Halifax Railway Station (2013)

In July 1844 Halifax celebrated as the first single track line to reach the town arrived, terminating at Shaw Syke near to the current B and M store, the town had finally joined the railway revolution. The line had been constructed from the Manchester and Leeds Railway at Greetland along the the current route that passes by Salterhebble. By August 7 1850 the line had been extended to Bradford and a new station was opened with temporary buildings at its current location, the Shaw Syke site now being developed as a goods yard.

The temporary station was replaced by permanent stone buildings which were designed by Thomas Butterworth, these opened on the 23 June 1855 and Halifax now had a station to be proud of. The station became a junction station in the 1870's when the Great Northern Railway constructed the Queensbury Line to Keighley and Bradford. The line branching off just beyond the end of the platform over a viaduct in the direction of North Bridge Station. This new venture led to the station being redesigned and a new access bridge crossing the much enlarged station beneath, by this time it had grown to a station of 7 platforms.

Due to the growth of the railways in Halifax the station was renamed in June 1890 as Halifax Old Station to distinguish it from Halifax North Bridge and Halifax St Paul's Station's, it was renamed in September 1951 as Halifax Town Station, and again in June 1961 back to just Halifax after the closures of the St Paul's and North Bridge Station's.

The station was greatly reduced in size over the next few years, eventually becoming a 2 platform island station with poor facilities and access. The local paper the Halifax Evening Courier eventually started a campaign for a station fit for the 21st century which led to Northern and Network Rail investing in repairs and refurbishment of the stations facilities. In October 2014 there was a plan to restore the 1855 building as a third platform to improve services from the building, but the seems to have stalled whilst Calderdale Council plan a near £30 - £40 million development that will remove the bridge and higher access station,  add ground level access, retail and facilities and supposedly give an all round much better experience for travellers. Personally I will believe it when I see it, our local council always seem to manage to make a bad project out of a good idea.

The station currently offers direct trains to Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester, with additional services to Chester Hull and London. The station is manned with ticket counters in addition to ticket machines. There is a small retail shop and a toilet if required, the station is not step free access but there is a lift down to platform level, I believe when there are staff in attendance. Before the pandemic hit the station saw approx 1.914 million passengers a year, an average of approx. 36800 per week. The last full year of figures during the Corona Virus era saw an average of approx 7000 per week using the station.

These pictures were taken in November 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

The bridge is the only access to the stations island platform

The Nestle Factory can be seen to the right of the picture

The listed 1855 building, having housed officers and a nursery for
the Eureka Children's Museum, their are now plans to reopen this
building.

The operations were moved to York and this signal Box Closed
in October 2018.

The following pictures were taken near to the station buildings.

Halifax Station is built upon a viaduct, high wall and this is one of the
tunnels underneath the station.

This bridge used to cross a number of lines and the goods yard, it was built
to provide a new access to the station in the 1880's.
There are currently plans going forward to demolish this structure.

The station buildings roofs captured from Bailey Hall. The Halifax
branch of the Calder & Hebble Navigation used to terminate
near to this site which is occupied by Nestle now.

Lilly Lane Footbridge was built to replace Lilly Lane, 
the road having been split in 2 by the railways arrival
and the station construction.

One of the tunnel paths that lead underneath
Halifax Station.

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Old Images of Scarborough

Scarborough is a seaside resort in Yorkshire, Northern England. It is the largest town resort town in North Yorkshire and grew around the industries of fishing and tourism. The following video shows a number of postcards that feature various images of the town with some highlights including images of,

Scarborough South Bay Bathing Pool

The construction of the south bay bathing pool was the brainchild of Harry W. Smith the former borough engineer for Scarborough. Whilst on a visit to Guernsey he became inspired by an outdoor pool they already had for bathers. Upon his return he proposed a pool that would feature different depths, diving boards, water chutes, changing rooms and showers, these would have been a first for Britain not just Scarborough. Construction started before World War One and the pool officially opened in 1915. The pool was built to help combat coastal erosion and was filled by fresh sea water daily due to the tides. The pool was a popular attraction until its closure in the 1980's when the site fell in to disrepair.

Scarborough North Bay Pier

Opened on the 1st May 1869, the North Bay Pier was constructed by Josiah Foster Fairbank as a steamer and promenade pier. Upon completion the pier reached a length of 1000ft (305m) out to sea, but was dogged by incidents from the start, frequently being hit by steamers at the head and never making much money, the pier changed owners several times and January 7 1905 a storm wrecked a large section of the pier leaving only the head and entrance standing. The pier closed after this and shortly after the head was demolished, with the entrance pavilion itself being demolished in 1914.

Peasholm Park

The video also features a number of images of Peasholm Park, opened in 1912 the park attractions include Peasholm Glen, putting green, boating lake where mock naval battles are staged 3 times a week during the high season and many types of plant life to walk around and enjoy. The park declined from the 1970's on and was closed for a time when fire destroyed some of the buildings in 1999. Due to heritage lottery funding the park has since been restored and is now a popular attraction again.

Other scenes of interest include the Turkish Baths, Floral Hall, Railway Station and Open Air Theatre. There are a total of 25 pictures to view taken from postcards.

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The Rialto Bridge at Night.

The Rialto Bridge is the oldest crossing of the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. One of 4 crossing points the bridge connects the districts of San Marco and San Polo. The current bridge made of stone began construction in 1588 and was completed in 1591, it is the last of several to have occupied this area of Venice and was built by Antonio da Ponte following a competition to design a new bridge.

The bridge is a major tourist attraction reachers a length of 31.8 metres (104.3ft), a height of 7.32 metres (24ft) and a width of 22.9 metres (75.1ft). There are 2 arcades of shops across the bridge separated by a central pathway of steps with another 2 paths to the rear of each row of shops. To support the bridge arch over 6000 timber piles were driven in to the soft embankments under each abutment.

The first bridge to cross the Grand Canal here was was the Ponte della Moneta, built as a pontoon bridge with ships fastened together and designed by Nicola Barattieri in 1181. This bridge was replaced in 1255 by a wooden construction because the nearby Realto market had grown considerably, this bridge had a movable platform in the middle to allow ships to pass.  This bridge was the first to include shops who's taxes and rents helped with paying for the maintenance, it was during this time the bridge name was changed to Realto after the nearby market. 

In 1310 the bridge was badly damaged by fire during the attempt to overthrow the Doge by Bajamonte Tiepolo and in 1444 it collapsed during the wedding celebration of the Marquis Ferrara. This led to the bridge being rebuilt as a drawbridge but once again in 1524 the bridge collapsed. In 1551 the authorities invited the most famous architects of the era to offer their ideas for a bridge, and in 1588 work started on the current bridge which was approved due to the design being of a single span arch. Many people doubted the bridge would last but so far it has stood for over 400 years and counting.

These pictures were taken on the 1st November 2018 using a Nikon d330 SLR camera, they can also be on Clickasnap by clicking any image, link will open in another window.

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Tile Hill Railway Station

 Tile Hill Railway Station is unusual for in that it only features 1 pictures which was snapped quickly when arriving at the station to catch my train to Berkeswell, my train was just arriving. I am unlikely to return living some 100 miles away so will probably never add to it.

Tile Hill serves the suburbs of Coventry, in the West Midlands and is on the main line railway between London Euston and Birmingham New Street Stations. The station opened as Allesley Lane in 1850, before changing names to Allesley Gate in 1857 and finally assuming the name Tile Hill on April 1 1864. Built with staggered platforms either side of the Cromwell Lane level crossing the station remained unchanged until the 1960's when the electrification of the main line resulted in the station being completely rebuilt in its current form. The level crossing was replaced by a bridge in 2004 and the platform connecting bridge was constructed at the same time. 

The station has a ticket office which is open at various times 7 days a week, there are 2 trains per hour in the directions of Birmingham and London. The station has always been a busy station averaging approx 700,000 passengers per year until a combination of developments of the car parking and the current Covid 19 virus situation saw number drop to just 107,000 during the most recent period 2020-21, an average reduction of approx 11,000 passengers per week.

The picture was taken using a Nikon d3300 SLR on January 18 2017.

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A Short Stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Bridge 199 to the Bottom of the Bingley Five Rise Locks

 The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a 127 mile long canal that crossers the Pennines linking Leeds with Liverpool. Along it's route it passes many famous northern towns including Bramley, Shipley, Saltaire, Bingley, Keighley, Skipton, Nelson, Burnley, Blackburn, Leigh, Wigan and Aintree amongst many others.

The section I pictured was a short stretch from Bridge 199 to the bottom of the famous Five Rise Locks at Bingley, this being the first phase of the canal to be completed in 1773 from near to the top of the locks to Skipton, the locks opening in 1774 when the canal had been extended to Shipley.

All the pictures were taken on the July 9 2016 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. The first set shown were taken on the canal between Bridge 199 and the Five Rise Locks Cafe, more on the Five Rise Locks further down the page.

Bridge 199 carries Micklethwaite Lane across the canal.

The Five Rise Locks Cafe, the locks are behind the
position I am stood.

The Five Rise Locks are a staircase Lock that rises at a gradient of 59.2ft in a distance of just 320ft, these are the steepest flight of locks in the United Kingdom. The locks have a full-time lock keeper due to the complicated nature of navigating the five locks up or down, they require a lot of maintenance and often close during the quieter winter months to enable this.

The locks are Grade I listed having been granted this status on the August 9 1966, they were opened on March 21 1774 and it is said a crowd of over 30000 people turned up to celebrate the major feat of engineering, the first boat to navigate the locks took 28 minutes.

The top lock looking down across all 5 to the bottom. There is a bridge
across each lock and the depth of each is approx 50 - 60ft.

Each lock has a overflow like the one seen here to the bottom left
of the picture. This helps control the water levels when boats enter.

I took this to give some idea of how deep each lock is.

The bottom of the locks looking towards the top, the channel to the
right helps to remove the excess water from each lock
via the overflow.

Taken looking away from the bottom lock along the Leeds - Liverpool
Canal in the direction of Leeds. The Bingley Three Rise Locks are just
a short distance beyond the far end of the picture.

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Lumbutts Mill Water Tower and Dams, New Years Eve 2016

 Lumbutts is a small community in the hills to the southeast of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, the area grew around the mill which was used as a corn mill until leased by Brothers Samuel and Robert Shaw with there business partners Abraham Crossley and Thomas Hughes who converted the mill for use in cotton spinning. In the early 19th century the water tower was built to house firstly 2 waterwheels and eventually a third which when completed gave the mill over 50 horsepower created by the waters 90ft fall through the 3 wheels. The tower had supply from 4 dams which were Mill D~am, Lee Dam, Heeley Dam and finally Gaddings Dam which sits 365 meters above see level on the moor above Lumbutts.

The area was the scene of the Mankinholes riots in 1838 when the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 led to a board of guardians making their first demand for £50 from the townsfolk which was refused. On November 14th, 16th and 21st 1838 riots broke out, and on November 24th a company of Dragoon Soldiers were despatched from Manchester to arrest all the men from Lumbutts Mill that had taken part in the riots.

The mill continued to provide employment until 1926, when the final 62 employees were either transferred or retired and Lumbutts Mill closed. The mill was demolished and only the Grade II listed water tower still remains. The site of the mill is now occupied by an activity centre.

Heeley Dam

Lee Dam

The Grade II Listed water tower built to house the waterwheels that
powered the mill. The chimney features a spiral staircase inside. Listed status
was granted on the 22 February 1984.

This bridge crossed one of the water inlets in to the dams,
I can't remember which dame it was .

Mill Dam and in the distance Stoodley Pike and Monument, The 
monument was built in 1856 to commemorate the end
of the Crimean War.

Jeremy Hill and Lee Dam.

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Priest Lane and Ripponden Church Spire.

 Ripponden cobbles is a short road known as Priest Lane that runs down from the A58 Halifax Road, passing the Old Bridge Inn, crossing the River Ryburn before ending near to St Bartholomew's Church, Ripponden. The picture below was taken just beyond the Old Bridge Inn looking up towards the A58.

The following 3 pictures show Ripponden Parish Church or St Bartholomew's by its better known name. They were taken at differing angles. 

St Bartholomew's Church occupies a site alongside the River Ryburn in what is considered the historic township of Barkisland, it is very much considered Ripponden now with Barkisland sitting atop the nearby hill overlooking Ripponden. The first place of worship to occupy the site was a small chapel which was consecrated in 1465. A much larger church was built as a replacement in 1610 and again this was replaced when a new church was opened in 1731. The 1610 church having been badly damaged by the flood of 1722 when the River Ryburn rose by over 20 foot, the flooding caused a few graves to be washed away and the deaths of 15 people who all lived nearby. 

The third church to occupy the site lasted until 1867 when the roof was in such a bad state of repair the building was closed and demolished to be replaced by the current St Bartholomew's which opened in June 1870. George Shaw of Saddleworth was the architect and builder. The church underwent repairs to the belfry in 1876, when the nearby Ripponden Mill burnt down and sparks from the fire reached the belfry.  There has only been minor alterations since with windows replaced and a new organ installed. There is a local legend that says the people of Barkisland refused to contribute to the cleaning of the church clock and that is why the clock facing Barkisland is left uncleaned.

The church pictured from across the River Ryburn near to
the Old Bridge Inn. The river rose over 20 feet in 1722.

The church pictured from the B6113 Elland Road (Ripponden Bank).The dirty
Barkisland facing clock face can be seen on the right of the spire.

The church pictured from the abandoned Rishworth Branch Line

The pictures were taken on the 29 April 2017 using a Nikon d3300. Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the version on Clickasnap.

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Brighouse Library & The Smith Art Gallery.

Originally built as the Rydings in 1841 for miller John Brooke the buildings were bought by the town of Brighouse in 1897 and converted to the Brighouse Library. The grounds were converted in to a public park, indeed the first public park in Brighouse by Charles Kershaw in 1898.

The Smith Art Gallery was opened in May 1907, and named after William Smith a local mill owner who paid for the construction and much of the art featured in the gallery. It was opened by Princess Louise who was the first member of the royal family to visit Brighouse.

There are 2 galleries having originally had 4. The front gallery features an exhibition of oil paintings including works by John Atkinson Grimshaw, a Victorian era artist from Leeds, Marcus Stone an English painter from London and member of the Royal Academy, and Thomas Sydney Cooper, a landscape artist from Canterbury. 

The rear gallery host a constantly changing display, from local artists, touring exhibitions, photography and sculptures.

The pictures were taken on the 14 December 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the Clickasnap version of the image.

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Vinos El Campesino, Lanzarote

 Vinos el Campesino is a vin yard on the island of Lanzarote, I visited in 2013 whilst on a tour of the island and at that point was just starting to take an interest in photography as a hobby. The vines are grown in the surrounding plains in shallow pits dug in the ash, and protected by the constant breeze by low horseshoe style walling. The view from the front of the restaurant up to the mountains (I think they are mountains rather than big hills) is wonderful and the rows of vines in there little walled compartments was quite regimented. The Mountains (hills) are actually volcano craters with the Montana Blanca the more widely known of them.

On my visit there was a wine tasting and buffet meal which was reasonable for the price, which I am unable to remember but it was 9 years ago.

There are a total of 5 pictures which I took around the vin yard, they can be seen below or full size, resolution and un-watermarked on Clickasnap. They were taken on Tuesday 30th July 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

The mountain, hill or volcano crater is the Montana Blanca

As you can see the vines are well organised in there horse show shaped
pits, this is to protect from the constant breeze.

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Clicking any image should open a link in another window to a higher resolution and un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.