Herb Riddle's photos

The river Medlock cuts through the edge of my home town Oldham, In the past this was for many years a dreadfully polluted river. Not helped by many cotton mills and open tips along its banks. Now, thankfully it is clean enough here for large fish in places. Another shot here of perhaps our biggest snowfall of the 2019/20 winter. Enjoy.

A wintry view of this dam. You can just see my upwards path climbing up to the top right. This lonely wild place has actually got real history. Built between 1907-1912 as a 'header' reservoir for several other drinking reservoirs, as documented here by my late photo friend Geoff Hurst: www.doveheritage.com/completion-of-chew-reservoir The PiP shows the top of the reservoir in 2016.

For years now this lowland river area has flooded its banks after heavy rain but after this winter's rain here in Britain it has all gone to new high levels. Normally sheep and cattle graze these bottom fields. Thankfully there are no dwellings here. Over the last few years we have had droughts, fire and now floods. Already with us perhaps, is pestilence too. Things can only get better! - can't they?

Its cold and it has just stopped snowing but already the warm sunlight rays starts to touch the earth and tree tops. The dazzling snow here will soon be just a memory again as in a few short hours there would be no sign of this wonderful winters day.

Another glimpse of this splendid valley in our brief winter's snowy weather. The main lane to the top reservoir is on our left but a side track runs down the valley over the old footbridge on our right. In actual fact, that was part of the temporary rail line that hauled materials from further down the valley to build the top Chew reservoir dam in 1907-12. Not many wild mammals around here but we sometimes sight the odd Arctic Hare and I have heard people say they have seen deer here. There are quite a few birds here though including, almost tame pheasants that are bred for hunting in the adjoining Dovestones area. Enjoy large.

This little hamlet is called The Manns and so I presume this is its same named pond. A slight disturbance by fish as I shoot this winter scene here today. A stretch of water that I come to regularly to check on the conditions which are often photographically good with mist. Normally flocks of Canada Geese are in the fields with the fence but not today. PiPs Enjoy full screen.

A few hours of snow during just a couple of true winter days here in Oldham gives me this local fence. Seen on my beautiful winter snowy tree valley walk. Spot the pet! HFF, enjoy the weekend.

We've been to Devon a few times during our lives and so when I came across this the other day I thought it might be worth an airing again. It was originally in my Panoramio account. Beer, Devon Aug 2013 'Once a fishing village, Beer later made its name as the source of Beer Stone, which provided the material for many of Britain's most famous buildings. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the manor of Beer was once owned by Catherine Parr, last wife of Henry VIII. It later became infamous as a haven for smugglers. - The first thing to clear up is the origin of the name; it has nothing to do with an alcoholic drink, but comes from the Saxon word 'bearu' for 'grove', a reference to the woodland once grew thick around this area of the coast. Beer grew up around a sheltered bay which made fishing easier than at other places along the Jurassic Coast. But fishermen were not the only ones to make use of Beer; smugglers also appreciated the relatively easy anchorage and used caves in the cliffs to store contraband goods. There is no natural harbour at Beer so boats had to be winched up onto the shingle. This used to be done manually with a capstan on the shore which required 20 men to operate. Now electrically driven winches make light work of the task!' (www.britainexpress.com) Enjoy, full screen.

The morning quite, no wind to disturb the water and we end up with views like this. Enjoy

A glimpse of part of a valley known locally as Lees Brook here in Oldham. This is only a small valley, at the most two or three miles long, but with a bit of imagination and thought towards photographic points of view it can look quite marvelous and all encompassing, as can be seen here. Another taken after a recent snow fall, one has to take advantages of these scenes as they turn up. Enjoy full screen.

Taken at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. As a short alternative to our present winter conditions here is one of my captures from 2013 whilst on holiday in Norfolk. Some might recognise this from my old Panoramio account. Enjoy large.

A favourite walk not far from my home here in Oldham, this area always looks nice in these conditions and lighting like this. The river today is very high after weeks of heavy rain. This morning we have some snow instead. Enjoy large.

A wide Winter view from Greenfield village to the North West. On the left is the Pots & Pans war memorial (1,200 feet (370 m asl) and the sharp hill to the right is called Alderman's Hill. (nb It is Alderman's Hill which I normally shoot in reflections from Dovestones dam.- see PiP) Enjoy full screen

Just on a rare day here in the North West of England, do we have moments like this. I awoke just a short time before running out to capture this to see beautiful white crisp snow bedecking the tree tops with a background of blue. This shows the little lane down to the river Medlock behind the village of Lees. – Notice the magpie in the high trees –the bane of our little garden birds. Enjoy full screen HFF, enjoy the weekend.

The steep walk from Dovestones to the top of Chew reservoir might be arduous but it has its rewards. Not least, this lovely Silver Birch tree. Another favourite tree for me with a few snaps of it now over the years. It looks good in all seasons but I do like it in this kind of light and background. Nice full screen PiPs

This winter has been very poor when it comes to real snow and ice. Today in desperation to get what I could after a night of light wet snow, I walked again up Chew Valley in Saddleworth. This is a view, behind my back as I forged up ahead in wind, sleet and rain. Looking back towards the villages of Greenfield, Uppermill and Grasscroft. PiP Enjoy

As this dog walker enjoys the circular path around this reservoir we get a chance to see how good the reflections can be at times. A real sense of Nordic forest here. Best viewed full screen.

Quite a spectacular waterfall here seen from the lane up to the top Wessenden Reservoir near Marden. The Pennine Way runs just above this. The rocky pool at the bottom is known as a place where one can take a 'skinny dip!' Of course this scene is probably much better than it would normally be, after weeks of torrential rainfall here. The height here, I would estimate 50-100ft (15-30m) pip As usual, best full screen.