there's something about this place...

One of my favourite places to take photos is at a small patch of forestry commission land just north of Ystradfellte in the southern extremities of the Brecon Beacons.  I love the uniformity of the trees in this managed forest and have taken a number of photographs here.

what could possibly be spooky about this pla.....

As you know, Dexter my border terrier is my ever-present companion on my photo outings.  He doesn't like being away from me and if I do go out without him (a rare occurrence!) he lets me know by being cross with me on my return home.

When I venture from the car to take my pictures he's always at my side, and usually will have a sit or lie down while I get down to business.  But whenever we go to the forest, he's just plain unhappy there.  He cannot relax, is reluctant to go in there to the extent I have to really tug him to follow me.  When I'm busy with my camera he will not relax, and is always on edge.

Once I'm done and start packing up he pulls relentlessly to get me to hurry up, and cannot wait to get out of the trees.

As soon as we are on the road immediately outside the forested area though he is absolutely fine with no signs of stress.  It's got the point that I won't go into the forest with him, preferring to shoot from the outside in.

I have no idea why this should be the case.  They say dogs have a sixth sense, an uncanny awareness that something isn't quite right.  I will admit that the forest is spooky, and the further you go in and the darker it gets I do feel uneasy myself.  Perhaps this rubs off on him.

Or perhaps it's the fact that the first time we went in there we discovered a lady's dress shoe under an upturned tree.  Just the one, and not the sort of shoe you would wear in those sorts of surroundings.

ah!!

Whatever, if he's not happy I'm not happy.  So we'll continue to skirt around the fringes and not go in.