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A Sunday Afternoon Drive
through the Middleburg countryside |
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Photographs by Tim Hillman Snyder
taken with a Sony Mavica digital camera
 Starting Off |
August in Virginia has been incredibly wonderful -- full of cool days with narry a whit of humidity or fly to be seen. We had planned to go into Washington DC to the Art Museum, but decided the day was just too spectacular to spend indoors - even thought it meant passing up the exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings. Instead we had a nice lunch at home and harnessed Andy and Flag (with the blaze) for a 10 mile drive. My habit has always been to walk the first mile as a warmup, and Tim rode on ahead on his bike to take this first shot.
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 The glory of the back roads |
Along one of extensive networks of historic gravel roads the surround us in western Loudoun County. The Blue Ridge Mountains are to the left (you can't see them, but trust me -- they are gorgeous!) and the open fields on all sides. Tim had ridden far up the road, catching this shot with the 10x zoom lens on full maximum. I'm not sure why the camera made this road look so up and down when, in reality, it's fairly flat. Even so, from that distance we look so much a part of this beautiful landscape. The hunt had been through these fields the day before getting the puppies ready for the "real" hunts that will commence in November. But today everything was quiet and serene, with no one on the roads except ourselves. |
 Trotting out the drive at Welbourne |
Loudon County has a wealth of grand old estates that (fortunately) were spared the brunt of the Union burning rampages during the Civil War. Welbourne is one of those manor houses that was the former home of Col. Richard Dulaney of the Virginia calvary who kept company with many Confederate heros during the War. The Delaney family emmigrated from Ireland prior to the Revolutionary War, settling in the western stretch of Loudoun County (which was then still Fairfax County). The family built a log and stone house which they called "Welbourne" (now known as "the original Welbourne"). Years later the family had reached such numbers that the little house was no longer big enough. So they built an elegant brick Federal house nearby which became known as "Old Welbourne". The family continued to grow through the years until the then owner, Richard Delaney, moved 4 miles down the road and built the stunning manor house you see behind us, now on the Historic Register. |
 On Welbourne Road near Pelham heading towards Willisville |
Tim was starting to get tired at this point, having already ridden his bike for over 6 miles, charging ahead and stopping to take photographs. I borrowed the camera for this shot as we headed past Pelham estate towards the small settlement of Willisville. Prior to the Civil War this tiny town had been founded and given to the retired, and in some cases freed, slaves of the area estates. Many of the houses trace back to those days, owned by descendants of those former slaves. The ancient stone wall to the left had protected many a Confederate sharpshooter taking potshots at the Federal troops coming up this very road on their way to Middleburg during July 1862. |
 The last miles |
 Towards home |
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