The ruins of Belle Vue farm photographed on 24 May 2015. 

We found these buildings whilst out walking near Dalton in Lancashire, the site is located off Crow Lane and to get to the site we followed what is now a narrow public footpath but was once a gently curving farm track leading directly into the farmyard. The site is split in two by this track which used to continue through the yard and on for some time before joining the main road to the South. On the East side of the yard were a number of farm outbuildings including a stone barn whilst on the West side was the farmhouse itself.  

Up to 1849 the place was called Scott's Fold but by 1893 this has changed to Belle Vue farm the name it is currently known by. 

The Farmhouse was built in 1683 and originally had a stone tablet over the porch inscribed:-

S
IM
FS
1683

The building was North facing and originally two storeys high, it is built from local coursed sandstone rubble and originally had a stone slate roof, the main entrance used to have a porch with an arched doorway part of which can still be seen. I particularly liked the windows which are made from stone and have chamfered mullions with hoods, it was the windows that first led to me to believe that this was quite an old building.

The barn also used to have a date stone this being:-

ISM
1680

Now heavily overgrown with weeds, nettles and brambles the building is listed and slowly disintegrating. In 1987 the building was surveyed and at that time seemed largely intact although the roof had collapsed in places, it seems a number of attempts have been made at restoration and some stone cleaning and stacking of fallen materials was evident near the barn.

One of the farms outbuildings which would have been on the east side of the yard. Typical small arrow slit type windows which I have seen before in agricultural type buildings, nice timber lintel over the door. I believe this building dates to 1680.

More stonework from buildings beyond the barn stick out of the undergrowth.

The West elevation of the farmhouse showing the old stone window.

The main entrance looking North from within the building, the archway can be seen, other pieces of stone from the archway could be seen on the floor amongst other fallen debris.

North East corner of the farmhouse, the floor looks like it had collapsed here into a cellar.

Stone window to the North elevation, unlike the window to the West elevation this was missing its mullion. As this was to the right of the main entrance porch it seems to have received a better quality stone window and hood when compared to the West side. As they are only a few feet apart and quite easily seen together this is a bit strange although it is not unusual for the main elevations of buildings to receive a better treatment. The West elevation window looks older to me, perhaps the North one was replaced at some time in the past, possibly as part of some other building work or the addition of the porch.

Multi role vessel Doreen Dorward photographed 25 October 2015 hard at work on the new breakwater which was being constructed as part of the Cowes Outer Harbour Project. I took this photograph just as we were entering port at Cowes after sailing down the Solent. The vessel in the background is the Ludwigshafen Express.

She is designed for near shore marine civil engineering applications and is essentially a spud leg pontoon with mess and office facilities. The vessel also has a large deck with a  914mm moon pool.  She is highly manouverable and is able to assist in dredging operations, piling/lifting, site investigations, carrying bulk cargo's or unloading / loading equipment and other items from beaches.

She has twin Ford (150hp) diesel engines and is 30.48m long with a 9.14m beam and 1.00m draft which increases to 1.39m when fully loaded.

Spud legs = 3 No. at 15m

She owned by Jenkins Marine who are based in Poole, in 2005 she was purchased from Dean & Dyball Construction together with a number of other vessels including a Damen Multicat and two smaller workboats.

MMSI -235087268
REG - UK, Poole
IMO - 8873427
Call Sign -  GCTV
Multi Role Vessel
Built -
Yard No. -
L 30.48m W 9.14m
GT 162
Year - 1962
Cowes, 25 October 2014

Photograph of the funnel of CMA CGM Corte Real (IMO 9454400, GT 150269, 2010) taken on 27 October 2014 from the end of the East Cowes Esplanade.

Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) was founded in 1978 in Marseille by Jacques Saadé, they merged with Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) in 1999.

Wight Sky photographed approaching Yarmouth late afternoon on 31 October 2014 after undertaking the 40 minute crossing of the Solent.

She is one of three vessels operating the Lymington - Yarmouth route which replaced older ferries as part of a £57m investment.

Designed by Naval Architect Hart Fenton she was constructed in Croatia at the Brodogradiliste Kraljevica shipyard whilst the interior ship design was undertaken by LAP Architects. Laid down on 13 August 2007 she was launched on 12 April 2008 and after sea trials entered service on 25 February 2009.

Designated an R-Class vessel she is 62.4m long with a 16.1m beam and 2.3m laden draft with a maximum displacement of 1494t and DWT of 330t. She has a total of 110m of vehicle lanes and can accommodate 65 cars or 28 freight vehicles over eight lanes and two car decks. In total there is capacity for 360 passengers.

She is powered by four Volvo D16MH (6-Cylinder engines) with propulsion provided by two Voith Schneider 21 R5/135 units giving a service speed of 11 knots.

Wightlink and its predecessors have been operating ferry services for over 160 years and now carry over 5,500,000 passengers, 1,200,000 cars and over 200,000 coaches and freight each year on its three routes across the Solent to the Isle of Wight.

MMSI - 235064783
REG - UK, London
IMO - 9446984
Call Sign - 2ABV8
Passenger / Ro-Ro cargo Ships
Built - Kraljevica SY, Kraljevica, HR
Yard No. 551
L 62.4m x W 16.1m
GT - 2,546
Year - 2008
Yarmouth, 31 October 2014

Tanker UACC Marah photographed at Fawley on 25 October 2014. 

She was built in Tongyeong, South Korea by Shina Shipbuilding as Yard Number 547 and is 182.88m long with a 32.23 m beam and 12.15m Summer draft. Her keel was laid on the 10 December 2011, she was launched on
1 June 2012 and delivered 15 July 2013. 

Powered by a MAN 6S50MC-C diesel engine she has a service speed of 15 knots. 

In total she has 29 tanks with a capacity of 47,500m3. 

GT = 29,279, NT = 11,677 & Summer DWT 45,352. 

She is part of the UACC or United Arab Chemical Carriers fleet which was founded in 2007. 

MMSI - 538003851
REG - MH, Majuro
IMO - 9489091
Call Sign - V7TP3
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Shina SB, Tongyeong, KR
Yard No. 547
L 182.88m x W 32.23m
GT -29279
Year - 2013
Fawley, 25 October 2014

Photograph of the Manchester, Bury & Bolton Canal taken near Elton Reservoir on 16 May 2015. 

Work started on the canal in 1791 and it opened in 1808.

Its course runs North from Salford to near the village of Little lever where it splits into two branches, the main branch continues to Bury whilst the other heads North-West to Bolton. 

The cost of building the canal was £127,800 (approximately £8.6m today).

Originally it was designed to be a narrow canal but this changed in 1794 to a broad canal when a link to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was envisaged, this link however never materialised but did result in the locks that had already been built at this point having to be changed. The canal was however linked with the Rochdale Canal via a short Tunnel in 1839.

The canal is 15 miles long and had 17 locks, as much of the canal ran along the side of the Irwell valley it was prone to landslips and breaches, the most serious breach occurred in 1936 when a high embankment above the River Irwell collapsed sweeping two barges into the river 100 feet below.

 Most of the freight carried was coal from local collieries but as the mines reached the end of their working lives sections of the canal fell into disuse and disrepair before it was abandoned and closed in 1961.

Stone lion photographed at Haigh Hall Country Park near Wigan on 10 May 2015. 

The lion was once one of six stone lions from a bridge on the estate of Atherton Hall in nearby Leigh.  

The bridge was built in 1724 and was known locally as Lions Bridge due to the carved stone lions which sat on pedestals along its length, two lions were located at each end with two in the middle.

It had three arches and spanned a crescent shaped lake which was approximately three quarters of a mile long, the lake dried up in the 19th Century and the bridge was demolished in 1905.

Another of the lions close to the location of the original bridge, this has been severely damaged and is missing its head. Interestingly it appears that the lions were made in two sections as some ironwork is visible on the upper body of this one where the head would have been connected to the body.

Some nice pieces of stone which were originally part of the bridge located close to the lion.

Type AP1-88/100 Hovercraft Island Express photographed in Ryde on 26 October 2014. 

Since I started visiting the Isle of Wight in 2008 I have seen her and been on her a number of times, the trip across the Solent generally taking less than 10 minutes.

She was built by the British Hovercraft Corporation in 1984 as Yard Number 5, her keel was laid in May 1983 and she was delivered to Dampskibsselskabet Oresund in Denmark on the 27 June 1984 where she was named Freja Viking. Up to April 1994 she worked the Copenhagen to Malmo Route before being laid up. Sold to Scandinavia Airlines Systems in January 1997 she was sold again to Hovertravel in September 1997. In 2002 she was renamed Island Express and currently works the Ryde to Southsea route.  

Overall she is 23.15m long with a 10.06 beam and a height of 8.90m when hovering or 7.92m when landed.  

Her main engines comprise of four Deutz BF12L 513 FC Air cooled Turbo Diesels  (4x196kW) powering two Hoffmann fixed pitch 2.755m diameter propellers giving her a service speed of 45 Knots although 60 Knots has been reached on sea trials 

She can carry 100 passengers + Crew

MMSI - 235007473
REG - UK, Portsmouth
IMO - 9618525
Call Sign - ZIRL9
Built -British Hovercraft Corp.
Yard No. -5
L 23.15m W 10.06m
GT - 73
Year - 1984
Ryde, 26 October 2014

Danish registered crew boat Sea Breeze photographed in Liverpool docks on 9 April 2014, she had just collected personnel from the 'floating hotel' and was turning to head out of the docks to work on the new wind farm off the North Wales coast. 

She was built by Danish Yachts in Skagen, Denmark as Yard Number 119 and is 25.76m long with a 10.60m beam and 1.8m draught, prior to being named Sea Breeze she was called Fob Swath 2. 

Powered by twin MTU 10V2000m72 (1,800kW) diesel engines she has a top speed of 24 Knots and can carry 24 personnel. 

GT = 244 and DWT 65. 

MMSI - 219459000
REG - DK, Frederica
IMO - 9672923
Call Sign - OUWS2
Crew Boat
Built -  Danish Yachts, Skagen, DK
Yard No. 119
L 25.76m x W 10.6m
GT - 244
Year - 2014
Liverpool, 9 April 2014

 

Figurehead from HMS Hastings.

She was built in Calcutta by Kyd & Co for the East India Company in 1818 as a speculation and acquired by the British Navy in June 1819. The figurehead represents Lord Hastings who was Governor General of India at the time.

HMS Hastings was a 74 gun third rate ship of the line.

She was approximately 53.9m long with a 14.8m beam and was 1763 t.

Armament consisted of 28 No. 32 pounder guns on the main gun deck with 28 No. 18 pounder guns on the upper gun deck. 4 No. 12 pounder guns on the quarterdeck with 10 No. 32 pounder carronades. 2 No. 12 pounders and 2 No. 32 pounder carronades were also located on the focsul.

In 1834 she was commanded by Captain Schiffer and was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir William Hall Gage in Lisbon.

Between 1838 and 1842 she operated in the Mediterranean including operations off the coast of Syria in 1840.

Between 1848 and 1853 she operated in the East Indies.

In 1855 she was converted to screw propulsion and joined the Baltic Fleet.

The ship served in Liverpool as a  coastal defence vessel between 1857 and 1860 and between 1860 and 1862 was a reserve drill ship based in Liverpool.

Between 1862 and 1866 she was operating in Queenstown until 1870 when she became a coal hulk in Devonport before being sold in 1885. In 1866 she was broken up.

The figurehead was on display at the Liverpool salesroom of shipbrokers CW Kellock & Company for many years before being presented to Liverpool Maritime Museum where I photographed it on 2 May 2015.