Blossoms and Beauty. Opulent colours within Greasley Churchyard Grounds.

Greasley Church in Nottinghamshire is one that like many churches is often ignored by passers by.

However, it is a secret gem of a historical building that is just awaiting to be discovered, but you do not have to be religious to appreciate the beauty of old historical churches and of course Greasley Church, simply “oozes within a quirky sense of history”.

From its 15th Century beginnings and the first construction to the grave of a certain Benjamin Drawater, who was the ship’s surgeon onboard one of Captain Cook's voyages.

Yes, surprises are to be found everywhere even where you least expect them.

But the countryside that surrounds Greasley Church makes it that little bit more magical and I remember last October in 2022 capturing the perfect photograph of the church from Alma Hill surrounded by autumn and as a landscape photographer I love the autumn, simply because of the colours that it brings along with it, then again I am also partial to a piece of spring as well, and again spring is a season of colour as well.

The other two seasons, summer and winter are a bit “meh” when it comes to colour, but somehow spring, much like autumn just oozes theatrical beauty that only nature itself can provide.

And me, I was wanting to capture something that simply spoke the words of apring.

Okay, last year spring arrived relatively early and this year in 2023, well spring has not really shown its arrival properly.

But I knew the perfect location in which to capture some of the glorious spring scenes and with that in mind, what could I hear calling, but the delightful and calming Greasley Church.

Upon arrival though, the weather was slightly grey, for this was the very end of April, but that did not really matter, as when I had arrived the sight in front of me was magical, a magic that only nature can create – and what was the first sight I had set my eyes upon?

The Blossoms and Beauty, plus the opulent colours of the pink cherry blossom, now I have visited Greasley Church on many occasions, but on this occasion with the rather dull and grey sky, I knew capturing the beauty of the Blossoms would be difficult, but walking around, I found the first composition which was of a person walking in the distance and around him in front of me, an avenue, a tunnel almost of pink blossoms and the trees providing a shelter over a footpath through the graveyard that many people will have walked along before, for this was magic, and the first photograph I had captured immediately spoke the word,

Spring to me? Speaking with no words, but via the mind, surreal to a degree, but that is what landscape photography can be sometimes.

After taking that first photograph, I decided to explore a little bit more and decided to opt to capture the church from a different perspective and walked along one of the footpaths until I could see the church in front of me, any other time of the year, apart from autumn and the scene would have looked somewhat bland, but not on this occasion, and despite a looming grey sky, colour could be seen, shades of pink and red, that complimented each other and looked as if they should be right out of a painting, the kind of painting again that only nature can provide in its own unique and quirky ways,

After capturing the perspective of the church, I sat and pondered on a bench, the quietness and calming effect was just what was needed, and, no I am not a religious person by any means, but there is something calming and soothing about being surrounded by nature and having a 15th Century sandstone church as company; just keeping eyes on the humans that are within its grounds and keeping eyes on the surrounding countryside, for years ago when DH Lawrence would have been around he would have more than likely passed by this glorious church, and no doubt he wrote about it, but who writes things about it now?

Probably not many people, which is a shame as this church has so many stories it can potentially tell, stories about the local area and the people who come across it, the secrets it holds and the changes that it has seen over the years, but since DH Lawrence and his visits, has it changed that much? Perhaps not, and I can imagine that the blossoms would have looked glorious when he was young and alive.

Then of course it was time to move, after being in reflection and hearing nature, I then walked next to the church and observed its 15th Century architectural delights, some of which can still be seen even today, before eventually returning and capturing one last photographic delight, opulent again and a simple view looking back to where I had captured the first photograph of a man walking along, with the tunnel perspective of the Blossoms, only this time I was closer to the blossoms and this time around they looked even more magical and magnificent, silky and velvet like in texture, for the blossoms are beautiful – and it is that little thing called Nature which provides this, best of all it is free, and yet the sad thing is that so many people often ignore the beauty of spring, much like they do with Autumn, but here I had found the most opulent colours within Greasley Church, and it is simple things like capturing the beauty of spring and the opulent blossoms that will stay in the mind for a long time to come.

Pure magic and Greasley Church, you offer so much that so many often ignore.