Leyland Clydesdale.

Sitting proudly next to the A5004 (Long Hill) just outside Buxton at Longhill Farm today was this elderly Leyland;

Apart from some missing trim on the front it looks pretty good, hopefully its being looked after and treated well.

Paul.

I scream...

Funny what you find in the corner of a Derbyshire field;

I can just imagine this being driven around at night with a scary clown at the wheel and some Norwegian Black Metal blasting from the speakers...

Paul.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Photographed in my back yard this afternoon;

White rendering is not a good background.

Paul.

Hurricane lamps.

I like old lamps, especially those that use paraffin. I bought a couple of hurricane lamps from a junk shop in Bedford at least 20 years ago, for the rather large sum (at the time) of £12 apiece. Now I look on Ebay and similar lamps are on sale for between £15 and £45.

My two were in fair condition, no paint just a coat of surface rust, so I took a wire brush to them and gave them a coat of black heat-resistant paint (much to the amusement of one of my neighbours), found some wick in a local hardware store, and then they found use giving me a little extra light when working on a private narrow gauge railway in the middle of nowhere in N. Beds (now moved).

The better of the two, which saw little use, is a Chalwyn 'Lynx';

The other is marked '"Star" No.111', and is a little scruffier;

This was the one that I used most, mainly due to the protective cage around the glass. The paint is bubbling around the top, from use, and the camera isn't lying, the body does lean over. I think that it must have been dropped at some stage, but it still works ok. I think that it may be made by Feuerhand.

Both are 'hot blast' lamps, the bodies are hollow and direct hot air from the top of the lamp down the 'arms' and feed it back into the burner to give a brighter flame.

The light output wasn't particulary great compared to my friends Tilley lamps, once I aquired a Tilley of my own these two just became ornaments.

Paul.

I rather like this boat...

I took a fancy to this little wooden rowing boat whilst in Wells, and decided that it was worth photographing;

Note the rope fender. I'm always amazed that folk just leave oars in their boats!

Paul.

Wandering around Walsingham.

Having a spare afternoon during my stay in Wells I travelled on the miniature railway to Walsingham to have a look around. Walsingham is a strange village, uncannily quiet, very rustic with many fine buildings, the main focus being the shrine to Our Lady, a place of pilgrimage for many. I spent time looking at and photographing some of the buildings, and would have visited the museum if it was still open (it closed at 4pm). I did briefly visit the shrine, but not being at all religious felt uncomfortable for some reason...

Anyway, some pics;

Detail above abbey archway.

Smart frontage, corrugated iron rear.

The old railway station, now a Russian Orthadox church. Walsingham has many churches...

I couldn't resist photographing this badly repaired door!

And a half-timbered selection, which should delight modellers;

Paul.

A few boats in Wells.

I like photographing boats, here's a selection of pics. taken in Wells.

These last two were taken from my kayak in the harbour;

Paul.