Two posts of pictures coming up. Here are the first ones. Grandma had made a lovely crib on the windowsill and the boys moved baby Jesus in on Christmas Eve. You also have the dog Tara being stroked by Eric. Tara is a lot calmer than either Zephyr and Burt. She was a bit freaked out when we all arrived but has gradually come out of her shell.
The other 2 pictures are nothing 2 do with xmas but everything to do with Lumb. We went for a walk up to Wheathead with Granddad and the dog on Xmas afternoon. The weather cleared up after morning fog and the sun came out. I used to spend a lot of time at Wheathead when I lived with Mum and Dad. There used to be Little Owls on the stone walls. Things change ... many more people are living in the farm houses and the footpath I used to walk down seems to have gone. In its place barbed wire and fences. I walked it anyway for old times sake. There are more footpaths in this area than in any other part of the UK I have been to. Does it matter if one path goes? What about 10 paths? Who shut the path down? Lots of questions but perhaps no answers.
The other pic is of a new development that is going to change the skyline for the next few decades. A big wind farm is going up on the moors between Rochdale and Waterfoot. I used to tramp those hills in days gone by (starting to sound like an old man!). They are pretty empty places, very few people use them. A few walkers, some trail bikers and the few farmers who run sheep up there at very low densities. As you can see from the pic the wind farm is going to change the view big time. Lots of local opposition to it. Some from the Bernard Ingham(?) camp in Hebden Bridge who oppose all wind farms and who are paid for by the nuclear industry, so no conflict of interests there! There has been opposition from David Bellamy to this particular development. I have always been pro-windfarm up until now. Having seen the first turbine go up I am uncertain whether or not I agree with the siting of these 30 turbines. They will massively change a view I am fond of. On the other hand the hills have always been sites of industrial activity. Huge turbines would be an in your face reminder of the need to conserve energy. And I would rather have turbines than nuclear.
