Maud Heath's Causeway

Kellaways

Kellaways is small, but ancient. The Manor of Kellaways is recorded as held by the Kellaways family from the C12 to c1424. From c1500 to 1844 it was held by the Long family of Draycot and South Wraxall. Kellaways is on the River Avon; there was once a watermill. It was marked as disused on a 1959 map. The present building, now a house, is from the late 17th and 18th centuries; nearby stands the mi…  (read more)
Maud Heath's Causeway

Maud Heath's Causeway

27 Oct 2012 1 2 211
Maud Heath left money for a causeway to be built between Chippenham and Wick Hill, to spare people on their way to market in Chippenham from getting wet feet and legs where the River Avon frequently floods. The most obvious section of sixty-four brick arches - of which this is a small length - is at Kellaways beyond Langley Burrell. The charity still maintains the path out of her bequest of 1474. Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 on a Nikon D2Xs. 200 ISO; 1/90th; f/5.
Kellaways

Kellaways

27 Oct 2012 112
A Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 Close Focus lens was used on a Nikon D2Xs to make this photograph.
Maud Heath's Monument

Maud Heath's Monument

27 Oct 2012 1 113
Photographed with a Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 Close Focus lens. Made in Japan around 1984 under contract by Komine, this lens has acquired something of a cult following. Its closest focus is under ten inches, which can be quite useful on occasions.
St Giles Church, Kellaways

St Giles Church, Kellaways

27 Oct 2012 2 143
Nikon D2Xs and Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 Close Focus Komine-made lens. 100 ISO; f/4; 1/250th.
Kellaways Junction

Kellaways Junction

27 Oct 2012 1 160
Nikon D2Xs with a Komine-made Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 AI-S Close Focus lens. Some reviewers felt it wouldn't have been out of place to have badged it as a Series 1.
No Cupola

No Cupola

09 Jun 2016 126
St Giles Church at Kellaways is a small edifice and a bit run down. Kellaways is one of five parishes in the Draycot Benefice (Church of England) and the priest-in-charge must be a busy person. The present church was built around 1805 and until recently had a handsome cupola. The local people are raising money to fix it. Kellaways is a sparsely populated place famous for being served by Maud Heath's Causeway, an elevated pathway for keeping people's feet dry in times of floods, which are frequent when the Avon bursts its banks. The Great Western railway passes through but there has never been a stop in Kellaways. There is - unlikely as it sounds - a Kellaways telephone exchange. I can't find any physical evidence of it as yet. Maybe it was a shed with a telephonist once, as was the case elsewhere when the early telephone system was set up. Nikon D2Xs fitted with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E lens.
Simply Red

Simply Red

09 Jun 2016 122
Postbox at Kellaways. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Injure me not

Injure me not

09 Jun 2016 144
Engraved, and recently renovated, inscription on the monument to Maud Heath's bequest at Tytherton Kellaways, Wiltshire. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Kellaways Bridge (North)

Kellaways Bridge (North)

09 Jun 2016 203
As the railway nears Chippenham the land rises a little and here at Kellaways are the last of the embankments before the contours change. There are two bridges: this is the northern one on the road from Maud Heath's monument at Kellaways to Sutton Benger via Sutton Lane. The flat land does not, however, persist for long, for just beyond Chippenham station are the Western Arches where the railway is once again elevated to keep it nice and even. The railway is very close to the river Avon at this point, much as it is at Christian Malford where the bridge building was a big undertaking. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Tytherton Kellaways

Tytherton Kellaways

09 Jun 2016 164
St. Giles Church in the distance; Maud Heath's causeway on the left. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Sundial

Sundial

09 Jun 2016 150
Sundial on Maud Heath's monument at Tytherton Kellaways, Wiltshire. Nikon D2Xs fitted with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E lens.
Church Gate

Church Gate

09 Jun 2016 1 164
St Giles, Kellaways. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Hemlock Water-Dropwort at Tytherton Kellaways

Hemlock Water-Dropwort at Tytherton Kellaways

09 Jun 2016 199
Photographed with a Nikon D2Xs fitted with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E lens. With the teleconverter, the lens becomes a 120-240mm f/5.6. On the cropped sensor, the field of view is therefore 180-360mm - not bad for a dinky lightweight lens taking a 52mm filter. The Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 lens is generally accepted to have been the best of the Series E range; in 'The Nikon Compendium Handbook of the Nikon System' by Rudolf Hillebrand and Hans-Joachim Hauschild, it is remarked, 'The image quality of this NIC-coated lens is so good that it would have fitted perfectly into the Nikkor programme.' This lens was available only from 1979 to 1983, being discontinued because the market was demanding zoom lenses with greater reach. Hemlock Water-Dropwort is a common tall robust plant of ditches, streamsides and river banks, and is highly poisonous.
A Reflection

A Reflection

09 Jun 2016 144
The river Avon at Tytherton Kellaways, Wiltshire.
The Last Post

The Last Post

06 May 2018 1 1 78
Being a very small hamlet, and not even of civil parish status,Tytherton Kellaways has few amenities. There is an ancient causeway to keep your feet dry on the way to market if the river has burst its banks (quite a common event) but most of the local people have rubber tyres between them and the water nowadays. There is a small Anglican church which has to share its priest with four other villages and English people are no longer regular churchgoers anyway. And there is a letterbox, surviving against all the odds. That's it. Nikon D700 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 lens.
Kellaways in June

Kellaways in June

09 Jun 2016 3 99
Nikon D2Xs with an AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Approaching Storm Over Kellaways

Approaching Storm Over Kellaways

09 Jun 2019 4 5 271
I photographed this with a venerable Nikon D2Xs. Using it is such a pleasurable experience that I prefer it to more modern and capable kit. I try to limit it to 100 ISO (as here) and certainly no more than 400 ISO because high ISO is definitely not where it excels, whereas 100 ISO produces nice images. Years ago we used 100 ISO film and managed alright, and so that's how I approach the D2Xs now. Here it is partnered with a Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens at f/11. A 35mm lens on the D2Xs is akin to using a 50mm lens on a film SLR of what is now classified as 'full frame'. Shutter speed 1/250th. There was plenty of light until the storm broke about an hour later.
St. Giles's Church, Tytherton Kellaways

St. Giles's Church, Tytherton Kellaways

09 Jun 2019 2 2 140
I was pleased to see that the cupola on St. Giles's Church had been returned following repair and renovation. Even more satisfying from a photographer's point of view was that it stood out so well against the stormy sky. My several earlier visits have often coincided with washed-out white skies making it hard to highlight the intricacy and beauty of the cupola. I salute the local people who contributed towards its restoration. Nikon D2Xs with an 85mm f/1.8 AF-D lens (comparable to 127mm in full frame). 100 ISO; f/8; 1/250th.
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