Gawsworth Church

Gawsworth Church

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 44mm, 1/400s @ f/8.0)
At last, a chance to get out for a walk! Windy, cold and bright today so I went for a 10Km walk in East Cheshire. I started from North Rode and walked to Gawsworth and then back via the Macclesfield Canal. This pastoral autumn view of the church tower of the 15th century Gawsworth parish church (St. James) was the scenic highlight of the walk.

Rudyard Woodland Track

Rudyard Lake Steam Railway line through woodland

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 22mm, 1/400s @ f/8.0 ISO400)
The track for the 10.25" gauge Rudyard Lake Steam Railway runs alongside the old trackbed of the North Staffordshire Railway branch line from Uttoxeter to North Rode near Macclesfield. This line was closed by Beeching in the 1960s but a few miles has been reopened the other side of Leek as the Churnet Valley Railway. I like the sun dappled track way in this photo.

Rudyard in Autumn

Rudyard Village

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 30mm, 1/1000s @ f/8.0 ISO 400)
Another photo taken last Sunday morning. Autumn colours still lingering on the trees though the leaves are falling fast now. The writer Rudyard Kipling was named after this village by his parents - perhaps he was conceived here! I might have told you this before. The weather is not like that today: dull and drizzly in Leek.

Waiting For The Off

"King Arthur" waits for the signal on a cold November morning

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 70mm, 3 images tone mapped in Photomatix)
King Arthur is one of four miniature locomotives on the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway. I was surprised to find that they continue to run on Sundays throughout the year, the only exception being December when they run a few "Santa Specials". All the engines have Arthurian names; King Arthur, Excalibur, Pendragon and Merlin.

Ilam Cross

Mary Watts-Russell Memorial Cross, Ilam

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 17.0mm, 1/320s @ f/8.0 ISO 400)
Constructed in the style of the 13th century "Eleanor Crosses", this Victorian monument was built in 1841 as a memorial to the late wife, Mary, of Jesse Watts-Russell of nearby Ilam Hall. Until very recently, the cross was shrouded in scaffolding while restoration work was carried out. The top section of the cross was blown down in a freak storm in the 1960s. It was replaced with a rather crudely carved, plain cemetery style pillar and cross quite quickly, but this was totally out of character with the elegant carving of the rest of the cross. A charitable trust was formed in 2003 which raised sufficient funds to have the top of the cross restored to its original beauty. The work was carried out in the last two years. In one of the six lower niches of the cross is an inscription which reads:

This Crofs and Fountain

erected by her husband

perpetuate the memory of

one who lives in the hearts

of many in this village and

neighbourhood.

Mary Watts Russell

M D C C C X L

-------

Free as for all these crystal waters flow

Her gentle eyes would weep for others woe

Dried is that fount but long may this endure

To be a well of comfort to the poor

The "crystal waters" refer to a trough round the base of the cross fed from a clear spring on nearby Bunster Hill.

The Inscription