Wintry scenes

I thought when I booked it many months ago that it was either mad or inspired to take a break in mid-February in Kettlewell, up in the Dales. In the end it turned out to be a bit of both. I was staying at Scargill House on a Christian study break, which proved to be a wonderful and thought-provoking experience. The house itself is welcoming, comfortable and cosy. Some of the lounges have huge windows, from which you can watch, in comfort, the weather as it sweeps down the dale.

I took these photos within a minute or so of each other, looking from the main house down the drive. Sandwiched between the weekend storms Ciara and Dennis, the skies were unpredictable and dramatic, jumping from calm to gusty, with bursts of excoriating hail (and snow on the tops) and the occasional breath-taking shaft of sunlight slicing through. Great weather for photos and I did manage a few lovely - if muddy - walks.

Tarnfield Park

I don't know when they started calling it 'Tarnfield Park'; it's always been known locally as Yeadon Tarn. I haven't been there for a while and I'd forgotten how much higher up it is. Here in the valley the snow soon melted but up there it was still very icy. My walk was more of a slide and a slither on the icy paths, which had been tramped down and polished by many feet. It's a very popular spot with families and dog walkers, as the wide tarmac paths are usually good for kids' bikes, pushchairs and wheelchairs. Despite the cold, there were still plenty of people enjoying the mile or so circuit of the lake, which was almost completely frozen over.

The lake is normally used for watersports and one end has been developed into a small nature reserve with reedbeds and ponds.

It adjoins the Leeds-Bradford Airport main runway, so walks are enlivened by sightings of taxiing aircraft.

All the waterbirds were down at the far end, where there was a small area free of ice, perhaps due to its proximity to the town centre of Yeadon and the nearby buildings. Unless they were after the bread that people were throwing, the swans seemed to prefer standing on the ice to being immersed in the cold water. It's always comical to watch the ducks sliding about; they seem a bit puzzled by the ice.

The obligatory 'snow' shot

So... it snowed a little on Friday morning, though we only had a couple of centimetres, not much compared with many other parts of the UK. I couldn't be bothered to clear my car in order to drive anywhere, so I contented myself with a local walk. A picture of 'Saltaire URC in the snow' is more or less obligatory, though it doesn't change much, year on year. Quite attractive though...

More snow! and a milestone

More snow! We had another flurry of quite heavy snow late last week. It didn't last long but it came just at the time people were trying to get to work and school one morning and so it proved hugely disruptive all across this region. I was shocked to wake up to this view from my bedroom window, but at the same time very pleased to know that I didn't have to go out at all.  Loving this retirement phase of life  :)

I wasn't going to bother to post this photo but since then (and thankfully after the snow went) I've been at my daughter's, caring for the older of my two granddaughters, who finally and feverishly succumbed to the nasty flu-type bug they've all had. She's getting better now, thankfully, but it's rare that children have a fever for six days running, in my experience. Anyway, I hope that my family will get back to normal now that they have all had and recovered from the virus in turn. So far, I don't appear to have contracted it and I'm hoping I don't, despite several exposures to it. We grandmas rock!

I keep thinking winter must be over and I'll be able to get out and take some more springlike shots. I'm running very short of pictures. But no... we now have a forecast for more snowfall over this weekend. Sigh...

I have just noticed that I have now passed the '3000 blog posts' point. This is number 3005. Who'd have thought, way back in 2009 when I started, that I'd still be blogging some nine years later? Certainly not me. I had no idea that I'd find it such fun and such an absorbing hobby. Many thanks to all my blog friends, especially to all my long-term readers.

Salts Mill in't snow

Salts Mill's classic 'between the mills' view takes on a slightly different tone when there's snow, as there is rather more light reflected up onto the stonework. (Salts Mill itself is on the left and the New Mill on the right.) The canal wasn't frozen along this little stretch, as it is sheltered by the buildings and must be a degree or two warmer. I was waiting for someone in a red jacket to walk along the towpath, but no-one came!

Somehow the snow on the car park emphasises the huge bulk of Salts Mill itself, seen from the east.

Snow day

Some schools have had 'snow days', choosing to close because they are worried about the safety of children and staff travelling to and from school. I'll swear we never had 'snow days' when I was a child. I distinctly recall our steeply sloping primary school playground being lethal with ice and the braver kids sliding down. (They wouldn't allow that these days either.) And standing in the freezing cold snow waiting for a bus outside school. A friend told me her two older boys were off school but the youngest child is still having to go, as he attends a smaller local school that he can walk to. Not a happy bunny...!

There were a few local children enjoying some sledging on the hillside just above Saltaire. Those light plastic sledges certainly zip along. The main roads have been gritted and were fairly clear by the time I ventured out, but all the side roads are snowed over and quite icy, as you can see from the photo below. Some hopeful person has put their bin out for collection - but all the refuse collectors are on gritter duty.

The Beast from the East

We're having a 'weather event' this week, much hyped in the preceding days and popularly dubbed 'the Beast from the East'. A 'disrupted polar vortex in the upper atmosphere' means that cold air is being funnelled down over Britain from Siberia, bringing snow, wind and freezing temperatures, around -5C and colder with the windchill. In this area it's not, I gather, as bad as further east, but there has been enough snow already to cause disruption to travel and more is forecast. It's not our usual type of snow (!), being dry and powdery. It doesn't stick together like the wetter stuff usually does. Good for sledging (even skiing) but frustrating for building snowmen.

I went for a short walk in a brief sunny spell but it really is cold. Luckily, I got back home before the next blizzard arrived. The canal is frozen over, apart from where it is close to buildings. The 18th century cottages at Jane Hills, once homes for canal boatmen, looked picturesque with their covering of snow.

Winter etchings

We've had intermittent snow showers during the last week. Some days have been worse than others and some locations have had more than others, even within quite a small geographical area. It's either been falling as tiny, hard, sleety lumps or big, soft, wet flakes. In both cases, it has often barely settled before melting. When there has been a white covering for a while, it has soon disappeared.

I like the way snow renders everything in monochrome. Pictures look like etchings. These two very different photographs were taken back in January.

Winter wonderland

All these photos were taken within a mile of so of Saltaire, exploring the towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and then crossing the river on to the carriage drive that served the great house at Milner Field, where Titus Salt Junior lived. The house is long since demolished but everywhere there is evidence of the grand estate that surrounded it.

Down in the park

Roberts Park looked really beautiful in the snow. There were a few little children sledging on the gentle slope behind the bandstand, though there was barely enough snow to facilitate it. The newly repainted bandstand made a wonderful splash of red, set off beautifully by the snowy ground.

Sir Titus himself was shivering a little. Oddly enough, at the moment I took this photo, it was almost exactly 141 years since the great man breathed his last. He is recorded to have died at 12.40 on the afternoon of 29 December 1876, aged 73. He had been in poor health for some time and a trip to the sea air in Scarborough, in the hope of aiding his recovery, saw no improvement. He returned to his home in Halifax. By 17 December he was declining rapidly; telegraphs were sent to his children advising them to come at once but he lingered over Christmas. His death was widely mourned and at his funeral an estimated 100,000 people lined the streets to pay their respects as the procession passed.  His body is interred in the family mausoleum attached to Saltaire's church.

Snowy Saltaire

More snow photos... but no apologies. It's not every year that we get so much down here in the bottom of the valley, though it didn't last more than half a day before it melted in the rain. So pretty though, and it completely transforms the familiar views around the village. Above is Albert Terrace, the cobbled street, brightened and lightened by the snow.

The corner of Amelia Street, where it joins Albert Terrace, has an even more timeless air in this weather. Amelia was Sir Titus Salt's eldest daughter, who acted as his personal secretary until she married in 1873.  

The lion statues all had a little covering of snow, making them stand out against the backdrop. The building above is the old school, now part of Shipley College.

Salts Mill in the snow

Two different views of Salts Mill's classic south frontage.
The view in the photo above is usually obscured by trees and you can rarely get a decent photo out of it but in winter you get a better idea of the sheer length of the building. That's my neighbours' allotment in the foreground, snoozing under its white blanket.
I've photographed the view below so many times in all weathers and lighting conditions. I like the way the snow lightens up the scene - and I love those red rosebuds, just hanging on despite the weather.

What a difference

As I noted a few days ago, I often seem to photograph (and post) a picture of Saltaire's church in the week between Christmas and New Year. But what a difference a few days makes, when the weather changes suddenly. From Saturday's golden light (HERE) to an altogether cooler scene, with everything under a covering of snow. I don't prefer one over the other... I'm just glad to live in this temperate climate, where you never quite know from one week to the next what the days will be like. It can be infuriating, especially if you're trying to plan an outing, but it's full of delights too.

The Snowman and the Snowdog.

Some children built the most characterful snowman and a snow dog in the local playground, inspired perhaps by the Raymond Briggs book. They obviously had a few brussels sprouts left over from their Christmas dinner and put them to good use! I'm glad to have captured this little work of art for posterity. Sadly it didn't last long in actuality.

Snowy tree

Happy New Year! It's 2018!

We unexpectedly had a bit more snow last Friday, just a couple of days before the New Year.  There was a light covering when I woke up and it continued to snow heavily for about three hours. Less than an inch fell altogether, but it was enough to change the familiar world - and I love that. As soon as the blizzard eased off a little bit, I got togged up with warm clothes and good boots and went for a wander round Saltaire with my camera. It's a delight to see the way a little snow transforms everything, truly a winter wonderland. I came back with quite a lot of photos that I was pleased with. This one, of a tree reflected in the river near Hirst Weir, has to be one of my favourite pictures of the whole year.

By mid-afternoon, the snow had turned to rain and by bedtime little remained save the lumps where people had made snowmen. It felt a bit like I'd dreamed it all. But I have the photos to prove it - and, like it or not, you will see some of them in the next few days!

A dusting of snow

Whilst much of the country - Wales, the Midlands and the South West - had a huge dumping of snow last weekend, Yorkshire escaped with a light dusting. I was somewhat disappointed. More had been forecast and I didn't have to go anywhere, so I was hoping for the chance of a walk and some snow photos. It's been several years since we had any decent coverage. Saltaire, in the valley, had barely a few flakes but it has been below freezing ever since so the ice hasn't really melted. In the end, I took a walk up Altar Lane in Bingley, which goes high enough for the scene to look passably Christmassy.

A fairy in the garden

Wings and a magic wand turn a little girl into a colourful garden fairy. The wand proved useful for poking at ice in the water butts and making star shapes in the snow.

We found some tracks in the snow that I think were made by a pheasant. E was quite interested to see where it had wandered around. The joy of an iPad and the internet meant we could then go inside and check out lots of pictures of similar snow tracks.

By Sunday morning most of the snow had melted away but it was still fun to explore - and surprisingly warm in the sunshine.

Snow clouds

Apologies for the patchy postings at the moment. I don't seem to have much time for taking photos right now and the weather hasn't been exactly encouraging me to get out with my camera. I drove over the moor road to Hebden Bridge at the weekend to babysit, whilst my daughter and son-in-law had a well-deserved night out with friends. I was a bit anxious as we had a sudden snowfall on Friday and the higher Pennines were badly affected. I was worried the moor road might be treacherous but actually the road itself was clear. The expanse of ever-changing sky and light at the highest point of the drive always thrills me.

Wide open spaces

Another moorland shot, taken when there was just a light dusting of snow. The journey between my home and my daughter's is a dangerous drive: narrow roads, steep hills, lots of twisty bends and a long, isolated section across the high moorland plateau. There was yet another car wrecked and lodged at a nasty angle in the ditch as I passed, a reminder to drive slowly and carefully and to watch out for ice and water on the road. The beauty, however, makes it worth it and there are a few places where you can pull off the road and safely enjoy the views.

Snow Moon

First dusting of snow over the high Pennine moors, on my journey between Hebden Bridge and Saltaire. It is snowing again down in the valley here tonight.