Andy Rodker's photos

Las Machotas, from near the village of Peralejo, Madrid Province. She wouldn't then. She doesn't now. I respect that. Of course. It doesn't matter that I don't understand it. 5 years on and I have accepted it!

Porthcadjack, Cornwall Half an hour after this shot was taken, you would never have known it had been like this. The sun finally came out on the first of August and the families returned to the beaches and all was right with the world!

Granite areas allow for terrific walking conditions due to the friction it gives. You can hop from rock to rock without fear that you might slide of! In other words, this is my ideal walking country! In the background, Penelara, the highest peak in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

This is an officially designated nudist beach. I like this beach for its many aesthetic qualities and pleasures! But I must add that I have never seen any nudists here! The way down is quite safe but not perhaps for the faint-hearted! And in some years, land slides and mud slips make the path treacherous until someone (on one occasion me and a local line fisherman) helps out by kicking in a new path where the old one had been swept away. (The things I do for aesthetics!) Seriously, anyone who knows this beach well will tell you that I am exaggerating. You see whole families down on the beach. Grandmothers pass me by on their zimmer frames as I gingerly creep down the cliff path, City types stroll past, nonchalantly placing a deal or booking a table at Nathan Outlaw's latest restaurant. etc etc No. I still haven't seen any nudists here! Sorry. I get carried away sometimes with the beauty of Cornish scenery!

Pinner, Middlesex, One of the few true villages still extant in the London area. A photo from 1979 - my Pentax ME SLR and b/w film, scanned. I came here for a job interview. I was in my last year at uni. I was early and walked around and took a few photos (I had packed my SLR with my notes for the interview for some strange reason). I did OK at the interview, forgot all about it, went to France for a year after my finals, then got a message from my Dad that the firm in Pinner wanted to know what had happened as I had been due to start many months ago! I had very little recollection of all this, except a few black and white photos, of which this is one. Upshot: 35 years work in the Financial Services Industry, starting with this firm in Pinner before I finally upped sticks and came to Spain 7 years ago. That was the short answer. The long answer is ...........

Enjoying itself hugely. It had an amazing appetite and devoured this daffodil almost before I got my phone out of my pocket! Best on 'z'! By sheer coincidence Marie-claire Gallet has also posted a photo of this insect. You can see it on explore. She knows the name so thank you Marie-claire!!!

Griffon Vulture. El Cancho de La Bola. Sierra de La Cabrera

There is a way down from here but not recommended!

Crane Castle was an Iron Age (possibly older) clifftop fort and settlement. It has fallen into the sea over the centuries and I am standing on what would have been the landward battlements. Maybe another 200 years before it falls away completely?

Porthcurno, Logan Rock, granite,Cornwall, Dartmoor ponies, Shasta daisies, heather

. The Logan Rock pub, Treen (South), West Penwith, Cornwall. A terrific pub in the far west of Cornwall (and there are so many!).

The cliffs and the sea are one foot behind me.

Granite and fog. La Sierra de La Cabrera. Climbing through the fog, not knowing if the peaks would poke out from under, was interesting. Much better was when I eventually did break through! Later that day I watched the weather news and it seems that the sea of fog stretched over the whole of the central Iberian Peninsula; an unusual phenomenum!.

Sierra de La Cabrera, El Cancho Largo.

Well, I suppose it IS accessible, but only by boat!

The GR10 (the route that crosses the peninsula from Valencia to Lisbon) used to pass by here. But on my most recent walks in this local area (I stress I haven't done the whole walk from coast to coast), the way-marks for this long-distant route have shifted away from this point and indicate a path on the other side of the mountains behind me here. I guess it is either to arrest path erosion or, much more likely, to avoid expensive property access disputes!

Dedicated cycle lanes being built at the expense of parking for the residents. That's progress, I suppose. It means my girlfriend now can't park outside, but has to trawl the side streets for hours looking for a parking space. :o)

Good walking country. There are 100s of walks of all standards all around these rocks and cliffs. Something for everyone!