Finally, after what’s been an incredibly dry spell, we’ve had rain this weekend. It’s nowhere near enough to fill the reservoirs (that will take months), but the showers have been heavy enough to make a difference to gardens and soak the ground enough so that the water doesn’t just run off the baked earth.
Admittedly, these downpours have made photography more challenging. I’d half-hoped to nip out yesterday to get shots of the first day of Huddersfield blockade diversions, but the weather was so gloomy and wet I gave up on the idea. Today was meant to be better. Plus, there were several engineers trains booked to run via the Calder valley from work around Mossley in the Colne valley. Dawn wasn’t feeling 100% so decided to concentrate on packing for Portugal, which gave me the time to nip out on my own and head the Hebden Bridge in the hope of getting some decent shots. Of course, the weather had other ideas. Shooting engineers trains is a hit and miss affair. The chances of them running to time are minimal, so you really are in the lap of the Gods – and today they were laughing at me! Each time one of the services I was waiting to photograph was due the heavens opened. Today’s picture tells the tale…
5 minutes before 66541 arrived the sun was shining and conditions were perfect. Then we had a cloudburst which sent me scurrying for the shelter of the station canopy. This was the result, the loco steams in the rain as it heads from Mossley to Doncaster with a train full of spent ballast from track renewals.
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Today’s the final day where Huddersfield station retains its current shape. Lines – and the station – close tonight until September 29th. When the station reopens its transformation will be well underway. So, I’m out and about looking at the way the forthcoming blockade is changing stations in the area – as it’s not just Huddersfield.
A general view of the West end of the station. Whilst the main trainshed roof will remain the smaller one to the left will disappear, along with the island platform as this side of the station will be extensively remodelled to accommodate an extra island platform, creating four through platforms. The old stabling sidings at Huddersfield have disappeared. Now, part of the former goods yard is a storage site for hardcore.Giant cranes dominate the station, ready to lift in new bridge segments.Platform 1 has been stripped bare of shelters and kiosks. The scaffolding that shrouded the roof has also disappeared.The former Huddersfield signalbox. Located on the island platform, it will disappear in order to make way for the new wing of the station. The station subway, always a cold place – even in the height of summer. The new platforms will be accessible from a footbridge with lifts. Looking through the station from the by the bufferstops on the bay platforms. The old wooden station building that occupied the site where the seats are on the right has been carefully dismantled and will be re-erected on the new platform in the future. A last look at the East (Leeds) end of the station. The bufferstops of the two bay platforms are visible to the right. One can only fit a a single 2 car and the other a 3 car so are inadequate for the modern railway. They’ll be replaced by two full length through platforms. Brighouse is about to become the railhead for Huddersfield. This has involved extending the station car-park and providing shelter for passengers waiting for buses onwards.In recent years Brighouse has had its platforms lengthened as part of the TRU upgrade. The place has recently had a spring-clean, which has added to the excellent work done by the local station friends group. There’s worse places to wait for a train than Brighouse. The friends group keep the place looking attractive and whilst there’s not many amenities on the station there’s a real ale pub and cafe right outside. This is Deighton station. It closes tonight. It won’t reopen for two years – when the line here has been four tracked. Here’s how the new station will look. Picture copyright of TRU. Here’s a scene which will vanish today. The bridge in the background will be replaced by a new structure. A TPE Class 802 speeds West through Deighton. Four tracking is already underway at this point The King’s Head pub on Huddersfield also closes tonight. Fancy a pint? All beers are half price today…
Over the weekend I’ll compose a picture-blog looking back over the life of Huddersfield station as I’ve seen it. Unfortunately I only have pictures from the 1990s onwards, which is a shame as I first passed through in the early 1970s, but the memory’s a bit hazy nowadays!
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Yesterday the pair of us made the best of the good weather to break out of Yorkshire to cross the border into Derbyshire and visit some old haunts. Regular visitors to my blog will know that visiting and walking around reservoirs (when feasible) has become a bit of a hobby this year – mainly because of the drought we’re experiencing this year which is leaving so many of the places we visit with abnormally low water levels.
We’ve been visiting the Derwent valley for many years, but until now we’ve never seen the various reservoirs in the area as low as they are now. But to get there we had to pass others. Langsett reservoir is South of Penistone. We’ve walked around it in the past but this time it was merely a photographic stop.
Going, going…
With it being a bank holiday we weren’t the only ones heading for the Derwent valley. Far from it. The roads around Ladybower were chokka with vehicles, leaving parking at a premium. We decided to head to our usual parking place at the Fairholmes car park in the shadow of the Derwent dam. Even this large car-park was full, but we were lucky and managed to find a recently vacated space. Others weren’t so lucky, ending up circling the car-park several times before finding a spot.
We headed off to the Eastern side of the Derwent dam to take our usual route towards Howden. It’s an easy walk along a wide, well-made (albeit unmetalled) track that doubles as part of the circular cycle track that encompasses both the Derwent and Howden reservoirs. As we had plenty of time and the Howden dam’s only a 30 minute walk away we decided to extend our walk as far as ‘slippery stones’ which is at the end of the Northern most finger of the res’ before continuing around the West bank. The first leg is along a track which turns into a metalled road all the way back to Fairhomes. Here’s a selection of pictures.
One of the impressive towers of the Howden dam seen from the Eastern side. Like Derwent dam, these were built in Victorian Gothic style. The Western finger of the Howden reservoir, showing just how little water remains. Looking North up the Northern finger of the Howden reservoir towards ‘slippery stones’Just South of ‘tin town’ are these remains of a bridge from the works railway used in the construction of the dams. This ran for 7 miles from Bamford to Birchinlee (aka ‘tin town’ after the corrugated iron shacks built to house the workforce).Looking North along the Derwent reservoir from Hern Side with the towers of the Howden dam in the background and the old railway bridge in the foreground. ‘Tin town’ was located on the woods to the left of the bridge. You can learn more about the construction of the dams and reservoirs from this link.
We ended up walking about 10 miles around the reservoirs before getting back to the car-park. As you can see from the pictures, it was a lovely day – and one where a gentle breezed prevented us from overheating en-route. On the way home we had one last stop to make, at the Woodhead reservoir East of Hadfield. It borders the old Manchester to Sheffield Woodhead railway (hence the name). It’s another res’ that’s retreating rapidly, as you can see from this picture.
Frankly, I can’t see any chance of the water levels in these reservoirs improving this summer. We’ve had some desultory rain showers over the past couple of days which has done little other than damp the dust down. There’s no proper rain forecast in the future either, so I expect future pictures of these reservoirs will look even bleaker. Watch this space…
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I have to admit I’m rather behind with these as today we’ve sallied forth from West Yorkshire to Derbyshire and back in order to walk around the Derwent valley dams and more – but that’s tomorrow’s story.
We were out an about yesterday but stayed local. Having driven over to Southport recently we’d passed the reservoir at Booth Wood near Ripponden. We were shocked to see the state of it so sore to return to get some pictures. If you’re familiar with the M62 motorway you’ll know the famous stretch where East and West carriageways part around Stott Hall farm. Well, Booth Wood is in the valley below – although you may not notice it.
Normally, when we drive past the water is cascading over the top of the dam. Not any more. Here’s how it looked yesterday.
The famous farm is the white building to the right of the picture.You can see how low the water levels are by the fact that water would normally be cascading over the central (lower) part of the dam for much of the year. In the background is the notorious Scammonden Bridge which carries the B6114 high above the motorway.
Hving checked out Booth Wood we took off over backroads to a favorite and well-publicised location. Baitings reservoir gets a lot of publicity due to the old road bridge which appears when the dam is suffering from low water levels. I’ve featured it in several of these blogs. Only now it’s worse, with levels having dropped several more feet in just a few days. Having parked the car we decided to walk right around Baitings which was both lovely – and disturbing. Here’s how it looked.
Looking East from the road bridge towards the dam. Levels are dropping all the time.As the water levels continue to drop features like this which haven’t been seen for years continue to be exposed. Was this an old quarry?A few weeks ago there was still water under the old bridge. Not any more…Standing on the old bridge looking back at the new. Consider the fact that when the reservoir is full the water level is about a meter below the bottom of this bridge.
Tomorrow I’ll add pictures from today’s adventures (and more).
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Here we are at the end of another working week with the August bank holiday looming. It’s been an odd week here at Bigland Towers, the classic curate’s egg. I’ve enjoyed getting out and about to see the latest High Speed 2 railway construction milestone in Birmingham (a full blog and pictures to follow shortly). The weather’s been rather indifferent and the nights are certainly drawing in, heralding next month’s change of season. I’d have liked to have got out more but there’s been a lot to do at home, partly because Dawn’s had a tough week so I’ve been on hand to offer tea and sympathy. Oh, and breakfast lunch and dinner as required!
On the bright side, I’ve also booked a fortnight in Portugal for the pair of us, starting in the first week of September. This will see us exploring the Algarve, Lisbon, Porto and the Douro valley, travelling by train. We’re both really excited about the trip, we just need to bottom out a few details – like where we’re actually going to stay! That will be one of the tasks this weekend as we’re not planning to go far over the bank holiday – although there will be some walking involved – somewhere.
Right now it’s time to sign off and relax. I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is one I’ve been meaning to use for a few days. I have a 105mm micro lens which really doesn’t see much use nowadays (I’m hoping to put that right in Portugal), but I couldn’t resist digging it out when I saw this opportunity last week.
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The alarm roused me at the ungodly hour of 05:00. Now, having shaved, showered and kissed Dawn goodbye, I’m sitting on Sowerby Bridge station, awaiting the arrival of the 06:23 to Manchester. It’s a grey, drizzly morning here in the Calder valley with the valley tops hidden under cloud. Still, it was refreshing to walk downhill all the way today, rather than having to climb the cobbles of Wakefield Gate to summit Spring Edge before dropping down into Halifax. That certainly gets the blood pumping first thing in the morning!
06:45.
My ride in the shape of a 3-car Class 195 arrived a couple of minutes late.
Now, having traversed the valley and passed through the Summit tunnel we’ve emerged into Greater Manchester, where the weather’s no different to Yorkshire! My train’s filled up en-route. Now it’s busy with early-birds heading into the city for work. Many are dozing, catching a few more minutes precious rest and peace.
08:00.
I arrived in Manchester on time and with plenty of it to spare, allowing me to take a slow amble between Victoria and Piccadilly whilst getting a few tram shots en-route. Now I’m settled on my 2nd train of the day, Cross-Country’s 08:03 to Paignton, which is being worked by a 4-car Class 220. My feelings about putting out 4-car Voyagers on the Manchester-Birmingham intercity route are well known. This one’s already packed and we haven’t even left Manchester yet!
220005 jn ‘pride’ livery is my second steed.
08:45.
Because there’s a blockade on at Stockport whilst road bridges over the railway at Greek St are replaced, my trains going off piste, travelling via the alternative route to Wilmslow via the Styal loop, then staying on the main line to Crewe, avoiding the normal route via Stoke on Trent and Norton Bridge. This brings the rare sight of Cross-Country Voyagers to Crewe – although we pass through without stopping. Mind you, Voyagers of any sort are rare at Crewe now that Avanti have ditched their fleet which used to pass through to/from the North Wales Coast.
Whilst cloud levels have lifted here in Cheshire/Staffordshire, the day remains dull. I’m hoping for an improvement when we reach the West Midlands, although I’m happy enough not to have to fight strong shadows and backlighting whilst we’re looking at 1000s of tonnes of rusty steel bridge this morning!
12:20.
The site visit is over – and it’s been fasinating! Here’s how the Smallbrook bridge looks now. The work is several days early. One last 12 meter push tonight should see it in its final position.
I’ll write about this in greater length later.
19:45.
Apologies for the gap. After the press event Chris Howe and I went for a drink in the Woodsman pub nearby. We talked HS2, the state of the UK media and politics in general before heading in different directions. I ended up tarrying in central Birmingham just to soak up the atmosphere. The city is one of my guilty pleasures as I really enjoy my visits. I ended up in conversation with these people – whom Reform MPs and voters would hate- for obvious reasons.
Jesus and Allah? That’ll upset Reform and the faux Christians
Having enjoyed the city vibe I made my way back North in stages. A brief stop in Wolverhampton was followed by another stop in Stafford. I stayed longer at my best interchange (Crewe) as there was so much going on- and so many memories. Plus, I was hoping to get shots of diverted Cross-Country services, which proved more difficult than I hoped due to signallers sending them off the Fast lines.
Even so, it’s been a really interesting day. Now, I’m heading for Manchester on an old Midlands Class 323 via the airport. After the scrimmage on trains out of Birmingham, it may be slow – but at least it’s comfortable!
21:30.
I’m on the last leg home. My local train to Manchester remained relaxed even after calling at the airport. I guess it was the wrong time for arrivals/departures. The city centre remained busy with the usual mixture of people enjoying the nightlife, feral young lads desperate to attract the attention of their bored female companions and the smattering of homeless trying to beg and be anonymous at the same time. Talk about the whole of human life…
Having wandered across the city I had nearly 30 mins to wait for a train, so a swift half in the Victoria Tap was in order before boarding the 21:21 bound for Leeds. This 3-car train is rather quiet as its running in that quiet time between commuters having returned home and leisure travellers still enjoying their evening. Plus – it’s Tuesday, not a day renowned for revelling!
23:15.
I’m home and resting after a long day, but there’s on last thing I want to add to the blog. Today’s world photography day, so here’s my contribution, which was captured at Crewe station earlier.
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Well, we finally made it to the Southport flower show yesterday. The antibiotics I’d been prescribed had reduced the swelling of my hand enough that I could use my camera again without problems, which was a relief. Plus, the weather was back to wall to wall sunshine. Dawn drove us over to Southport on roads that were busy, but idiot free – even the M62 was behaving itself.
We didn’t attempt to park near Victoria Park, the venue for the flower show. Instead we left the car up on the Marine Drive and enjoyed a walk along the seafront – which had the dual benefit of gaining us exercise and saving us over 6 quid in parking fees! I’d not been to the flower show since I was a teenager, some half a century ago – so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Gone are the old staples, horse-jumping, the White Helmets motorcycle display team and the Red Arrows. In their place were falconry and canine display teams, alpacas and a few ponies – which made for a lot less noisier day! Despite it being the last day of the show, the place seemed packed. Lots of people were towing collapsible trollies they’d brought in order to cart away plants that were being sold off at the end of the day, which made navigating your way through the crowds a bit of a trip hazard, but also added to the atmosphere with people towing all sorts of exotic blooms or bushes along behind them.
One of the marquees we particularly enjoyed was the themed flower displays as many of them were very creative. Today’s picture is of one favourite. See if you can guess what it is…
Having walked miles around the show in the blazing sum we headed off to join my sister and her partner (along with her daughter’s family) in the tranquil setting of his garden for a few drinks and a catch-up, rounding off what had been a lovely day.
Now it’s a new week. The weather back here in West Yorkshire’s been dull and cloudy, such a contrast to Sunday. As the two of us have been working from home it’s not been an issue. However, tomorrow morning I’ll be in Birmingham on a press visit to one of the High Speed 2 railway construction sites. After that I’ll be spending the rest of the day exploring lines around the black country before heading home, so expect a rolling blog documenting the day. Until then, goodnight…
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I hadn’t intended writing a reservoir blog today. Far from it. We should’ve been at the Southport flower show, but yesterday I was stung on the lefthand by some flying critter which – unbeknown to me – had landed on my long camera lens when I was taking pictures at Deansgate. As I swung the camera up to grasp the lens I felt an electric shock, then saw something fly off in an erratic fashion but not before the little bugger has left me a present jabbed into the joint of my index finger. I thought no more about it as it stung but wasn’t too much of a problem – until I woke up this morning…
Overnight, my left hand had swollen up like an overstretched balloon, with the skin displaying some interesting if alarming colours and the centre of the sting looking very angry indeed. So, a trip to A&E it was! Calderdale Royal infirmary is a modern hospital with excellent staff, but waiting times in A&E can vary considerably. Today wasn’t the best day as we spent all morning there, however, the Asian Doctor who treated me was really very good, being both thorough and informative. The result was I came away with lots of good advice and reassurance plus a course of antibiotics as the sting was clearly infected.
All of this put paid to going to the flower show.
Instead we spent the much of the day pottering around at home. My arm was in a sling so I wasn’t able to do too much, leaving poor Dawn to bear most of the domestic burden. Dee’s been a star throughout, hanging around with me in A&E and driving me where I needed to go – as well as picking up on the jobs I’d normally be doing.
By late afternoon we’d both had enough as the weather was superb, so we decided to nip out for a while. At my suggestion we drove up to Baitings reservoir, just to see how things were going. The answer? Badly, as these pictures illustrate.
Looking towards the dam from the old road bridge which is normally submerged.I walked further along the dry reservoir bed to get shots of the two bridges together which shows how the stream that feeds the reservoir with water off the moors is reduced to a trickle. Looking at the old bridge I’d estimate that levels have dropped by at least 6 feet since our last visit. The parlous state of the reservoir. Yorkshire water reckon their reservoirs are around 42% full right now compared to the seasonal average of 75%. I’d suggest that Baitings is far lower than that. Give it another few weeks and I doubt there’ll be much left at all.
Tomorrow we might make another attempt to attend the Southport flower show. My hand seems to be responding to the antibiotics, antihistamines and Ibuprofen (even if I do rattle when I walk), but we’ll see how things are in the morning. My view is – as long as it hasn’t dropped off during the night…
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I’m having time away from the office today to make the most of the latest good weather and meet up with an old friend in Manchester later this afternoon.
Right now, I’m aboard Northern’s 10:17 from Halifax to Manchester Victoria, traversing the Calder valley.
The valley’s looking very lush at the moment. Whilst Network Rail has been busy felling lineside trees on the approach to Sowerby Bridge the stations along the line are a riot of colour and blooms thanks to the efforts of the various station friends groups. Some lineside locations are trying to compete. West of Todmorden, the embankment has been taken over by the invasive and pernicious Himalayan Balsam.
10:55.
We’ve now crossed the Pennines and called at Rochdale, which has provided another rich crop of passengers for this four-car train. The weather’s vloudier than I’d hoped, but temperatures are still in the middle 20s, so I’m not complaining!
12:30.
I hung around Victoria just long enough to change trains in order to visit Salford Crescent and inspect the work on building the new (3rd) platform, which is progressing well.
Next stop was a station i’ve not taken any shots at for a while – Deansgate. The surrounding area is a mix of Victorian red brick plus modern glass and steel high-rise with the railway threading its way through the middle on a series of viaducts (pix later).
14:35.
Having walked to Oxford Rd station, where I managed to get a range of shots before moving on to Piccadilly, I’m now having a hiatus as I watch the trains go by whilst getting a few pictures. There’s lots of local railway enthusiasts out and about the Oxford Rd corridor today due to the nain line through Stockport being closed whilst a major road bridge above the railway is replaced. The closure has caused many services to be diverted – especially freight. A Liverpool – Drax power station ‘biomass’ service heading this way seemed to attract many photographers. They’d been around for a while, but as soon as it passed through they all disappeared, leaving ne with the platform to myself!
Piccadilly is quieter than normal as local services that passed through Stockport that can’t be diverted have been replaced by buses.
16:05.
I’ve abandoned heavy rail for light and a side-trip to Chinatown to stock ip on goodies from one of my favourite shops. I’m now laden with Kecap Manis, Hoisin ans fish sauce, pea aubergines, and some fiery red chillies.
21:25.
Well, that was a fun! Having wandered the rails around ManchesterI met up with my old friends and some of his rail colleagues in a location I’ve never visited before.
As you can imagine, after a few pints folk were putting the railway to rights.The big difference? They have the operational experience.
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Yesterday the weather was perfect for an amble around another reservoir in another area that we hadn’t previously explored – only driven past. Widdop is one of a series of reservoirs on the moors above Hebden Bridge, heading towards Colne and Burnley. You really are on the top of the world here. The reservoir is in a valley surrounded by steep-sided hills with some interesting rocky outcrops along their crests.
Sadly, there’s no circular walk around the reservoir, but that wasn’t a problem today as the water levels were so low it was possible to walk along the dried out banks. Shrinking water levels have reduced the size of the reservoir by 50-60% and around 15 feet in depth.
We started out by walking across the dam itself before scrambling uphill to the ‘Cludders’ a ridge of gritstone crags with some fascinating stones, including one that’s perched precariously atop another. You can learn a lot more about the rocks and the surrounding geology by copy and pasting this link;
The scramble’s well worth it, as the view from the rocks (and the rocks themselves are stunning.
Looking North-West from the Cludders up the valley towards Lancashire. Looking back towards the Cludders from the South shore of the reservoir. Looking East towards the dam from the far end of the reservoir, which gives you an indication of how low it is.
We thoroughly enjoyed the landscape and have vowed to return to explore more as there’s an extensive network of footpaths across the moors to surrounding reservoirs. The only sad note is the fact that the one country pub in the area (the Pack Horse Inn, dating from 1610) closed down earlier in the year, so if you plan to visit, bring your own refreshments.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 