Perhaps Sunday might be a bit better? It wasn’t. There was some dry weather around – but also some very heavy showers. Driving north on Blakey Ridge, the road was dry, and there was a hint of sunshine – but down to our left, Farndale was getting a bit of a shower. We drove into it a mile or two further on, though it dried up sufficiently to let us get into the tea room in Rosedale Abbey a little while later…
We were staying in Yorkshire over the weekend – trying to avoid the showers (and later, the flooded roads) – not easy. A visit to Bempton, to view the seabirds, seemed like a good idea, though I had left the longer lenses at home. Not that it mattered too much – the birds are, in places, very close. I think they’re used to having their pictures taken. Bempton is home to Britain’s largest mainland colony of gannets, apparently, with thousands of pairs nesting precariously on the vertical chalk cliffs (along with various gulls, guillemots, puffins et al.)
See http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs for more.
Saturday 2nd June was a grey day – hardly ideal, but not the washout that Sunday 3rd June turned out to be. I’m glad I wasn’t standing beside the Thames yesterday… And Statfold is always fun, whatever the weather. Visit “A grey day at Statfold” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for more photos of another great day’s entertainment.
*Many of the locos are green, and in places undoubtedly greasy, though it hardly seems worth mentioning. Statfold is nowhere near the Limpopo.
…and here’s the other “Rail Diaries” entry. After our ride to Cayeux-sur-Mer, on the Baie de Somme railway, we’d driven some 60-odd miles to Le P’tit train de la Haute Somme. Visit “Froissy – Cappy – Dompierre” to find out more.
Just posted to Geoff’s Rail Diaries – “Rails around the Somme Bay“, the full account of our visit(s) to the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme, illustrated by 55 photos. Now for the Froissy – Cappy – Dompierre…
In March last year, a most unusual steam locomotive was parked on blocks beside the turntable at the Statfold Barn Railway. It had clearly been out of use for some time. Bearing a “Minas de Aller” plate on the (pannier?) tank, and a Corpet, Paris, worksplate (439 of 1884), its horizontal cylinders were mounted much higher than is usual, connecting to the wheels by a substantial rocking lever. A little research reveals that this is an example of “Brown’s indirect motion”. Quite!
It was still there in June last year (in the company of newly-arrived Avonside “Marchlyn”) – but when I visited in March this year, it was in one of the sheds beside the turntable – and had obviously undergone much tlc. Painted a plain black, and lacking its tanks, it was obviously not yet ready for use – perhaps in June?
– Yes – as we walked out towards the fields, there it was, Graham Lee at the controls, looking (as ever with Statfold rebuilds) like a brand new engine, Brown’s indirect motion a delight to see in action. Wonderful stuff!
A “Rail Diaries” entry will follow – eventually. When I’ve finished the Baie de Somme page, and the Froissy – Cappy – Dompierre page, and one or two other little jobs, that is. In the meantime, here are the before and after shots of that strange machine.
Saturday 26th May:
The return journey soon comes around. We left ourselves with plenty of time for our ferry – so much so, that on arrival at Calais, we were put on the previous sailing. It’s only too easy to forget how busy and unpleasant are our roads in the UK, after a week of driving in France. Warnings of congestion on the M25 around Heathrow led us to choose the anticlockwise route and the M1 – M6. After the week’s highlights, the low point was obvious – beneath the Thames in the Dartford Tunnel…
Friday 25th May: A quieter day (to end with a trip to the local Intermarché, for one or two goodies to take home – cheese, wine, cidre – and a tankful of diesel, same price in €s as in £s at home). Not forgetting our last look at the Baie de Somme railway – succeeding, this time, in getting that pool in the foreground.
North of the Somme estuary lie many miles of sandy beaches, backed by high dunes. Nearest point of access (apart from a lengthy walk through the dunes to the sea, too far for such a hot day) was at Quend Plage. A walk for mile or two along the shore was sufficient (not being sunbathers ourselves, and we’re trying not to see the over-exposed bathers, who really would have been well-advised to cover up, for all imaginable reasons). “There ought to be a path back along the dunes, or perhaps just behind them”. There wasn’t. There were deer, but they ran away too quickly for the camera. There were paths, but they didn’t go where we wanted to, and away from the sand, a near-impenetrable scrub meant we had a hot and uncomfortable struggle back to the car…
Thursday 24th May: A ride on the steam railway, from St Valery to Le Crotoy and back. The weekday service on the CFBS consists of two return trips from Le Crotoy to St Valery – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Travelling to Le Crotoy on the morning train would give us 2½ hours before returning on the afternoon train – ideal for a leisurely lunch (and a good one it was too)…
High on a wall beside the quay at St Valery – more or less at the railway terminus – a plaque marks a significant event in history – William the Conqueror sailed from St Valery to Hastings in 1066 (with 400 vessels, apparently)
The train was filling rapidly when we returned to Le Crotoy station – we found seats at the very front of the train, in the leading coach of a pair of four-wheelers – with a view directly into the open cab of No.1 “Aisne” – great! We were able to watch the activities of the driver and fireman all the way back to Noyelles. On running round at the latter, we found ourselves at the rear of the train – and returned to St Valery watching the rails and sleepers – and the open vistas of the Somme salt marshes.
The day was deemed a huge success – the highlight of our holiday! (More details on the rail-related aspects of this little outing will – eventually – appear in “Geoff’s Rail Diaries”)
Wednesday 23rd May: Another look at the coast. Before lunch, a trip to Noyelles (again), then perhaps a shot where the line comes close to the road, on the run to Saint Valery. The train got there more quickly than anticipated – so sheep provide the foreground interest that should have been a pool. Another day perhaps.
After lunch, we drove to Le Treport, parking on the Terrasse and taking the cliff railway down to the shore, then drove back up the coast to Le Hourdel to explore the shingle spit at the mouth of the Somme estuary.
A fine evening followed – for an exploration of Saint Valery, walking from the quay to explore the medieval quarter.
