We walked around Baitings Reservoir and across the dam as part of a walk on 25 March 12016 .Construction of the dam was completed 1956 and it started to fill after the valves letting the river flow through the dam were closed on 29 February 1956.

The reservoirs catchment area is mainly rough open moorland and the River Ryburn which flows through the valley. The reservoir occupies 93 acres and holds 641,000,000 gallons of water.

The dam is a mass concrete gravity structure and is 470m long and 51m high.

View of the reservoir with the dam in the distance.

Another view across the reservoir a road bridge on the the far side of the reservoir.

On the South side of the reservoir.

Good view of the dam.

Looking down the overflow. The dam as full when we visited with wind driven waves cascading down the spill way.

View of the dam as we headed away on the next part of our walk.

Down stream from the dam. The River Ryburn flows through the wooded valley as it has done for centuries.

Baltic Marshall photographed at Fawley on 11 April 2015.
 
She was built by the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan South Korea as yard number 359 in 1998.
 
Overall she is 182.55m long with a 27.37m extreme beam and 10.85m draught.
 
GT = 23,240, DWT = 37,289 and NT = 10,110
 
Her main engine is a MAN B&W-HHI 6S50MC-C 2 stroke 6 Cylinder Diesel Engine (kW 9,466)  enabling a speed of 14.5 knots via a single fixed propeller.
 
Tank capacity is 42,178m3 in 12 tanks.
 
MMSI - 212118000
REG - CY, Limassol
IMO - 9314832
Call Sign - C4KD2
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built -  Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, KR
Yard No. 359
L 183m x W 27m
GT - 23240
Year - 1998
Fawley, 11 April 2015

​Cleckheaton Town Hall photographed on 22 June 2016.
 
The need to build a town hall was recognised in 1885 but it was not until 1887 that a committee was formed and a site it the town centre purchased for £3,550.
 
Construction work started and the foundation stone was laid by William Anderton, Esq JP on the 21st June 1890. The building was officially opened by Mr Joseph Law Chairman of the Town Hall Committee on 10th February 1892.
 
The opening day was declared a half day holiday and the celebrations included processions, a football match, a lavish ball and a magic lantern show in the town's market place.
 
The building contained offices for the local authority, a council chamber and a public hall. The architects were Messrs Mawson and Hudson of Bradford, the final cost including the site, furnishings and electric lighting was £13,900.
 
The Town Hall clock was supplied by William Potts & Sons, Leeds and the chimes provided by Taylor Brothers of Loughborough. The clock was presented to the town by Messrs J Walter and Fred Wadsworth as a memorial to their father Elymas Wadsworth, the first chairman of the Town Hall Committee who died 9 months before the official opening.
 
An article in the Spenborough Guardian dated 1892 said of the opening:-

​“Amid signs of public rejoicing such as are rarely witnessed in the life of any community, the new Town Hall at Cleckheaton was formally opened and dedicated to public use.” “The architectural style of the new building is described as that of the Queen Anne period, freely treated” “Mr Law was requested to open the building and the same time was presented with a handsome golden key… Mr Law acknowledge the gift and having unlocked the gate, led the way into the building; the Royal Standard being meanwhile run up on a flag staff in front. The event was further signalised by the playing of the National Anthem by the Volunteer Band.” “Within the fine concert hall The Philharmonic Society gave the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah.” “Later in the week the children’s ball on Friday evening was one of the most successful of the week’s series of festivities. The juvenile dancers varied in age and proportion… there were (children of an older growth) too, who laughed as they had not laughed in many a long day”

Brasilia Highway photographed in Southampton on 11 April 2015.

She was built in 2009 as Yard Number 1503 by Imabari  Zosen in Marugame, Japan and has an overall length of 199.97m with a 32.26m beam and 10m draft.

In total she can carry 6,237 units over 11 main car decks and an upper aft garage.

The ships main engine is a KOBE Diesel-Mitsubishi B&W 8UEC60LSII which provides 13,260kW and a service speed of 20 knots.

GT = 59,440 & DWT = 18,793.

She is owned by K Line (Australia) which was originally established in 1970 to represent K Line's interest and business in Australia. The company today operates a worldwide fleet of vessels consisting of car carriers, product carriers including tankers and LNG carriers, conventional cargo vessels, bulk carriers and container ships.

They operate in America, Europe, Intra-Asian, South & Central American, West Africa, mainland China Trades and Australia. The company moves in excess of 1.1 million motor vehicles annually and is also involved in the transport of bulk ores, grains, wood chips, coal, alumina as well as crude oil, LNG and other energy resources.

MMSI - 356073000
REG - PA, Panama
IMO - 9519119
Call Sign - 3FON6
Vehicles Carrier
Built -  Imabari Zosen, Marugame - JP
Yard No.1503
L 199.97m x W 32.26m
GT - 59440
Year - 2009

St Collen’s Church in Llangollen photographed when we visited the town on 29 May 2016.

The church was founded by St Collen from whom the town derives it's name. St Collen was a monk who lived in the 6th/7th Century, records are unclear as to the exact dates and much of what has been written about him is based on legend. It is said that he arrived in the area by coracle and was an Irish warrior and religious figure who also lived for a time as a hermit on Glastonbury Tor.

Collen gave his name to the town of Llangollen ('llan' for a church enclosure, and 'gollen' for Collen).

The original church built by St Collen and his monks would have been a very crude construction. In Norman times a 'new' church was built alongside.
 
In 1749 the churches wooden tower was replaced using stones from the newly demolished original church. A major extension in 1863 saw the south aisle added and the building extended eastwards to provide the chancel, clergy vestry and organ chamber.

The tower houses a belfry with eight bells hung to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. The most remarkable feature of the church is the oak hammer beam roof of the central nave. An earlier roof was destroyed in a fire in about 1522.
​
A tomb-shrine to Collen stood in the churchyard until the 19th century, but it was demolished to create space for the current west tower. The core of the church dates to the 13th century.

USS Vicksburg (CG69) photographed in Liverpool on 25 May 2015.

She is a Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser and was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her keel was laid down on 30 May 1990 and she was launched on 7 September 1991 before being commissioned on 14 November 1992.

The previous USS Vicksburg was a light cruiser which served in World War II and the current Vickburg's badge has two stars on the streamer running from the eagles beak to represent the two battle stars awarded to her predesesor.

Overall she is 173m long with a 17.8m beam and 10.2m draft.

Propulsion is via 4 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines (60,00kW) with two controllable five bladed reversible pitch propellers giving a maximum speed in excess of 32 knots.

Complement is approximatly 400.

Armament consists of 2 x 61 cell Mk41 vertical launch systems which can accommodate a mix of different missiles including RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB, RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV, RIM-161 SM-3, RIM-162A ESSM, RIM-174A Standard ERAM, BGM-109 Tomahawk & RUM-139A VL-ASROC.

She is also equipped with Mark 46 torpedoes, Harpoon missile launchers, two mark 45 5 inch/54 calibre guns, two phalanx CIWS and two Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm machine gun systems.

​The rear hanger can accommodate two Sikorsky helicopters.     

​We visited the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales on 29 May 2016 after staying the night before in nearby Wrexham.

The Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal over a valley in which runs the River Dee. Completed in 1805 it is the longest and highest Aqueduct in the United Kingdom.

It was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop and is 307m long 3.7m wide and consists of a cast iron trough supported on eighteen masonry pillars with 16m spans 38m above the river.
​
Originally the aqueduct was part of the Ellesmere Canal and the work was undertaken by Telford under the supervision of Jessop. The iron was supplied by William Hazledine from his foundries in Shrewsbury and Cefn Mawr. It opened on 26 November 1805 having taken some ten years to design and build at a cost of £47,000.

View of the Aqueduct through the trees.

Masonry pillars taking the aqueduct across the valey

Walking across the aqueduct. The tow path used by horses to pull the barges is just on one side. On the other side is a shear drop to the river below.

Half way across - View of the River Dee from the aqueduct looking Sout.h

half way across - View from the aqueduct looking North. An old road bridge across the river can be seen in the distance.

Disney Cruise Line is owned by the Walt Disney Company and its home port is Port Canaveral close to the Disney World theme parks in Orlando, Florida. 

The cruise line has been around since 1995, and its fleet and itineraries have expanded over time.

Photograph is the funnel of Disney Magic which visited Liverpool on 28 May 2016.

St.Mary's Church, Prestwich photographed late evening on 18 May 2016 as we walked back to the car after a walk along the nearby stream which meanders through a wooded valley.

There is evidence that there has been a church on this site since at least 1200 although the tower of the current church was built in about 1500 and the rest of the church rebuilt in the early part of the 16th Century. Building work and alterations have continued up to the 20th Century.

In 1756 the South porch was rebuilt, the East Vestry was also rebuilt in 1803 and in 1860 the chancel was extended. In 1872 a new chapel was added to the South side of the church and in 1874 the chapel on the East side was rebuilt. In 1889 some major alterations were completed to the building including the addition of an organ chamber and vestry. A porch was added to the North in 1895. Alterations in 1959 involved the removal of the North and South galleries.

The church is constructed in red  sandstone with stone slate roofs. The tower is in three stages and rises to a height of 86 feet (26 m). It has a stair turret in the northeast corner.

The original organ was made in 1825 but was moved to a church in Preston in 1891. It was replaced in 1889 by a new organ built by the Belgian firm of Anneesens which cost £1,000 and was given to the church by the 4th Earl of Wilton. By 1901 the organ had become unplayable and it was replaced by an organ by Abbott and Smith. This too was replaced in 1964 by an organ made by J.W.Walker who made use of some of the pipes from the previous organ.

Originally there were four bells in the tower, these were recast into five bells in 1721 and a sixth bell was added at the same time. These were all replaced in the 20th century by eight bells, all cast by John Taylor, two of them in 1910, and the rest in 1919.

I am in Liverpool again today and stayed in the city overnight after attending an event at work yesterday evening. I went out earlier and the river was quite busy which coincided with the high tide.

Ships visible from right to left are:-

Kittiwake (Pilot)
Puffin (Pilot)
Snowdrop (Passenger ferry)
Stena Lagan (RoRoFerry)
Afon Menai (Tug)
Afon Las (Tug)
Svitzer Bidston (Tug)
Loch Rannoch (Crude Oil Tanker)
Ashgarth (Tug)

I have also seen a number of new ships over the last few days including

Atlantic Star (IMO 9670573, Vehicle Carrier,1997)
Cementos Cantabrico (IMO 7400443,Cement Carrier,1976)
Fehn Luna (IMO 9130212, General Cargo Ship,1997)
Loch Rannoch (IMO 9160619, Crude Oil Tanker,1998)
Suoyarvi (IMO 9116773, General Cargo Ship,1994)
Blue Note (IMO 9491915, General Cargo Ship, 2010)

Picture taken at Princes Dock, Liverpool - 3 June 2016