Snow Around the Mill Pond

At the bottom of the Close, across the road is a gate where there is a path that leads down to the old mill pond.  The small estate that we live on was built on the site of an old mill, which I don't remember being here, although there are a lot of mills in the area.  Hence the name of the village, New Mill.  Not many of them are still here and those that are are no longer woollen mills.

At one side of the path is the mill race, which takes water from the river to fill the mill pond.  The pond is now used just for fishing and I've seen some very big fish in there.  In the photo we're at the top end of the mill race which has recently been dug out because it was very overgrown.

Mill Race in the Snow

At the other side of the path is the river which Google Maps names New Mill Dike.  About a mile or so downstream it feeds into the River Holme within the Holme Valley.  At this point the stream winds its way through the wooded area which surrounds the mill pond.

Snowy River

The path had recently been widened so it's now possible to get a vehicle down here, but it is very muddy.  I hope there are no plans to build down here as it would really spoil the surroundings.

Path through the Trees 

As I reached the top end of the mill pond I was startled by the heron setting off from the mill race and flying across the top of the pond.  I managed to get my camera up and fire off a few shots but the shutter speed was too slow to get a decent image of the heron.  I could also have done with having my longer lens on the camera but it was an unexpected appearance of the heron from behind some bushes, so no time to prepare.

The Heron Flies Away

The top end of the mill pond was clear of ice and there was little wind so it was a good opportunity to get some good reflections of the other bank.  The snow on the ground and on the branches makes the reflection more interesting.  The sky in the background was very blown out but I decided to leave it as I didn't think it detracted from the image at all.

Snow Covered Log in the Pond

In the next photo I moved in a bit closer to the pond to concentrate more on the reflections and get rid of the sky in the background. The small ripples on the pond surface are more visible but the reflections still look nice.

Reflections of Snow

In the next photo I have moved down the pond a little and have the same log in the foreground as I'm looking more towards the top end of the pond.  More nice reflections in the snow.

More Reflections in the Snow 

I moved further around the mill pond to the end where the surface was a bit solid.  I'm not sure whether it was frozen or if the snow hadn't melted when it fell on the water.

Frozen Pond

 I'm not sure what kind of weed this is but I just loved the way the snow had built up on the remains of last year's folliage.  The shape of the snow looks like white crystal strawberries.

Snow on the Weed

 A different sort of weed with snow wedged into the stalks.

Another snowy weed

 For this photo I went back to the non-frozen end of the pond where it was a bit wider so I could feature more of the reflections.

More Reflections in the Pond 

I have some more snow photos to look through and decide whether I want to post them or not.  I have some ideas about some different things for the blog or maybe I need to create a different blog.  I'll think about it.