Friday, 21 February 2014

Signs and tractors

For over a year, since we finished walking the Lancaster Canal, my Thursday walks with Pete have been circular within reasonable driving distance of home.  I am now running out of options without repeating, and a further self imposed limitation involves keeping to Tarmac as much as possible in view of bog-logged footpaths.

 This week I managed to squeeze another between all the previous  Memory Map computer routes. 

 Since the canal walk we can't remember a Thursday. apart from our respective absences on holidays etc., when we have been unable to walk because of weather. Strangely, we reflected that when I was away in Wales last Thursday the weather did prevent walking, but our mutual record remains intact.


Distant Kendal to the south, and the busy A6



Imagine waiting for the bus that never comes on a dark winter's night.
I bet it's haunted as well.

It was all happening at the auction mart (Café Ambio) when we arrived - they were having a machinery demo day.
 I know I have tractor enthusiasts out there, but I reckon these modern monsters will not have them in ecstasy as much as vintage models they display on their own blogs. 



at

18 comments:

  1. AlanR21 February 2014 at 12:36

    Great stuff Conrad. I would have spent too much time there if I was walking past.
    The Massey Ferguson 5600 is a nice machine but that Fendt 516 is awesome. Mind you it should be for £130,000.
    Cheers for sharing those pics.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Crow21 February 2014 at 18:26

    My favorite photos this time are the signs warning drivers to slow down for children and pets, and kittens. Still wearing a smile for those.

    There is something heartwarming about a place that would encourage the posting of such warnings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Blonde Two21 February 2014 at 18:53

    You would never be allowed to put notices like those up on Dartmoor. There are those around who are very fierce about such things.

    I love tractors ... some happy memories!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous21 February 2014 at 20:26

    Never mind the tractors I just love the snowdrops.

    ReplyDelete
  5. mike M21 February 2014 at 21:46

    And I like the bus stop best, so you've dealt quite a hand here Conrad!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sir Hugh22 February 2014 at 08:51

    Alan R - I thought you would rise to this one. I think Gibson also has an interest judging from your previous exchanges. I have quite a few others in my Relics folder of pics. I may send copies for you to identify.
    ---------------

    The Crow - I have a folder of pics titled Signs, and I collect the quirky ones as I go along.

    ---------------

    Blonde Two - Maybe tractors could be the subject for a post?

    ---------------

    Prudol - Hi John. I'm with you there. I said elsewhere that each year allows some particular plant or shrub to flower beyond the norm and this year I reckon it's the turn of the snowdrop..

    -----------------

    Mike M - I was taken with it because it exuded atmosphere and fired my imagination - is that why you saiy you like it or do you have a more pragmatic reason?

    ReplyDelete
  7. afootinthehills23 February 2014 at 12:59

    Impressive machines Conrad. I don't really share AlanR's deep interest in tractors, although I can easily appreciate his fascination with them. I certainly don't have his knowledge that's for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  8. mike M25 February 2014 at 00:26

    No pragmatism re the bus stop. Evocative sight...one can't help but feel the comings and goings that took place there. Brings to mind the feelings I have when I'm in a train station, but this is such a concise image!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Roderick Robinson25 February 2014 at 07:57

    The one about kittens is like offering foxes a menu card. Long ago urban foxes took to the Daily Torygraph, the newpaper most favoured by those who hunt.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sir Hugh25 February 2014 at 09:02

    Afoot - I suppose I see a lot of these on my walks, so future photos will try to be selective.

    I am a bit anti tractor, especially when they head up a convoy on the road for many miles ejecting clumps of mud, and worse onto my windscreen.

    A farmer living a mile away from me visits his mother who lives half a mile in the other direction, and he uses the tractor (presumably with red diesel) as personal transport. He comes round the blind corner above my house at forty mph with no chance whatsoever of stopping for a child. One day he will kill somebody.

    ---------------

    Mike M - good man!

    ---------------

    RR - Questions arise. If the kittens were a one off litter they would have grown into adult cats before the paint was dry on the sign. Do these people breed cats? Another question for Mr Thurber I think. I could speculate further, but with only limited space left in my senile brain I don't wish to fill it completely with such trivia.

    ReplyDelete
  11. mike M25 February 2014 at 22:04

    On further review, the vine certainly adds greatly to the mystique and melancholy of the bus stop photo.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sir Hugh25 February 2014 at 22:19

    Mike M - It is not actually a vine, but ivy (Hedera helix) - more spooky with mediaeval mystical connections.

    ReplyDelete
  13. mike M26 February 2014 at 03:06

    I'm going with Wiki on this one CR, "...rampant, clinging, and evergreen...." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedera_helix

    ReplyDelete
  14. Phreerunner26 February 2014 at 17:02

    As Alan says - great stuff.I've just spent a pleasant afternoon catching up on your last 60 postings. Must try harder to keep up in future - I've never really caught up since the Pyrenees trip. It was good to revisit the Lleyn Peninsula, and those photoshop paintings are great. How do you do that? Good to see you are keeping very active, though your continuing knee pain and the differing views of surgeons must be a bit disconcerting.
    Have fun
    Martin

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sir Hugh26 February 2014 at 23:16

    Phreerunner - Hi Martin. I think it is you who has exchanges with Alan R about tractors, and not Gibson who I mentioned earlier.

    I think you deserve a medal for reading so far back on my posts.

    The knee is improved, but still generally sore feeling, but it does not stiffen up and inhibit my walking after our six mile Thursday jaunts. A few weeks ago, when arriving at the café post walk after fifteen minutes in the car I could hardly walk for a few minutes, but that is now a thing of the past, and I feel that I am walking much more normally overall. BUT I had a follow up with the surgeon on Tuesday and x-ray shows the other knee is on the way out, which I am aware of anyway - he says he will do that for me whenever I want, but I said I would continue to walk through this summer, and only go back to him before October if it becomes unbearable. He says I can't degrade the outcome of a replacement by following that plan.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Phreerunner27 February 2014 at 08:15

    Conrad, that must be a rather daunting prospect. Hopefully the second knee replacement will go a bit better. Not all people seem to suffer as much as you have done. Well done with the Geocaching and with the Marilyn bagging (you're catching me up) by the way. I think you manage an admirably full life.

    ReplyDelete
  17. afootinthehills1 March 2014 at 09:17

    The tractor driver obviously isn't aware that he should always "be able to stop on his side of the road in the distance he can see to be clear - and without drama". Applies to all drivers of course.

    That's a great pity about your other knee Conrad, but enjoying the summer before having surgery makes sense to me, particularly since your surgeon can do the op anytime you decide. All the best.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sir Hugh1 March 2014 at 11:44

    Phreerunner and Afoot - thanks for your comments.

    ReplyDelete