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Boyd's photo diary.

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Wed 30 May 2012

Sedbergh is a town that starts early. Some shops are open by 7am and the small marked as always open by then They use Wednesday as their market day but this was the second charter they were granted in 1538 by Henry VIII. Their first charter was granted in 1251 by Henry III and was for Tuesdays.

Mon 28 May 2012
The 07:30am ferry, MV Hebrides) arrives in Tarbert to take me back to the mainland
Leaving Tarbert it is possible to see the bridge across to Scalpay.
   
Sun 27 May 2012
The Clisham (Scottish Gaelic: An Cliseam)
At 799m it is the highest mountain in the Outer Hebrides.
From Sron Carsacleit looking towards Sgaoth Losal while on the descent from Clisham
   
Sat 26 May 2012
   


Loch Faoghail at sunrise

   

The Callanish Standing stones date from around 2000 years BC. I visited them in the morning and had the whole place to myself. The low morning lights was very atmospheric. I used a wide view of several photos merged together.

Dun Carloway, West Lewis, is a Broch Stone Roundhose around 2000 years old.
The dry stone walling displays incredible quality dry stone walling. The walls are 3m thick at the base and hollow, having platforms and stone steps inside. Radio carbon dating of internal remains indicate it was used up to around 1300AD
The Garenin Black House Village on West Lewis was only abandoned in 1974 but the Garenin trust restored the village in 1989 to a 'revived village' status of nine buildings and one croft.

Butt of Lewis Lighthouse.
First lit in 1862 and automated in 1998.
According to the Guinness Book of Records it is the windiest spot in the UK.
The engineers were David and Thomas Stevenson


Wide view of Port of Ness Harbour, Lewis

Tiumpan Head Lighthouse near Stornoway, Lewis.
In operation since 1900 it was designed and built by David A Stevenson.
In 1956 her Majesty the Queen, with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, visited the lighthouse and the 7 year old Charles sounded the first blast on a new fog siren.

Amhuinnsuidhe Castle was built in 1865 for Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore
on shore of West Loch Tarbert.
The amazing thing is that the public road goes right past the front of the castle. I thought the Rolls Royce parked by the front gave it a nice touch


Amhuinnsuidhe Castle

   
Fri 25 May 2012
   
Church of St Clement at Rodel, Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
A fifteenth century church built for the Chiefs of the MacLeods of Harris.
16th century Wall tomb of Alasdair Crotach MacLeod, Church of St Clement
Detail from the wall tomb of Alasdair Crotach MacLeod


Interior view of the Church of St Clement
 

The Butty Bus by the ferry slipway at Leverburgh. I called in for a large cup of tea at the reasonable cost of £1
Scalpay Bridge links the Isle of Scalpay with Harris.
It is a pre-fabricated box girder structure spanning 300m in total with a central span of 170m
It was completed in 1997
   


Bernera Bridge

The bridge to the island of Bernera from Lewis was built in 1953. It is said to be the first one of pre-stressed concrete in Europe.
The bridge cost £70,000 and was opened on 22nd July 1953 when 4,000 people walked across it. The Stornoway Gazette reported, "On that day Bernera ceased to be an island and became part of Lewis. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say Lewis ceased to be an island and became part of Bernera."

Callanish VIII standing stones above Bernara Bridge
 
   


Homestead with byre overlooking Traigh Mhangurstaidh. Apr 1938.
Original photo in the Uig Community Museum.

   
   
   
Thu 24 May 2012

Today is my 4th visit to the Outer Hebrides and the first time I've taken my car across on the ferry. Previously I've left my car on the mainland and just gone with my bike.


aboard the ferry MV Hebrides heading for Tarbert on Harris.

Mon 21 May 2012

At lunchtime I cycled to Withnell Fold to Mum's memorial bench. We fitted the bench last year to remember Mum who died in 2010 at the age of 94. She was born 96 years ago today.


Mum's memorial bench in Withnell Fold


The Memorial Garden at Withnell Fold. Originally a mill lodge (reservoir) constructed in 1843. In 1958 it was converted to a memorial garden to commemorate those who worked at the adjacent Paper Mill and died in 2 World Wars.

   

This morning I was asked to take some photos at Whittle-le-Woods Primary School as all 245 pupils would receive a commemorative mug to celebrate the forthcoming Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.


Pupils from Whittle-le-Woods primary School with their new mugs. Cllr Eric Bell and Cllr Bill Yates made the presentations.

Sun 20 May 2012
Today was an open day to show visitors the work that had been done on the excavations on the site of the old St James's Church site at Dalehead near Slaidburn.


excavation down to the boiler room


St James's Church before demolition in the 1930s


site of St James's Church today


Site survey


Photo mosaic of the site in Nov 2011

   
Seen on Town Lane, Whittle-le-Woods.
A horseshoe nailed to a wooden post

The Leeds and Liverpool canal at Whittle Springs. This is the spot where the original Lancaster canal went under the bridge to the right on it's way to Walton Summit. It was opened in 1803 then subsequently the Leeds and Liverpool canal was completed in 1816, joining the Lancaster canal at this location. The Lancaster length fell into disuse and now only runs as far as Town Lane. The rest of the line to Walton Summit was filled in during the construction of the M61 Motorway in 1969.

 
Tue 15 May 2012

I caught the 7:30am ferry from North Uist to Uig on Sky to return to the mainland. On my way home I called at the grave of Flora MacDonald on the west coast of Skye.
On the grave of Flora MacDonald at Kilmuir, Isle of Skye, the inscription reads:
Flora MacDonald
Preserver of Prince Charles Edward Stuart
Her name will be mentioned in history and if courage and fidelity be virtues mentioned with honour.

Born at Milton South Uist 1722
Died at Kingsburgh Skye 4 March 1790
Mon 14 May 2012


St Clements Church on South Harris


Interior of St Clements Church

Fri 11 May 2012
I cycled from Achamore to the west coast of Lewis and along the B8011 to where it ends


Local single Malt Whisky from the Abhainn Dearg distillery.


End of the Road.The slipway at Brenish on the west coast of Lewis

Thu 10 May 2012
Last night I arrived on the Outer Hebrides with my bike to head for the area to the west of Harris and Lewis. This morning I caught the ferry from North Uist to Harris and began to cycle NE into a head wind


Stopping for a bacon butty and the 'Butty Bus' near the Leverburgh ferry terminal on Harris


Clach Steineagaidh Standing Stone on West side of Harris


The Balallan Post Office always seems to be closed when I pass

Wed 09 May 2012
Drove to Uig on Skye where I left my car then with my bike caught the ferry to Lochmaddy on North Uist. Before leaving the ferry had to re-fuel. She took on board 74,000 lt of heavy oil fuel. That 2 full road-tanker fulls. At busy periods she will take 3 loads and that will only last about 3 or 4 days.


The MV Hebrides arrives in Uig, Sky.

Tue 08 May 2012

This afternoon we said goodbye to an old ‘Whittler’. Janie Dodd was born on 14 Apr 1922 and died on the 29 Apr 2012 after reaching the age of 90. Janie had many wonderful memories of local life in the 1930s and was happy to share them. She was a ‘no nonsense’ woman who spoke her mind.

Mon 07 May 2012

Bank Holiday Monday
This afternoon was the Whittle-le-Woods Duck Race. The event takes place on Waterhouse Green and the Ducks float down the River Lostock. Overcast conditions and a little rain didn’t stop a record crowd turning out and by the time the main duck race started at 3pm the sun was shining. Many events were there to interest the crowd of all ages and the dance group ‘Stone the Crows’ provided even more entertainment.
The top prize at the duck race was £500. The main event saw 1,000 plastic ducks floating down the river.


Stone the Crows provide entertainment

the crowds gather on Waterhouse Green

 


1000 ducks being dropped into the River Lostock


the ducks are checked on their way


Spectators wait on the bridge for the winning duck

Sun 06 May 2012
   
During the afternood drove to Tockholes with son Steve and went for a walk up to Darwen Tower to see if the new dome was now accessible. Fortunately it was though the door is very stiff and at first I thought it was locked.


The New Dome in stainless steel


Darwen Tower is now open

   
This morning out for cycle ride via Tockholes and Belmont. Stopped in Belmont to have a look at
St Peter’s Church. I decided to have a look inside for the first time. It was built in 1849 and consecrated on 1 April 1850.
The original Kirkland and Jardine organ is still in place. It was constructed in 1853.
 


The original Kirkland and Jardine organ is still in place. It was constructed in 1853


St Peter's Church, Belmont

   
Sat 05 May 2012
This evening called to see my brother and his new (old classic) motorbike. The bike above is his current model, a BMW F650 GS which has an 800cc engine and dates from 2007.
This is the bike he's just bought very second hand. It's a BMW R65,  650cc and dates from 1979. It certainly doesn't look 33 years old. It needs quite a bit of work doing to it as it's not been used for 5 years.
Thu 03 May 2012

After fairly strong winds earlier in the week they’d subsided quite a bit this morning so I decided to go for a cycle ride over Bowland Knotts. Riding through Preston during the rush hour was unpleasant and passing the long queues of cars made me glad I wasn’t driving. North of Broughton the traffic eased and I was able to enjoyed my ride to Lancaster where I left the A6 just north of the University and headed through Scotforth to Caton. I stayed on the old road but eventually had to join the busy A683 at Claughton. Fortunately it wasn’t for long and I left it to joint the quiet B6480 to Wray.

 Here was a wonderful treat. They had set up their Bank Holiday Scarecrow Festival and I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the exhibits which were some of the best of all the various festivals I’ve seen over the year. I was particularly impressed by the ‘dark humour’ of the ‘Titanic sinking’ and ‘swimming in a pool’ on the site of the Memorial garden where the disastrous floods of 8 Aug 1967 swept several houses away. Fortunately there were no serious injuries. I continued my cycle ride to the east along Mewith Lane. There was hardly any traffic which made for a very pleasant ride to Keasden Road and the climb up to Bowland Knotts. The climb is about 3.5 miles long but not particularly steep. Certainly not as steep as the Lythe Fell pass to the west. The weather was fine with some sun but rather hazy. The profile of Ingleborough was still visible as I reached the summit at 422m (1,385ft). The descent through Gisburn Forest was quite cold and I was glad to reach the bottom at Stocks Reservoir and have a look at the recent excavations of the old St James’s Church that was demolished in the 1930s. I continued through Holden, Sawley and Chatburn to Clitheroe. I kept on the A671 through Whalley and on to Blackburn and home.


Titanic display in the site of the houses that were washed away during the 1967 floods


Scarecrow flop


Fishing through the ice.


Wiff Waff comes to Wray - thanks Boris!


The Squeeze is Hurting

   


The view looking north from the Bowland Knotts summit. In the centre distance is Ingleborough, 9 miles away.


Profile of the route showing the Bowland Knotts summit.

Wed 02 May 2012


Wide view of Whiteside and Grasmoor from Thackthwaite, Cumbria

Tue 01 May 2012

Little Harwood is to the north of Blackburn and had an interesting War Memorial

This interesting stone inscription reads:
MOUNT - PLEASANT
REVEDGE
The Road at this Place was made by
Removing the Rock during
the Distress in 1826 & 7
[The spelling of Revidge is interesting as then they've used 'e' and not 'i']

 

In the 'County of Lancaster - a history of Blackburn' the following is printed:
...the commercial depression increased rather than diminished, and the state of the working population in the district was for many months most distressing.
The adult male indigent were employed during the distress in cutting a road through the rock on the summit of Revidge hill, and at this spot a memorial stone is inscribed

   
 
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