Visited in July 2013, the Aquarium Lanzarote is an aquatic museum featuring 33 tanks and over 1 million litres of water. The tanks feature mainly sea life native to the Canary Islands including clown fishes, blowfishes, sea urchins, sharks and turtles. the aquarium can be found near the centre of Costa Teguise in the east of the island. I took a number of short videos whilst touring the aquarium and they can be seen below and on YouTube. They were filmed using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.
Uploaded to YouTube on the 4th August 2013, currently seen 379 times. The video features a 3 legged turtle swimming around.
Uploaded to YouTube on 10th August 2013, the video has to date been viewed 2668 times. It features a shark swimming.
The final video uploaded to YouTube in August 2017 and seen 41 times to date shows all the clips put together of the sea life in their tanks.
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One of my hobbies is the sport of Rugby League, I am a supporter of Halifax RLFC, who recently changed there name to Halifax Panthers. The club has had it's success throughout it's history being league champions 4 times and challenge cup winners 5 times. Since relegation from Super League in 2003 the club has been a mainstay of the championship. It was from the recent decision by Super League to refuse re-entry to the competition to Toronto Wolfpack and open up a bidding process to clubs from the championship to enter super league and league ones clubs to enter the championship that I started to have a look at the grounds of the League 1 clubs.
From this interest the idea of creating a short video of each clubs ground from the air was born, originally I had planned to only show the league 1 clubs grounds, but found I had enjoyed the process as it differed from what I normally put together so I then completed videos of all the Championships clubs and Super League clubs home stadia.
League 1.
League 1 currently features 10 clubs, with future admissions possible from a reborn Toronto Wolfpack, Ottawa Aces, New York City, Belgrade, Valencia, Bristol and Liverpool, Ottawa the only confirmed one for 2022. For the 2021 season the league will be made up of Barrow Raiders, Coventry Bears, Doncaster RLFC, Hunslet Hawks, Keighley Cougars, London Skolars, North Wales Crusaders, Rochdale Hornets, West Wales Raiders and Workington Town.
Championship.
Probably the most competitive league in the British rugby system where a good start to the season could see any one of the 14 clubs either promoted or relegated. The 2021 season will see Batley Bulldogs, Bradford Bulls, Dewsbury Rams, Featherstone Rovers, Halifax Panthers, London Broncos, Newcastle Thunder, Oldham RLFC, Sheffield Eagles, Swinton Lions, Toulouse Olympique, Whitehaven RLFC, Widnes Vikings and York City Knights do battle.
Super League.
The Super League is the highest level of rugby league competition in the UK and the 2nd highest worldwide. After the ejection of Toronto Wolfpack, Leigh Centurions were promoted to level the competition to 12 clubs for the 2021 season and the rest are, Castleford Tigers, Catalans Dragons, Huddersfield Giants, Hull FC, Hull Kingston Rovers, Leeds Rhinos, Salford Red Devils, St Helens RFC, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Warrington Wolves, and Wigan Warriors.
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The current Covid pandemic has made it hard to get out with my camera since the start of the first lockdown last March in the United Kingdom, so I am currently taking an opportunity to work my way through sets I have already taken over the last decade, some slides I have acquired and some postcards I own too.
Todays post features 5 postcards from around the world, 4 of which were posted and 2 are from the same resort.
Sandman Motel.
The Sandman Motel is roadside stop in the city of Santa Rosa, California, an area famous as wine country.
The card was sent to the management and staff of the Manor Hotel, Yeovil in August 1977 and the both hotels still trade now some 44 years later.
Turtle Beach Hotel, Watamu, Kenya
This card again features a hotel and was posted, sadly the date is hard to make out.
Tangier, Morocco
This card was never posted and has no writing to give any indication of date.
Turtle Beach Hotel, Watamu, Kenya (Again)
Part of a set I bought, both of these Kenyan cards above were included in the sale, this one appears to have been posted in February, but like the other the date is hard to make out completely. Though it has the same image as above I thought the text may be of interest so decided to share both.
Singapore
The final postcard for this post features a set of 3 images of Singapore.
Posted in January 1975.
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I have recently been going through some of my postcard collection with the intention of selling a few off, and whilst in the process of sorting and listing I thought it might be of interest to feature some of the postcards on here. Todays selection is 2 from Lancashire and 1 from Cheshire, all counties in the north of England.
Blackpool.
The card although unwritten and undated was probably from the 1950's and was published by Sandman Brothers of Blackpool. The images features are of Blackpool Tower, a gondola, Starlight Parade and Gynn Gardens.
Chorley.
The Chorley Postcard was posted in 1986 and is a typical example of a 1980's quite boring postcard. The card features images of St Marys Church and Chorley Town Hall.
Compstall.
Compstall is a suburb of Stockport in Cheshire and although it has been written on, it appears to have never been posted. The images are names as the Watermeetings, and the Aquaduct and Viaduct.
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Part of my collection of postcards is this set of 3 featuring mixed images of Southsea and Hayling Island, both areas to the south east of Portsmouth, England. All 3 have been posted and still have the stamps attached.
Postcard 1 Southsea.
This card features a set of images including the Rock Gardens, Beech and Canoe Lake, HMS Victory moored at Portsmouth and South Parade Pier. It was posted on the 14th June 1967 to the Daily Mirror and includes the following intriguing text "Don't you trust my judgement then". I'm guessing it was something to do with tips for horse racing or greyhound racing.
Postcard 2 Hayling Island.
This card features 9 images of the area and was posted on the 24th June 1965 to Scotland. The scenes included are Sandy Point, Salterns Creek, the Beech, a general view of the island, the Boating Lake, Eastoke Bungalow Town, the Ferry and Manor Road.
Postcard 3 Southsea.
The final postcard is another from Southsea and features 7 images from the area. It was posted on the 22nd September 1960, sadly I can't make much of the writing out. The images show South Parade Pier, the Miniature Railway, HMS Victory, the Rock Gardens, the Canoe Lake and the Hole in the Wall, Sallyport, Portsmouth.
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Reddish South Railway Station is a stop that serves the community of Reddish, Stockport. Frequently amongst the 10 least used stations in the whole of the UK, Reddish South currently has 2 scheduled stops per week both on a Saturday morning in each direction.
Reddish South opened in October 1845 when the line between Stockport and Guide Bridge was completed by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway, barely a year later the line passed into the ownership of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) when the M&BR, Grand Junction Railway and Liverpool and Manchester Railways merged.
The station was a busy stop in it's early tears and consisted of 2 island platforms, a signal box, engine shed and large goods yard. The station was busy throughout it's first half century until trains were redirected in May 1899, reducing much of the passing railway traffic.
Reddish South continued to decline and by the 1960's, British Rail was under large scale downsizing as part of the Beeching cuts and despite many stations like Reddish South and lines like the Stockport-Stalybridge closing they survived the cuts. Despite surviving the station continued to be run down with a lack of investment with the line reduced to single track status, the 2 island platforms reduced to 1 and the the track bed filled in, the station buildings and engine shed demolished and eventually the sidings and land around the station sold off and redeveloped.
By the 1980's Reddish South had become a request stop only and even this was eventually reduced to a parliamentary service of 1 train per week at 9.22am on a Friday from Stockport to Stalybridge. In 2007 proposals were made to close the station along with Denton to the north, but keep the line open. This prompted a campaign to get more services and investment at Reddish South and a local group has added a mural, flower bed and picket fence to brighten the station up.
The station today suffers because of a lack of investment, no facilities and only 2 scheduled stops per week, both on a Saturday morning in each direction. Whilst there you could see plenty of house buildings adjacent to Reddish South and a large Morrisons store is located just behind the mural that are potential customers to the stop. Just 158 passengers used the station in 2019/20, an average of 3 per week, the stop is just 1 mile from Reddish North Railway Station which served 242000 in the same period, over 1531 times the amount that used Reddish South.
The pictures were taken on the 15th December 2020 using a Nikon d3300 SLR, they can be seen below and on Clickasnap un-watermarked and higher resolution by clicking any image.
The stations only entrance, the infilled section to the right was once trackbed making the station multi platform, it is now served by 1.
Despite low usage, a lack of investment, and 1 train a week stopping the stations limited facilities are looked after by Friends of Reddish South.
To the stations northern end, past a limited size fence is the disused section of the platform. The construction site to the right used to be the stations goods yard.
The fence represents the end of the used part of the station.
The used part of the station, showing the lack of facilities and shelters.
Freightliner 66610 passing through the station, the line is mainly used by freight trains.
The station viewed from the bridge, the former goods yard having houses constructed on it.
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Part of my collection of postcards this set of 4 is one I currently have for sale and feature various images from Buxton, Derbyshire, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. Oakham, Rutland and March Cambridgeshire.
Buxton.
The card I have a Buxton actually features a fold away set of pictures that pull down to reveal another set of pictures from Buxton. I haven't scanned these yet but will do shortly. The main pictures are of Buxton from the Town Hall, The Pavilion Gardens, The Crescent and Serpentine walk at the Pavilion Gardens.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
The pictures featured in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch card number 5 and feature the castle ruins, Bath Street, Trinity Church, Elizabethan House and the Loudoun Memorial.
Oakham.
The 4 images shown here are All Saints Church, High Street, Market Place and the Castle.
March.
The final card featured in this post shows March, Cambridgeshire in a set of 3 pictures that include St Windreda's Church, River Nene and Broad Street.
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Part of my collection of collectible postcards, these are part of a collection I am currently listing on Ebay. The all feature multiple pictures of the location featured and can be seen here and on Flickr.
Hereford.
There are 2 postcards featuring scenes from Hereford, card 1 features The Old House, Cathedral Tower and bridge across the River Wye.
Card 2 features images of the Cathedral, Wye Bridge and the Old House.
Evesham.
The images features in the Evesham card include the Hampston Ferry, Gaiety Boat, Bell Tower and Evesham Lock.
Stoneleigh.
Stoneleigh, Warwickshire features images of Park Avenue West, The Broadway, Stoneleigh Hotel, Ewell Court House.
Blenheim Palace.
This card contains images of Sir Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace, The Great Hall, the room in which Sir Winston Churchill was born and the Lake.
Stratford-on-Avon.
The final card in this post features images from Stratford-on-Avon. The pictures include the River Avon and Clopton Bridge, Shakespeare's Birthplace, Ann Hathaways House, The Gower Monument and Basin and the Avon & Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
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Part of a series of paintings by Vincent Van Gogh created in June 1888, when he took a trip to the area from Arles where he was then living. He was there for a week long trip to recover from health problems he had suffered from at the time.
The picture is also known as Fishing Boats on the Beech at Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer, according to Wikipedia Van Gogh described to his brother the following
"I made the drawing of the boats when I left very early in the morning, and I am now working on a painting based on it, a size 30 canvas with more sea and sky on the right. It was before the boats hastened out, i had watched them every morning, but as they leave very early I didn't have time to paint them."
This was the front of a postcard I recently purchased, clicking the image will open a link in another window to my Clickasnap profile.
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The Woolshops is a shopping centre in the heart of Halifax, West Yorkshire. Named after the Grade II listed timber building built in 1670, that can be found to the north west of the precinct. The centre was originally planned as an Arndale Centre in the mid 1970's, this development would have seen the Woolshops or Tudor house building disappear with many of the other long standing properties nearby. This plan was abandoned by 1979 when a number of the anchor tenants withdrew from the project leading to the building of the Woolshops as an alternative. Phase 1 was completed in 1983, Phase 2 saw additional shops added opposite Marks and Spencers and towards the north gate of the Piece Hall on the site of the car park during the late 1990's - early 2000's
These pictures were taken on an early Sunday morning in May 2018, using a Nikon d3300. The emptiness shows how town centres are suffering from reduced footfall due to restrictive parking, higher pricing and in recent years the effect of Covid.
The centre is named after the building to the left of the picture housing Coffee Cali, the building known as the Woolshops is thought to be amongst the oldest still remaining in Halifax Town Centre. The steps now feature a statue dedictaed to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.
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I previously posted about the Queensbury Tunnel in December 2017, a number of the pictures that were featured in that post were lost over time so I recently thought I would go back and have a look at what I had and repost them. The full set can be seen here, on Flickr, and on Clickasnap, with some put together to make the following video available to see here and on YouTube, please take a moment to subscribe to my channel.
The video features modern and vintage images taken along the trackbed from Strines Cutting to the former site of Queensbury Station. The Historical images and ones inside the tunnel that are not mine are all Creative Commons licensed or copyright unknown. Credits are given were possible.
Strines Cutting was a railway cutting on approach to the southern portal of Queensbury Tunnel. It was approx. 1030ft long and 59ft deep and ran through solid rock. The cutting was crossed by an Aqueduct that carried Strines / Ovenden beck over the railway. This bridge is still standing today although the ground below is now infilled and it looks more like a wall across some waste ground. The cutting is now largely filled in with only a short section to the tunnel entrance still remaining although this is mostly flooded as drainage along the cutting and in to the tunnel has always been an issue.
Queensbury Tunnel was built by the Great Northern Railway to provide a link from Holmefield Station, Halifax to Queensbury Station allowing travel beyond to Bradford and Keighley. Construction was started in May 1874 and took over 3 years to complete opening to goods traffic on the 14th October 1878. Passenger trains not being introduced until December 1879 when the station at Queensbury was completed. It was to be another 5 years before those same passengers could complete the journey to Keighley, the line from Queensbury to Keighley making slow progress due to financial issues.
Once completed the tunnel ran for 7503ft making it the longest on the Great Northern Railway and also one of the deepest in the country. There had been plans to have 8 air shafts, the plans changing then to 7 and finally 5 due to significant water ingress (the tunnel and cutting has always suffered issues due to water drainage). The deepest shaft completed was 379ft deep, although shaft number 5 would have reached a depth of 414ft had it been completed. Around 700 men were involved in the tunnels construction and at least 10 are thought to have died during the build period with many more injured.
Once opened the tunnel was operational until the 1950's, the line suffering as passenger numbers declined, but freight traffic remained busy until after the 2nd World War. The high cost of maintaining the tunnel and cutting made the tunnel an early favourite for closure during the post war economy measures and the now with hindsight short sighted decision was made to close the line to traffic. Passenger services were withdrawn on the 23rd May 1955, with goods traffic withdrawn on the 28th May 1956. The line through the tunnel was then mothballed until 1963 when it was finally uplifted.
There is now a campaign for the tunnel to be reopened as part of a cycleway connecting Bradford with Halifax. Engineers are currently trying to push through a scheme to abandon and fill the tunnel with concrete. I am hoping the people campaigning to save the tunnel are successful in the fight. To find out more please take a moment to view the site at http://www.queensburytunnel.org.uk/
Strines / Ovenden Beck Aqueduct. Strines cutting used to run to a depth of approx 59ft beneath where I was stood to take the picture.
The southern portal of Queensbury Tunnel after it had been drained to allow engineers to asses the damage inside. The entrance rocks are what remains of Strines Cutting.
This is what the entrance to Queensbury Tunnel normally looks like.
Taken on the former Queensbury - Thornton - Keighley trackbed looking towards the former site of Queensbury Station. Opened in 1879 the station was triangular in shape, when opened being one of only 4 shaped that way in England. The station had connections with Bradford, Halifax, Keighley and beyond. The station was 400ft lower than the town and closed to passengers in 1955, and goods, excursion traffic in 1963, other than trackbed nothing of the station now remains.
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