In the few years leading up to and including Covid, our go-to holiday spot was an old set of cottages up the hill from Tintagel in Cornwall. That spot afforded us some of the most dramatic views of a sunset I've ever experienced, as there was a field facing west, where we could see the sun hitting the water (I'm sure it also helped we would usually go there in late June, on or near the summer solstice).

For steam engine fans, this summer has been long and at least a little disappointing. For a start, warmer weather means the exhaust coming out of the chimneys is never as impressive as spring, autumn or, if you're really lucky, a sunny winters morning hovering close to freezing. This summer was worse, because the weeks-long drought meant that eventually steam operations were banned across much of the country, because the lineside vegetation had become so dry it was basically tinder.

Today's post is something a little different. Last weekend, I headed over to Wembley Stadium to catch All In, a wrestling show from All Elite Wrestling, the second-biggest wrestling company in the world, behind the more widely known WWE. I'll understand completely if you want to skip this post. All being well there'll be some more trains in a fortnight.

I may still be bringing you photographs from holidays in previous years, but I wanted to break that flow to bring you the photographs from our most recent holiday last month, to Lake Garda in Italy. This is our first foreign holiday in almost a decade, since our trip to France in 2017 (that I'm still bringing you images from…

This evening we've had our first decent partial solar eclipse in the UK in 27 years, since the one we had in 1999 that saw totality creep into Cornwall. As it took place in the late 90s, it was something I only experienced rather than captured (although we did also have a partial eclipse about a decade ago, on the morning of…

At the end of my last post about mainline steam, I mentioned that I had noted some dates for future excursions. It turns out that most of the ones I had seen for spring and summer were either cancelled, rescheduled, or turned out to be diesel-hauled during their time coming through my part of the country. Which meant that, with one exception, it would not be until mid-November that I would be back chasing steam trains on the mainline.

I have a largely simple naming convention when it comes to naming posts. The first post about any given subject is usually just named after the place or thing. The second is usually either 'Return to the Thing' or 'More Thing'. When we get to a third post on the same subject we get 'Even More Thing'. Then I just start numbering.

It's time once again for what, in 2026, has become a monthly visit to the Bluebell Railway. In March we had the Spring Gala, in April I went bluebell hunting, in May there was the Road Meets Rail event, and this time, for June, I'm back again for the Model Railway Weekend, another event more akin to Road Meets Rail than a full-scale gala.

All the way back in 2017 we went on holiday to the south of France. Such is the currently chaotic nature of the way I'm rummaging through some of the deeper recesses of my back catalogue, it has taken me near enough nine years to post the shots I took back then. I've already posted some shots from that holiday, in the form of…

We are technically in a lull period for galas at the Bluebell Railway. The last one was the Spring Gala back in March, and the next is not until the start of August. The gap, though, is filled with smaller events, which typically do not feature any visiting locomotives, but usually feature a slightly more interesting timetable and some other attractions to tempt people in.

From time to time I will take random photographs that don't really fit with the rest of the post I'm writing. Whenever that happens I will squirrel it away for later, and then share it in a collection I like to call Random Gems. When there's enough to call it a post I put them out. I've done it six times before, and since it's been a year since…

Bluebell season is starting to wane; the bluebells are slowly dying out as their brief time in the sun comes to a close for another year. Here on Creative Splurges though, we're still very much enjoying their presence. Last time we saw a bunch of owls amongst the bluebells. Now it's time to look at something altogether different amongst the blue flowers.

Bluebell season is in full swing right now. Anywhere I go at the moment there are swathes of bluebells, whether that's in gardens, along the verges of the Brighton Main Line, or - yes - even along the heritage railway named after them. I love the bluebells. There is little I love more than seeing a massive carpet of them in a field or across the floor of a forest.

At the start of the year, as I often do, I set myself a few photographic challenges for the year ahead. The first was to shoot little blue Scottish steam engine № 828 over at the Spa Valley Railway, which I did at the end of January. The third was a do-over from last year, which was to shoot a fireworks display, something that will likely have to wait until the autumn.

It’s Easter, which is prime spring gala season in the heritage railway world. Many railways like to run galas at this time of year, running more intensive timetables and bringing in guest locomotives to attract crowds. In previous years, the Bluebell Railway has run what they call a Branch Line gala in the spring, but this year they ran a more general spring gala, presumably to free themselves from working to a ‘branch line’ theme.

60007 Sir Nigel Gresley sits on platform at Sheffield Park steaming away to herself ahead of her first service of the day. My favourite steam locomotive. Found In: Bluebell Railway: Giants of Steam 2024 Just a quick note. I've now managed to post on this site every day for 500 consecutive days. I'm very pleased with that achievement, but I am also starting to think it might be time to take another break. I hate to break a streak though, so I might find myself fighting that urge.

A great horned owl at Huxley's Bird of Prey Centre in Sussex. It doesn't look too pleased. Found In: Huxley's Bird of Prey Centre

Some sea mist starts to roll over the South Downs in Sussex. Found In: Return to the South Downs Way

Some chairs in the grounds of Sheffield Park & Gardens, presumably as part of some sort of formal al fresco meeting. Found In: Return to Sheffield Park & Gardens

A terrapin at the Brighton Sea Life Centre. Found In: Return to Brighton Aquarium

A hose in the back of a fire engine. Found In: Random Gems #6

A macro shot of what I think is a buttercup, somewhere in the New Forest. Found In: The Macro World of the New Forest

A tree somewhere in London, illuminated by fairy lights, and reflected on a damp surface. Or possibly a water feature. Found In: London at Night V

The Red Arrows perform against a dark and moody sky during a display last year. Found In: The Red Arrows

Whilst I'm sure this was intended as a reassuring warning that some cabling was still live, but it takes on a different tone when it's painted in blood red and found in the basement of an abandoned building. Found In: Derelict

6989 Wightwick Hall heads north from Horsted Keynes Station on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. This locomotive is painted red thanks to her appearing in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series. Found In: Bluebell Railway: New Year's Steam Up 2026

Yours truly, staring at my phone, from a set of experiments I did with light many years ago. (This shot is lit only by the light from my phone.) Found In: Experimenting with Light

Looking up at the support struts of one of the Golden Jubilee Bridges in London. Found In: West End Wander

Back during our 2023 holiday to Dorset, we took a visit to Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, a garden holding a variety of exotic plants in western Dorset. It led to me taking quite a few lovely macro shots of flowers. Kit List Canon EOS 60D Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM…

Two characters share a moment during a performance of All's Well That Ends Well. Found In: All's Well That Ends Well

A replica of one of my all-time favourite movie cars, the Ectomobile from Ghostbusters. Found In: Ectomobile

A swan on one of the rivers that passes through Lyon in France. Found In: Lyon

A dress, illuminated as part of a light festival in London. Found In: Lumiere London

Some sort of flower in the gardens of Nymans in Sussex. Found In: Nymans

Some valves off the side of Worthing Pier in, er, Worthing. Found In: Worthing

A line of trees reflected in the water in Richmond Park, giving a look reminiscent of the trademark Boscastle Pottery 'mocha ware' design. Found In: Misty Morning, Richmond Park

Some citrusy fruits on display at Borough Market in London. Found In: Return to Borough Market

A scarlet ibis - which I think sounds like a chain of hotels, but whatever - spreads its wings at Drusillas Park in Sussex. Found In: Return to Drusillas Park

A shot of the building affectionately (or not) known as the cheese grater. It's a lot more colourful from the non-cheese grating side. Found In: City of London

It's March, spring is in the air, and it shouldn't be long now until this year's bluebells start sprouting. Found In: Bluebell Forest

A lovely, weathered, mossy signpost near Ardingly Reservoir. Found In: Ardingly Reservoir

A view of the rear light cluster of a stunningly beautiful Aston Martin DB5. For me, this is one of the most beautiful cars to ever exist in one of the most beautiful colours. Found In: Aston Martins

I love to photograph a more distinguished gentleman such as this. There is so much more detail on their face.

At the start of the year, I set myself several photography-based resolutions for 2026. One of those was to visit the Spa Valley Railway to see Caledonian Railways № 828 in action. By late January I was itching to get out and photograph steam again, as well as give my "railway lens" a proper field test against the subject I bought it for (it had…

A basketball. Shot at a British Basketball Association match in London. Found In: London Lions

A model on the runway at London Fashion Weekend in 2013. If this was fashionable then it probably isn't now. This isn't really my area of expertise. Found In: London Fashion Weekend

A street scene in Oslo, Norway. Found In: Oslo

A fountain in the gardens of Nymans in Sussex. Found In: Nymans

A great horned owl at Huxley's Bird of Prey Centre in Sussex. Found In: Huxley's Bird of Prey Centre

Geoff Lazer Ramsey, Regulation Podcaster and former Achievement Hunter, photographed here at a Rooster Teeth fan event in 2022. Found In: Rooster Teeth UK 2022