This weekend is was all about exploring Edenfield, this is where Tracey now lives and so I thought I’d have a wander around the nearby areas and see what I could find. The East Lancashire Railway runs through the valley and there is a station, well more of a platform, at Irwell Vale. So Friday and yesterday the exploration commenced. There are several walks plotted on the OS Maps, so I decided to follow one of these until I got down to Irwell Vale station. Running right through the middle of this whole area is the M66, and whilst you cant here or see it from Edenfield its not far away. To get from the village to the walks you have to cross over one of the motorway bridges, ingle file traffic only, I’m guessing its for access to the local farms.
The first thing that caught my eye was the styal in the image above. I really like these X type styles, and will definitely be looking to get a few more images of this one in better light of course.
I followed the path on the OS map app and it led me down into the valley. On the way down I spotted this scene. I’m really not 100% sure what this is but a friend on facebook suggested it could be from an old locomotive, there could be some truth in that given that this is really not far from the railway tracks and station at Irwell Vale.
I love trees, and this image came to my eye as I walked down the valley side. The UK is covered by only 10% trees, thats a remarkably small number, and the target set by the giovernment is to get to 16.5%, which is another 20 million trees. Trees should be cherished.
The platform at Irwell Vale is quite long, but when the train pulls in it only just fits.. This image is right at the end of the platform, and it struck me that this would make a great image, the bench in the foreground. As I processed the image I realised that it would be better with a train in the station, so yesterday I managed to capture just that.
I was a little disappointed when this train approached, I was hoping for a steam locomotive. Either way I think having the train at the platform does add something to this scene. Next time we might get some nice light.
I didn’t have to wait long, as coming the other way from Ramsbottom was an actual steam locomotive. the only disappointing thing about this image is that the train didn’t pump out any actual steam until it was way out of the platform at the other end.
Outside the platform and station is a small village, a lovely little village, more of a settlement really, but this bridge over the River Irwell had some nice light on it, and I quite like the composition. It’s not far to get here now I’ve worked out how to drive here. I’ll be back.
All these image were shot on my Leica Q3, all handheld and processed in Lightroom.