The pair of us have had a real mix of a day here at Bigland Towers thanks to different appointments and the improving weather. I’d planned to stay at home this morning whilst Dawn went off to an appointment in Ossett but once the early morning cloud that blanketed the bottom of the Calder valley cleared and we were treated to wall to wall blue skies and sunshine it became obvious that it was too nice a day to be stuck at home. Instead, I packed the camera bag and joined Dee for the journey Eastwards. I didn’t go all the way to Ossett, instead I got dropped off in nearby Horbury Bridge, the nearest place to the old Healy Mills railway marshalling yard. Built as part of British Railways 1955 modernisation plan this huge yard was once the centre for sorting coal traffic from the vast Yorkshire coalfields. Now it lies abandoned. But, recently, parts of the yard have been cleared of Silver Birch and other trees that have taken over, to expose the tracks once more. The grapevine suggests part of the yard will be brought back into use as a staging area for the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) but I’ve yet to see this confirmed. Here’s how it looked today.

Horbury Bridge itself is cut through by the River Calder, the Calder and Hebble navigation – and this magnificent old railway viaduct, which once carried the Midland Railway’s eight-mile route from Royston Junction to Thornhill. The line closed in 1968 and the 17 arch viaduct has been disused ever since.

I’ve passed under it so many times but never been able to get pictures, so today was an ideal day to try. To be honest, it’s difficult to do it justice from the ground. Really, you need a drone as it’s hemmed in by buildings and there’s no public vantage points that give you the sense of scale.

After walking from Horbury to Ossett (a great way of getting exercise as its all uphill) I spotted something else of historical interest. Ossett has a fine collection of Victorian buildings in the centre. This one caught my eye as its an old Liberal Club. That political party vanished decades ago in a merger with the then SDP to form the Liberal-Democrats, but as a teenager I remember Liberal clubs all over the place and sometimes used to play snooker in one in Southport. Like the one in Ossett, it’s been closed for years. Mind you, with the way the Conservative party’s tearing itself apart at the moment I wonder if soon many ‘Con’ clubs will be following the Liberal ones into the history books…

The former Ossett Liberal club on Station Rd. Neither the club or the station exist anymore.

On the way home Dawn was kind enough to stop and allow me to get pictures of TRU upgrade work at a place I’d never managed to get to before. Colne Bridge Rd overbridge East of Deighton, just before the junction of the lines from Huddersfield and Brighouse. here’s how it looks today.

Once back at home the tempo changed. I indulged in some DIY before heading out for a walk and a pint in our local (The Big 6) whilst Dawn began to cook up a storm in the kitchen. So, whilst I quaffed one of these..

-Dawn rustled up two very different vegetarian dishes. Here’s one – a Caulifower and Chick-Pea curry (although it has many more ingredients than that).

Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of Dawn’s labours whilst we enjoy a quiet Saturday night at home, watching a good film. See you all tomorrow…

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