Matt Ditch Photography Blog

  Last night the South Tynedale Railway published an image on their social media of the completed work to radically alter the appearance of historically important Thomas Green 0-6-2 "Barber".  The loco, pictured above  was built in 1908 by Thomas Green & Sons of Leeds and spent its entire working life on the Harrogate Gas Works railway. It was even used during the construction of the railway. "Barber" was named after Francis Barber who was the chairman of the gasworks. It is also thought to be the only Thomas Green locomotive left in this part of the world "Barber" was built with a cut-down cab to allow it to fit through a tunnel with a reduced clearance, hence the somewhat squat appearance. Prior to 2015 "Barber" was last steamed in the 1940s by which time it was worn out. The rear of the frames were extremely weak due to the lowered cab. And there were also issues with its regulator. The engine had been rebuilt a number of times during its

  A little sneak peek from an upcoming project. No prizes for guessing which railway this is/was!

River Esk's 100th centenary gala 29/04/23 Visiting Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway locomotive No. 2 "Northern Chief" passes Gill force Junction with a train for Ravenglass. Full gallery

  River Esk's 100th centenary gala 29/04/23 Here are my pictures from River Esk's 100th centenary gala on 29/04/23. As always the whole gallery  can be found here . But, below are a few of my favorites.

 The view from Slate Fell near Cockermouth around the time of Sunset. 

  A quick snap of the remains of Whitwell level crossing on the Leamside line. I passed over here yesterday whilst out exploring the Shincliffe and Sherburn areas. The leamside line is currently mothballed with no trains having ran on it in over 30 years. 

  Afternoon everyone, I have a few things I need to get off my chest regarding the use of my photography. It goes without saying that I take a lot of pride in my photography, and I enjoy sharing it with you across social media and on my website. However, there have been a few incidents recently regarding the use of my work that I wanted to address here. Firstly, relating to people using my work without my permission. To put it simply, don’t do this. Photography is my job and people do pay me to use my images. Not only is it illegal and a violation of copyright laws, but it is also disrespectful to the time and effort I put into creating these images. If you want to use my work, please ask for permission and credit me appropriately. Secondly, there have been cases where people have cropped or edited my photos without my consent. This is also unacceptable. When you crop or edit my work, you are essentially changing my art and presenting it in a way that may not align with my original vis