ROCKWOOD HARRIERS WITH A DIVERSION!
Dry but gloomy, a Saturday meet at the kennels in a huge ménage
yard. Some absolutely superb sausage
rolls suited me – source 'Ros' of Thorncliffe Farm Shop, which is at Emley- Thorncliffe Farm Shop site
So much for the advertising but I will also mention
that I am very partial to their excellent chicken pie too.
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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The
link below is to a terribly poor video. I have a bullet shaped helmet
cam for use with my bike and it actually takes decent video but this is not one. Apart from anything else it saw too much sky which darkened most of the video. I had it in my hand as I walked round to find the huntsman to ask for some directions. I will have to learn editing as well, as this
is just raw footage. Makes me realise I
need to work on my diction too! Click, if you must, to see a Crap video of the Meet (Just discovered YouTube Autofix facility so maybe some correction).
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Grim
determination? Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Moving
off. Copyright image by David Swanbury
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A
distant view of the Field from an old railway embankment.
The
embankment now hosts the 15 inch narrow-gauge Kirklees Light Railway. From when I lived nearby as a child I can
still remember the sound of the heavily laden coal trains losing some traction with
the sudden burst of speeded up chugging from the normal steady strain on the
way towards Huddersfield. It always seemed to happen as they emerged from the edge of Blacker Wood but maybe it was just more obvious then. (My past connection with Blacker Farm ). Copyright
image by David Swanbury
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I
did something I have never done and walked along the high railway embankment to watch
the hounds in the fields below, not expecting a train to be running at this time of the year –
but one was. Maybe cashing in on the current Flying Scotsman euphoria. This one appears to be a recent purchase called Katie. Copyright image by David Swanbury
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After
it passed, hounds appeared. I thought they might which was one reason for going there.Copyright
image by David Swanbury
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Further
down the track three bodies were ‘working’ as linesmen or gangers or something.
Enthusiast volunteers I suppose.
I was walking towards them some distance away although not intending to go much further. I could see from the body language that one wanted
to do something about my interloping presence there as he was working up to it, so finally they came along the track
toward me en masse; well all three. The leading light
called to the huntsman down below to keep his wandering hounds off the embankment and then
we had a short polite conversation regarding my unwanted presence before I went back the way I had come.
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And
then another little train, loco 'Owl, came back from Skelmanthorpe direction on its way home to Clayton West. They travel to Shelley (with a tea room there), through a longish tunnel at one point, and back. I really must have a trip sometime before the leaves block some of the view but I fancy Katie most.
So, copied from the KLR site about Owl there is this - "Owl is our most unusual engine. It was built by Brian Taylor in 2000 at Clayton West. It is based on an engraving of an engine that was never actually built. Similar engines were constructed in Bristol and Leeds and exported for use abroad. Its cylinders are arranged in an unusual ‘V’ formation and it moves itself along by an arrangement that is usually found on diesel engines – it has gears! Owl is painted in the colours of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. It is mainly used on our weekend trains."
I
got the text below off Miniature Railway World site.
I am most impressed that they built locos in Clayton West.
"The Kirklees Light Railway
first opened in 1991 and is situated near Huddersfield,
running on the former trackbed of the standard gauge Clayton West branch, which
left the Sheffield–Huddersfield line near Shepley. The line was constructed
by Brian and Doreen Taylor after they previously set up a miniature railway at Shibden Park, and
strived to build something bigger. Originally operating to Cuckoos Nest, the
railway was gradually extended over a period of 6 years, to meet its current
terminus of Shelley, making the line 3 ¾ miles. The line passes through scenic
countryside and the 511-yard Shelley Woodhouse Tunnel. The line was sold to the
Hurd Family in 2005. At the line’s main station Clayton West, there is a
visitor's centre, dual gauge elevated model engineers track, play and picnic
areas and ex-BR Mk2 TPO carriage together with a DMU for parties. The fleet of
steam locomotives used on the KLR were all built by Brian Taylor and have since
undergone modifications by Ian Screenton. Coaching stock was also all built on
site."
Copyright image by David Swanbury |
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This
hunting business involves and awful lot of standing about. A very social thing. Copyright
image by David Swanbury
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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The
inevitable phone. Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Athletic
mum has caught up again. Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Copyright image by David Swanbury
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More
standing about and no sign of huntsman or hounds. Copyright image by David Swanbury
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Some
final standing about. Copyright
image by David Swanbury
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It
was final as it was the Rockwood Harriers Hunt Ball in the evening and all the
young ladies were eager to get home to put on their ball gowns and powder their
noses in readiness. Copyright image by David
Swanbury
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