Tonka trucks

You may recall me mentioning earlier this year that I was planning a camera club outing to The Coldstones Cut artwork and the adjacent Toft Gate lime kiln remains. Well, it happened... but sadly for some reason the old lime kiln was securely padlocked and the area inaccessible. I had taken photos there before (see HERE) but it was disappointing that my fellow photographers couldn't access it, as it is interesting. 

The artwork at the brow of the hill was open to explore though (see tomorrow). It overlooks the Coldstones Quarry, owned by Hanson, part of the Heidelburg Cement Group. Here they produce 600,000 tonnes of aggregate a year, for major construction projects in the UK. It is one of the highest quarries in England and its workings are almost completely hidden from view from the surrounding area, as they are burrowing down deep inside a hill. From the viewing platform at the artwork, there was a good view of the big machines and the crushing facilities. Those big yellow trucks look like Tonka Toys from this height. You can see the levels where they are working to blast and extract the rock, which then gets trucked up to the top to be crushed into aggregate in the sheds. 

The fire engine called

There was great excitement at the grandchildren's school fun day when the local fire crew from Todmorden arrived in their fire engine. They let the children climb in the cab and the crew space, and try on helmets and breathing apparatus. My grandgirls' grandfather was a fire fighter before he retired, which made it extra special for them. (I can remember years ago when their mum was a girl, she went with her dad to a 'Take Your Child to Work' Day! Thankfully they didn't go to a real fire but she still had a great time trying out hoses and learning about the firefighters' work at the Fire Training School.) 

I don't know if it's just me but firefighters, along with the police, seem to get younger all the time! 😂

Another classic car

I seem to be bumping into classic cars all over the place just lately. This rather wonderful machine was parked on Victoria Road in Saltaire, as I walked up from the park one day. I googled the number plate and it turns out to have quite a good story. It's a 1947 Riley RMA and its first registered owner was the legendary band leader Harry Mortimer, who started his career playing in brass bands and went on to play in orchestras, including the Hallé. He also worked for the BBC as Supervisor of Brass and Military Music and founded the programme 'Listen to the Band'. So, an illustrious start for the red car, which now belongs, I believe, to Andrew Greenhough. 

Classic Dodge

It's not often I do these kind of surreal photo effects. In this case, I spotted the classic 1958 Dodge car in the centre of Knaresborough and took photos of it. It was, however, impossible to avoid a cluttered background of other cars and people around, so the special effects help to mask all that. Don't ask me for details of the car - all I know is it said Dodge on the front and Coronet on the side - but it was rather thrilling, with a very long, low profile, rear fins and lots of bling. It had white leather upholstery with one of those wonderful front bench seats that seem to have died out completely nowadays. My own first car (a Rover 90) had one; fun for cuddling up when we were courting!