The Storms Come and the Rivers Flood.

The weather has been a bit breezy lately with strong gales and heavy rain battering the coastline up and down the country, not suitable for sea fishing or walking.

After seeing the state of the River Yarrow which I cross every day on my way into Bolton I had a walk around Queens Park to survey the damage done to the trees. They were in remarkable condition with just a few loose branches blown off but the River Croal was the highest I've seen it for a long time. Compare it to the photographs in this entry 'A Lunchtime Stroll' which I did in September last year.

Everything seems to be holding up well in the face of this weather which, listening to the news, you'd think was a suprise. It sometimes seems people forget what winters are supposed to be like.

I can't imagine what they'll say when these Northerly winds bring us all a bit of snow! I just wish it would get a bit colder and stop raining then we can get up onto the fells without wading through bogs that should have frozen months ago. Although saying that I am looking forward to spring and some sun.

Weather - what can you do?

But then if it wasn't for the rain we wouldn't have this magnificent 'Green and Pleasant Land' called Britain we live in...

Tags: lancashire, queens park, river croal

A View From the Other Side

In the interest of fairness, and because the pictures are so damn good, here is a link to my other brother's website which showcases some of the stunning photographs taken during his many dive trips, both here in the UK and abroad.

Phil's Personal Website - Great underwater imagery.

I Know how hard it is to take a good photo on land so how he managed these and remembered to breath is beyond me. Amazing to see the ocean from under the waves for a change but me, I'd rather watch it from above, chilled out in the sun with fishing rod in hand.

Tags: diving, photography

Welcome To The Year 2007

The new years is here and over on the west coast of the UK it arrived in some style, with winds gusting up to 70 mph. Where does the time go? We had every intention of going on a few fell walking trips as well as doing a lot more sea fishing over the Christmas break but before we knew it, it was time to go back to work.

It doesn't look like we're going to have any snow this winter either - we've not even had frost in lowland Lancashire so just to remind everyone what snow is the above picture was taken in March last year when we went walking over Fairsnape and Parlick.

Our promise to ourselves this year is to do more sea fishing, fell walking and birding and - if possible - to be out in the countryside even more than last year. A tall order but we're willing to give it our best shot!

As well as the usual we'll be going on another bank holiday Bass quest to Anglesey at the beginning of May and for a change we're going to Devon for our summer break, we're already looking forward to that and it's still half a year away! I've even bought an OS map of the area.

So here's wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year, Stuart.

Tags: anglesey, fairsnape, river alt, sea fishing, walking

Tropical Fish For a Change

Just a quick plug for my youngest brother's blog - finally he's got round to doing one after all the nagging!

One of his main hobbies is tropical fish keeping and this blog is a way of keeping track of all the coming and goings in his fishy world.

numpty's fishtank blog

Keep checking it - there's a huge fish tank on the way.

Tags: fishtank, tropical