Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

....any mistakes will be mine Andy....and I'll have to make any corrections, which is good incentive to concentrate and get it right first time. Dave

Mornin' all, All the best to those that ail An outing to the S&D gala at the West Somerset Railway today & tomorrow. Coffee in Ironbridge, the Wye valley, suspension bridges around Avonmouth and the picturesque A39 from Bridgewater to Williton should make for an interesting journey. All cameras loaded so I'll add some pics on Friday. I'm taking dad....who initially had grave misgivings about the expense of a night out and felt that it could all be done in one day by getting up at ridiculous o clock and spending many hours on the road in each direction....perhaps when I was 30 but not at 50 with him in his seventies. Enjoy what you do Dave

.....would you not agree that a change is as good as a rest ID? The whole point of a sign is to be noticed and interpreted/digested. If adverse local comment points to the next sign being a reincarnation of the original, then so be it....either way the old one has to be refreshed....it isn't even readable on the sunshine side. Dave

Evenin' all, Fresh in from parents evening and the opportunity to show progress with the new school sign....the central design on the new school colours panels is the childrens painting which won the new school logo competition.... ....the sign as it is now and then as it will be once completed & the new facias are secured on top of the original design.... ....probably a month or so away from being able to get the new work bolted into place. Dave

.....thanks Jamie.....but you may have meant to say "Dave, I hope Is recovers quickly from the radiotherapy". Dave

....thanks G. I'll mention the name of the cream to Is. Rgds Dave

Aft'noon all, Best regards to any that ail....wonderful to have you with us again Jock & you too Debs Good to be alive refreshingly icy blue sky circuit of the long anticlockwise in The Moorlands this afternoon....mottled areas of snow/bare ground can make large expanses of normally bland groundscape much more interesting to compose into pictures.... Taking the first of these pictures I noticed that the battery charge indicator was down to 1/3 and it dropped to flashing red/charge battery quickly after. Typical in such lovely conditions....I made sure that all subsequent pictures were taken quickly with little or no use of the zoom facility....luckily I managed to take all intended pictures on that last bit of charge. Is has her last radiotherapy tomorrow....she has to use a special cream as found in the burns unit now as her skin is struggling with the treatment. Enjoy what you do Dave

Re post 115834 above.... ....and watch out for yellow snow. Dave

....white rain here. Dave

Mornin' all, Best wishes to any that ail. Back into the white for the constitutional around The Moorlands this morning.... ....the snow geese...aka Canada ones really... A busy couple of days this week with school governor duties/sign painting on Wednesday followed by book research at the NRM yesterday having driven to York via Bacup. Parking at the NRM cost £9 for the day and we have their reproduction charges to pay for material used in the book, thus, when paying the parking charge and having been asked to consider a donation to the museum I offered a piece of advice as the donation....."when buying steam engines in need of main works overhaul make sure that you pay the asking price minus the overhaul costs, that way you don't need the taxpayer to pay three times for the privilege of seeing the damned thing". We didn't get thrown out but I could see that it was being considered. Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Best wishes to all that ail. Seasonally sub zero calm white frost start in The Moorlands. Half light sunrise through moderate cloud added to the subtle contrasts/backlighting of the flora with the white groundscape.... ....thin ice on the nature reserve area of the reservoir contrasts the reflection of The Roaches with the ice free area.... Is is into her last full week of radiotherapy and doing well except for some tiredness Feathered ones provided for A little modelling on the cards today Dave

Evenin' all, Elvis officially rocked Buxton tonight....'The Elvis Years' is a superb show for those who haven't discovered it yet. The Opera house trembled to all the old favourites...accompanying the story of Elvis. Superb! http://www.theelvisyears.com/ We ran out of ideas for Christmas presents for mum & dad so we now share an outing or show together each year as the festive gift to each other. Dave

....'Blatantly Barking Crew' I presume. Dave

...I might have considered going to look but was washing my hair....let me know once sanity resumes. Dave

....I'd go for a piling machine but I wouldn't want it anywhere near mine! Dave

Mornin' all, Best wishes to all that ail. Blue sky sunny crispy crunchy good to be alive start in The Moorlands. Too many vistas to mention punctuated the constitutional but here are a few...... Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

The Hornby version can only ever be a poor relation Ian....moulded plastic is no solution to wagons with a plethora of fine sections/rivet detail. Congratulations on more excellent work Dave

Evenin' all, Best wishes to those that ail. Another disguised hospital visit today, in the form of a sunshine chasing circuit via Eccleshall, Cheswardine, Market Drayton (coffee stop), Combermere Arms at Burleydam (lunch), then via Hales and Clayton to the cancer centre for Is's 3pm radiotherapy appointment..... ....diverting, diverting...the new flyover at Norton Bridge on the WCML, still under construction....the down Stone, Stoke & Manchester line crossing over the WCML ....approaching High Offley.... ....High Offley church & view.... ....Shebdon church.... ...Cheswardine church.... ....superb lunch stop 'The Combermere Arms' at Burleydam....the beer is pretty nice too!.... ....Ightfield church.... Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Best wishes to all that ail Dull & overcast for the weekend circuit constitutional this morning so I've copied a couple of images from our friends snowmobiling exploits in The Rockies which have just arrived.... Church duties beckon Feathered ones remembered Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, All good wishes to those that ail....do your best Jock A tad brass monkey in The Moorlands for the short anticlockwise this morning, some ice dancing on the untreated local roads..... Feathered ones provided for Some modelling on the cards today Enjoy what you do Dave

.....some footage of 73129 emerging from the mist at Eardington (during a recent SVR Autumn gala) towards the end of this clip Andy..... Dave

Aft'noon all, These pictures are dedicated to Jock, I know that he enjoys the images, in the hope that they might help motivate him at this difficult time. Lovely seasonally cool afternoon in The Moorlands with big cloudscapes....definitely sub zero with the the wind chill and should have worn at least coat & gloves for the long anticlockwise constitutional.... Is has had radiotherapy 2 now, is driving herself to/from the cancer centre and has only redness around the treated area as a side effect. Enjoy what you do Dave

Aft'noon all, One or two images from yesterday morning's constitutional. The new lock gates on the Caldon canal at Cheddleton are slowly being created from new (oak) timber...some impressive sections to shape & manhandle into place..... ....a pump set is being used to extract canal water seeping into the lock chamber from the other end. Dave

....will do Jock...she has the aqueous cream & Simple soap already and I'll pass on the message, thank you. She has been for the assessment for the first radiotherapy session today and has test driven the machine which she will use on Wednesday. She feels happy that there is nothing to be fearful of. Will update as it happens All the best with your ongoing Rgds Dave

Mornin' all, Sub zero briefly sunny circuit of the weekend route at first light this morning. Roses remembered for Is & cards exchanged. An early & extreme example, once I could afford a reasonable camera, of adding risk & complexity to images was this 1980s view at Claverton nr Bath. The weir inspired me but standing in the same spot on a cloudy Summer day didn't lead to any pictures, instead I considered the vapours/treescape of a chilly Autumn morning and rose at 2am following the necessary forecast at the right time of year. 3/4 hrs later I was in position with the vapours burning off slowly but with a fitful breeze causing the view to become obscured for periods. The train came and the result was right...half an hour later the vapours had gone. I'm hosting the Feb get together of the Scalefour Soc. Crewe area group today Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave