Sowerby Tunnel.

Sowerby Tunnel is a short video I put together featuring pictures and footage of the railway tunnel between Sowerby Bridge and Luddendenfoot on the Caldervale line. The tunnel was built in 1840 by the Manchester & Leeds Railway and runs underneath Sowerby Bridge Cemetery and Dixon Scar Woods. It runs for approx. 657yds leaving the industrial landscape of Sowerby Bridge at it's eastern portal, before exiting to the country setting of Sowerby - Tenterfields - Luddendenfoot at it's western portal. Sowerby Tunnel is also known as Dixy, Long and Cemetery Tunnel. 

The pictures and footage were taken on various dates over the last 6 years. The picture towards the end of the video was taken whilst stood near the tunnels western portal on the track. I had permission to be there, on the day no trains were running and I still complied with full health and safety rules to be there. Please do not ever enter with the property which trains run, it is very dangerous and can lead to death or major life changing injuries.

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The People's Park, Halifax

The People's Park is a 12.5 acre park built by Sir Francis Crossley and opened in 1857. After the park had been opened for a year it was transferred to the Halifax Corporation for the people of Halifax to use as  a park forever. The following 12 conditions are attached to the gift,

1. That the park is open to the public from morning until evening, during the whole year.

2. That the park is opened as soon as the sun rises after 6am, but never before, and remains open until dusk.

3. That it can only be used as a promenade.

4. That no games such as cricket, bowls, or hockey, etc be allowed, nor bathing.

5. Bands be allowed except on Sundays, but dancing prohibited.

6. That refreshments not be sold in the park.

7. That the corporation spend not less than £315 annually maintaining the grounds, buildings, bridges, statues, trees, shrubs, walks and seats. Also providing gardeners and keepers.

8. If the corporation fails to maintain the park, it shall revert to Frank Crossley or his heirs.

9. No buildings shall be erected except summer houses, lodges, and like structures, as may from time to time be necessary.

10. The park shall not be used for any political or other meeting, nor yet for the celebration of the anniversaries of clubs or other societies.

11. No charge shall ever be made for admission to the park, nor any use made of it for private or municipal pecuniary advantage.

12. That the corporation make and enforce such regulations as shall protect the trees, walks, etc from injury.

Crossley had been impressed with the scenery on a visit to New England, which had inspired him to build such a space for the workers of Halifax to enjoy and proposed "to arrange art and nature so that they shall be within the walk of every working man in Halifax, that he shall go to take his stroll there after he has done his hard day's toil, and be able to get home without being tired".

The Pavilion.

Built by G.H. Stokes the Pavilion was inaugurated on the 14th August 1860 and features a marble statue of Sir Francis Crossley. There are pools either side of the pavilion which have the following inscriptions above them "The rich and the poor meet together. The Lord is the maker of them all. Blessed by the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits. Let no man seek his own but every man another's wealth. The Pavilion sits on the terrace.

The Terrace.

The statues and urns that run along the length of terrace were designed by G.H. Stokes and sculptured by Francesco Bienaime. The terrace featured an urn at each end of the terrace and has had statues added at various times of Apollo (Son of Zeus), Dancing Girl, Diana (Roman Goddess), Hercules, Neapolitan Music Girl, Sophocles, Telemachus and Venus. Over the years these statues have suffered from erosion and vandalism and not all still remain.

The Crossley Fountain.

At the centre of the park stands the Crossley and Saville fountain. Built in 1864 by Simpson of Pimlico the Crossley fountain was replaced in 1914 when Sir Savile Crossley offered to provide a new fountain, since 1914 the fountain then became known as the Saville and Crossley Fountain.

The Bandstand.

The bandstand was built in 1882 and made of cast-iron, wood and features a zinc roof. When the bandstand opened music was only allowed on a weekday.

Smith Sundial

The Grade II listed Smith Sundial was presented to the town of Halifax in 1873. It was created by John Smith for Pocklington School, but they rejected it and Matthew Smith a local politician purchased the sundial.

The Thorp Fountain.

No longer connected to the water supply the Thorp Fountain was a drinking fountain designed by John Hogg and given to the park by Joseph Thorp. The fountain bears the following "Thank God for water, Water is best" The fountain is Grade II listed.

The Lake and Ponds.

The parks has a serpentine pond - lake to the eastern edge which is crossed by a couple of Grade II cast iron bridges. The lake - pond is approx 175m in length and widens as runs from north to south in the park.

The pictures above and below were taken on the 27th May 2018 with a Nikon d3300 camera. They can also be seen on Clickasnap un-watermarked and higher resolution. Clicking any picture should open the Clickasnap version in another window.

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Whitby Beach, North Yorkshire

Whitby Beach is a set of 4 pictures taken on the 25th August 2018 whilst visiting the North Yorkshire seaside resort. The were taken from West Cliff overlooking the coast near to Whitby Pavilion in the direction of Sandsend and Whitby Harbour Pier.

They were taken using a Nikon d3300 SLR, they can be seen below or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

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Sowerby Bridge Railway Station, A Virtual Tour

Just an attempt at something a little bit different by me, I thought I would have a go at making a little video featuring a tour of Sowerby Bridge Railway Station. There is no voiceover just sub titles and the back ground music is Life in Romance by Twin Musicom. It was filmed at night on the 29th December 2018 around 6pm so the station was quiet, with only 1 express train passing through whilst I was there. The video lasts for 3mins 57secs and give a little bit of information about the station's history.

The filming was done using a Nikon d3300 SLR Camera. The video can be seen here and on YouTube.

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Sowerby Bridge station opened in at it's current location in 1876, replacing the former station which existed a few hundred yards further west at the site of a modern day Tesco superstore. The currentstation was built as a junction for the Rishworth Branch line when that opened in 1876, although a platform was constructed for that only in 1907, trains used to back down the mainline before commencing journeys along the branch. A much bigger station when opened, the station saw the branch line close completely to all traffic in 1958, and the main station building demolished in 1980, 2 years after a devastating fire badly damaged them. The station is much changed from it's heyday, it now features limited facilities, no staff, the platforms are much reduced in size, although platform 2 still shows much of the original platform although now un-accessible. Platform 1 is much reduced to provide a station car park.

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I am working on a similar video for Mytholmroyd Station, subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you would like to see it when uploaded.

The Train Trip, Sowerby Bridge to Mytholmroyd.

A short video I recently did of the view outside the window as I took a train journey from Sowerby Bridge to Mytholmroyd. The trip was taken on New Years Eve 2018 at about 11.15am so the train wasn't overly busy. I didn't intend on filming it but as it was on the tripod already, I thought why not and set it going. I filmed it on my Nikon d3300 SLR.

The journey starts at Sowerby Bridge Railway Station Platform 1 and heads west firstly past County Bridge, Town Hall Clock and the River Calder. After this we passed Goodalls Transport which is built on part of the site of the former goods yard and near to where the original Sowerby Bridge Railway Station was sited until moving to it's current location in 1876. The train then enters Cemetery Tunnel, which is also known as Sowerby Tunnel or locally as Dixy Tunnel. The tunnel runs under Dixon Scar Woods and Sowerby Bridge Cemetery. I trimmed the tunnel section of the video to a few seconds as we were in the tunnel for a minute.

Once through the tunnel, the open country becomes visible as the train heads towards the Tenterfields area of Sowerby Bridge, a mill complex converted to business units. After this is the former VTL works now a caravan storage area which forms part of Fairlea Mills, with a little bit further the area that was Luddendenfoot Railway Station, which also is now Station Road Industrial Units.

After passing Luddendenfoot, once again the countryside becomes more prominent until passing the small hamlet of Brearley, which is home to a few houses and industrial units. Not overly visible from the train. Before reaching Mytholmroyd, Moderna Business Park becomes visible through the trees and St Michaels Church is Visible just before I had to get up to leave the train.

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It features a number of videos like this, as well as photo slideshows I have done.

You can follow me on Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest, Twitter and Tumblr via the links in the sidebar, on YouTube via the link above, or on image sharing site Clickasnap here. I currently have over 1100 pictures to view there. Clickasnap is a free to use, paid per view, image sharing site.

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