Les (rt. leaning on the steering wheel) during his time with the 2nd Army Ground Photo Unit.

On this photo Les wrote "Army cameraman on left was with his A.F.P.U. (Air Field and Photo Unit) the photographer near the car door is a ‘Picture Post’ photographer names Mr Malladine." The picture was taken in May 1945 when Germany surrendered to the Allied forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Luneburg Heath in Germany. On another picture he wrote "This is the room in which the ceasefire was signed and the end of the war – Luneburg – They were given tea and cake. Admiral Friedberg said 'not a bad swop, cake for Hamburg' "

It was a nice cold and sunny day (in spite of the wind and rain that was forecast). I walked along my favourite path, the Leeds and Liverpool canal to Withnell Fold then back via Brindle.

Hillfoot Cottage, Whittle-le-Woods.

Walking along Marsh Lane I came across the work of the mole catcher. The traditional way to show their efficiency is to display the corpses on wire fences.

Last year I attended an excellent day course at the Epson HQ is Hemel Hempstead on the use of colour in printing. Today I attended their newly introduced course on scanning and colour calibration. As before an excellent day and lots learned. The early start and long drive was worth it.

It was a cold windy but sunny morning and I wasn’t sure if the ferry would be running. Fortunately it was and the ferry ‘Ruskin’ arrived shortly before the scheduled departure time of 10:30am. The boat is the oldest on Coniston and dates back to 1922. It would probably have been powered by a diesel engine then but now is powered by an electric motor which gets its power from a combination of solar panels and a battery charge from the Coniston mains. That power comes from a local hydro-electric plant run from water coming off the fells. The boat must be the ultimate ‘green’ ferry.

The ferry 'Ruskin' returns.

Brantwood above Coniston Water.

There was only Barbara and I as passengers and we set off on time on the northern tour planning to get off at Brantwood, which was the home of John Ruskin (1819 – 1900). We set off and firstly passed Waterhead Pier which is where Donald Campbell set off for his final attempt on the water speed record on 4 Jan 1967. After completing a first run of 297.6mph he was killed on his return run when his boat ‘Bluebird’ flipped over at about 320mph.

We turned south to head for Brantwood and bounced a bit in the head wind. The Brantwood jetty was deserted and a bit windswept. The house doesn’t open till 11am so we had a bit of a wait in the wind and rain for it to open.  I’ve passed the building several times but this is the first time I’d ever been inside. We were the only people there when the doors opened we enjoyed a pleasant tour round the house. It was nice to have the place to ourselves and be able to walk around the various rooms without barriers to prevent getting close to interesting artefacts. John Ruskin’s study was almost as he left it and his favourite chair was by the fireplace and his writing desk at the other end of the study.

John Ruskin in 1857

Two views of Ruskin's study

Lily Severn, Ruskin's great niece, standing in the archway near Brantwood front door

The same location today.

Inside the turret attached to Ruskin's bedroom.

John Ruskin's grave in the churchyard of St. Andrew's, Coniston. The large Celtic cross of green local slate was carved by H.T. Miles and designed by W.G. Collingwood, an expert on Anglo-Saxon crosses, it bears symbols depicting important aspects of Ruskin's life and work

Tue 06 Jan 2009

Wed 14 Jan 2009

Waiting for the 223 Belmont Bus at Blackburn Boulevard Bus Stand.

The memorial to the crew of a Wellington Bomber which crashed on the moors nearby on 12 Nov 1943. The date is taken from the memorial which was erected by the Rotary Club of Horwich in 1955 but it appears that the actual crash date was the night of 15/16 Nov 1943.

The Manor House at Anglezarke

My first photo of 2009. My tent after a cold night on Hurst Hill above White Coppice. The temperature dropped to minus 8 degC.

While walking home I photographed the icicles by the Gorge at White Coppice.