Tegg's Nose

 It was an odd Xmas. I can't remember one that wasn't in recent years.

For Xmas day itself we had my ninety-two-year-old mother, our eldest daughter, and her homicidal Romanian rescue dog, Pip. Wanting to tire out Pip and our two standard poodles, we thought a Xmas morning walk would be a great idea.

So we headed up to Tegg's Nose. 

The first problem we encountered was that Mum's walking abilities have declined rapidly, so we had to leave her in the car. The second was that Gigi and Candy had forgotten all their training and soon proved they couldn't be let off the lead.

Oh, and we got there too late for the daughter to get a coffee at the brilliant cafe.


Other than that, well,I wouldn't say it was a success.

But it did give me a chance to explore the two quarries and the very basic tramways that served them.

I've never seen a photo that shows them; in fact, this map seems to be the main source of information about them. This YouTube video suggest that the tramways moved with the quarrying activity, which I suspect is true. I'm less certain about the suggestion that there was once a joined u system, not least because the two quarries produced different kinds of stone. In fact Tegg's Nose is an incredible;le place to learn about basic geology

Trying to take photos with two poodles on the lead was a challenge, but I did the best I could.

To begin with a few photos from the cafe car park

The main quarry

I wouldn't like to be up here at Halloween.

There isn't much information about the quarry equipment displayed; this is a stone breaker

A stone saw

It has been suggested the cutting on the left is the line of the tramway before the map was made.

Worth it just for the view

Mission accomplished: Gigi crashed.

Stafford at last - Part 2

The last of the usable photos from the Stafford show. As you can see from the cropping, I struggled to get the type of "in the scene" images I like,

To recap, it was a brilliant show, not too busy, operators who were keen to talk, some excellent layouts, and, best of all, a PMT shuttle bus taking me back to my childhood.

Next stop Doncaster...

Stafford at Last - Part 1

 I've wanted to get to the Stafford show for several years. Cunning plans around visiting my mother never seemed to work. Having moved to Stoke, it was much easier to arrange this year, and it totally lived up to my expectations.

I decided to give the Leica another go in an exhibition environment, with a deliberate attempt to recreate the style of old-school model railway photos from the sixties and seventies. 

I'll try and get part 2 up later this week, along with adding more captions here, and some reflections on the show