A storm coming

A storm looming over the canal just out side of Leek.

Check out my new post on my other blog 365 to 42

The box

One of the restored buildings at the Churnet valley railway, i just love to see these old buildings restored to their former glory. Steam railways are just like travelling in time, seeing the steam railway engines and the railway buildings looking as they did in their hay day is such a thrill.

Sheep market

A mix of old and new in this picture, the new in the form of the brick road surface only been down for around 20 years and the old in the form of the corner protection on the building on the left, to stop carts damaging the building.

Morning light

Sunrise over a small stream that runs across the fields just down from the canal tunnel in Leek

Down by the water

A view from the bank side at Titiesworth reservoir

Have a Cow

A rest from all the industry and mess, a cow on the hill above Titiesworth reservoir.

Good bye for now.

The last of the photos from the old dye works, i will try to get down again before the bulldozers move in and during the building of the new supermarket and houses.

Roof space

Yet another shot from the old dye works, this is a large roofed area, what use it was put to i have no idea but it is a fantastic space.

A river runs through it

Running down one side of the site is the river, the reason the whole dyeing complex was built as the water was pure enough for dyeing with. The river will also be a major feature of the new development as well.

Danger fork lift

Peeling paint and a brightly coloured warning sign.

New life

Flowers braking through the road.

Dead end

A view down one of the many small roads that cross the site

Eye wash

Not always a safe place to work, an eye wash stand just in case.

Oh danny boy

The pipes, that run over head all over the site.

Red door

1930's style door way into one of the office blocks to the old works.

Sainsbury's Leek

One of the biggest things to happen to Leek over the past few months is the announcement that Sainsbury's is coming, they are going to redevelop the old Churnet works, here is a link to their web page showing how it will all look once it is done and before it all gets pulled down i am going to run a set of images of how it looks now.

Winter fun

Winter games on the same spot

Summer fun

Cricket in the park.

Pond view winter

The same view taken in March

Pond view summer

The park in Leek looking towards the duck pond

Summer bandstand

The Bandstand in Leek park, and here is the winter view

Summer view

This is a follow up of a shot taken in March, see here for the first one, it looks a lot warmer now. This picture is take looking back toward where the other shot was taken from. More of these shot over the next few days.

The swimming pool Leek

The swimming pool in Leek, i remember when it was being built that there was much excitement about the fact that one whole side of building would be glass so you could look out while having a swim.

St Edwards church Leek

A view over Leek towards the Roaches with St Edwards church in the fore ground.

The Engine room

The back of Leeks old fire station now converted in to a pub called the Engine room, also in view is the pay machine for the car park and a grit bin containing salt to be used when it snows or ices up.

The Angel inn

Now a bookies before that Yates wine lodge and in my mind always the Angel inn. The pub was L shape with one door here on the market place and one door on Derby street.

Brindley water mill Leek

The Brindley Water Mill is a water mill situated in the town of Leek and was built by James Brindley.

James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.

The Brindley Water Mill was built in 1752, although previous mills existed on the site several centuries earlier. The mill has been restored and is now maintained and operated by the Brindley Mill Preservation Trust and It now houses a small museum dedicated to Brindley's life and achievements.

Some times fate forces your hand and this is one of the prime examples, as I mentioned earlier I have had some problems with my web site host and now because of their change in policy I have had to rethink my whole web strategy. For nearly a year I have been unhappy with my main web site but have been unable, because of time or fitness, to do anything about it, but now I have had to make the changes that have been in mind for so long. So meet the new site,

Bretttrafford.com

So what’s new, well the layout is all new and is based on my excellent business cards designed exclusively for me by Trevor Bass. The navigation is always on screen so hoping around the site should be a lot faster. The links at the moment are quite limited as I have had to do all of this in quite a rush and am not really a web site designer, but it is built so I can add to it very easily. The sales link goes straight to my Red bubble site and gives you the chance to buy the images in a number of formats and preview what they look like on screen.

The biggest change is the address Bretttrafford.com, yes I’m now a dot com!!!! This has left me with one little problem, even though I have had a web site for year’s it now does not show up on Google so I need some help if any of you can find the time or space, can you drop a link to the site in your post or on your site, as this will increase the chances of Google and the like of finding me. Also if you visit the site I would love so feed back either on here or using the contact me link on Bretttrafford.com, (the more I link it in this post the better).

Magic

The Roundabout at the end of Derby street, where nearly all roads meet.

Fire

A local fire engine dealing with a fire in a bin behind a local care home.

The Roebuck, Leek

The Roebuck in Derby Street is dated 1626, although the earliest known mention of an inn of that name is in 1773. By 1818 there were coaches daily to London, Birmingham, and Manchester, with the Red Lion in Market Place and the Roebuck in Derby Street evidently the main coaching inns. In the mid 1830s there was also a coach to Macclesfield three times a week from the Roebuck.