Winter Clockwork Trains

Not been doing much photography lately (combination of awful weather, and us both being hideously busy at work). That said, here's something Christmas-y with clockwork trains, that Ben shot at the start of the month.

There's a bit more about this on the model-making blog, accessible via the links on the right.

A nice little project over a couple of evenings, a distraction from the main freelance work, but nice to do something every now and then that isn't linked to paid commissions.

Behind-the-scenes shot.

 

Hardwicke House

Gosh, it's been a dull Autumn for taking pictures, hasn't it?

Still, tried to make the best of the seemingly never-ending gloomy times, and went to Hardwick to meet up with some old friends.

Not my (Ben's) first visit here, I came ages ago on a works conference but never got chance to see the house.

Very taken with this room. Would love something like this to organise the arts, crafts, and model-making.

The place was full of nice little details and decorative touches.

Absolutely loved this games and hobbies table, with the inlaid detailing. I remember trying to do something like this whilst a DT Tech at Grange years ago.

Bit of experimenting with different lens settings- all phone shots, it had been too wet and gloomy to bother with the SLR.

A nice house to have finally visited- will have to make the effort to come back again on a nicer day.

 

A rainy Autumn day out on the Keighley and Worth Valley

At the risk of going all "Railway Children", it's been such a long time since we've been to the railway... We took a return visit to the Keighley and Worth Valley with my (Ben's) parents during late October, for a bit of a ride.

The Rail 200 Inspiration Train was there, but we weren't bothered about a visit (though had toyed with the Scout group going, but left it too late to organise).

It was a somewhat gloomy day, reminding us of why we've done relatively little photography the last few months.

An attempt to cope with the Tuppaware Sky; shooting monochrome.

Nice to go back there; might have to make the effort to do another visit, when the light and the weather is a little better.

 

Embsay Station on a wet and stormy night

Blimey, forgot about these pics. So, back at the tail-end of the summer, we took an evening trip on the dining train at Embsay; it was something of a consolation prize for the excursion that West Coast cancelled earlier in the summer. A nice curry on a steam-hauled train seemed a nice alternative in the end.

Oh yeah, remember that long, hot, hot, dry, summer we were having? It had very much ended the weekend we went up to the Dales for this...

Flooding on the tracks, wind battering the train... I'm sure the loco crew only had positive things to say about whoever had rostered the open-cabbed tender loco for the nights run.

Back to Embsay at the end, after a really rather excellent curry.

These pics don't quite convey how massively horrible the weather was. At one point, several of us crossing the car park had to brace against the wind which threatened to blow us off our feet.

That said, the meal was lovely, the trip nice and atmospheric, and it's always fun to get some pics at night on a railway.

 

Out and About in Hawes

The other weekend, we went on a bit of a family visit up to Hawes. The main reason was a trip up to the Creamery for lunch, but we took a stroll about the village afterwards to walk off the meal.

It was a bit of a mixed day, but we were able to dodge the downpours. Some nice reflections.

The river was thundering away.

Yep, Ben can find something railway-related to photograph anywhere...

Just a quick visit, but nice to have a little explore.