A head for heights

Do you have a head for heights? I certainly don't, so my heart was in my mouth as I watched the tree surgeons at work opposite my house the other day. There were two men leaping about really high up in the trees, apparently as comfortable doing so as the squirrels that I see. They did, admittedly, have some kind of safety harness but it looked pretty flimsy, just one rope looped over a branch. The big ash trees must be almost 100 years old now and one has been shedding large branches of late. When they are in full leaf, they don't like the wind we've been having, especially coupled with the dry spring we had. I'd reported it and was gratified that they actually came to inspect and prune them, though they have left the large sycamore which overhangs exactly where I park my car! They must think that is safe for now.
After so many weeks of being at home inside a lot, it was rather fun to have something to watch from the window!

Pass times

Salmon chanted evening, you may see a stranger... no, a salmon, leaping the weir at Saltaire. That's the theory, anyway. I mentioned back in March (HERE) that they were starting to construct a fish pass, with the aim of encouraging salmon and other fish to negotiate the weir to spawn in the upper reaches of the River Aire, something they have not been able to do for decades, as the weirs are too long and steep for the fish to leap. It's clearly a bigger project than I imagined and despite the recent rain causing the river to flow deeper and faster than it was doing back in March, they seem to be making progress. The concrete walls seem to be almost finished. There's an impression HERE of how it may look when complete.

In the background, the children's playground remains locked and unused. Such a shame. It would be nice if they could unlock them again for the school holidays. I can't imagine there is too much danger of the virus spreading outside, though I think it's the probability of lots of people touching the same surfaces that is the real issue.

Fish ladder

I mentioned in a post recently that they were planning to construct a fish ladder on the weir beside Salts Mill. It is one part of a larger scheme up and down the River Aire to take advantage of the improving water quality and to allow salmon to return to the upper reaches of the river. As I walked through Roberts Park I noticed diggers at work, and I guess they have started to construct it. It's a good time to be doing it as the water level is as low as I've seen it. We've had several weeks without significant rainfall and the river responds quite quickly to the changing conditions. It's odd that I noticed the sound of the river is different as it slaps down over the huge slabs that form the weir. Usually it sounds more like a rushing waterfall but at the moment it almost sounds like a machine, duller and heavier.

It all reminded me of that old joke that 'a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle'. Well, they may not need bicycles but they apparently need ladders. To paraphrase another joke, 'How many men does it take to build a fish ladder?' It looks like the answer is at least six: one to operate the digger and five to watch him.

Clearing up

Back to Roberts Park - and the huge tree that had fallen into the river (see HERE) has been (mostly) cleared up, with just a few twiggy branches remaining in the water. I suppose they'll get swept downstream in time. I happened to be walking past and I saw the men working, sawing the trunk into manageable pieces and shredding some of it into wood chips. They must somehow have pulled the tree back onto the land. What a job! It has all left rather a scar on the bank and in the woodland, but no doubt Mother Nature will step in to regenerate it all.

A delivery

I've been doing quite well with my New Year resolution to have a walk every day, if I possibly can, even after the cataract surgery. There's always something of interest to see on my perambulations (albeit things are currently a little blurred). One day I happened to be on the canal towpath when a barge passed slowly by, carrying the new lock gates that have since been installed at the Dowley Gap locks. It was preceded by a pair of swans, so that it looked a little like a stately parade! There was some banter from the boatmen as they passed and they both gave me wide smiles for the photograph. The gates are huge, heavy things. It seems something of a wonder that the relatively shallow water of the canal can support such a weight, but it has been doing so since the 1770s, being originally built for carrying heavy freight between Liverpool docks and the mills and factories of Yorkshire.

The forge

One of the buildings at the National Coal Mining Museum is used as a working forge by Nicholson-Harris Blacksmiths. It's a happy arrangement whereby the buildings and tools are used and the blacksmiths are able to carry out conservation work on some of the museum's objects, as well as producing items for sale and for commissions. You can also book a 'Be a Blacksmith for a Day' experience course, to learn the basic skills and create a few hand-forged items yourself. That sounds great fun!

Pruning

There's not much traffic along the canal during the winter months so I was intrigued to see a boat in the distance, when I was taking 'the scenic route' back after doing some errands in Shipley. Getting closer, I realised it was a Canal and River Trust's working barge. Workers were busily pruning the trees and shrubs on the thin fringe of land between Salt's Mill's outbuildings and the canal. It's surprising how quickly these saplings spring up. Left unchecked, their jutting branches start to narrow the navigable waterway, which is only just wide enough for two boats to pass, as it is. How many people does it take to trim a shrub? In this case, at least seven, including the guy steering the boat and another trimming some saplings on the towpath.  

Disease in the forest

All the work they did in clearing rhododendrons (see my post HERE) last winter, up at Bingley St Ives, appears to have had little effect. The fungal disease (Phytophthora Ramorum) must have spread to the conifers. Now there is a massive programme of felling trees. The main car park is closed, all but for a small section, to allow access; machinery and diggers are up in the woods.

Danger money

There is currently some development work happening at Salts Mill. I believe it's in order to create some more retail and visitor space, though I may be wrong. Whatever they're doing involves some work on the inner wing that runs north to south. There is lots of scaffolding and it appears they are overhauling the roof, among other things. On the canal side, scaffolding on the top storey overhangs the water. I happened to be walking that way yesterday and saw these workmen installing (perhaps replacing) a drainpipe down the side of the building from the roof. Two of them were abseiling down as they added pieces and a third was rowing to and fro across the canal in an inflatable dinghy, passing marked lengths of plastic pipe up to them via a pulley system. I reckon they should get danger money for that!

A day on the farm

Although my camera club doesn't meet over the summer, several outings are arranged that are usually fun to join in with. One of our members lives on a farm on the edge of the moors above Ilkley, so we were invited to visit.

The day was bright and sunny, the views magnificent and all the farm life was fascinating to this 'townie'. I loved these sheep, waiting for a much needed haircut. I've seen sheep being sheared in a competition at Bingley Show but I've never got so close to the action before. Once the wool is off, in one big loose sheet, it is rolled into a bundle and bagged ready to be taken for processing.

PS: When I was a little girl, my dad taught me how to count sheep using the ancient numbering system used by Derbyshire shepherds. I've always remembered it started (1-5): Yan, tan, tethera, methera, pip. There are many dialect variations. I've just seen, in my Country Walking magazine, the whole 1-20 listed, as used by shepherds in Swaledale: Yan, tan, tether, mether, pip, azer, sezar, akker, conter, dick, yanadick, tanadick, tetheradick, metheradick, bumfit, yanabum, tanabum, tetherabum, metherabum, jigget.  Glorious!

Meet the Makers

Saltaire Arts Trail 2017
May Bank Holiday weekend was the tenth year of the Saltaire Arts Trail. (Before that it was part of the Saltaire Festival that happens in the autumn.) Its format stays consistent (no need to change a winning formula) with a Makers' Fair in the Victoria Hall, bigger than ever this year, and the popular Open Houses, when village residents open their homes as mini art galleries.

Each year has a bit of a twist and this time there seemed to be more people actually demonstrating their crafts. I enjoyed watching Jan Whittock carefully cutting a tile for printing. She was using a lino-style polymer material rather than traditional lino; it is easier and more precise to cut. Jan is a retired art teacher, originally trained in ceramics though she now works with oils, watercolours and etchings. Her etchings on display were mainly small size landscapes, with a pleasing complexity of layers.

In the Maker's Fair, Gary Thomas was demonstrating hand-thrown ceramic work. It is magical to watch a pot taking shape on the wheel, teased into shape with delicate touches of the fingers. Some of his finished work is shown below.

Lineman

Out on a walk recently, I came across these engineers putting up new telephone lines and/or poles. It was a nostalgic sight for me, as my father was a telephone engineer and, in his working life, did his fair share of climbing poles. Like so many things in modern life, it looks possible that the job is these days 'contracted out', as I could see no evidence of BT branding on the vans.

Then I found myself humming 'Wichita Lineman'... ha! I haven't thought of that song in a long time.

Blacksmith

Bradford Industrial Museum - There is a working forge at the museum. The blacksmith warned me to avoid the flying sparks when I was setting up my tripod. Kind of ironic, I thought...  I wonder if his chest hair is fire-proofed?

From consternation to celebration

More from Chipping Steam Fair.... This huge traction engine, an 1889 Marshall engine named Mary Margaret, was a star exhibit. Owned by M Davison, it usually 'lives' in Co. Durham at the Beamish Museum. It had been planned to demonstrate how it could power a saw mill. These big steam-driven machines were mostly used to pull heavy loads or to run agricultural machinery, by means of a continuous leather belt attached to a flywheel. They were first produced in the 1850s and their use had died out in the UK by the 1950s, though many have been preserved and maintained by enthusiasts. 

The day was dry and bright but the previous few days had been wet and the ground was soft. This massive machine (which weighs 10 tonnes) therefore had a great deal of difficulty manoeuvring and its huge wheels were sinking into the mud. There was much consternation, and then a great deal of effort and concentration, using wooden sleepers to try and gain some purchase on the turf. Eventually - celebration! They got it into place and attached the huge belt from the flywheel to the circular saw, which was powered up. It then sliced through enormous tree trunks like they were butter. Aside from a pair of goggles, there was not much 'elf and safety' in evidence for the operators!

Keeping watch

Wales - It was reassuring to see lifeguards on duty on Poppit Sands, though we had no intention of going in the sea. They keep a watchful eye on things and spot the dangerous rip tides that can quickly imperil even good swimmers. RNLI lifeguards are trained and equipped by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution but paid by local authorities to provide a service at key beaches. There's an RNLI lifeboat station at Poppit Sands too. The RNLI is a charity and many of its members, including the lifeboat crews, are volunteers. Heroes all - but even heroes have to do the chores, keeping their boats and vehicles clean and well cared for.

The Sheep Show

Bingley Show 2016 -  Can sheep laugh?  It seemed to me that these two were having a good giggle...
They were part of the 'cast' of 'The Sheep Show', a new innovation at this year's Bingley Show.  I didn't see all the show so I don't know what they were involved in - but I did watch one of the sheep being shorn. It looked like hard physical work for the shearer, made more difficult as he was keeping up a running commentary through a head microphone all the time!  The other sheep appeared to be watching intently and with some concern. I never realised they had such personality.

Mud, muck and spring greens

Some of the hawthorn in the hedgerows is bursting out in green leaves already... rather too early. I wonder what effect it will have for the rest of the year? Spring will either be a very long season or will be over in a flash and all too soon, before I have really been able to appreciate it!

Despite the signs of spring, underfoot the paths are just claggy mud. The farmer was hard at work muck-spreading - a messy and very 'fragrant' task. But even the tractor was finding the mud a bit difficult to navigate.

Blacksmith ahoy!

Here's something I've never seen before... A forge on a boat. I got chatting to the artist-blacksmith, Brian Greaves. He himself built the canal tug, Bronte, which houses his forge. He creates small decorative pieces of ironwork: fire tools, sculptures, hooks and suchlike, inspired by nature and the beauty of the surroundings he travels through every day. He and his family have lived on a narrowboat for 26 years and, now their children are grown, Brian and his wife cruise all over the canal network, demonstrating his craft.

Mind your head!

I noticed these workmen (well, you can't really fail to see those high-vis overalls, can you?) one lunchtime when I was out for my habitual walk to stretch my legs - and my back - after another desk-bound morning in the office. They were lifting heavy pontoons off the canal onto a lorry. I'm not sure what the pontoons had been used for. I can't recall seeing them around locally. A bit of rain wasn't putting anyone off.

Shampoo madame?

How do you get your car washed? There was a time when everyone seemed to wash them by hand, legions of people out at the weekend with buckets and sponges (or power-washers now, I suppose). Then came those automatic washes with swirly plastic brushes and conveyor belts to pull you through the system, quite terrifying! They seem to have all-but gone out of fashion round here, and now everyone goes to a 'hand-wash' centre like this, where an army of young men rush round with hoses and chamois cloths, spraying, shampooing and mopping. I suspect they are all on minimum-wage zero hours contracts and sometimes I feel I am exploiting them, but I suppose they might be glad of a job of any sort. Qasim's is the one nearest to me, situated in what used to be a petrol station. They do a pretty good job. It's worth it to me at £5 a wash. I don't own a power-washer and life's too short for a bucket, sponge and numerous trips through the house to the kitchen tap and back. Anyway I park my car on a narrow street, so doing anything at the edge of the road is pretty hazardous.