Barbary macaque monkey at Trentham Monkey Forest

One of the lovely macaques we saw on our visit to Trentham in April this year.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/400s, 35mm, hand held.

Reeds and reflections on Trentham Lake.

Here's another one from our visit to Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire, in April this year.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/2, 1/3200s, 35mm, hand held.

Geese feeding beside Trentham Lake in heavy rain.

It had just started raining hard when I took this photo in April this year - it was bouncing off the lake and giving it a shimmery effect. Whilst everyone else was running for cover, the geese didn't even seem to notice and just carried on munching away on whatever they had found in the grass.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100. f/4, 1/80s, 35mm, hand held.

Barbary Macaque perched on a log in woodland.

This one's from our visit to the Monkey Forest on the Trentham Estate in April this year. It's a small woodland area inhabited by around 140 Barbary Macaques - you walk amongst them on the open pathways, watching them play, feed, groom and, like this one, watch you back!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/200s, 35mm, hand held.

Fairy sculpture on Trentham Lake.

This is one of the many stainless steel wire fairies hidden around the lake and gardens at Trentham. They were created by local artist Robin Wight and I think they fit beautifully with their surroundings. I took this photo on a visit to the gardens and Monkey Forest in April this year.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/1600s, hand held.

Giant dandelion sculpture catching the sunlight at Trentham Gardens.

This lovely sculpture, which I photographed last week, is one of 12 at Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire. Each one is 5m tall with a seed head over a metre wide. They fit in beautifully with their surroundings between the lake and meadows.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/160s, 35mm, hand held.

Swan on its nest among reeds on Trentham Lake.

Yesterday we visited the Trentham Estate in Staffordshire. We walked through the Monkey Forest (the woodland home of 140 free-roaming Barbary Macaques), then walked around the lake and gardens. This swan was nesting at the side of the lake.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/800s, 35mm, hand held.