Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

.....I've always lived in houses/bungalows on the fringe of villages/small towns in scenic areas Jock. No accident but essential in my view of a healthy, balanced work/life regime. Your best wishes passed to Is....we wish you well too. Dave

....flattering to be mentioned in the same sentence as the great artist Jock....I will confess to seeking out complexities in my photographic subjects e.g. the play of light through vapours/atmospheric variations and then experimenting with the angles/composition until I achieve the desired picture. The Panasonic DMC-LF1 camera is easily the most suitable type for my style of work as it fits easily into a pocket, is always set up for instant snapping and has the full manual override necessary to encourage the situation experiments which I enjoy. The latter continually challenges me to explore its limitations, which is a perpetual source of motivation. Time of day is critical too as vapours are evaporated by the warmth of sunrise and you wouldn't see much of them in the dark...hence my Goldilocks forays at first light. Every morning is different in some way....it is up to the photographer to discover and record how. Many effects are so fleeting that photography is the only way to record them....an artist wouldn't even have the time to get his paintbox out. The image below shows the build up to the images to which you refer. The view from Thorncliffe showed that vapour was sitting over parts of the reservoir in varying density (affects how much light penetrates the different sections and how). With my local knowledge I was armed with knowing which route to take/where to go to include it in a creative picture. The still water/reflection was a bonus and the diffuse light from a watery/weak sunrise proved better than direct sunlight. Hence 3 variables combined to give an uncommon effect but the camera still had to have the manual capability to record it.... Dave

Mornin' all, Weak & watery is an improvement on no visible sunrise but it is a limiting factor for creative photography.....apologies for repeat subject images. Single figure frosty for the short anticlockwise....some degree of ice dancing on the untreated surfaces..... Best regards to all that ail....I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have still been fighting Jock....more power to your elbow Is starts her radiotherapy next week. Two more sign painting mornings this week Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Calorie burning constitutional around the weekend circuit at first light today..... River Churnet in flood again.... ....two sets of lock gates are being replaced on the Caldon at Cheddleton.... ....the 1973 date picked out in weld on the far lock gate relates to the reopening of the canal after some years of dereliction. Some time ago a taxi turning round at 'Castro's' on the right managed to end up in the canal....wonder if he still had the meter running?.... Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Evenin' all, Last Christmas meal of the 2015/16 festive season done and last Christmas present received.... ....some time ago whilst on an outing to Bodnant gardens with the same friends I was pressured to pose for a picture and thought that she wouldn't clock the expression until it was too late. So she goes and has a set of 6 place mats made of her pictures of our days out together....and guess what one of the six was. Enjoy what you do Dave

....they look good to me John. Dave

....perhaps if you squint a bit. Unfortunately, when modifying RTR it has to be all or nothing. Dave

Evenin' all, Best wishes to all that ail. A day in school today lettering the new school sign.....I persuaded Jill, the headteacher, to pose Is has had the tattoo markers applied at the cancer centre today, ready for the first radiotherapy session next week. The Spring WSR S&D gala sounds good....B&B booked for a night to enjoy the line up Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

.....see my post on page 1 for a Ditton to Earles (Widnes empties) working with a class 45 via Northwich. The Widnes working via Lymm ran until 1986ish when the Lymm line closed....see my pic on page 1. Dewsbury via Sheffield lasted a little longer....the working switched to PCAs around 1990. Here is a June 1988 view of the Dewsbury empties https://www.flickr.com/photos/walnut_rede/5440988227/in/photostream/ Dave

Evenin' all, Best wishes to all that ail. Successful sun seeking mission today...coffee at Ellesmere, lunch at The Boat Erbistock, a trip through the Berwyn mountains to Llanharan D. C. and an hour in Oswestry.... Enjoy what you do Dave

Aft'noon all, Best wishes to all that ail. We have had a resident wren in the garden for the last few days.....this poor quality picture taken from the window sums up the weather just now with the wren using the dead hydrangea head as an umbrella.... Good forecast for the North Wales area tomorrow so we'll be chasing sunshine again pre the start of Is's radiotherapy....we have friends who lost their old dog last week so we'll be taking them along too, to help brighten their day with a pub lunch and some nice scenery. Enjoy what you do Dave

....the Thirsk derailment was a trigger point for the revised suspension. The whole fleet was grounded for a while. Dave

....yes. Dave

.... ....the basic Rolling Stock Library outline diagram should be available on the Barrowmore MRG site. Have a look at page 53. Remember it is always better to cross check dimensions shown on these diagrams where possible..... http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/BRBDocuments/BRPOWagons1Issue.pdf I have a 1964 Eastern Region Freight Trains Load Book of the type issued to guards at this time. Special mention has been written into the spaces under class 4 trains of the Cliffe to Uddingston working of these wagons..."brake at each end, roller bearing, 32 light alloy wagons via Ferme Park, D15/6 loco (1550 HP class 3 loco)". Class 4 trains running at 55mph had to have a minimum 90% of the wagons fully braked....brake vans had to be fully fitted or piped & gauged only and must have a wheelbase of 15ft or more. I last worked a rake of these from Ditton (ex Widnes) back to Earles sdgs via Weaver jcn & Northwich in the mid eighties driving 45034 when secondmanning Dennis Morton of Buxton shed. 50 mph 'vacuum passenger' braking/brake rate selector position. Have a picture somewhere taken in Ditton yard....I'll look it out...picture found but it was of the engineers trip which took us to Ditton from Guide Bridge and doesn't show the cement tanks. The rake of Cemflos just happened to be stabled there and we volunteered to take them back to Earles....not a regular sight though via Northwich as they used to run via Lymm in the booked working. Here is one that I took at Chinley at a similar time https://www.flickr.com/photos/43564631@N08/4569699681/in/album-72157622730543368/ Dave

Mornin' all, Still in a run of mild but dismal conditions in The Moorlands. This view is from an Onecote circuit constitutional yesterday afternoon.... An active week for Is with outings each day.....radiotherapy starts next week. Best regards to all that ail Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Aft'noon all, A day to bear in mind the wind direction when deciding to set out for an afternoon constitutional in The Moorlands esp. if contemplating a high level route. I made sure that I had the strong gusts propelling me along from the rear three quarter when traversing Morridge....even then it was with a 30 degree list to Port to stay on old faithful.... ....visible erosion of the peat bogs in The Moorlands caused by the recent rains....obviously diluted many times by the time it reaches the reservoir.... A gentle breeze once I'd dropped down to Meerbrook....large differentiation between wind speeds at varying altitutudes Best regards to all that ail Is has had another day out with a girlfriend today....this time choosing fabrics in Newcastle before going for coffee at The New Vic theatre. Last night was flower fairy night at our church with the ladies deciding the theme for this years flower show....she even had to use the hair dryer for the first time yesterday....another milestone. Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

....yes Phil, The Great North Rd. pre the building of the dual carriageway nearby. Dave

Evenin' all, Good timing getting back home as the storm arrives....the last 2 miles or so were in lashing rain. Great day out to Stamford via the scenic route for lunch at 'The George'.....steak & kidney pudding and chips with a pint of real ale certainly sticks to the ribs in Wintertime.... ....most sunshine on the outward leg with increasing cloud as we headed home. Is thoroughly enjoyed a normality day with coffee & Toblerone tart at 'The Grange' Asfordby and the lunch out....fortifies her for the treatment to come. Enjoy what you do Dave

....and all good wishes for your ongoing treatment Mal. Rgds Dave

Mornin' all, First visit of 2016 to the Longnor chippy last night....good job that we booked a table otherwise it would have been a take away.....lovely fish & chips well up to standard. Head down circuit of the weekend constitutional route at first light today in dismal damp but mild conditions February looks like radiotherapy month for Is (CT scan later this week first) so we're having a day or two out just now....we should be chasing sunshine in the East Mids tomorrow.....after a good coffee stop of course. Best wishes to all that ail Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Evenin' all, Sorry to read of your ongoing issues Jock....very best wishes for the optimum outcome at each turning point. Is has been told that pin & plate surgery will not be the best route for her and that radiotherapy throughout February will be the chosen treatment, beyond which she will be monitored at regular intervals. Her body is now absorbing the excess lymph fluid and generating progressively less. Night all Dave

Mornin' all, Best wishes to all that ail....good to hear from Jock again. Tranquil & brim full at the reservoir at the current 07.30 start.... Orangey pink on blue at sunrise in The Moorlands today.... ...the sunrise dragon seems to have had a curry last night....definitely a glimpse of the fires of our nearest star.... As Morridge lurks under a white cloak, the rising of the sun changes the angles of its rays relative to the underside of the cloud sheet and the colours quickly fade.... Smashing calm conditions, single figure cool. Feathered ones provided for Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Best regards to all that ail Dull, overcast but dry start in The Moorlands resulted in a head down calorie burn around the short anticlockwise. Probably the grottiest job so far as school governor earlier was to recover around 40 concrete slabs from the daft position which they had been left in by a group of workmen tarmac-ing an area at the side of the school building. They had been asked to put them in the storage area 150yds away but it was obviously too much trouble. The slabs had been left on soft ground sloping up behind the early years play shed and were inevitably sliding down the slope into and damaging the side of the shed. A borrowed sack truck and many trips moving 2 at a time has removed the problem. Complement and onerous job of the year so far goes to being asked to become the 2nd church warden, if the health of the lady currently in position doesn't improve. This involves quite a workload at our church and will mean me having to hand over my school governor duties to someone else. There will inevitably be less time for modelling too so a more modest project than TG is going to have to be considered. Added to Is's health issues and our determination to get back into monthly holidays soonest, it looks like a busy time ahead. The drawback of refusing the church wardens post is that it will allow the undesirable who had to be ejected from the role previously to slide back into place, triggering the resignation of the other church warden. All good fun Enjoy what you do Dave

Mornin' all, Very best wishes to those that ail Just a couple of inches during the night. Recovering from night shifts meant going to sleep late and waking too late for a constitutional. First ice dance of the year on yesterday afternoon's circuit, with one of the hill climbs particularly slippery .... Church duties beckon today. Feathered ones provided for....apple put out for the blackbirds, new coconut half shell of fat too...blue/great tit, goldfinch, chaffinch, sparrow, magpie, jackdaw, collared dove, blackbird, pigeon, dunnock, starling all featuring so far. Enjoy what you do Dave

For those seeing the blanket of snow down the centre of the country on the weather forecast....it is accurate, snow started in The Moorlands at 4pm. I'd just managed to get back in from the weekend circuit constitutional. Dave