The Goodfellas made a very welcome return to the Withnell Fold Sports and Social Club to give us a wonderful evening of live 60s. 70s and 80s rock music. Their last visit was on Fri 14 Nov 2008 when local guitarist Rick made a guest appearance. Tonight we had an extra treat when Rick was joined by Matt on Drums and Isaac on base as the wonderfully named band ‘The Interval’.

The Goodfellas

They are all 15 years old and their quality performance was of current music so during the sessions all generations were catered for. It was good to see a large audience who were able to enjoy the unique experience of an evening of quality live music. I believe this was The Interval’s first live performance. A credit to them and enjoyment for the audience.

I’d previously bought an on-line ticket for the Focus-on-Imaging exhibition at the NEC (National Exhibition Centre), Birmingham and trying to be a responsible citizen had decided to use public transport to get there and back. Because of the ludicrous rail ticket pricing system I couldn’t leave Preston before 9am so had to book on the 9:17am. I had a 10minute connection time in Wolverhampton and as it arrived 9mins late I was concerned. By Wolverhampton it was running 11mins late so my connection was missed so I stayed on till Birmingham New Street and changed there for Birmingham International and the NEC.

One of the models.

The best thing about these exhibitions is to see new stuff and sometimes find out new things about old stuff. One eye opener was to see a colour enlarger head (mine hasn’t been used in years) being used to back illuminate slides for direct copying into a digital camera. My first port of call was the Nikon stand as I had some questions about the none availability of the Nikon D90 and also their image raw files in the D80. They tried to fob me off with evasive verbiage but the truth was they didn’t have an answer to either question.

I saw part of a presentation by the landscape photographer Paul Gallagher and part of another by Robin Preston, the extremely talented illustrator and photographer.

Robin Preston demonstrates at the NEC

Mine's bigger than yours!

Waiting for a train (again)

Low Profile
taken while walking along the bank of the River Lune.

A gruesome snap by Long Rigg Beck on the Howgill fells.

For Sale
Weekend Cruiser
Open to Offers

Messing about on the river

After 3 days of thick mist on the summits of the Howgills I caught the bus to Kendal to catch the train home. It's a single track so I had to wait for the Windermere train to return.

This morning I gave an illustrated presentation on the History of Withnell Fold to the Salford Probus group at the old Worsley Courthouse. It is a magnificent building on the banks of the Bridgewater canal.

Joined the Withnell Fold Sports Club monthly walk at the clubhouse at 13:00. 19 people set off on the walk, firstly heading up the road, past the Chapel and up Flag Lane (Oakmere Avenue). We continued to Snape’s Heights and turned left across the fields towards Bury Lane. The intention was to cross the fields to Ollerton but they were too wet so we stayed on the track to Bury Lane. The access track to Ollerton had recently been surfaced with tarmac so we thought we’d have an easy walk, except that a lot of cars were using it.

Waiting for the others to catch up.

Down Whave’s Lane we joined the Leeds & Liverpool canal and walked to the nature reserve near Withnell Fold before turning off to cross the river Lostock and on to Lady Hall Farm and Lower Hilton’s farm on Marsh Lane. Because the fields were very wet we stayed on the road to Top o’ th’ Lane and turned down the track to Walmsley Fold and across the fields to Lower Simpson Fold bridge on the canal. We took the path up to Brandwood Fold and back to the Sports Club. The distance was just right, a little over 6 miles.

The walking group crossing the river Lostock footbridge

Walked along Town Lane to Wheelton to get a lift to Rivington for the start of ‘The Anglezarke Amble’ walk. Joined Baz, Stella, Pam and Dean to register at the start along with nearly 400 others. I had no idea so many would be taking part. Most were runners or speed walkers but we had no intention of setting any records, just to enjoy the 16mile walk.

The start at Rivington church hall.

Stella reaches Rivington Pike

Baz, Pam, Stella & Dean at the White Coppice pavilion feeding point.

Mid morning drove to the Eccles Park & Ride to catch the Metrolink Tram to The Lowry, Salford Quays. I’d decided to catch the exhibition - A Long Exposure: 100 Years of Guardian Photography.
It runs from Sat 18 Oct 2008 to Sun 1 Mar 2009 and celebrates the work of The Guardian newspaper’s most famous photographers from 1908 to the present day. The Guardian newspaper appointed its first staff photographer, Walter Doughty, in 1908. Since then it has developed a unique and often innovative pictorial style.

The tram ride to Salford Quays.

Crossing the footbridge

Doughty and the six staff photographers who followed in his footsteps - including Denis Thorpe and Don McPhee - were based at The Guardian’s Manchester office. This exhibition, curated by Thorpe himself, celebrates some of their most memorable picture stories. The exhibitions don’t open until 11am and I got there a bit early so I walked overt he footbridge to the Imperial War Museum for a quick look. Back at the Lowry I checked out the Guardian exhibition and was impressed by many of the iconic images. It was good to see the work of Denis Thorpe, one of my all time favourite press photographers.

A Russian tank outside the Imperial War Museum (north)

A Long Exposure: 100 Years of Guardian Photography

A wonderful image of Hebden Bridge
by Denis Thorpe.

Another of Denis Thorpe's fantastic images. This is of Ribblehead Viaduct with Ingleborough in the background.

Late morning walked to Chorley along the Leeds & Liverpool canal. The weather was still cold and the canal had ice on it but walking in the winter sun was very pleasant.

Ducks on the canal. I thought they were heading for me but they were heading for a couple behind me who had just produced some bread to feed them!

The old Hygienic Laundry building lies empty and forlorn. The black markings are the result of a recent arson attack.

The railway goes under the Stump Lane bridge, Chorley

It was clear cold day so I decided to drive to Roddlesworth Reservoirs to eat my lunchtime sandwiches. On the way I photographed two views of the old cotton weaving mill at Abbey Village built by John Park in the late 1830s.

Roddlesworth Reservoir embankment.

Two long lens views of John Park's mill.