All Hallows' Eve

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All Hallows' Eve, the day before All Hallows' or All Saints' Day. Hallow (saint) has origins in the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) word for 'holy'. . European immigrants in America took their tradition of carving turnips with them, instead using pumpkins in their new home (definitely easier to carve out). . The origins of turnip carving supposedly lie with the Irish story of Stingy Jack (Jack of the Lantern), a silver tongued wastrel who tricked Satan into promising never to take him into Hades, but alas when he died, due to his life of drinking and theivery, he wasn't allowed into heaven, and Satan, keeping his promise, wouldn't allow him into the underworld and sent him back, gaving him an ember from the fires of hell to light his way. Jack placed this in a turnip he had, and from then on he was doomed to roam the earth without rest and with only his turnip lamp in the darkness. . #halloween #pumpkin #carvedpumpkin #jackolantern #stingyjack

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 31, 2019 at 4:52am PDT

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The Strid, Bolton Abbey

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The deadliest stretch of water in the world according to some! It is said that not a single person to have fallen in the River Wharfe near this point has survived, often even the bodies cannot be recovered. . The Strid near Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire is where the river Wharfe basically turns on its side, turning from a wide river to a deep (9m+) and narrow (5ft) one, carving out a labyrinth of underwater tunnels and caves through which the water swirls with currents deadly to anyone who should fall in. . Other rivers with raging rapids may have claimed more lives, but the danger there is more obvious. Here paths lead down to the rocks at rivers edge and the narrow channel with hidden danger. . The Strid has been immortalised in poetry by Wordsworth in 'The boy of Egremont' and by Turner in a painting of the same name, recording the legend of William Fitzwilliam, son of Alice de Romilly and direct heir to the throne of Scotland who died trying to leap across the chasm while hunting. . "The pair have reached that fearful chasm, How tempting to bestride! For lordly Wharf is there pent in With rocks on either side." . #thestrid #boltonabbey #dangerousplaces #dangerous #deadlyplaces #chasm #riverwharfe #boyofegremont #williamwordsworth #jmwturner #autumn #river #rocks

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 29, 2019 at 4:36pm PDT

Woodhead railway tunnels

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Western portals of Woodhead railway tunnel. These tunnels once carried trains under the Pennines between Manchester and Sheffield.⛰️ 🚇 The puzzling rock seen here to the side of the tunnels has signs of a drill/boring machine being used on it, not sure why 🤔 . The first tunnel (middle tunnel here) opened in 1845 although enough land had been bought to build a second if needed and 25 crosslinks were built to aid construction of the second which opened just to the north in 1852. . Parts of the tunnel pass through shale and poorer quality sandstone caused ongoing issues and expense and when work to electrify the line was got underway (initial work was done before WW2) it was eventually decided that building a new tunnel would be a better idea. The new tunnel (nearest here) replaced the old tunnels in 1954, meaning an end to the choking claustrophobic conditions in the small poorly ventilated old tunnels. 🏭 Passenger services were withdrawn in 1970 (although originally the Hope Valley line to the south had been identified for closure) and with the demise of Yorkshire coal mines and resultant loss of coal trains the tunnel was closed in 1981 less than thirty years after it was built. .⛏️ In 1969 national grid laid 400,000 volt cables through the second tunnel (in better condition than the first which was not fully lined along its length) and destroyed the decorative castellations on the tunnel entrances, the original station which had similar decorative features was demolished in the 1950s to accommodate the alignment for the new tunnel. 🏰 In 2008 the electricity cables were moved to the new tunnel and in 2016 with completion of the work the old tunnels were sealed with concrete. The third B&W photo (cropped) is copyright Ben Brooksbank and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en #woodheadtunnel #woodhead #woodheadtunnels #woodheadtunnel #longdendalevalley #abandonedrailway #longdendaletrail #peakdistrict #peakdistrictnationalpark

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 26, 2019 at 9:56am PDT

Woodhead station and tunnel

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The 'new' Woodhead tunnel and old station platforms, the approach is now part of the Trans Pennine Trail. . The Manchester to Sheffield line was built in the mid nineteenth century and went under the Pennines through two parallel three mile long tunnels (built within a few years of each other). After taking over the line the London and North Eastern (!) Railway company started work to electrify the line before being stopped by the Second World War, electrification was eventually completed by British Railways in 1955. The two old tunnels were too small to electrify and they were in a poor state so a new larger tunnel was built to replace them, completed in October 1953. The tunnel opening ceremony was 3rd June 1954 with regular workings staring a few days after that. The old station was replaced by the two fairly short staggered platforms seen here. . Sadly the line was closed to passengers in 1970 and to goods traffic (mainly coal from the Yorkshire mines) in 1981, the locomotives and electricity supply (1500v DC) were non-standard and worn-out and would have been expensive to replace so this middle section of the line was closed. . The two old tunnels are now bricked up and the new tunnel is used by the National Grid to carry 400,000 volt electricity supply cables. #woodheadtunnel #transpenninetrail #disusedrailway #tunnel #railway #woodhead #nationalgrid

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 25, 2019 at 2:02pm PDT

Stream in tunnel, Cononley Lead Mine

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Culverted stream under lead mine tailings. The stream was covered over along the valley bottom just down the hill from the engine house, this would have prevented the tailings slipping and blocking the water course and allowed a greater area to be used to dump tip the waste. . The 1853 map shows the watercourse out in the open, with the major water flow coming down from the engine house, but by the 1892 map it had all been covered over - was there a similar tunnel section from the engine house meeting at the valley bottom? There are various rusted pipes around the site but those look like they were from the 20th century works extracting barium ore (barytes/barite) from the waste and upper areas of the mine. . In recent years the tunnel had collapsed and was dug out and opened up, intact sections remain under the farm track and a little downstream (here). #cononleyleadmines #stream #culvert #tunnel #leadmine

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 22, 2019 at 6:25am PDT

Engine House reflections, Cononley Lead Mine

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Sadly the sun didn't come out, but I did see a little blue sky in the distance. Apparently the ground is bare due to its high acidity. The spoil heaps are quite extensive because after the inclined plane was completed on the other side of the engine house most of the ore from the mine would have been brought to the surface here. #cononleyleadmines #cononleymineenginehouse #refelection #spoilheap #acidsoil #greysky #leadmine

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 21, 2019 at 8:24am PDT

Curtains at The Picture House, Keighley

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Keighley Picture House - what colour is the curtain material? The cinema was built in 1913 as a theatre with projection equipment; it was converted into two screens in the mid 1970s, and this lower lower auditorium now has a capacity of around 300. . There is talk of improvements being made to the cinema (which was bought by Bradford council when the previous owner went out of business in the 1980s and leased to and operated by Northern Morris Cinemas) in the near future, now that it's future looks a bit more assured following the collapse of a planned retail development with a new multiplex cinema nearby. The projection equipment was upgraded to digital in 2013. #cinema #independentcinema #keighleypicturehouse #cinemacurtain #keighley

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 20, 2019 at 2:43am PDT

Harden Beck Mill Weir bypass tunnel

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Water bypass at Harden Beck Mill (worsted and later corn/grain). There is a weir here creating a difference in height of water allowing a water wheel to be used. . This tunnel on the opposite bank to the mill would have provided an alterntive route for water possibly to control it's height, there would have been a sluicegate on the upper side, the groove for it can be seen in the sides of the channel together with remnants of wood. . Due to the lack of water flowing down even when the stream was high it appears that the weir has lost some of its original height, although the channel has blocked up slightly as well . Like the Goit Stock Mill further up the valley this mill also had a chimney indicating it too was converted to steam power, unlike that mill it continued working into the twentieth century. . We saw a heron standing perfectly still in the water near the bottom of the weir. . #hardenbeckmill #mill #tunnel #weir #cornmill #worstedmill #harden #urbex #sluicegate

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 19, 2019 at 2:59am PDT

Goit Stock Mill Chimney and Flue

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Goit Stock mill chimney and flue. . Goit Stock cotton mill was built in the early nineteenth century by Harden Beck and made use of water power . Later on this cheap, but unreliable, source of power was replaced by steam so this slightly unusual looking chimney and a buried square stone lined flue were built up the hillside to take away the smoke from the boiler house in the mill. The mill (now demolished) was closed down in the 1860s when the Horsfall family who ran it saw better prospects in nearby Bradford's booming woollen worsted industry. . #chimney #flue #stoneflue #millchimney #cottonmill #mill #nineteenthcentury #goitstock #harden #steephill

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 18, 2019 at 2:14am PDT

Tree on hill near Harden

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Went out for a walk as it wasn't raining (and the sun had come out ☀️). Saw this lone oak tree on the hill, just starting to change colour. 🍁 The sky was deep blue, the vegetation was verdant and the ground was boggy... . #oaktree #tree #scenery #bluesky #greengrass #verdant #countryside #harden #goitstock

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 17, 2019 at 8:22am PDT

DMU at Keighley

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Diesel Multiple Unit at Keighley. These were brought in on less major routes to replace steam and reduce costs. I remember these trains when they were still in BR service, spacious with bouncy seats and a large parcels area (handy for bikes) if a bit rattly. Used to be able to look out through the driver's window, although later on they seemed to always have the blinds down, I was even invited to press the starter button once as a small child, different times. . Here at Keighley one of the four platforms retains its glass canopy, as does Skipton station and Bingley on the Airedale line, Shipley lost its canopies at some point, and I think platform 1 at Leeds still has its canopy at the western end, albeit with glass replaced by boards. Not sure how they decided which stations would keep them, they certainly help in the wet West Yorkshire weather... ☔ . #kwvr #keighley #preservedrailway #hangingbasket #dmu #railway #class101dmu #metrocammell

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 14, 2019 at 3:40pm PDT

Cave in Appleby-in-Westmorland

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Unusual cave by the road. I wonder why it was carved out, it doesn't appear to be being used for much now. That wooden lintel looks a little undersized... #cave #applebyinwestmorland #sandstone

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 12, 2019 at 7:51am PDT

InterCity 125 prototype, Oxenhope

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Prototype InterCity 125 HST power car 41001 back in May at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Diesel Gala This locomotive, as part of a train with 41002 (now scrapped), set a UK rail speed record ⏱️in June 1973 of 131mph near Thirsk. They were built in 1972 at Derby and Crewe. . The current diesel rail speed record stands at 148mph set by a production HST in the late 1980s. 🚄💨 . 43001 is owned by the National Railway Museum and has been loaned out to the 125 Group for the last 8 years who restored it to working order, replaced the engine and have taken it out to various preserved railways around the country. It has just been announced that it is due to return to NRM in November. . The Paxman Valenta engines in this locomotive and the production HSTs were _loud_ when driven hard and were very smoky. I remember hearing them regularly screaming out of Plymouth station when I lived near the railway there. The production fleet had their engines replaced with cleaner but quieter engines a few years ago ☹️ The engines also saw use in some non-nuclear UK submarines 🌊 . The production HSTs (class 43) had to accommodate two drivers so the front had to be redesigned with a wider window (and the buffers were removed). . Will this power car see more service in the future or will it return to being a static exhibit in the museum at York? . #intercity125 #125group #nrm #hst #highspeedtrain #speedrecord #41001 #kwvr #oxenhope #paxmanvalenta #railway #britishrail #heritagediesel #mark3coach

A post shared by John | Exploration and history (@merrytrek) on Oct 11, 2019 at 8:51am PDT