National railway Museum, York. (Part 1 of 3)

A visit to the National Railway Museum at York.
The Great Hall.
(Part One).

(I've combined this original post with some images from my other blog
to keep them all in the same place.)

35029 a Merchant Navy Class loco "Atlantic Coast Express".

This side of the loco has been cut away to see the inner workings and the museum staff
give really interesting talks on the way steam is used to power these locomotives.

A lovely piece of engineering.

A replica of Stephenson' s  "Rocket", built in 1934.

A lovely old coach.

I must make it clear I'm not a railway buff (anorak), I just like
to research details at a later time via Google, for my own interest.

A few more images from the National Railway Museum at York.

These six images are all of the loco King George V.

Loco 6000, King George V.

A "King Class" loco, built in 1927.

It went on a trip over to America to be part of the Baltimore Ohio Railroads' Centenary.
Whilst there it was presented with a commemorative bell to mark the occasion which remained on it.

When it returned to Britain it became known as "The Bell".

Wheel bearing detail.

Copper pipework.

Three A4 locomotives at the National Railway Museum, they are Bittern, Dwight D Eisenhower and
Dominion of Canada.  Unfortunately for me Mallard, still the holder of the world speed record for
a steam locomotive was away on loan. 

Another view of the very distinctive shape of the A4 "streamliners". 

A very interesting locomotive a KF Class loco, No. 607 built for the Chinese National Railways.  An
enormous, powerful engine. 

"City of Truro", a City Class loco on the turntable at York.  Reputed to be the first loco to achieve
100MPH while hauling an "Oceans Mail" special from Plymouth to Paddington in 1904.

All photographs taken on a Panasonic G5 camera, tripod mounted with exposure times varying
from 3 to 5 seconds @ f8.

Happy New Year to you all, thanks for viewing the blog!

Hessle Foreshore (Part 2 of 2).

Continuing our walk along the Hessle foreshore at the Humber Bridge.

This part of our walk is from the Humber Bridge along the Hessle Foreshore towards the City of Hull.

Hull has just been named as UK City of Culture for 2017.

A nice row of cottages along the foreshore road.

The cottages are very nearly below the Humber Bridge!

This shows better the proximity of these cottages to the bridge, everything along this road was 
flooded when the tidal surge occurred.

Nice porches on these old cottages.

The sign claims this cottage (and I assume the whole row) 
to be C.1630.  I don't think this porchway dates back that 
far so maybe it refers  to the original structures?

Another row of modern cottages, not quite so near to the bridge as it might seem.  My telephoto
lens has foreshortened the perspective somewhat here.  Unfortunately they too will have been flooded.

A footpath leading back into the Humber Bridge Country park.

A choice of several walks from here.

The old mill which can be seen when 
crossing the bridge.

Washed up on the beach close to the Country Park Hotel.

The next few pictures were taken going away from the bridge toward Hull.
The footpath from here is called "Jeans Walk" as shown on the sign.  It takes you all the way along the
bank of the Humber to Hull.  Another time, when circumstances allow, I intend to walk along here as far
as the distant docklands.

Hull docks area can be seen in the distance.

A closer view.

This was taken at the extreme end of my zoom lens at 600mm.

A last look at the bridge from "Jeans Walk" with my home county of Lincolnshire on the far side.

All pictures taken on Panasonic FZ150 camera.

A Xmas walk around Louth (Part 3)

The 3rd & final part of my walk around Louth at Xmas.

The walk continues into Schoolhouse Lane.

As can be seen here, the Louth Grammar School had a well known pupil.  This plaque
is on the wall opposite to the school now called King Edward VI Grammar school.

This is the original school building but is not fully used these days.  A figure can
be seen in the gable end niche. 

I enquired at the school who this was but they
weren't sure but I have since been assured
it is in fact a statue of King Edward VI.

This is Eastgate and the main shopping area in Louth.  Although there are a couple of supermarkets
in the town they have not impacted on the small shops and this area is still thriving with a very
lively atmosphere.  Here we have Stevensons greengrocers and the other side of the passageway
is the Packhorse  public house.

The name "Packhorse" leads me to believe it was once a coaching inn but I'm not quite convinced
when I look at the size & height of this passageway.

A nice view through to the courtyard beyond.

No photographer worth his salt could
refuse to take a picture of this Victorian
post box!!

Back to Stevensons greengrocers, a traditional shop and so nice to see they have retained
their shop front blind too.  So many shops, out of necessity these days, have dispensed with
them in favour of the all encompassing steel roller shutters which requires a large box housing
above so the blind has to go.  

Very warm & inviting.

A wonderful Xmas display.

Seen in a window of "The Old Bakehouse", 
now a private residence.

Best wishes to you all for Christmas.

All pictures taken with my Panasonic FZ150 camera.

A Xmas walk around Louth (Part 2)

In Aswell Street is the fish & chip resturant, Mr. Chips.  Residents of Louth will naturally say it is the best of it's kind in the county and I have had many fine meals there myself.  They proudly display a banner for a National Quality Award over their doorway. However, in an earlier posting I featured Steels Corner House in the Market Place in Cleethorpes and I think they have the edge!  Just my opinion.

Next to Mr. Chips, going further along Aswell Street are these alternative eating places.

Further along are these modernised houses, some nicely done but this one in the foreground must
be owned by a "Mariners Fan".  Just to explain, "The Mariners" is the nickname for Grimsby Town
football club who play in a black & white strip!

Aswell Street leads onto Newmaket where the Boars Head public house is located.  The Boars

Head is an old traditional pub and is located on the edge of the Louth Cattle & Livestock Market.

The current market is a modern indoor building but was previously a traditional outdoor auction

market.  The cattle markets were held every Friday and the Boars Head would be heaving at the 

seams with farmers who would look forward to bringing their beasts for selling and meeting old friends 

for a bit of crack!  I used to go to the outdoor cattle markets and it was a really good day out.  

This is Newmarket as it goes downhill to cross Upgate at the traffic lights.  Not a particularly interesting

road and the only reason I include it in these pictures is for the tall telephone pole on the left.

A modern addition, it is the tallest pole in Louth and when I was a BT telephone engineer I was the 

first person to climb it and I erected the wires that cross this road to the Vicarage building opposite.

It was good fun too, I had 2 more engineers controlling the traffic plus a policeman at the lights halting

everything!  That was many years ago but when I did this walk I couldn't resist taking this for old times.

Upgate is the main road road through Louth and further along it undergoes a name change and 

becomes London Road.  I suppose many years ago, before motorways and modern transport 

this would have been the road to take if you were leaving Louth for the capital!

A fine row of town houses along Upgate with one particularly impressive house further along.  

There is also a view of St. James Church in the distance.  It is a well known landmark in Louth and can be seen for miles around.  Louth proudly calls itself  "The Gateway to the Lincolnshire Wolds" and justifiably so in my opinion.  

When returning home  from the top of the Wolds the spire of St. James is a familiar site and lets the traveler know they are almost home. The traditional view of St. James is along Westgate but I like to find other less familiar views of it. 

A fine double fronted pair of town houses with some attractive architectural features.

There are several private roads in Louth. I took this as a reminder of the location of my next picture (something I often do) but decided to include it here.

Little South Street, not very inspiring but it did
provide me with an alternative view of St. James.

George Street, going down to Gospelgate, another fine row of houses but also another view of
St. James Church.

29 George Street and with festive decorations.

The 3rd & final part of this walk around Louth to follow in a day or so.

All pictures taken with my Panasonic FZ150 camera.