Back in the early 2000s, when I’d recently become a senior civil servant, I went on a two week leadership course. It was brilliant, and one of the highlights was a day on creativity (yes, in the civil service!) where some of us visited an advertising agency called St Luke’s, just off the Euston Road in London. At one point I asked one of the senior people how he got inspiration for new ideas. He talked about how you can focus on an object and really look at it, think about it, start to relate it to the wider world. And then ideas flow. Now, the cynic may dismiss this as gobbledegook, but I think there is something in it. And certainly, in the world of nature, when you look close up, you see amazing things. In that spirit, when I am out on walks and have my decent camera, which can zoom right in, I like to do just that.

For three days up to New Year’s Eve, I went walking along the Suffolk coast with my wife and some friends. We stayed in Aldeburgh. There was some enchanting scenery on the walks, which I will come back to in another blog; but for now, some of those close ups. With one at the end from a Thames walk in August last year.

Beauty and the Beast

Is that a butterfly?

Don’t call me ugly!

Twisted logic

Elegance

We stand together

Floaty

Who needs barbed wire?

The one from the Thames walk, in Oxfordshire. I love this one. A simple thistle revealing its secrets.

Did you know I was this beautiful?