Just a few thoughts.

I think the difficulty with this is that you have dark areas on the left and bright areas on the right with the clouds together with the oilseed rape which being yellow is also bright.

The before suggestions would be.
1) To ensure that the "whites" ( clouds ) are not clipped with the blinkies on the histogram even if it means the darks are darker.

2) Having taken the shot and got one "in the bag" hang around to see of the clouds moved so that the there was not as much contrast between dark / bright.

3) If possibly move around yourself to see if there was a composition that had the same effect as 2)

After Suggestion

I do not have the same software as you so I cannot comment on how to make adjustments, except perhaps crop just to the left of the bright clouds, top right.

Quote: Still getting used to Lightroom so all honest critique even more welcome than normal.

Just wondering if you could experiment with "Fill Light" to lighten up the shadows / darks a little without affecting the "mood" / "reality" of the shots.

Going back a couple of weeks I think it would have been beneficial for "Nice place for a wedding" ... Be aware too much "Fill Light" can mess up the contrast, but you probably already know that

Looked at this for a couple of days and I am not sure about the clouded sky.
The colour cast ( magenta / purple ) bothers me as is does not, for me, appear to fit in with the rest of the image, particularly the sky on the horizon.

Looking at the "Large" version I can see detail & texture in the flower, which is quite good.

The purple colour is gorgeous.

From a visual perspective and my own preference I think the background is a little underexposed and the flash catching the curved part of the stalk just distracts my attention from the flowers.

Maybe, diffusing the flash slightly by bouncing off a neutral coloured card / reflector would rectify my observation.

No harm in experimenting, though you will have to be quick for a re-shoot as the bluebells may not last much longer ! !

This has a slight blue cast but I have no way of knowing if that is a bit of creativity on your part or a white balance / exposure issue.

Whatever, together with the "letter box" crop has a nice feel to it.

If it is creative then perhaps using a non-white background ( e2 members can change it ! ) would stop comparison with it and thoughts of something amiss with the image itself.

Although I'm not in the buddy group cannot let this pass without a comment.

The concept of using the hat to give a sense of anonymity, we do not know it is really you together with the arrangement of the lighting picking out certain features, such as the stitching is excellent.

The B&W conversion is particularly good with you having managed to convey the complete range of tones, something that lets a lot of B&W images down when viewing on a monitor.

In fact, for me, the quality is what I would expect to normally see on a darkroom print.

The only small observation I would make is that the lighting on your shoulders is not balanced, the right one being just a little stronger than the left

You may have had trouble deciding on an idea, but this one is certainly worthy of an upload,

Did you have to give anyone your autograph on a form ?

Like the composition with the bank leading the eye to the bridge then back over the moat and the reflection of the turret completing the triangle

I've no idea about all this curves, layers, blending modes etc. so all I would have done in Elements 6 is "Darken Highlights"

V1
I like all the water in at the bottom for the very reason you have stated but you may consider cropping a little on th left so that each edge has a gate & fence on the bank as a visual "stop"

Also, I wonder if a polarising filter would have helped with deeping the blue of the sky, thus giving some contrast with the white clouds.

Although you have cropped quite tightly on the bottom of V3 I assume there were some reeds / grass bank that did not look quite right, which is a shame as, for me, I think it need just a little more space.

Not a good place to submerge a new camera !

To me this appears to have a slight magenta colour cast... maybe due to the time of day but if not perhaps a small adjustment towards green of the tint control, if your software has one.

As I have mentioned once before I spent quite a lot of time during my college days ( O & A Levels ) in this area so it has loads of sentimental memories for me

You were really lucky to get this.
I was there a week ago and told quite bluntly to clear off because I was considered a "professional" as I had a tripod !!

These are quite reflective so you have done well here not getting "hot spots" from the metal.

The Barrier is such a good subject with many possibilities for different compositions, so I hope you tried some "landscape" format, getting the gap between the gates ( seeing the river) with perhaps a boat sailing through, view from the other side with the Canary Wharf office blocks etc.

Would this have worked slightly better by walking forward a few steps so that the red hut was more between the break in the groynes ?

As it is, I feel it is a little hidden and needs more prominence. Also,there is not any real interest to the right of the end of the groynes.

On a more positive note, the shadows filling in over the pebbles is quite a good idea and works well

I commented on a previous upload about the tractor being on the edge of the frame.

This one however, is different, as it is moving into the frame not out of it. For me that changes my thoughts and is more positive towards the composition

I like the line of, presumably seagulls, which acts as a nice visual break ( white) between the ploughed field and the farm buildings & South Downs beyond.

The light looks a bit "flat", needs I think a few shadows / dappled light but that is how it was when you were there.

Ah... I know that wheelbarrow as well

For me this does not quite work as well as I would have hoped.
The left half of the 'barrow & logs and the right half of bluebells do not, for me, come together / gel as a whole.
It appears to be two compositions split vertically just to the right of the large tree.

Suggest a crop, increase saturation a little to boost the rust and there is a nice "portrait" of the 'barrow with just the hint of bluebells

Hope that helps, and is not considered too negative.

The lighting, focussing, exposure, furrows, seagulls and the tractor coming towards you thereby being able to see the farmer are all good and shows this agricultural scene at its best.

My only other thought is that the tractor is too close to the edge of the frame.
Perhaps a second or too earlier when the tractor's front wheels are where the back wheels are would give it a space to move into.

Perhaps a little too much of the dark trees ?

A slight crop along the shoreline leaving only the tree reflections concentrates my eyes more on the reeds ... but then it looks like a Hasselblad 6 x 6 not an Ebony 5 x 4