Set off for a morning cycle ride. First call was Whalley to have a look at the Abbey entrance then on to the Trough of Bowland. It was cold and the temperature hovered around 0deg C. Snow flurries accompanied my over the climb of the Trough road and I had to beware of icy patches on the descent. Passing though Scorton I saw a shop called Bowland Cycling & Outdoors. I stopped to have a look but found they didn’t have a cycle shop!

Entrance to Whalley Abbey

Through the Trough of Bowland approaching Sykes Farm

Legendary Cyclist Jack Thompson (1913-2004)

Bill Bradley (1933-1997) International cyclist and Tour of Britain Winner 1959 and 1960. He loved to ride through this area.

Passing through Garstang I stopped to have a quick look at the cross. it had two plaques on it which read:
Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the granting of the Market Charter by King Charles 2nd in 1680 and the visit by Her majesty Queen Wlizabeth to Garstang on 20th May 1980.

This cross was repaired by Public subscription June 1897, to commemorate the sixtieth year of the reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.

The route

Stephen signing books

The Quays Theatre at the Lowry

After catching the tram to Salford Quays I crossed the footbridge on the way to the Lowry theatre

Walking back to catch the tram

At lunchtime I was walking along the Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir when I noticed the overflow being modified to prevent debris clogging it up at times of high rainfall

After yesterday’s sunshine today was overcast and cold.
Afternoon out for cycle ride to visit amongst other things Railway Road, Brinscall where I had a copy of an old photos and wanted to see how things may have changed since then. The buildings turned out to be almost the same.

Station Road, Brinscall this afternoon

Station Road, Brinscall taken about 1910

The cold clear weather that was supposed to arrive yesterday didn't. It was rain, snow, hail and high winds. This morning the cold clear weather did arrive and I took full advantage of it by going for a walk from White Coppice to Great Hill and back.

Neolithic tumulus and Fiddler's Ferry Power Station 20 miles away

On the way I had a good view of Round Loaf, a Neolithic or Bronze Age tumulus dating back 3500 years. It is on Anglezarke Moor but directly behind was a clear view of the venting cooling towers of Fiddlers Ferry

On the summit of Great Hill is a nice stone wind shelter with seating in all the quadrants. All the seats were covered in ice so I decided to stand.

On the path between White Coppice and Great Hill are the ruins of Drinkwater's Farm. It is always picturesque in nice weather.

The path between Brinscall and White Coppice

I'd just been hit by a severe hail storm and had to camp above Moss Force in Cumbria. The reason I was here is that the Met Office had forecast clear cold weather for today and tomorrow. It was snow, rain, hail and high winds. Almost an exact opposite to the forecast.

It was a very windy day but the rain eventually stopped and some bright sky appeared. I decided to go for a local walk with son Steve to have a look at the recently replaced cover on the top of Darwen Tower (or Jubilee Tower). We drove to the Tockholes car park then began a very windy walk up to the moors. The first call was the site of ‘Old Aggies’ a long demolished house at the base of the steep climb up to the moor. As we climbed people were coming down and warning us of the fierce winds on the top. The approach to the tower was interesting in the wind. We were looking forward to climbing the tower via the internal staircase and inspecting the new cover which was only fitted a couple of weeks ago.

Site of Old Aggies, Dawen.

Old Aggies c1920s

Barred!

Getting a bit of shelter from the wind

When we got there we were horrified to see the door was literally barred. A grill was in place to prevent entry. This means the whole, and very expensive, exercise of replacing the top was a complete waste of time. The original top was blown off over a year ago. It was difficult standing up in the wind and would have been extremely interesting experiencing it at the top of the tower. One of the memorial plaques on the tower is to the granting of public access to the moor in 1896. And now the authorities have decided to deny access again.

Struggling in the wind

Darwen Tower or Jubilee Tower as it is sometimes known.
This is about as near as you can get to seeing the new top.

Below is a fantastic video of the new top being fitted.
It is by the WEC Group Ltd., Darwen who provided the new top

Darwen Tower Project 2012 - WEC Goup (Official Video)

aa
6min 28sec

Vaughn's Country Cafe

Back at the car park we were looking forward to something hot to eat at the café. We knew it closed at 15:00 so reaching there at 14:30 we thought we’d be OK. ‘No hot foot after 2pm’ we were told. Never mind, the hot coffee was good.

Forestry clearance on Whinlatter Pass, Keswick, Cumbria.

I cycled to Hall i‘th Wood, Bolton for a look round but found that it was shut. The building looked magnificent in the winter sunshine. On the way home through Darwen I stopped to look up at the magnificent India Mill Chimney. The magnificent structure dates back to 1867 and is 92m (300ft) high. I remember a TV programme many years age when the late Fred Dibnah climbed it to do some maintenance. He used ordinary ladders strapped to the outside and didn’t use a harness.

India Milll Chimney behind
the Baptists Chapel, Darwen

Hall i'th Wood, Bolton

After hearing a superb talk by Kevin Illingworth on various interesting buildings in the area I decided to follow up on of the buildings he spoke about. I’d never visited the magnificent Cruck Barn at Causeway Farm so this morning I arranged with the farmer to take some photos.

rear view of Causeway Farm

Causeway Farm, Hoghton

inside the magnificent Cruck Barn at Causeway Farm

This morning I visited John Sellers in Chorley to make an audio recording of his memories of the Sellers family and working in a Chorley Mill. The sellers family, including Frank Sellers, ran up to 3 cotton weaving mills.

John Sellers

The ‘Vermeer’s Women’ exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is due to finish at the end of this week. Never having seen an actual Vermeer painting I decided to put that right. After a surprisingly easy drive to the Madingley Road Park & Ride I caught the bus into a sunny Cambridge. It’s the first time I’ve visited the town. Most of the Town centre seems to be pedestrianised and I had a very pleasant walk to the museum. The entry is free but they ask for a donation of £5. I asked where the Vermeer exhibition was and they pointed me in the direction of the queue. It had been very well attended and today was no exception. The queue was long but nothing like it would be later in the day. I had to wait for about 30mins to reach the single small room where the paintings were on show. I asked if I could take photos and told definitely ‘no’. There were three paintings by Vermeer but many by other Dutch artists which included;

Gerrit Dou,Nicolaes Maes, Jan Steen, Cornelis Bisschop, Jacob Ochtervelt, Pieter de Hooch, Jacobus Vrel, Quiringh van Brekelenkam, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Jacobus Vrel, Cornelis de Man, Esaias Boursse, Eglon van der Neer, Gerard ter Borch and Godfried Schaicken.
 

Cambridge

Fitzwilliam Museum

The paintings had been on loan from all over the world including the National Gallery London, Musee du Louvre, Paris and New York.
I caught the bus back to the Park & Ride where some sort of police investigation was going on as officers wandered around taking photos. The drive home was even easier than the morning drive.

Pictures by Vermeer (not copied by me)
 

the Museum Shop

Entrance Foyer to the Fitzwilliam Museum.
This is a far as I could go with my camera (except the shop)

Madingley Road Park & Ride, Cambridge

Police investigation

I was out on my Sunday evening walk when I managed to take this photo of two people walking their dog. In the days of film I would never have been able to take this photo as the light would have been insufficient. Modern digital camera sensors continue to amaze me with their sensitivity and ability to capture images in very low light

Under the motorway bridge

Walking their dog

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Alan receives framed photos of the church from Cllr eric Bell and Cllr Eileen Whiteford

Cllr Eric Bell says goodbye to Alan

St John's Church interior (wide view)

This afternoon saw the film ‘The Iron Lady’ at Horwich Reebock. Some reviews have criticised it because of it’s portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in decline but I thought it was a good way of telling the story so that it wasn’t trying to be too factual but detailed enough to follow the events with flashbacks. I thought the scene where the sinking of the Belgrano was discussed totally fascinating. I have no idea how close it was to the truth but it seemed very plausible.
Meryl Streep was undoubtedly at her best with her spookily realistic portrayal of Margaret Thatcher. However, there were other incredible performances and those that stood out for me were:

Vue Cinema at Horwich

Whatever your politics a film not to be missed.
 

Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher

the Cinema foyer

The BT Infinity engineer arrived to fit new equipment for an upgrade to the BT Infinity service. He said they’d got an optical link from the Chorley main exchange to a box nearby. So now the only restriction is on the copper wire from there to the house.
Yesterday I did a speed check on the old broadband and got:
download 4.64Mbps and upload 0.27Mbps.
Now we’ve got:
download 27.4Mbps and upload 7Mbps.

The new equipment

Early in December 2010 I was asked to take some pictures of St John’s Church, Whittle-le-Woods. The Minister is leaving and they want to give him a memento montage of photos. I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather but for the last month it’s been mostly overcast too dark for photography or raining. Today there was a brief spell of bright weather so I managed to get some shots. I hope they’re what they wanted.

St John's Church from the rear.

St John's Church from the side.

this another photo of St John's but is merged
from 3 separate exposures to increase the dynamic range

The first pictures of the 2012 New Year. Yesterday I'd walked to the summit of Hurst Hill above White Coppice to camp and watch the firework displays. I had to delay my return home walk due to torrential rain. It stopped for a while allowing me to get off the moors before the rain started again for the last couple of miles.

Brookside Cottages, White Coppice

Walking off Hurst Hill I came across the original trig point which wasn't a traditional pillar but a bench mark and bolt hole.

The cold light of morning on Hurst Hill. Though nothing like as cold as last year. The Winter Hill TV mast is now lost in cloud.

Shortly before first light the TV transmitter mast on Winter Hill had an
eerie look as the top section and its lights were in cloud.

The New Year firework displays across Chorley started
just before midnight and continued till about 12:30am