Herb Riddle's photos

One from last year’s Lake District trip to Ennerdale Bridge. This hill caught my attention with these trees, especially the one on the right. The sheep also thought that shape was a bit strange for a tree. Enjoy full size and have a great week. Ps –and no wise-cracks about there only being two framed sheep :)

Taken somewhat west of Stronachlachar on the north west tip. Enjoy full size.

A walk down to the waters edge here on this northern tip of the loch. If you look carefully you can see a pair of Canadian Geese swimming around. ~ My shoe soles were a bit sticky after this walk. ~ Not troubled by having to Covid socially Isolate around here! Enjoy full screen. Herb

A look at this quieter part of Loch Katrine towards the hamlet of Glengyle. The snow covered hill here is Meall Mor with Stob a'Choin showing its head to the right. Below us is the Island of ‘Rubha nam Mult’ with ‘Rubha na Moine’ being connected to the mainland by a small isthmus on the back left. Enjoy full size.

A view from a walk in the woods south of Invesnaid on the north east of Loch Lomond. We can just see the Loch Lomond holiday park across the water backed up by the grand mountains of Ben Vorlich (943m) and Ben Vane (916m). There is in fact a hydro-electric power station just to the right of that park called Inveruglas. (https://www.seelochlomond.co.uk/discover/inveruglas) Enjoy full screen and have a good week.

As we leave Grosmont and the North Yorkshire moors Railway, we see a different running engine heading for the workshops and coal hopper at the other end of the tunnel. On the left, another small tunnel can be seen. This is called the Grosmont Horse Tunnel and was built as part of the George Stephenson’s horse-drawn railway of 1836. This is in fact the pedestrian way into the railway yard. See PiPs or previous pages. This is a Lambton Collieries 0-6-2T, No.29 built in Hunslet, 1904 and withdrawn from service after 65 years. (1969) ps L.H.&.J.C : Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Colliery (National Coal Board) I hope you have enjoyed bit of our railway nostalgia.

At Grosmont, Yorkshire This is a Lambton Collieries 0-6-2T, No.29 built in Hunslet, 1904 and withdrawn from service after 65 years. (1969) ps L.H.&.J.C : Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Colliery (National Coal Board)

Grosmont Tunnel was built as part of George Stephenson's horse-drawn railway that ran between Whitby and Pickering, which was completed in 1836. The tunnel is still in use today, with a footpath replacing the rail track. The horse-drawn railway naturally operated at fairly low speeds, so the earthworks or structures needed were minimal. There were some timber bridges but these have now been replaced. The 119m long tunnel is 3m wide by 4.3m high, with turrets and castellations on the portals. It was completed around 1834, and trains ran twice daily between Grosmont and Whitby from June 1835. A return journey took six hours. When steam traction came to the railway in 1847, a larger running tunnel was constructed alongside the original. Grosmont Horse Tunnel is probably the oldest railway tunnel in Britain. (http://www.engineering-timelines.com/)

Another scene from the NYMR at Grosmont station. See PiP SR V, 4-4-0 Schools Class, 926 Repton, with its 'Optimist' badge. Built in 1934. Overhaul began in August 2014. Returned to steam in July 2017 in SR Olive Green livery. ~ The SR V class, more commonly known as the Schools class, is a class of steam locomotive designed by Richard Maunsell for the Southern Railway. The class was a cut down version of his Lord Nelson class Enjoy full screen

It’s busy down behind the sheds in the workshop yards at Grosmont and the guys working on the NYMR have a lot to do. Pete is using his shunter to bring this big steam-loco crane back down the line so John has to switch those points around by pulling that white lever across. See Pip for more. 12139 is a Class 11 0-6-0 type of diesel-electric shunter, built to an LMS design at English Electric at Preston in 1948, shown here in British Railways black livery. The red Steam Breakdown Crane No 107 was built around 1929 and can lift up to 45 tons. This was in use, in its day, at Doncaster, Yorkshire. Enjoy full size and have a great week. Ps Names are fictitious

Behind the Grosmont workshops. The red Steam Breakdown Crane No 107 was built around 1929 and can lift up to 45 tons. This was in use, in its day, at Doncaster, Yorkshire. 12139 is a Class 11 0-6-0 type of diesel-electric shunter, built to an LMS design at English Electric at Preston in 1948, shown here in British Railways black livery. BR Class 04 D2207. The British Rail Class 04 was a 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive class, built between 1952 and 1962 and was the basis for the later Class 03 built in the British Railways workshops.

The NYMR workshops and sheds are kept busy throughout the year here at Grosmont. Here we see one of the restored steam engines under the large coal hopper. The engines simply roll to a stop and then there is an almighty roar as coal is dropped down the chutes from above into the tender. The engine wants to be away soon and so is still in steam, ready for the off again. Hopefully you will enjoy this old fashioned photographic look in my attempt to install as much feeling as I felt at this moment. Best full screen.

.A look into one of the loco sheds at the Grosmont NYMR depot and we see this once stately steam engine. Like many of these, this has got a lot of history. Engine 65894 (a J27) built for the LNER railway, has a 0-6-0 wheel configuration, and was built in Darlington in 1923 at a mighty price of £3537. She spent most of her working life on the north east coast pulling coal and later spent time on the York-Scarborough route with local goods. It has been restored several times and came to the NYMR in 1971 where it was a mainstay of its services. In 2018, at Grosmont, it underwent an overhaul at a cost of £450,000. I have no doubts that she will be running happily again soon. Enjoy. full screen Herb More info: preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/65894-lner-2392-lner-5894-br-65894

A glimpse into old England here as we spend a few hours at the small village of Grosmont in the North Yorkshire moors. This is a busy working home for the NYMR heritage Railway (North Yorkshire Moors Railway). Its main line runs from Pickering to Whitby via Goathland. Grosmont is the start of its recent extension to the seaside town of Whitby and also houses the lines big maintenance yard. Enjoy. Herb

One of our walks last week brought us close to a small public park with this bowling green. The game of crown-green bowling has always been very popular here in Northern Britain, particularly amongst our older generation (simply because they traditionally had more time). It’s actually quite nice and relaxing to sit and watch too, especially when there is a big match on, when teams of two to four go head to head from every corner and side of the green. Of course there are those that allow the phone to get in the way, or in my case – the camera :) The game is played by two players, each player having two bowls. The object of the game is to get one or both bowls nearer to the jack (a special smaller bowl, bowled by the winner of the last game) than either of the opponents’ bowls. The bowls are delivered alternatively until each player has delivered both bowls. The green is square, varying in size from 30 yards to 60 yards. The surface of the green slopes slightly upwards, rising to a central crown between 6 and 12 inches higher than the edges. The crown and the surface irregularities provide fresh factors to influence the running bowls Enjoy full screen and have a good week and Summer on this summer solstice day.

Looking to the Northern shore and Eastwards. Taken from Stronachlachar with the pier seen on the left. I am stood just a few feet away from my previous photo position here. Loch Katrine is a freshwater loch and scenic attraction in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands. The loch is 13 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide at the widest point and runs the length of Strath Gartney. The Island: Factor's Island, Loch Katrine. In the course of his long-running dispute with the Duke of Montrose, the well-known historical figure Rob Roy once imprisoned the Duke's factor (who acted as agent and rent collector) on this island, also known as Eilean Dharag. The stone wall was added to protect the island when the water level in Loch Katrine was raised in connection with its use as a water supply for Glasgow, which it has been since 1859. 'Katrine' derives from the Gaelic 'cateran', meaning a Highland robber. Enjoy full size.

A view of my personal transport sat on the little car park of Stronachlachar. This is on the southern shore of Loch Katrine, just west of central position. We are going to do a fine five mile round walk towards the western tip. Normally this spot is manic with visitors and the now closed café very busy indeed but in these Covid conditions we are accompanied mostly by cyclist only. In normal conditions boats pickup and drop off passengers at the pier here, the most famous being the ‘Sir Walter Scott Steamship’.

We are on our way to the more famous Loch Katrine when we pass this smaller loch. We are looking down the 2.5 mile length here towards the Ben Lomond area with the snow-capped Munro of Ben Vane. The lonely road along its right bank was the spot where yesterday’s fence photo was taken (pip) and the one we will take later today on our way to Loch Lomond. As you can see here the morning light at this moment gave us a golden glow with these moorland grasses. Hope you enjoy this. Enjoy full size.