Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

Mornin' all, Best regards to any that ail. Head down calorie burn around the weekend circuit at the start of play today.....vampires distinctly absent due to the garlic & chilli content of last nights Indian meal. A tricky half light to work with photography wise but I felt that the conditions lent themselves to a couple of atmospheric pictures at the Flint Mill, Cheddleton...... Good to see the Churnet Valley railway installing a water tower/column in the twin track station at Cheddleton to avoid the delays caused by watering locos on the single line. Rogation service on a parishoners farm this morning Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Aft'noon all, Best regards to any that ail. Smashing birthday trip for mum today.....the scenic route to Shrewsbury along the B5062 from Newport via Crudgington for a 45min river cruise on The Severn from Welsh bridge to English bridge & back aboard The Sabrina. Then straight into The Armoury restaurant opposite the quay for a superb lunch..... ....Charles Darwin was born at what is now known as The Mount near here....Chester has a replica of this suspension footbridge.... ....The Armoury restaurant....great views out across the river from our window table.... ....Is was having one of her good days....feeling normal except for the fat leg discomfort.... ....Shrewsbury flower show is held here....Quarry park.... ....English bridge, the turnaround point..... The scenic route home rounded off a great day.....and indoors before the rush hour/bank holiday weekend traffic kicked in. Is has gone straight up for a lie down after her exertions but she held up well. Enjoy what you do Dave

Aft'noon all, Best regards to any that ail...sorry to read your story Ian. I've agreed with Is that now she has gone through the recommended treatment for her condition any further treatment will be her decision. She has gone through all that I can reasonably ask of her. Snowy hailing wet gusty bright sunny circuit of the long anticlockwise this aft.....you can see the showers coming from way off, dodging the blighters is a different matter. Good to hear the curlew again....came across a pair of black grouse too.... Is is still having scans and tests to try & sort out her fat leg.....I maintain that the lymph fluid from her operation site has circulated to that area. Mum's birthday tomorrow so a river cruise and lunch to celebrate on Friday. Happy birthday Andy. Skype call to Canadian family tonight Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Evenin' all, Best regards to all that ail A weekend 'en famile' savoured over a very sunny last two days. The scenic journey from The Moorlands to Lincoln via Ashbourne, Belper, Mansfield, Ollerton and Tuxford gave great distant views of the cathedral from many miles out. Our service was at the picturesque village church in Carlton-le-Moorland....a local farmer had managed to knock over a telegraph pole with his tractor causing no power to the church until 15mins before the ceremony.... a relieved vicar did a good job in a cold church. I'd managed to forget my cufflinks and spent several hours hitching the sleeves of my shirt back within the suit jacket so that the sleeves could contain the wandering double cuffs. Then onto a city hotel for the wedding breakfast in a glass atrium....preceded by nibbles, beers and happy chatter in the grounds. The hog roast at 10pm needed fortitude and some gluttony to cram a superb pork filled bap on the top of continuous eating. We stayed at The White Hart overnight....close quarter views of the cathedral, amplified at 7am with the striking of the hour resonating throughout our room. Back to the wedding venue to join the others for coffee after a lovely fried breakfast. Home via a similar route inc. an hour having a guided tour of the Heage windmill near Belper. A smashing weekend. Dave

Mornin' all, Best regards to any that ail Marvellously clear sub zero frosty good to be alive start in The Moorlands. More fried breakfast calories burnt around the weekend circuit..... ....the steam/smoke front & centre is from one of the steam locos at the Churnet valley railway.... Church duties beckon Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Best regards to any that ail....do your best Jock Single figure cool blue sky good to be alive start in The Moorlands....good to get a circuit of the weekend route in after a few days of fried breakfasts..... The rollercoaster dipped again yesterday after Is had been to her doctor to describe some sharp pains that she had experienced during our days away. We were sent up to the A&E dept. at the hospital....to savour humanity in all of its glory for some 6 hrs. Apparently a fight had broken out the previous evening and a group had been thrown out. Anyway, Is had a blood thinning injection to guard against clots and has had to go back again with her sister for 09.00 for a scan (we got into bed around 01.30). Off to Scalefour North today. Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

....lovely area Mal....hope that the weather is with you and the midges absent. Dave

Aft'noon all, Best regards to all that ail. Just back from a semi successful 4/5 day sunshine chaser juggling max 2 hr..ish daily travelling (Is is still delicate) with a pleasant mainly B road route, enjoyable accommodation, interesting destinations etc.... This one via Broadway, Stow on the Wold (Mon & Thu overnights at The Stow Lodge), then via Chipping Norton & Watlington to Henley (for coffee). On to Runnymede/Windsor for a night, train Windsor to Richmond for a rtn cruise along the Thames to Hampton Court Palace, an overnight at The Christopher in Eton (couldn't afford two) then retracing our steps for another coffee stop in Henley and back to The Stow Lodge for our last overnight.... The new GWR station at Broadway.... A great place to stay....The Stow Lodge.... Heading for Chipping Norton from Stow.... Henley for coffee.... The Jurors at Runnymede.... Windsor Castle..... Cruising away from Richmond on a Turks vessel towards Kingston and Hampton Court.... Teddington Lock.... Changing to a mock river steamer at Kingston.... The Turks landing stage at Hampton Court.... Part of Hampton Court Palace.... Gardens.... Is enjoying Henley.... The Barringtons.... Lower Slaughter.... We had a couple of wobbly moments with Is being too far from the car without her water/paracetamol for controlling the pain but generally the mixture of 'travel a bit/exercise a bit', stay in pampering overnights worked and will form the basis for our next few days away....important to get her out into the fresh air, re-establishing routines etc. Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Best regards to those that ail. Eyeball searing frosty good to be alive start in The Moorlands. Heavily punctuated circuit of the weekend constitutional route...... Feathered ones provided for. Church duties beckon. Enjoy what you do. Dave

....Kirkham had a tip, on the Blackpool line. Dave

Mornin' all, Best regards to those that ail. Low cloud swirling rays of bright sunshine misty sort of start in The Moorlands. Smashing circuit of the weekend route to start the day.... ....the Endon brook snakes away towards Cheddleton shortly to join the River Churnet.... ....the River Churnet flows left to right through this scene, half a mile or so from its meeting with the Endon brook... ....the present limit of the Leek arm of the Caldon canal with the feeder from Rudyard lake supplying water to keep the canal topped up... Feathered ones provided for Church duties beckon Enjoy what you do Dave

Evenin' all, Best regards to all that ail. Opportunistic Longnor fish & chip tea on a lovely Moorland evening just now. We try to find different routes to the chip shop too.....this one via Flash & Dale Head, passing close by Hillhead quarry on the outskirts of Buxton..... Enjoy what you do Dave

.....there is a good close up of D5107 on the 'Derby Sulzer' site....http://www.derbysulzers.com/5107blaydon.jpg Dave

Best wishes for today Jock and best regards to any other sufferers. Dave.

Mornin' all, Dew burning blue sky good to be alive start in The Moorlands. Our nearest star breaks the horizon at around 07.00 now so no lingering in bed once awake.... ....and yet the clouds still gather...oh well! Is now has her prosthesis but is still a little too sore for tight fitting underwear yet. Our first 2016 sunshine chasing 3/4 day break approaches Feathered ones provided for....siskins, bullfinches, goldfinches & redpolls mainly Enjoy what you do Dave

Happy Easter to all! The 6am Easter mass by the reservoir at Tittesworth this morning was attended by 20 or so parishoners. Clearing skies & single figure cool for the constitutional around the weekend circuit which followed Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Sorry to hear your news 28XX.....best wishes to you and your family. Happy Easter everyone A succession of 'soft' starts in The Moorlands recently with some mist/low cloud, light drizzle.... Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Single figure cool overcast start in The Moorlands. Head down calorie burn around most of the weekend circuit....short pause by the reworked locks at Cheddleton to see the new woodwork.... ....ironic that the new wood seals and doesn't leak at the obvious joins, so the water finds a route through the brickwork.... ....note the 420kg weight engraving in the wood, you can add a few more kilos to that once the wood soaks up some water.... Church duties later Dad coming for tea whilst mum is away on a girls trip to Padstow Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Evenin' all, Best regards to any that ail Another superb Moorland day today.....Is wanted a share of the scenery so the constitutional became a circuit through Wincle, Buxton, Goyt valley & Wildboarclough in the car...... ....Shuttlinsloe, the highest point of Cheshire close at hand.... ....close to 3 Shires head, the meeting point of Derbyshire, Staffordshire & Cheshire. At this point we are approximately 3 x the height of Blackpool Tower above sea level.... ....the descent into the Goyt valley is down one of the inclines of the former Cromford & High Peak Railway....a gunpowder factory was drowned under one of the reservoirs in this valley....Fernilee I think. The excellent Foxline titles on The Cromford & High Peak Railway tell the story of this fascinating route.... Enjoy what you do Dave

....they might advertise it as far as Ipstones Andy but there is no track from Ipstones - Winkhill - Cauldon Lowe (as seen in the picture above), cos they sold it....so don't buy a ticket to Cauldon Lowe, cos you'll have a long walk.. Many condolences Polly Dave

Evenin' all, Best regards to those that ail Good to be alive blue sky cool & sunny afternoon for a Morridge, Winkhill, Ipstones Edge & Waterfall Cross circuit, after work today.... ....trains ran here until 3-4 yrs ago....Winkhill station on the Cauldon Lowe branch from Leekbrook jnc.... ....and the same stretch of trackbed just a few years ago.... Enjoy what you do Dave

.....she is brightening Jock....still gets tired easily though....however, almost a year to the day since the troubles started I should be taking her away for her birthday on a 'chase the sunshine' break in April. Hope things are as well as they can be for the two of you. Dave

Aft'noon all, Best regards to any that ail Misty vistas circuit of Morridge/Onecote after work today. Another never venture out cameraless moment...even if it does look bleak & unpromising. For the first half of the ride I was thankful for the hat, coat & gloves but that changed as I climbed back onto Morridge on the return leg as the sun started to break through in dramatic fashion..... The Beverley Craven concert last night was good for me, as I relived the hit singles of the mid 90s but Is was entirely unimpressed with what she viewed as a string of samey man hating songs by someone too self involved. Oh well....I won't be allowed to choose the next concert. Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Aft'noon all, Best regards to any that ail. Blue sky sunny seasonally cool good to be alive afternoon in The Moorlands. A Morridge/Elkstones constitutional route chosen to burn some calories..... We have tickets to see Beverley Craven tonight Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Evenin' all, Smashing day at the WSR S&D gala yesterday.... Enjoy what you do Dave