I don’t know where to start! Should I focus on the glorious weather we’re blessed with here in the Calder Valley (and mention its downsides), or should I focus on the wider world which seems to be going mad, both environmentally and politically? Maybe best to stick locally for now – otherwise this could turn into a very long blog indeed…

Today’s been another in a series where we’ve had wall to wall sunshine, and I’m loving it. This is my sort of weather. I’ve always been partial to sunny climes so this sort of weather’s right up my street. If anything it’s making me pine for South-East Asia and a beach or two. Let’s face it, what’s the UK got to offer from here? Bridlington on the East coast, or maybe Blackpool on the West. These are not the images I conjure up when I imagine a beach. Think more palm trees, coral reefs and hammocks rather than donkeys and ‘kiss me quick’ hats. Still, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth, so I’ll make the most of things here whilst I can.

The day wasn’t all about basking in the sun. I’ve been busy picture editing, including the HS2 tunnel breakthrough pictures I promised yesterday (which you can find here). Having those sorted meant that I could back-up pictures to different hard-drives as insurance before sending links to various magazines who may be interested.

Work done I enjoyed a walk down into Sowerby Bridge, dropping off our old Virgin internet kit en-route (sorry, Virgin) ready to be returned. Time in the village has provided today’s picture, which is rather topical. Here’s the pound below Tuel Lane lock.

It’s dry due to a lack of water feeding the canal, thus severing the route from the West to the East. This isn’t unusual nowadays as the canal relies on water running off the nearby hills. Except when it doesn’t. The canal above and below Tuel Lane locks are full, but this is the deepest lock on the UK canal network, so the amount of water it uses is massive.

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