Ice

Thornhope beck at Wolsingham in Weardale was full of beautiful ice formations this afternoon, especially where the water level had dropped, leaving ice crystals suspended between the stones.

Some fine icicles hanging from the river bank too.

Icicles

Back in the days of colour slide film I wouldn't have bothered with a picture like this - it would have been too expensive, needing dozens of shots to catch a drip just leaving the end of an icicle, and even then I wouldn't know if I'd been successful until the film came back from the processors. But that's the wonder of digital: take as many as you need and ditch the duds (about 30, in this case). The falling drop hasn't quite become spherical yet and it's interesting to note the much tinier droplet following it down (double-click image for a clearer view).