Coming up to the spawning season

Tues 26th Oct. 2010
                There could be some good news in the very near future for amateur naturalists like myself. During the past few weeks the final piece of the jigsaw is being completed on Pendle Water in Barrowford, the fish pass will bypass the waterfall weir by the side of the Heritage Centre and allow Salmon and Sea Trout to spawn in the river as far up as Roughlee waterfall.The river system down the Calder valley which includes Pendle Water is cleaner now than it has been for the last 150 years and fish have returned to the river, with the removal of the weir at the site of the old Padiham Power Station and the weir at Quaker Bridge in Brierfield the fish have easy access to most of the river system. With the Salmon spawning season in mind our small hiking party set off on a cold frosty morning last Sunday to explore some of the tributaries of the River Ribble just over the hill in the Ribble Valley to see if there were any Salmon in the streams waiting to spawn. We didn't see any because the water was too low to allow them ascend these small streams but in spite of this we all enjoyed the walk in the crisp autumn sunshine.

                                     Pendle Water in Barrowford

                                      The new fish pass

           Sunday morning ....my garden pond with a thin covering of ice

                        The fish pass on Swan Side Beck

                                              Lunch stop

                              Down Side Lane to Twiston Beck

                    Pendle Hill always dominating the scenery

                                 Fish passes on Twiston Beck

  Back over the hill from Twiston Beck and back to the village of Rimington

                          

Our Northern Heritage

Monday 25 October 2010
                              During the week leading up to the middle of October we showed John and Lindy two friends from London around the countryside in our own county of Lancashire and over the border into Yorkshire. We probably take the countryside in our area for granted  but from the positive comments we received from them and the enjoyment of our days out together  we realize that we are lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful countryside.

                          Lancashire....    down in the Ribble Valley

          On the top of Longridge Fell looking north to the Bowland Fells

                      The River Hodder a tributary of the Ribble

                                Kettlewell in Wharfdale Yorkshire

                          The limestone walls of Upper Wharfedale

                            Walking down into Littondale

                             The River Skirfare in Littondale

                                Stanforth Foss on the River Rible

Still in Yorkshire... the famous Ribblehead viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle railway with the flat summit of Ingleborough in the background

         I though this was amusing .... outside the pub at Ribblehead

                                         Ribblehead station

Nearer home....a visit to John William's  garden on the moor, at present I'm working on the film I shot during the last twelve months

Finally back in Lancashire and the village of Wycoller a local beauty spot made famous with its association with the Bronte Sisters.

Waterfall system is finished

Sunday 10th Oct 2010
I haven't been walking today because tonight we're having a bit of a party at our house so I'd just time to nip over to photograph the water feature my son has nearly finish for a customer. I think it certainly looks well with the water running down the steam and it gave me another opportunity to try out my new camera again.When the garden is planted up and the plants establish themselves this is going to be another oasis for wildlife.

16:9 Formatt

8th Oct 2010
                    I've be given a new camera for my 70th birthday from my family it's a Panasonic Lumix TZ8 with the Leica 12x optical zoom lens and what a little beauty it is.I've been taking pictures in the 16:9 format and I don't think the ratio looks correct for the blog .I video in 16:9 because it matches the proportions of the TV screen but for blogging I'm going to stay with the normal ratio.
  The following 3 picture were taken at Stainforth Foss on the River Ribble.

Back to the original format 

 A new water fall system my son is building ( he's a landscape gardener)

These are the only pictures that I've taken so far with the new camera.