UK

Now a confirmed fan of Winter Sun, we tried another Canary Island - Lanzarote - last December. As unprepossessing as it looks from the air - and from its reputation as merely a holiday destination - it turned out to be far more interesting. A wild place where nature is dominant and where the thrill of potential danger is just below the volcanic crust. These are the places I enjoy photographing the most. Places where the technological human world is sidelined for magnificent vistas, unpolluted air, and primal forces that have shaped the land, in this case even quite recently. The eruptions that created Timanfaya National Park in the 1730's created over 30 new volcanic cones, created one of the largest lava fields on Earth, wiped out multiple villages, and gave us probably the craziest lava formations on Earth. And that's before we talk about the stunning North Atlantic beaches all over the Island. Many may not be suitable for swimming but they are truly spectacular in their volcanic wildness - see the La Santa images below. Add a pleasant 22ºC in December and Lanzarote is a photographer's delight.
P5S7 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

P5S10 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands P5S9 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands P5S4 El Golfo Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
V19L5 Fuerteventura from Lanzarote, Canary Islands P5L8 Echinocactus Grusonii, Lanzarote P5L47 Hacha Grande, Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L9 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L6 Fuerteventura from Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L8 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L11 Montañas del Fuego, Yaiza, Lanzarote, Canary Islands