Happy Settlemas

 Look what’s appeared on our fence:

We've Finally Got our Solar Energy Supercharged

 Meet our new batteries by Sigenergy.

Hitherto our sixteen solar panels on the south facing roof of the navvy hut simply collected solar energy for immediate use or fed it into the grid.  That was fine back in 2013 when they were fitted but since then battery technology has raced ahead. Indeed, nobody nowadays would fit solar panels without batteries.

For a couple of years we have been researching the subject but the whole idea was interrupted by our flooding and recovery.

We did however discover that there are hundreds of suppliers out there, all anxious to sell you extra panels and batteries galore.  Our panels are on an advantageous tariff called FIT - Feed In Tariff.  Extra panels would have to go on another tariff, SEG.  Further complications arose because we are lucky' enough to be on three phase mains electricity.  We would require a smart meter which we were told we could not have on three phase.  It was all getting a bit confusing at a time when we could well do without it.

The whole idea faded away until we concluded that fitting batteries to our existing panels.  A couple of the hundreds of solar firms agreed and we set about trying to purchase a system with Duracell batteries - a well known and reputable brand.  Expensive, but we had been warned against cheap batteries.  Trouble was that Duracell did not do three phase batteries and inverter BUT they had such a system under development for imminent supply.   Imminent became prolonged so we ruled out Duracell.

Then we stumbled across the Sigenergy system.  Dearer than Duracell but way ahead on specification.

The Sigen system even had the latest AI which would run itself intelligently, even to the extend of looking at the next day's sunshine prospects and taking account of our electricity consumption routines.

We have switched our Utility warehouse tariff to Economy Seven which has an off-peak (midnight to 0700) of just 8.8 pence per kWh, compared with 37 pence daytime and evenings!  Furthermore, with 32 kWh of batteries we now harvest ALL of our electricity from the grid at that much lower rate - straight into the batteries for use next day.  If the sun shines we harvest that too of course.

£12,000 worth of outlay but the Return on Investment, plus the massively increased energy efficiency made this a logical affordable thing to do.  We shall see,

Future posts and an Anniversary

After radio silence for quite a while I have decided to concentrate this blog on things mainly to do with the water tower as such.  It has got rather big over the years  but it has been very useful t times to look lack and see what happened when and how.

Before I change to that reduced format though I do think I should mention that on 2nd September it was our diamond wedding anniversary.  Thats I think to a bit of arm twisting by our beloved daughter Lorna we even got a card from HM The King !

The Roof Room and Walkways

 Here are some recent pictures of the top floor and the room inside the tank.   Following the need to replace the entire roof we have been slowly reinstating the roof room and surroundings,   Very comfortable and refreshed it is too.

A Book, a Rooftop and a Glass of Red

 Mark Harvey took these pictures on the evening of 8th August 2025, unbeknown to me.  They were taken from the footbridge over the railway at Settle station.  He obviously has a superb telescopic lens and a steady hand.

Drying Out

 A truly massive amount of water got into the tower while we were between roofs, as it were.   Thanks to Jack Towell we now have a 30-year guaranteed new roof, not that 30 years will be our concern.  Today has been a day of finishing-off bits, including the installation of five roof vents, specially chosen to be connected to electric air blowers to ensure good ventilation between the tank base and the EPDM roof.   Picture below shows the care being taken to glue them securely and seamlessly in place,  Picture 2  shows one of them in situ.

Meanwhile, in the tower below no less than four industrial dehumidifiers and two enormous fans are hard at work drying everything out.  They will be (noisily) doing their thing for two weeks.   Meanwhile, we are in the quietness and warmth of the annexe.

Recent radio silence

 Both of my followers may (or may not) have noticed no new posts on here for quite a while.  We're both OK and beginning to re-enjoy the water tower following the successful installation and rain-testing of our new roof.  Not only a new roof but, thanks to NFU home insurance, a total new wooden floor in the lounge, new large curtains, new electrics in the lift and redecoration of the main lunge, including its complicated ceiling of iron beams and the tank base.

Lots of these things are difficult to photograph interestingly, so here are a couple of garden pictures showing our spectacular huge shrub outside the upper back door, in bud on 15th June and now in spectacular flower.

More later.

New Roof

For months and months we have been having roof problems, resulting in rainwater entering the tower via the enormous great hole in the tank base in which the lift and stairway to the roof room are located. It has been exceedingly difficult to discover the exact place or places where the rain has been coming in.

We think that the main cause was an incorrectly fitted junction between the roof room and the original roof.  A 'skirt' of EPDM* which had been intended to sit on the outside of the fibreglass roof up-stand was in fact located behind it.  Initially, this would not have been a problem as seals between the glass windows of the roof room bottoms were good when new.  Over time however, water had seeped past them in places, allowing small amounts of water to gradually accumulate in the tank base plates.   Those, by their very nature, were totally watertight so the water was trapped with nowhere to go.   Base plates below and water (and largely air-tight) roof above.

Over the years the level of the trapped water had risen until it reached the timber defences around the stair and lift well.  Those defences eventually rotted in places, as did most of the roof supporting timbers below.  All was well during dry weather but after heavy rain larger and larger amounts of water came in, to be caught recently in an ever increasing quantity of receptacles on the lounge floor by the stair and lift well.

We eventually crossed the Rubicon and ripped up parts of the fibreglass roof to discover the awful truth that its supporting timbers needed total replacement.  So, a replacement roof was urgently needed - in winter!  Meantime the tower was left exposed to whatever Mother Nature dropped on it.

A very long and tedious story but considerable internal damage had been caused and we have claimed on our household insurance.  Praise be, we are with NFU Mutual insurance and have been for years.   They would cover everything inside but we were on our own with the replacement roof of course.

Flat roofers do not abound in Settle, let alone a roofer with the experience and willingness to tackle this unusual and difficult job.  We eventually found a Leeds roofer, Jack Towell, who was up for the job , enthusiastically.  For the past fortnight Jack and his team have been hard at it, removing the existing roof (three large skips full of it) and replacing it.  Here is yesterday's view of the rain ingress area, now covered with osb boards, ready to be covered by thick EPDM* Firestone rubber roofing, starting today.

The second picture shows the same roof view but with fillets of timber edging, ready for the EPDM* layer to be glued down.

* EPDM is Ethylene Propylene Diene terpolymer Membrane (you may thank me one day for that if it ever crops up in a pub quiz)

Happy Christmas 2024

The old folks:

And the young ones:

Check-ups at Christmas

 For the past two December 18ths I have had 5pm appointments at Townhead Surgery for my annual review and check-up.  This means I walk back through the town nearer to 6pm.  I have the place to myself.  The cars have mostly gone home and so too the people and evening has not got into its swing.  Here are this year's images.   Hardly changed from 2023's but wonderful.  Click on any one to enlarge:

Kirkby Lonsdale Fire

This was the aftermath of a dreadful fire in not-far-away Kirkby Lonsdale at the weekend.   It was right in the middle of the small market town with narrow streets.   The shape and corner position of the building involved made fighting the fire exceptionally difficult.   Sadly a man died.   Water was a big problem in such a small place.   Hydrants ran dry as did the town's water supply in general and special high volume pumps had to be brought in to pump water from the river Lune.   A severe test for the mostly volunteer fire crews from all over Cumbria. Lancashire and North Yorkshire to whom all credit.

Storm Bert

 After several days of dire warnings Storm Bert* is here.   Nothing too bad in Settle though.  A very modest amount of snow followed by lots and lots of rain and a sudden rise in temperature as southerly winds blew in strongly.  Autumn and winter sort of rolled together.  First picture illustrates rainy darkness at just half past four in the afternoon of Saturday 23rd November,   The next two show spectacular low speed skid marks from our lovely new car being driven away over what appeared to be harmless rain-drenched slush.   The car ended up sideways on to the boundary fence having slid down the modest slope sideways.  Fortunately not a scratch.

* Who names these storms?  Bert hardly does justice to the event.

Grandson James at it Again and Ben's Sixteen

 Here's another one of mighty grandson James, quarterback for Birmingham Uni., helping them to a resounding 27-6 win against Cardiff Uni.

Meanwhile, younger grandson Ben is now sixteen

Garden gets a Haircut and Thin-out

 Our policy of letting nature do its thing with the 'cultivated' parts of the gardens has worked well.  But, too well in the case of some high growing plants - brambles and young trees especially.   Autumn is time for a clear-out of those.

We are unable to tackle them ourselves so must call in some help.  Help has come form two directions - Paul and Tracey.   Paul, who we have known for years, was a teller at Settle's one-time Barclays Bank.  He is now a much happier green-fingered man.  He has set about clearing the steep slope of the southern embankment, clearing space for the wanted shrubs:

You could not even see that fence before!  The young trees and bushes are in those ton bags awaiting recycling.  Phase two is attention from qualified plantswoman Tracey.

The Moody Yorkshire Dales in Just One Picture at near Dusk

 How's this for a magnificent photograph by MJ Turner, whose commentary on it is:

Never a Dull Moment in Sleepy Settle

 The emergency services are kept busy in this far flung corner of England, 30+ miles from the nearest hospital.   Police, fire and ambulance are all based here in Settle.   A bit further up the valley are the cave and mountain rescue.   That said, the actual presence at any one time may be one police constable and one ambulance crew.  Fire cover is by call-out.  Mutual aid is there in abundance but it is from a distance and that takes time.   Emergency calls for the ambulance are either answered almost instantly for Settle itself, IF the ambulance is not elsewhere in the vastness of the Yorkshire Dales.   In that case there are the volunteer first responders or, nowadays, the air ambulance is the much valued backup.

You will have seen them on TV probably, too often deployed to the Three Peaks accidents and to serious  road accidents.

Late yesterday afternoon must have been one of those times when 'our' ambulance was elsewhere - which could well include being at the far distant Airedale Hospital.  I happened to be on the roof of the tower and saw and heard the air ambulance approaching Settle at speed from the south east, heading north west.  To my surprise the helicopter slowed and circled more or less directly above the station and water tower, landing very nearby on the playing field of Settle Primary school, immediately on the far side of the railway.  There it shut down and the paramedics went about their duties inside the by-then closed-for-the-day school.  

Here it is (picture 1) between flights.  It took off again around 5pm.   Lisa Smith at Settle station caught the ideal picture, number 3 below.

Some Questions Answered

The other day a proper letter arrived.  You remember the sort of thing?   With a proper stamp on it and my name and address written on it in ink!   It was postmarked Swindon.  It turned out to be from Philip Harrison from Luckington, Chipenham - a follower of this Blog.   It was NINE pages long too!

Philip has an interest in water towers and a specific interest in the watering arrangements at Garsdale, near to the summit of the S and C,  Garsdale had not only a tank house and water tower, more or less identical to ours here at Settle, but also the water troughs between he rails for expresses to pick up water without stopping.  Here are the Garsdale troughs with their own water tank.  Built in 1907 and now long since gone.

It was always a spectacle to see the troughs in use as when the tender was full, surplus water would often overflow, to the delight of line-side photographers but to the dismay of diners in the first class carriages behind:

But back to Philip Harrison.  His scholarly letter addressed questions posed in this Blog.

Q1  Could Settle Station Tank House have been built earlier than 1876?  Answer (backed up with numerous extracts from contemporary reports) - most probably.  Settle station's site was hugely important as an accessible construction base, covering some 10 acres of land.  Three tank engines operated along the line well before 1876 and it was important to avoid road haulage for massively heavy supplies.  Settle station itself was completed by June 1876 when it was reported that 'a water tank is erected some 30 feet above the level of the rails, which will hold  200 tons of water'.

Q2  Why is Settle Station tank house so large?  Answer -  uncertain but optimism about future through and local traffic may have been the key.  There was local concern about where the precious water would come from.  In the end it came from Stainforth higher up the line.

Q3  How was the Garsdale Tank House heated?    Answer - It was used for local social functions and had two big coal fired stoves which may have been later amenities fitted for these occasions.

My precis of the answers condenses page after page of evidence, or lack of it.

The letter concludes with a  number of drawings of Midland Railway water tanks such as this one:

Thank you so much Philip Harrison.

Fiat Lux

 The evenings are certainly drawing in now which puts a different perspective on our habit of siting outside on the tank decks or inside if it is too cold or raining.  The automatic LED lights of the station's lovely neoVictorian street lights come on well before dusk.  We can see eleven of them from our perch and a jolly fine spectacle they make.  The picture below was in fact almost approaching darkness on a wet and horrible late evening earlier this week.   Unfortunately, modern cameras do their best to turn night into day so imagine this as nearly dark.  So, mentally darken it considerably and fiat lux.

Evgeniia and David

 We have had the privilege of hosting our Ukrainian refugee family for the past year already.  Doesn't time fly?   There has been only passing reference to them in this Blog.  They have in fact been able to return to Ukraine to see their family twice during the year to 'test the temperature' as it were.  We hope we have been able to give them a home from home yet to respect their privacy.  Evgeniia has even got a Facebook presence which shows her home as Settle, which is nice.  She has just published her profile picture, taken in Ukraine, on it too - 

On their return from Ukraine this month I asked how things were back home.  No bombs I hope? I enquired.  "Only one" she matter of factually replied.

They are about to move on to another house, very nearby in Settle in early October and we shall still be here for them if ever needed, of course.

Re-roofing

 Water ingress has defied more than a year's worth of investigation and attempted cures.  It has now become clear that the main ingress is not from that gap between the tank and the walls, though that was part of the problem and is now comprehensively fixed.

In fact the water has been coming in above the tank base plates where is has accumulated.  That can only mean that the fibreglass roof inside the tank has failed, either locally, near the one and only outlet, or more generally.  A new roof, over the old one is necessary.   Inevitably this has meant total clearance of whatever sits on the old roof   In other words the decked area above.   It has been quite a task to dismantle the decks and a problem was how to store the lengthy components - mainly decking planks and supporting rafters.   The obvious place for temporary storage would have been on the ground which would involve lowering them piece by piece and raising them back again.  Then, inspiration struck.  Why not secure them across the corners of the massively strong tank itself?

For a week of so, the photographers will have to put up with the results but reassembly will be so much more straightforward and the components will be exactly where they are needed.  The stacks are tied together securely with tensioned straps and at the western corners the planks are interwoven with the horizontal steel cables of the safety fences.   The new roof begins next Monday, 16th September when a week of high pressure if forecast over the UK.   Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.