Meet the Family

 Couldn't resist this lovely photograph.

Darling daughter Lorna now outgrown by our grandsons James (left) and Ben.  

Click picture to enlarge

A Silver Lining (and some Christmassy Pictures)

 We are in a mild period of winter weather just now.  It has become my habit to go to the roof room and attempt the Daily Telegraph crosswords for enjoyment justified as brain training,  The other morning this was the scene which greeted my arrival by lift.  A patch of sunshine to the west with a heavy cloud above it - but with a silver lining:

What a view eh?  I put it on Facebook and it is getting lots of likes and shares.  Not as many though as this set of pictures of a deserted but Christmassy Settle earlier this week as I walked home with the town to myself from Townhead surgery.  311 likes and rising. View them in reverse order to follow my route and click on any pic to enlarge:

A Place to SETTLE

 Steam Railway December magazine 552 has hit the bookstalls and my article about the water tower is in it - all SIX pages of it.  Here are the first two - a double page spread.   If you want to read the rest you will have to buy a copy.  There's a lot of magazine for your money - we're on pages 88-93.

They had asked TV's Tim Dunn for suggestions about re-used railway buildings to feature.  He put our water tower at the top of the list apparently.

Snow? No Snow.

 Parts of the UK have been seriously disrupted by snow the last few days.  Nearby south Cumbria declared a major incident as motorists were stranded in their vehicles, sometimes in far-flung locations for many hours.  One had to endure 19 hours without  food and water amid Arctic temperatures.

Settle meanwhile, though freezing cold has had nothing more than an occasional dusting.  This morning though we woke up and , as normal, switched on our bedroom monitor to check on the weather, beamed to us from a rooftop camera.  It was still too dark for a colour image but hey!  Snow I thought.  So convinced was I that I took a picture of the screen:

Then dawn dawned and colour kicked in.  What a disappointment.

A BBC Winter Walk

 BBC TV are repeating just now a lovely series of programmes, filmed a couple of years ago called Winter Walks.  Well-known, worthy and interesting people undertake short (5 miles or so) walks, alone apart from a 360 degrees camera on top of a pole and a film crew.  Many of the walks are in the Yorkshire Dales and the day lengths are at their shortest.

We have followed the series and last evening the walker was Alastair Campbell - one time government front man and enforcer.  He used to be a national figure of hate for some - maybe even most.  His walk was in Ribblesdale - right through Settle as it happened because snow and mist on the tops had caused him to deviate to gentler conditions in the valley bottom.  We met a much more reflective Alastair Campbell, alone with his thoughts, Bronte poetry and Yorkshire at its best.  Inspired by the scenery and the loneliness he opens up about his struggles with depression.  You can see see it on BBC iPlayer - just enter Winter Walks.  

To our surprise and delight our water tower featured twice, firstly in an introductory drone shot of Settle and as the film moved onward from Settle to Langcliffe a more detailed view, with the tower centre stage (second picture) -

Christmas is Coming

 Busy day today:

1.  With mixed feelings we have sold the Shogun.  In truth we hardly ever used it and it is a 20 year old gas-guzzling 3.5 litre, non Ulez compliant monster car and one-too many cars for our needs.  Sad to see it go but the space it occupied is freed up.  

2.  Today was Settle's Christmas lights switch-on.  Centred on the Market Place,  Settle does this exceptionally well.  At 5pm there is a stunning fireworks display from the top of Castlebergh to coincide with the switch-on.  There was doubt this year about the cost of the fireworks, previously funded by the town council.   Into the breach stepped Tarmac Ltd of nearby Dry Rigg and Arcow quarries.  The display was better than ever and we were joined on the top of the tower by David and Evgenia, our Ukrainian guests.  We warned them about the loud bangs and were worried they might remind them of dreadful happenings from which they had fled.   No such problems - they thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle against a gin-clear moonlit sky.

3.  Our old downstairs lounge fireplace at The Folly is looking festive again:

How Things Were on the S&C 100+ Years Ago

 This wonderful photograph popped up on Facebook today.  A southbound Midland Scotch express is posed for a photograph before departure from Carlisle Citadel station. The date is believed to be in April, 1910.

Pilot engine, MR Kirtley 2-4-0 No. 181 dating from 1876 leads an unidentified Deeley 4-4-0.

Photo-credit: F. Tassell-Oliver Carter collection

 

The Midland Railway had a small engines policy, even for their Glasgow-London expresses like this one.  It is well worth clicking on the picture to study the details.

Before and After - Dramatic Reminder

 Just finished writing an article for Steam Railway magazine about the Water Tower - part of an occasional series about re-using former railway buildings and structures.  You must wait until it is published to read it of course.  Whilst digging back for some 'before' pictures I rediscovered this dismal one and for comparison an equivalent view now:

The far window is boarded up and ivy is finding its way in.  Altogether a challenge.  What a difference from now:

The second picture covers just the upper portion of the first, with the insertion of the floor which intersects the windows but it is recognisably the same place.

Autumn on the Roof

 We've been putting a great deal of effort into the topmost part of the tower recently.  The roof room itself is becoming cosier with previously undetected underfloor air gaps being sealed.

A carefully placed fan heater below the indoor viewing platform seats has enabled a year-round opportunity to observe the seasons from on high and in comfort.  Here is early autumn yesterday* morning.  Coffee and the Telegraph cryptic Thursday* crossword**.  What's not to like?

* Just realised Thursday wasn't yesterday.  Today is Saturday and I don't mind.  Great thing about retirement is you don't have to worry about such things as what day of the week it is.  You don't have to go to work and, better still, you don't have to go to school either.

** the Thursday crossword is unique.  Absolutely un-do-able on first acquaintance but once you've cottoned on it is an enjoyable challenge.  Brain food.

Just for fun, this was the same scene at twilight a few days later.  Note how there is blue sky up above but Settle below is in darkness:

Birthday Party Warm-up

 A week on from my actual birthday our big-and-getting-bigger family are gathering for the main event the following day (Sunday - today as I write this).

Here they are, some of them, thoroughly enjoying a rugby game between England and South Africa after a tasty Indian meal at Settle's famous Ruchee restaurant.

Our often ridiculed ginormous TV and surround-sound came in handy.  They deserved a rest having come from all over an England still being battered by storm Babet.  No trains either.

Firebird in the Sky

 When the weather is suitable it has become our habit to sit and watch the weather from the roof-room, looking west.  Last evening's sunset was okay but at the sun dipped below the horizon it lit up what few clouds were in the sky.  Most were the remains of aircraft vapour trails, decaying and spreading as their heights and directions dictated.

Sometimes, recognisable or imaginable shapes emerge and last evening was fleetingly amazing.  The platform lights of Settle railway station were already alight as darkness had descended when, from left to right, an enormous firebird emerged out of the blue.  (You may need to click on the picture to see its entirety):

Big Birthday, Lovely Surprise

 Well, it's out there on Facebook so I might as well come clean.  Yesterday was my (Mark) 80th birthday.  The sun shone in celebration.  Lots of lovely and thoughtful gifts and cards.  Family get together here next week.

The icing on the cake, quite literally, was a surprise visit by our Ukrainian guests living in our annex.  Evgenia Євгенія Лебеденко * and her 11 year old son David arrived at the kitchen door armed with a candle-lit birthday cake, a bottle of wine and the biggest Toblerone you ever did see.  The lasting and now treasured gift was a cuddly sheep, expertly made by Evgenia herself.  Still thinking ** of a name for him/her or whatever he/she self-identifies as:

The occasion also presented an opportunity for this lovely photograph:

* Things linguistic get complicated.  Evgenia (we pronounce it Jenya) is Євгенія Лебеденко in Ukrainian Cyrillic script.  David (pronounced David, thankfully) is settling in well as a new boy at Settle College.  They are lovely people who, along with thousands of others fled their home town near the Russian border with whatever they could carry.  It is a privilege and a delight to be able to give them a safe home.

**  Name decided. It's Vlodymyr.

Sandite Train at Settle

 Unusual, perhaps unprecedented, the Sandite train stopped at Settle station yesterday early evening for an hour or more:

Sandite? I hear you cry. A mixture of sand and antifreeze, used for assisting rail traction adhesion during extreme weather. Sandite S4 also contains steel shot to assist track-circuit operation.  It had stopped at Settle, necessarily blocking the up line, because of flooding on the line to the south.   Where better than Settle to stop anyway?  Toilets, good conversation and coffee.   It eventually moved away northwards, wrong line, towards Blea Moor in darkness.

This was our view of all this excitement from our roof room viewing platform, through its rain swept windows.   Note the handrail which is dead level, demonstrating that the train is on an uphill 1:100 slope, left to right.

I do believe this is just about the dullest posting I have done in quite a while.  You need to know that I have just been accepted as a member of Facebook's Dull Men's Club (212+K members incidentally).  I may just try them with this post to check if I am on the right wavelength.

Update.  It was rejected.  

Rento

 As part of the deterrent war on flies inside the tank, Rentokil came yesterday.

Here's their lovely van.  Understandably, they're at pains to play down the K-word.

Now they have done their thing with all the likely fly-breeding places I can set about preventative measures to keep the little critters away.  Priority is a new fibreglass roof-cum-walkway surrounding the roof room, this time with a 1:60 even slope downwards towards the rainwater drain to prevent puddling, we hope.  That will wait until next year for completion in warmer weather.  Meanwhile there is a below-floor gap running right round the roof room to be filled with expanding foam - probably during a predicted October Indian summer towards the end of this week.  Never a dull moment here.

A Perfectly Memorable Northern Evening

 

We are having an Indian summer.  The other evening I sat out on the roof deck watching the sun go down.  It was warm, dead quiet and there was not a breath of wind.  The silence was broken from time to time by music from the Giggleswick and Settle brass band in their rehearsal room in the nearby Conservative Club, whose windows were, unusually, wide open.

As the sun dipped out of sight below the western horizon the silence was explosively shattered by a very LOUD and note perfect fanfare.   I think it was Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man - I shall have to check  One of those magical moments of a lifetime.  Thank you anyway Giggleswick and Settle Brass Band.

Fanfare for the Common Manhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N8auOHq3co

Decks Major Re-think and Overhaul

 Identifying the below-decks void as the likely source of flies has meant a lot of work in removing the deck boards, reversing them and in places raising  them to create easier access to keep the below-decks areas clean of rotting debris, power washing, Rentokil treatments and long term access to  keeps them fly-free.  Well under way.  This is the north west corner which will be raised to create a deeper, accessible, void.  The fibreglass roof below is in excellent condition.  Twelve years on from the decks construction it and its supports are in excellent condition.  The support legs are of pressure treated timber and each rests on a galvanised steel spreader plate.  For good measure the base of each leg was soaked overnight in creosote before installation.  This has resulted in no rot whatever despite the often wet environment down there.

As originally constructed, the entire weight of the deck and whatever is on the deck is borne by the fibreglass roof below.  This load has been reduced by the use of joist hangers, firmly fixed to the tank itself.   Extra joists have also been provided.  The raised access is only at the north and south ends of the decking where large areas require maintenance access.  Other areas of the deck remain at their original levels.  Along the narrow eastern side of the roof room there is no decking, enabling total open-air access.  Along the wider western walkway, the four central decking board have been lifted, turned and replaced with stainless steel screws to enable occasional access if ever needed.

And now,

Reference Number: 4400112

Fly problem Diagnosed - the Answer is Below-Decks

 Several earlier posts have dealt with the problem of tiny flies which infest the roof room each winter.   I had been calling them cluster flies - wrongly.   Today, Harry, a fly specialist from Rentokil came to have a look-see.  Straight away he was able to identify FILTER FLIES as the culprits.  100%.  They are harmless but they are an invasive seasonal nuisance.

They (Psychodidae if we're being posh) are minute (about 1/8 inch long) and have a life cycle of just three days.  They lay their eggs in standing water which contains rotting or other such matter in it.  Just the sort of thing that would accumulate on the fibreglass roof of a former railway water tower!  There, they breed like, er, flies.   In summer they fly off and do whatever flies do.  In winter they seek refuge in any nook or cranney they can find.  That could be the inside of a three pin electrical plug, they are that small.

Our room inside the tank is heaven on earth for them.  They breed and hatch in the puddling water outside then come indoors for shelter, via even the tiniest crack.  In winter they do their entire life cycle indoors and repeat over and over again, multiplying in numbers each time.

Beautiful, moth-like things but not in these sorts of numbers, thank you:

The solution is to clean out and ry out the breeding habitat below the outside decking on the south, west and north sides.   Rentokil will then use its industrial grade insecticide to kill off the colony, eggs and all.  To do that effectively though they need good access to underneath the decks so I am creating that for them - and for me to be able to have easy access to pressure-wash and spray below, ongoing.

The western walkway needs serious attention, seen here.  The central boards are being lifted, cleaned and deck-oiled before being upturned and put back using stainless steel screws for easy removal and for access.  The four boards running the entire length of the tank will be removed and treated, creating access to all areas below all decks.  At the far end you can see prepared and oiled boards drying off in the sun, looking good as new.

The sub framework is in very good order.  It is in treated timber and I well remember soaking the feet of each upright in good-old creosote, which has done its job well.  Each of those rests on a galvanised steel plate to spread the load onto the fibreglass roof below.

Keeps me fit and out of mischief.

Dry at Last - a RESULT!

Here's one for architect Stuart Green and for builder Carl Johnson.  It shows the paved platform area immediately inside the main south door - accessed also from the 'George Stairs'.  It has been raining heavily and persistently overnight which would normally mean big puddles of water on there and below.

It is now bone DRY!  The white box-of tricks is a dehumidifier,  there to dry out the atrium's inside walls before they can be repainted.

It's still raining cats and dogs - see the windows and the outside balcony beyond.

Oh, and yesterday was Yorkshire Day - suitably marked atop the tower:

Inside the Tank and a Wonderful View

 Now that the water ingress problem appears to have been well and truly sorted (thank you Carl Johnson Builders Ltd) I have been able to turn my attention to overdue 'other' jobs, one of which was re-painting the exposed inside of the tank, re-doing its sky-grey paint,

A photograph of a grey cast iron wall might have lacked interest but how about this one?  Besides the grey inside tank wall it shows the view northwards including Dalehead vets, a steam train, a glimpse of Pen y Ghent, the Ukraine flag, the tin man (one of Settle\s flowerpot men) and a fabulous summertime sky. Below the flagpole can be seen a prepared but yet to be painted tank panel.  Well worth enlarging.

 

Lift-off Continued - Dry Walls

 Just now the UK is experiencing a spell of wet weather, extreme at times.  Mainland Europe has an exceptional heatwave with temperatures dangerously high.  Here though it is comfortable,  During last weekend I was sitting under the shelter of the navvy hut's north side overhang, watching torrential rain whilst perfectly dry.  The odd nearby thunder clash too.  When the rain eventually stopped I was able to get a picture of the west face of the tower showing the pattern of wetting on the main external wall:

Encouragingly, the ornate stone walkway-cum-drip-cornice at the top of the wall was doing its job, evidenced by the dry wall immediately beneath it.  The corners rather less so.  When the rain was at its heaviest I could see (and hear) a virtual waterfall cascading from the edge of the cornice.  No water at all was evident on the tower's inside.  All very encouraging that the current sealing of the tank/stonework gap is working.  

Access at the north end, round the corner to the left, will be slightly trickier as the JCB cannot reach it.  We shall have to approach the job from the top using a ladder and secure body harness down to the walkway - a well trodden path in the sky!  Finally, the east side is easily accessed from the annex roof.  If the sun ever shines again that is.

UPDATE  The job is finished!  Yesterday,19th July, the Johnsons looked at the weather forecast and decided to go for it.  A very thorough and neat job it is too.  Only time will tell if it has been effective but I have a dehumidifier going flat out in the south end of the tower and we're on a roll.  Here are the heroes on the last lap.  The north end of the tower could not be reached by the JCB's platform so the good old Victorian but narrow ledge was bravely used - note the TWO harnesses - belt and braces!   Final picture was a good test of one of our new security cameras, automatically recording people on the annex roof.  not evident in the picture of their first arrival on  that roof, the surface was a real mess of accumulated leaves, twigs and other flying debris, hidden from view behind the parapets.  On their own initiative they cleared all that while they were there.

We Have Lift-Off

 Rainwater ingress between the tank and the stonework below has always been a problem, especially with wind-driven rain.  After much research and head-scratching, today sees the problem being tackled and hopefully solved.

Builder Carl Johnson was up for the job in a big way.  Access was no problem now that he had a serious high-lift access JCB.

This JCB 535-125 Hi Viz tele-handler is a monster - well capable to reaching right over the coal truck and up to the tank.

This has enabled safe and easy access to the horizontal row of sealants between the tank and the stonework below.  This was found to have failed almost totally along the south end of the tank.  In fact it could be pulled away in one strip, revealing wetness behind it.  Here it is laid out along a bench seat.  Not a pretty sight:

The JCB access is enabling the replacements sealants to be applied with accuracy and care.  The gap is cleaned out thoroughly, then high expansion foam is inserted.  `This is then hammered in tight and the resulting channel is filled with black sealant, pressed in thoroughly. By Carl Johnson's son Scott.

They did the entire southern end and the western side, whose north west corner could only be accessed from the station drive - nicely between trains.  The platform did not quite reach, the station drive at that point being considerably lower.  Even so Scott Johnson was game for a heroic stretch:

A tricky day's work done. to be resumed on the next dry day.