29 May 2014

WARNER BROS. STUDIO TOUR #1












For my friend's birthday I headed down to Leavesden to check out The Making of Harry Potter tour at Warner Bros. studio. Whether you're a fully fledged fan of the Harry Potter books or more of a casual viewer, like me, it's a pretty amazing thing to see the sets, clothing, animatronics and props from the movies in person. This is the first of two posts sharing some photographs from the tour as well as a little bit on my experience.

I took a lot of photos whilst walking around as there are so many things to see. The set designs were incredible and the sheer amount of props that feature in the background of scenes were amazing. Without the set being completely dressed with the additional background props the sets would look extremely bare. From the posters on the walls, to the detailing on brick work, there really is so much featured in scenes that our eyes don't tend to register.

Although you have to select a start time when you're booking tickets it doesn't mean that you have to leave after a certain time of being in the studios. Each tour starts with a short introduction before you are simply allowed to then spend as long as you want walking around the studios. Due to this staggering of tour times it means that areas aren't completely saturated with other people as you walk around.

My second post will be up soon with some more photographs from my walk around the tour!

27 May 2014

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON







On a recent trip to the Midlands, to visit one of my friends, we took a day trip down to Stratford-upon-Avon to explore the area and take a walk around the famous birthplace of William Shakespeare. Stratford-upon-Avon is a beautiful area with plenty of places to walk around, shops visit and spaces to just relax by the river and canals. I visited the town many years ago now so it was lovely to take another walk around and spend the day in the beautiful sunshine. 
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20 May 2014

CYCLING THROUGH THE WOODS







Some photographs taken recently whilst on a bike ride through the woods.

15 May 2014

WE OWN THE NIGHT - LONDON




On the 10th May I made my way down to Victoria Park in London to experience my first 10k race. I was taking part in the We Own The Night Woman's 10k event hosted by Nike and ELLE magazine and it was one of the best things I've ever experienced.

I arrived at the park after around a 15/20 minute walk, signposted along the way and with marshals in place from the nearby stations to direct you to the location. Once at the park I headed straight to the bag drop to get rid of my excess kit and get ready for the race. There were no queuing at the bag drop, I simply headed
over received a wristband and then another matching band was attached to my bag. I then decided to explore the area and take a quick look around the tents before the warm up was due to begin. After a lively and fun warm up it was time to head to our pace groups to await the start of the race.

This was my second official race of the year, I participated in a  1/2 marathon on 27th April (post on that to come) and I was very excited to experience my first 10k. I placed myself in the orange band pace group which was around a 1 hour 5 minutes predicted finishing time. I really wanted to finish in under an hour but placed myself in the 1:05 pace group as I haven't yet run a 10k sub 60 minutes.

When it was our groups time to head to the start line I was extremely excited. After a countdown the klaxon sounded and the race began. I started my watch and headed off. I knew not to go out the gate too fast so kept my pace steady and made sure not to get caught up in everyone racing off. I passed our groups pace maker before I even reached the first kilometer marker and knew straight away that I wanted to beat the 60 minute mark. On the second lap of the park, around 7/8k, I passed the 60 minute pace maker and realized it was going to be close as to whether I would  finish under the hour. With 600m to go I quickened up my pace and knew that it would be close. As I crossed the finish line I looked at my watch with it reading a time of 59:43. I was so excited to see I had finished under the hour mark but wanted to wait until I had my official race time. When I checked, official time it read 59:40 and I couldn't have been happier with that as my first 10k time. It's given me a great starting point and one I'm now eager to beat with more 10k events in the future.

We Own The Night was an incredible experience and one I will definitely be participating in again next year!

13 May 2014

A WALK IN THE SUNSHINE












I recently took my camera with me whilst out for a dog walk and thought I'd share some pictures with you that I took whilst I was out and about.