Southern Places & Faces

I would to thank all that have graciously given their time, and let me mooch around their premises with my camera, and capture the heart of what lies behind some prominent, well known, and long standing businesses in and around the New Forest, Christchurch, and Lymington.  The essence of what I was trying to achieve was made possible by the help of the businesses featured in this blog, and I am personally very grateful to you.

The idea behind this feature came from suggestions of friends who thought I could do a good job in writing about my local travels to places where I take my photos, so after having a think for a few weeks, I came up with an idea which combines the places I go for the photos, and also the places and people I see along the way on a regular basis.  It's not a long journey, in fact it's no more than 20 mile round trip of places that are worth visiting more than once, twice, or a hundred times.  The places with the faces that are inviting, and welcoming, and that's why I choose to go back to them, and in doing so, possibly encourage those reading this article to give them a visit too.


Burley-Villa School of Riding
http://www.burleyvilla.co.uk/

Burley-Villa School of Riding

Just got back from a hack in the forest

Friendly greeting at the reception

I've lost count of the amount of times I have driven by Burley-Villa, I have to drive by it on a daily basis to get to the New Forest, and in the school holidays it's common to see the line of holiday makers on horse back taking the Bashley Common Road to begin their trail rides.  However, this is more than just a place for those on vacation, this is a place where you can learn to ride a horse, or stable a horse, have a horse broken, or if you are a holiday maker...go out on a hack.

Spotted this one being nosy :-)

A good scratch after a good hack

Once you arrive at Burley-Villa, you immediately become part of a life that is gentle, fun, and where the horse is the star.  Most people that know me, know that I am nervous of the ponies of the New Forest, ironic given that the New Forest is full of ponies, but at Burley Villa, I had no reason to have any nerves at all.  These horses had sympathy for me, and also lots and lots of character.  For me to reach out and tickle one behind the ear just goes to show just how gentle, and how patient they are.

Nudged me for a nose tickle

At Burley-Villa, it's really noticeable that they care a lot for the horses, and also for their customers too.  They have recreated a ranch, and it's easy to see that they have thoroughly enjoyed putting together a touch of the wild west to New Milton.

"Come an' git it!!"

Someone is reliving a childhood dream, I can only imagine they must love coming to work at Burley-Villa, it has the feel that they are having a lot of fun recreating a time gone by.

Cooking the grits

Of course, Burley-Villa is all about the horses, and they are all just so charming, and have so much character.  It's evident that they are all very well cared for, and enjoy their life at Burley-Villa.

Getting ready to go out to the forest, and ride amongst the ponies.

I asked for a smile, and got one :-) 

I'm so glad I decided to drop in and see the horses, and the people of Burley-Villa, it's all too easy to drive by places that we see every day, and say "ooh I must go there", well this time I did, and after this first visit, I know I will be going back again.  So if you are coming down this way for a holiday, or a weekend trip, or even if you live around here, and have been meaning to go to Burley-Villa, take it from a local...go and see them, and treat yourself to their experience.  They do cater for all kinds of riders, from the absolute novice, to those with more experience.  Even corporate parties are welcome, so if you want to see your CEO bobbing around on horseback, now is your chance ;-) 

It's got charm, and it's close to the New Forest and is an ideal way to spend a few hours and come away with memories of a wonderful experience.  

Adorably cute, and cheeky.

Window to his soul

                                                 All the boys back in the coral for lunch.

They are all particularly fond of a tickle behind the ears.

...and so are they :-) 

Thank you so much to everyone, and to the horses of Burley-Villa, you are a friendly bunch, and I'm looking forward to visiting again very soon.

A Night In The Mortuary

On Thursday 23rd October 2014, myself and two other photographers took leave of our senses, and went to a disused mortuary to expand our photography portfolio.  The aim was to get some photos that had that authentic Halloween atmosphere.  Trust me when I say we were not disappointed with the location, the atmosphere...and we think we have captured the ambiance of the location to best of our ability, and in the time that we were there.

The following has a selection of the photos that myself, and Rosie Hall took...with the help of the brilliant Georgia Paige England as our model.  If you think these look eerie...you want to try being there, in the dark, in a disused mortuary.

The journey to the mortuary was one of mixed feelings.  I was driving, and I had Rosie, and her sister Georgia in the car.  We were all getting to know one another as we had only just met.  It was my idea to have a group of photographers do a collective shoot of long exposures in an authentic location for Halloween.  I made the call on a Facebook group called Long Exposure Photography, and Rosie was one of the first to show an interest.  We were meeting a young chap called Matt Springs at the site, as he knew of the location we were going to, which was a help as we knew the place was derelict, and access in probably all grown over.  Anyway...the drive was that of excited anticipation, nerves...and lots of talking.  Before we knew it, we were there.  The hour and a half that it took to get there just flew by.  We had to wait a bit for Matt to arrive, we were a bit too scared to check out where the access was...we're girls, we're allowed to be scared.

Once Matt turned up, we soon found ourselves squeezing on our hands and knees in through the access point, the floor was wet, and we could hear water dripping from the ceiling nearby.  The place was in absolute darkness, no light anywhere.  One of the first rooms that greets us was the mortuary itself. No marble slabs on the tables, they had already been removed as the place is slowly getting ready to be demolished.  Imagine how you would feel when you see the tables right in front of you.

Once we had a look around of the building, so that we could get our bearings and find a safe place to leave our photo gear and props, it was obvious this building was proceeding rapidly towards the advance stages of decay.  Paint was peeling off the walls, the ceiling had begun to fall in, the floors were sopping wet, with puddles...and that sound of water dripping from the ceilings, with the accompanying echo is something straight out of a horror film.  One thing that will always stay with me though is the smell.  It wasn't a smell of bodies (although I don't know what that smells like)...it was the smell of the rotting of the building, it had died...the walls, the plasterboard, the wood...everything had begun breaking down, and the stench of that clung to me. The entire fabric of the building was pungent, and dirty.  The only signs of obvious life was us, and some of the ivy that had found a way in.

And so this blog is primarily about photos, I just wanted to give you a description of the building, an account of what it was like in there both physically and atmospherically.  I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.  But on a final note...both Rosie and myself brought something back with us.  Something unseen, blatant...and no longer of this world.  We think it's gone now.  At least we hope so.

Both Rosie, and myself have photo pages on Facebook.  If you would like to see more of Rosie's work then visit Rosie Hall Photography

I too have a photography page on Facebook, which is Photo Sync - S.Singleton Images.  My website is www.photosync.co.uk
We are both photographers, and if you like what you have seen so far, and would be interested in us doing a dual commission then please feel free to contact us on our Facebook pages.

I would also like to thank Georgia Paige England for being such a star, she had no problem going into the body freezers for us, or redoing shoots while we were setting up our cameras.  Thank you Georgia.
We didn't disrespect this building in anyway, we left it as we found it, and I am not obliged to give the location of this place since I think it's sometimes best to have a little mystery in life.

All photos are owned by me Suzanne Singleton, and Rosie Hall.