Clouds in a Blue Sky

Today has been one of those days when it is good to be retired, not to have to go to work nor school.

God has been in His Heaven and All has been Right with the World here in Settle at least.

Off to Booths, get a picnic and off we go in Gladys Emmanuel.   Not far - just to the road to Lawkland, park up and picnic.

The Dales scenery is wonderful but today it was the clouds that stole the show:

This one first took my eye.   Can you too see the fluffy dog jumping from left to right?

And here is the view to the north with Ingleborough and Whernside on the horizon.   But it is the clouds that complete the picture.

The 4x4 Ferrari is Finished

Well, it has been quite a job, or series of jobs, but the station truck is finished.   She may get a final coat or two of paint next year but meantime she, and the Yanmar tractor have a new shelter:

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 It is at the back of the navvy hut and therefore out of sight.   It also means I can hide away other things like wheel barrows too.

The finishing touches for the truck were LMS signs:

and here is the Villiers Mk 10 engine, which starts first pull and now has the correct Villiers identification plate - a gift from Meetens Ltd who overhauled the engine.

Been doing a bit of digging into the history of these Geest trucks.   Turns out they were made by the Geest banana people at a factory in Spalding, Lincolnshire initially for use by Geest in such places as wholesale fruit and veg markets.   They proved so successful that other people, railways for instance, wanted to buy them from Geest so production was increased to satisfy that demand.

They were simple, rugged, reliable and above all  extremely manoeuvrable.   The single front wheel can turn full circle.   Great fun.

We Are Happy - and that's Official

There are statistics on just about everything nowadays.   Even Happiness can be counted, apparently.   The government counts Happiness by local authority areas and countries in the 'United' Kingdom.

We live in the Craven District of the UK and, so say the government, we are the Happiest people in the UK.

See
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/26/yorkshire-dales-craven-happiest-uk-ons-hertsmere-london

OK, it's the Guardian so it could be wrong but if the report is accurate, I suppose our Happiness is more to do with the God-given scenery than anything done by Craven District Council.

https://youtu.be/4a5vaIsaxB8

Treats from Down Under

We get ever so many visitors from Australia, most of whom have seen our programme on TV there.   Most sign the visitors book and have a chat if we are about.

Imagine our delight when the postman delivered this to us today:

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All the way from Tasmania was a box of chocolates, made in Tasmania and a pouch of 'kangaroo strips' doggie treats for Bess.

No, seriously I kid you not.   The number one ingredient is er, kangaroo.

Inevitably, that too was made in Australia.   Bess has sampled one and has been jumping about the place like mad.

I shall not embarrass the senders by full name but their covering note said this:

"Dear Mark, Pat, Bess and Boss*,

 Thank you so much for showing us your home when we visited Settle in August.   It was truly the highlight of my visit I even bought the T shirt.   You have even rekindled Steve's interest in model railways.

Please find enclosed a small token of our appreciation in return.

Very kindest regards for such wonderful memories,

Gwyn and Steve

*Boss - the cat, of course

Thank you Gwyn and Steve.   What a lovely gesture.

"One of the Greatest Restoration Projects I've Ever Seen"

Spurred on by the deterioration of the DVDs of our TV appearances on Restoration Man I have been doing a bit of web surfing to see if there is anything out there which might address the situation and fill some gaps.

In the process I came across this, a compilation of the best tower restorations covered by Restoration Man.   Somehow we missed it first time round, or had forgotten about it.

Do have a look at:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-restoration-man/on-demand/58494-016

which covers four tower restorations - ours being the first, as it happens.

Presenter George Clarke is generous enough to describe ours as "One of the greatest restoration projects I've ever seen".   That is mighty high praise considering the dozens of projects that Restoration Man covered.   I am not at all sure it is fully deserved either, considering the magnificence of so many others.   Not least the three other towers covered in the link, some of which encompassed human tragedy and setbacks that we, mercifully, were spared.

Tornado Blasts By

One of my self appointed jobs in Settle is to use social media to tell the local people, and visitors, about the steam trains passing by.   Today it was Britain's new-build A1 Pacific locomotive Tornado hauling a Birmingham - Carlisle - Birmingham train.

It screamed through Settle at full speed at 1620 today.   This superb black and white picture freezes the speed but the body language on the platform reflects it.

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The trail of white steam betrays the whistle of recognition for Settle.

The Water Tower from Above

This link gets you to a quirky but fascinating short film about the Settle-Carlisle railway from very different viewpoints, not least above and around Settle station

https://youtu.be/85cR_OEwJc8

Use full screen, sound and HD if you have it.

The first minute or two has you flying over Settle station - and the water tower.   For the first time you can see the enormous SETTLE  letters on the roof of the tower.

There are some stunning shots of Arten Gill Viaduct and delightful glimpses of a small child experiencing perhaps his first impressions of a wonderful railway from the privileged vantage point of his father's back.   You'll see.

DVDs Don't Last Forever

Discovered to our dismay yesterday that DVDs do not last for ever.   The makers of Restoration Man, Tiger Aspect, had kindly sent us DVDs of our two episodes - the original restoration and the re-visit.   Neither will now play, sadly for us.   Googled it, like you do nowadays, and it appears this is a well known problem - especially if DVDs are left exposed to light.

But all was not lost, our re-visit programme is still on the Channel 4 website at
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-restoration-man/on-demand/54292-011

The link itself may eventually go so I must discover how to create copy DVDs - which will be kept in a dark place for posterity.   Maybe.

UPDATE
All is not lost - far from it.   Right up there on our third floor - the roof room - is a Personal Video Recorder  about which I had quite forgotten.   It makes no noise or fuss.   It just does what it is told.

I looked at its library today and, lo and behold, there was our original Restoration Man programme, and our re-visited programme,safe, sound and very viewable.   In fact it has recorded every single Restoration Man episode - and every Father Ted, and every Foyles War and much more besides - 350 hours of television in all and there are still 117 hours-worth free.

I expect if I r.t.f.m.* I shall discover how to put our programmes onto clean DVDs - to be kept henceforth in the dark.

* r.t.f.m. read the f-----g manual.

A Slo-o-o-o-o-o-w News Day in Settle

Well, most days are slow news days in Settle actually.

Todays slow news is that we have an energetic slug on a first floor window of the annex.   Outside, fortunately.   Here she is:

enlargement not recommended

Slug photography is not my strong suit but you get the picture.   Anything on windows poses problems of focus for 'intelligent' cameras.

For the record, her name is Slimonella.

The 4x4 Ferrari's Engine Leaps into Life

Regular readers will know that during the past couple of years I have had three vehicular projects on the go, punctuated with cancer and a busted Achilles tendon.   Both are now history but they have slowed progress on the three vehicular projects.

Today they all met meaningfully for the first time:

click on pic

First there was the four wheeled trailer, made from a caravan chassis.   Today I towed it to the far side of Preston to collect the 4x4 'Ferrari' three wheeler truck from Paul Child - wizzard with Villiers engines and boss man of Meetens Ltd.   http://www.meetens.co.uk/   Here is the man himself, basking in the glory of having got the 55 year old engine back to life:

40 years of this sort of thing enabled him to diagnose a faulty ignition coil, new HT lead and the wrong carburettor jets, all fixed to perfection.   The engine was, he declared, otherwise good as new with very little wear at all.   His firm has a mountain of genuine Villiers engine parts along with the factory's records of every engine they built - including those supplied to the makers of our Geest auto truck, seen here sitting on said trailer.

The third of the triumvirate of therapeutic wheeled vehicles is the Yanmar diesel mini tractor.   I have equipped this with a front tow ball - a push ball really.   This enables me to manoeuvre the heavy four wheeled trailer to the millimetre - much as you see those airport tugs positioning jumbo jets so delicately.   Not only that it sounds like a canal boat - chug, chug, chug.

Anyway, the three wheeled 4x4 Geest-Ferrari is now very much a going concern, though presently stranded on the trailer whilst I sort out its gearbox:

I think these three projects have been occupational therapy with big boy's toys as a theme.

Our local fish and chip king, Richard, happened past this afternoon and casually enquired "Mark, what the heck's that?"

"Ferrari" I replied, which seemed to impress.   I shall expect Ferrari sized fish come Saturday.

NEXT DAY UPDATE

The final drive chain fitted this morning and the gear box works!   It had probably gummed up a bit with standing unused for so long.   Her maiden voyage was a couple of circuits of the station car park.   Great fun.

I Like Red Ones

A dismal autumn day today, brightened up though by LMS Jubilee locomotive Galatea racing through Settle at 1240 northbound and 1821 on return with The Waverley from York to Carlisle and back.

Latter day trainspotter Pat missed it going north and mumped all day as a result.   No such mistake this evening though.   She was impressed, I could tell.

"I like red ones", she declared as we strolled back to the tower.   "I don't care about 423's or your 567's.   I like red ones".

"Yes dear" I replied.  

She's right of course.

click to enlarge

The sun has not always shone for Galatea.   Here she is in serious trouble on 16th August 1953, at Wilnecote between Birmingham New Street and Tamworth:

Amazingly just two people were hurt when the train from Bradford to Bristol derailed and split in two.  Galatea's crew were uninjured.

Here and Now at Ribblehead Viaduct

Not at all sure I am allowed to do this but click on the link below to see and hear what is happening right now at the world famous Ribblehead viaduct.

http://mirlees.railcam.co.uk:8080/Ribblehead_Viaduct/index.m3u8

The  camera is a joint enterprise between the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line and Railcam uk.   Sign up at www.railcam.uk for a very modest subscription to see live pictures at railway locations all over the UK and abroad.

Settle Circa 1950

click to enlarge

This photograph from The Folly collection has just appeared on Facebook - an aerial view of Settle about 1950.   It shows a town about half its present size, with the railway prominent and dominant.

Our water tower is clearly shown, to the left of centre.   You do need to click on the picture to enlarge it.

Next Morning and it's Autumn on Lake Ribbleswick

A Last Day of Summer Evening on the Roof

This must be somewhere near heaven on Earth.

 click to enlarge