I'm back from the Lake District now, but with lots of distractions to come...
The visit was very fruitful, despite some poor weather. At least the Bobbin Mill at Stott Park near Lakeside was bathed in lovely sunshine. For anyone visiting the area it is a really fascinating piece of industrial archaeology, complete with original, authentic machinery and live demonstrations of bobbin making. The strong sunshine made general photos of the site slightly challenging, but here's one from the collection

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and here is what it looked like back in the old days, before colour was invented...

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The overriding interest for me was what I could learn and use on the Ulpha model, some detail for which which was based on Stott Park. The mill only used a water wheel as the solitary source of power for a relatively short period of time. Following a drought in the 1850s, a secondhand steam engine was installed. This was soon followed by a water turbine and eventually, electricity. The steam engine ran occasionally under steam until the present day, though the boiler certificate recently expired and repairs are required. One surprise was that the wood was seasoned and dried for up to 2 years in the various drying sheds, or outdoors.There were two rotary saws - one for cutting up the large logs and another for reducing smaller pieces into workable sizes for cutting out the bobbins. Here is a photo of the crane next to the larger saw.

The following day I went walking to discover a little of Dunnerdale, where Ulpha is situated. I was staying near Torver, so decided to walk from there to Coniston and over the Walna Scar Road to Dunnerdale. Unfortunately, there was low cloud clinging to the The Old Man of Coniston and all the other surrounding hills.
I was quickly enveloped in cloud before I was even half way up the climb. Intense drizzle followed, soaking into everything (I think 'mizzlin' is the local word for it). Soaked to the skin, I approached the highest point of the Walna Scar Road around 600 metres above sea level, which overlooks Dunnerdale. This was my view as I approached the summit though...
Fortunately, things improved quickly as I descended towards Seathwaite. Here was the first view of the Dale, just above the car park for the Walna Scar Road
The drizzle even stopped further down. It was clear enough for me to get all the detail shots I wanted, including rivers, streams, stone walls, buildings and rocks. Here is just one example of the interesting topography

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The low cloud never completely disappeared though, as this view late in the afternoon shows. Note the profuse ferns, which I have to model somehow!

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It is undoubtedly a very quiet and beautiful valley. I must try to go back and see it in sunshine sometime. I followed the valley down to Duddon Bridge and walked back to Torver via Broughton - a round walk of around 25 miles. By the time I got back to the B&B, everything was dry apart from my feet. The kind of dedication only Scalefour modellers do? Well, I suppose it must help get everything right, or something like that!
I will show detail from some of the other photos as I do more modelling.
In other news, I got hold of a beautiful model of a Ribble Leyland Tiger Cub with SARO body, made by Oxford. This is numbered for an Ulverston-Coniston working. The Ribble bus service up Dunnerdale was just 3 trips a day, 3 days a week and finished forever in 1960. A Post Bus and then a community bus have run intermittently, I believe, since then.
I have more or less finished the wiring on the first scenic board now. I am just waiting for some Phono sockets to finish things off.
ERRATUM
Just one slight correction from my previous post. I realised eventually that I had in fact achieved slight gauge widening on the 2 foot radius curve on the waggonway, even with roller gauges.