Settle and Lakeland Voices on the Settle Carlisle Line - 9 Dec 2017 - Pictures and videos.

Happy Christmas 2017 all!!

Two choirs meet:

Settle Voices:  Settle to Ribblehead Station and back..

Lakeland Voices: Langwathby to Ribblehead to Settle to Langwathby..

(See record of some earlier years - just the Settle part) 

Settle Voices meet and sing at Settle Railways Station at 10.15 on Sat 9th Dec 2017. There is snow on the fields, but the station platform has been cleared. And there are sherry and mince-pies inside the waiting room.

This is a Judith and Althea (in red) adventure 

Meanwhile, Judith, the photographer, nips off to the
Operatic Society Coffee Morning (not shown)
(where I win some smelly body lotions stuff on the tombola)

 then to the Catholic Craft Fayre : above
(where I win a mystery raffle prize yet to be claimed)
and buy a Christmas Cake

Then off to Giggleswick Parish Church Christmas Event,
where I win a small bottle of water on the tombola. Hmmm did not make much on that...

Giggleswick Church

By 1.40pm the choir have  crossed the platform and are about to alight on the train to Ribblehead

Singing on the train:

Ribblehead

 Here we meet the Lakeland Voices and crammed into the waiting room.

David led the singing in the Waiting Room.--

Ribblehead Waiting Room

 The singers sang silent night in four different languages. 
I met a real passenger in the adjacent room /cafe staffed by volunteers. - A young Latvian lady working in IT in Birmingham .. She was up for a walking weekend at Settle to see more of the UK - and had just climbed Whernside that morning.  I tried (but failed) to get her to go and sing "Silent night" in Latvian.

While some singers ate Christmas Cake and cheese at the railway station, other brave souls trecked down the icy track across to the pub

Where we entertained those having lunch.

We left the pub

and walked up the track back to the station

And what is this green velvety alga growing on the fence-posts?

Why, it's the green filamentous alga Klebsormidium crenulatum.  The presence of this alga shows that there is nitrogen pollution in the air: (NO2 or Ammonia). We are a long way from where it may be coming from - the pig farms and intensive farming of East Yorshire, and from the motorways , car full roads and industries of West Yorkshire and Lancashire - but  the heavy rainfall, drizzle - and today  fine snow - that capture the NO2 from the air,  mean  that the Pennines get more NO2 pollution than the lowlands. It acts like a fertilizer for this alga which grows especially well.
Look out for Klebsormidium on your walks.

Returning to Ribblehead Station

We have a good trip down on the train, singing on the way.

Then at Settle we repair to the Royal Oak

David Burbidge of Sedbergh leads the Lakeland Voices in a rendering of the Slovenian Folk carol that Sedbergh's twin town in Slovenia taught them.

A group from Lancashire sing their joyful carols
Two views
-yes they have a big morror at the Royal Oak

At 6.30 the Lakeland Voices have soup at the Royal Oak..

..whilst Settle voices go over the road to take part in Settle Parish Church Community Carol Concert..

Seems a long time since we set off this morning

Big thanks to our leaders - Janet Russell and David Burbidge


(See record of some earlier years - just the Settle part)