Autumn with Abbie

REGULAR visitors to Reporting From The Fox Tower will know I am a supporter of the career of Miss Abbie J Steele, pictured above.

Abbie has a new website, abbiesteele.co.uk where you can follow her career as an Actress and a Model, whilst finding all about her as a person and view videos of her work, the photographic and runway portfolios, as well as reading the blog on her website. The site also has links to Abbie on the social media sites of Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. You can also subscribe to Abbie's newsletter via email.

One of Abbie's most recent photoshoots was a bridalwear shoot, with a backdrop of restored railway rolling stock, which links nicely to the previous posting from the Eden Vally Railway at Warcop!

I hope this update has been informative. My previous posting, An Appreciation of Abbie, posted Saturday 14 June 2014, can be viewed here.

Until next time, enjoy.

Revival of the Railways

FOR this post on RFTFT, I'd like to share some photographs from Easter Sunday, 2014. That day, I visited the Eden Valley Railway at Warcop, as part of the Classic Commercial Vehicle Rally, which had a bus service running to and from the railway. I enjoy visiting the site; The facilities the railway site has are of great interest. They host an 'Emporium', from which you can browse and purchase such a wide range of goods, they also have refreshments served at 'The Buffer Stop', from where I purchased a drink and a couple of postcards, which reproduced the railway posters from days gone by. You can also enjoy the views of the surrounding fells from here.

The building is also home to two model railway layouts, which are intended for younger visitors, but those of all ages were enjoying the model railway on Easter Sunday!

Upon arriving at the site, your admission fee is also the point from where you are issued tickets to take the 2.2 mile train journey on this beautiful, revived line. The platform, seen in the above photographs, is next to a building which features a traditional railway clock, as picured here.

On the way to the platform, you pass the beautifully restored signal box, which is pictured here.

During your journey, you will be joined by the volunteers taking the roles of the Station Master and the ticket inspectors, who will clip your ticket as you enjoy the views of Warcop, Sandford and the surrounding area.

It is a thoroughly enjoyable day out. The passenger train services for 2014 have now ended, but do make a note in your diary for Easter 2015, when they resume. For more information, visit the Eden Valley Railway website.

Enjoy.

Attack of the Lego shark!

PLEASE, PLEASE be aware of that most VICIOUS of creatures, the Lego shark. The picture above shows when I was the victim of said beast earlier this year, when it was meant to be under the control of Miss Zoë Badder - But the Lego shark escaped from its supposedly 'safe enclosure' (her handbag) and took a big chunk out of my finger. Thankfully, I have made a full recovery. So please be warned of the Lego shark...

Welcome to 1989!

ON THE EVENING of Monday 18 August, Miss Taylor Alison Swift hosted a long awaited Livestream (webcast) via Yahoo! As pictured above. The above image was taken during the final ten minute countdown to the half-hour broadcast, live from the Empire State Building, New York City, at 5pm Eastern Standard Time, which was 10pm British Summer Time. Taylor wore a white crop top with matching white skirt, as you can see in the next image, taken during the Livestream broadcast:

Oh yes, Taylor did look rather tanned and gorgeous during the broadcast too, in the run up to which Taylor Tweeted that is was "Time to reveal some secrets" and we weren't disappointed. First was the announcement of the new track 'Shake It Off', which was played as an audio track during the broadcast. That was followed quickly by the announcement of the new album, '1989', which is to be released Monday 27 October. The cover of the album was also unveiled during the broadcast:

The broadcast also included a live audience at the Empire State Building and groups of fans at Livestream parties at international locations, such as Canada and Norway. Taylor took questions from social media, which had been submitted prior to the broadcast, one of which asked if any videos would accompany the new tracks. It was at this point Taylor aired the video for 'Shake It Off':

The broadcast was rounded off with the news that '1989' is available to pre-order via Taylor's website and 'Shake It Off' is available to purchase and download. Taylor closed the broadcast with the words "There's no sale like a pre-sale" as social media went into overdrive and all the details of the album and single were available on Taylor's website. The website page is here and link to Taylor's Facebook page here. Find out more about Taylor's UK chart positions via the Official Charts Company website. 

That's the latest news regarding Taylor Swift, I'm Martin Cowin.

Enjoy.

An August post! (Better late than...)

AUGUST MAY almost be over, but the sun is still shining and the day is good. Apologies for not posting throughout the month of August, I hope to be back with comprehensive postings over the coming days / weeks / months(!), bringing you some of my thoughts regarding my interests, including sports updates, including football, tennis and cricket.

I hope to catch up with Abbie Steele to bring the joint article that has been mooted since the last post (which you can find if you click Abbie's name) and to bring you all of Abbie's latest social media and website news, as well as all the news from her career as a professional model.

Also, I hope to reflect on the continuing work of Eden FM Radio - now broadcasting on 107.5 FM as well as online.
There was also the news from Taylor Swift this summer, regarding her new single, video and album, so that may be a priority.
Enjoy the remainder of Summer 2014 and stay with Reporting From The Fox Tower!

Wallpaper of the week: .png edition

TO prove the versatility of this here blog, Wallpaper of the Week refers back to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2013, at which Taylor Swift, pictured above, performed 'I Knew You Were Trouble.' live and this here blog marked the occasion last November with a post 'Live from the Catwalk'.

This post would like to follow the lead of the post last November, in making the point that Miss Swift does have fine legs and there is a rumour that Miss Swift may have been offered the role of a model at the next VS Fashion Show later this year! The show this year is in London.

The Union Flag, on which the design of  Miss Swift's dress was based, has never looked better.

Enjoy.

A Swift one...

I Do hope you are enjoying the fantastic summer weather - Well, the summer is in full swing where I am - and what is better on a summer day, than a Swift one. Oh yes. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Miss Taylor Alison Swift, singer, musician, actress, model.

Enjoy.

An Appreciation of Abbie

TAKING time out from the FIFA World Cup 2014 to take time to remind you of the thread in support of Miss Abbie J Steele, which was titled Then and Now. In support of Abbie, RFTFT will bring you all the latest details of her current work, as an actress and model, in a future post. That posting will include links to Abbie's social media sites and her new look website, which is being created at the moment. I am also hoping Abbie herself will write a few lines for this blog, which would be very much appreciated.

For now, I shall close this posting with an image of Abbie, taken late 2013 from a professional photoshoot, which I hope you enjoy.

Welcome to Summer!

SUNDAY the first of June has arrived and this is the month that the FIFA World Cup will begin. This blog, though, is going to take a look back at the football season which has recently concluded with cup finals and play-off finals at all levels. Was your team in the hall of fame or the hall of shame? Here are all the details of who did what in 2013 - 2014. Enjoy.

• Champions League winners: Real Madrid
• Europa League winners: Sevilla
• FA Cup winners: Arsenal
• Capital One (League) Cup winners: Manchester CITY
• Johnstone Paint Trophy winners: Peterborough United
• FA Trophy winners: Cambridge United
• FA Vase winners: Scholing FC

• Premier League Champions: Manchester CITY
• Relegated: Norwich City, Fulham, Cardiff City.

• Championship winners: Leicester City
• Promoted: Burnley
• Play-off winners: QPR
• Relegated: Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley, Yeovil Town.

• League One Champions: Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Promoted: Brentford
• Play-off winners: Rotherham United
• Relegated: Tranmere Rovers, Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town, Stevenage.

• League Two Champions: Chesterfield
• Promoted: Scunthorpe, Rochdale.
• Play-off winners: Fleetwood Town
• Relegated: Bristol Rovers, Torquay.

• Conference Champions: Luton Town
• Promoted via Play-off: Cambridge United
• Relegated: Chester, Dartford, Tamworth, Hyde.

So it's a congratulations to both Manchester CITY and Cambridge United, both double winners at opposite ends of the football league. That concludes the 2013 - 2014 football season. Enjoy the World Cup, enjoy the summer.

Miss Kournikova!

REPORTING From The Fox Tower would like to mark the summer season of tennis played on clay and on grass by paying homage to Miss Anna Kournikova, pictured above. We would also like to take this opportunity to link back to a post in honour of Miss Kournikova's Birthday last summer, a post entitled '#WinningIsn'tAlwaysPretty', which you can view here. The hashtag is explained in the post. As with the post last summer, access Anna's Facebook page, which also appears to be the role of her official website.

Roll on Summer, let's have a good one.

Get this blog on your mobile device!

HERE is the QR code which should, hopefully, enable you to visit this blog on your mobile device. Which means you could access these ramblings from anywhere. Enjoy...

Another edition of 'Meet the Author'...

... Sorry about that.

The Foxtower Reporter!

MAYBE you have been wondering what the blogger behind Reporting From The Fox Tower looks like. So here is a photograph of myself, Martin.

Sorry about that.

Listening to Medium Wave, April 2014

THE evening of Good Friday, 18 April 2014, was spent beside the Roberts R881, listening to the medium wave band. Here are the broadcasts I heard (Times in UTC / GMT; Frequencies in kiloHertz [kHz] ) :

• 2028 UTC, 738 kHz : RNE-1 (Radio National Espana) via Barcelona, Spain, 500 kW. Male and female Spanish speech. Broadcast reception poor to fair. To 2042 UTC.
• 2045 UTC, 747 kHz : NOS Radio 5 (Radio 5 Nostalgia) via Zeewold, Holland, 400 kW. Male and female Dutch speech, telephone interview. Broadcast reception very good. To 2100 UTC.
• 2104 UTC, 756 kHz : BBC Radio Cumbria via Brisco, Carlisle, 1 kW. Music: The Shadows. ID: "Joe Costin - Never heard of him!" voiced by Richard Nankivell. Music: Engelbert Humperdink - 'Please Release Me'. Speech by Joe Costin, presenting the Late Show. Music: Nillson - 'Without You'. Broadcast reception fair. To 2116 UTC.
• 2129 UTC, 756 kHz : Tentative reception of a low power broadcast, possibly either BBC Radio 4 via Redruth, Cornwall, 2 kW, or Radio Maldwyn via Montgomeryshire, Newtown, Powys, Wales, 630 Watts. Broadcast reception fair to poor. To 2140 UTC.
• 2150 UTC, 756 kHz : Deutschlandfunk via Ravensburg / Braunschweig, Germany, 100 - 200 kW. German speech by male and female, operatic pieces. German national anthem up to 2200 UTC. Broadcast reception strong to fair. To 2200 UTC.

That completes the logs for Medium Wave, April 2014.

Enjoy the remainder of the Easter weekend!

Maria's Easter Birthday 2014

THE MAGNIFICENT Maria Sharapova, pictured above, celebrates her birthday this coming weekend, the weekend is also Easter 2014, hence the title of this post. To mark Maria's birthday on Saturday, 19 April, this blog presents the above image, from the May 2013 edition of Esquire Latin America, which featured a stunning photoshoot with Maria. Miss Sharapova celebrates her twenty seventh birthday on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Maria!

Abbie J Steele - Then and Now

HERE ON RFTFT, we do like to follow up previous posting threads. Today, we look back to the summer of 2010, when the amazing Miss Abbie J Steele, pictured above, competed in the Miss Cumbria contest of that year. This blog was a keen supporter of Abbie's campaign to muster votes to take her through to the final. More of Abbie's 2010 campaign in a moment.

With the co-operation of Abbie herself, RFTFT will bring you all the latest details of her current work, as an actress and model, in a future post. That posting will include links to Abbie's social media sites and her new look website, which is being created at the moment. Hence the name of this posting as Then and Now - This is the 'then' post, the future post will be the 'now' post.

So, let's return to the 2010 Miss Cumbria campaign, which RFTFT supported. The above image was from 2010 and I shall now include links to the posts in support of Abbie, for your ease of access. The title of each post will include the appropriate link.

Here are the links:

Vote for Abbie

Listening and voting

(second part of post)

The Beautiful Ballerina

Miss Cumbria 2010 - The Result

That concludes this post. Thank you for visiting RFTFT and we will be back with Abbie again soon!

International Listening Update, March 2014

TEN MONTHS have passed since I last tuned the Short Wave band of my radio, to listen to broadcasts from all over the world. I took the opportunity to spend some time beside my radio on the afternoon of Thursday 27 March. The results of what I heard are here. All times are UTC (Universal Time Co-ordination, also known as GMT - Greenwich Mean Time); All frequencies are kHz (kiloHertz).

• 1615 UTC, 7265 kHz : Unidentified broadcast - Possibly China Radio International, broadcasting in the Russian language. Reception was fair. Male speech, female speech, news regarding France. Speech regarding President Francois Hollande, France. To 1620 UTC.
• 1630 UTC, 9410 kHz : BBC World Service - 'Sport Today'. European football: Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona. Reception was fair. English to South Asia via Kranji, Singapore. Premiership football in England: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea. World reaction via social media. To 1650 UTC.
• 1650 UTC, 9435 kHz : China Radio International - Learn to speak Chinese, referring to phrases such as "I won't go to the company today" and words such as "supermarket". Reception was good. English broadcast worldwide via Kashi, China. To 1700 UTC.
• 1710 UTC, 9500 kHz : Radio Australia [ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation] - 'Daily Planet' music programme, referring to the band 'Tangalo'. Male host. Reception was fair. English to Asia and Australasia via Shepparton, Victoria, Australia. To 1730 UTC.
• 1755 UTC, 9500 kHz : Unidentified broadcast - Speech interspersed with intro to the track 'Puffing Billy' by Edward White! To 1800 UTC.

• 2245 UTC, 9575 kHz : Medi 1 Radio, Morocco - 'Album Story' programme. Speech, followed by clips of tracks by Dire Straits, Santana and Michael Jackson. Female speech in French. Reception was good. Male speech, music by Bob Marley. To 2255 UTC.
• 2310 UTC, 9855 kHz : Radio Australia [ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation] - Female host with round table discussion regarding sport in the community and history of cricket in Samoa. Reception was fair. English to Asia and Australasia via Al Dhabbaya, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. To 2325 UTC.

That concludes the log of broadcasts I heard Thursday 27 March. I hope not to leave it so long next time!

It's Shara Time!

THIS week, Wallpaper of the Week brings you another image from the Facebook account of the amazing Maria Sharapova. The image is a still from a video Miss Sharapova posted on Facebook and on her Social Channel, as she prepared for training on a Saturday morning in October 2013. Maria's official Facebook channel can be found here.

Enjoy.

Eden FM - Eden Country Playlist - 15 March 2014

PRESENTING the playlist of Eden FM's weekly Country music show Eden Country, as broadcast Saturday 15 March 2014:

Hayseed Dixie - Walk This Way

Scott Holstein - The Spell

Jim Reeves - Then I'll Stop Loving You

Lady Antebellum - Singing Me Home

Ricky Skaggs - Coal Minin' Man

The Steeldrivers - Blue Side Of The Mountain

Lindi Ortega - When All The Stars Align

Kenny Chesney - Me And You

Willie Nelson - Mountain Dew

Johnny Cash - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Lonestar - I'm Already There

Hank Locklin - Please Help Me, I'm Falling

Dolly Parton - Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That

Nanci Griffith - Outbound Plane

Alison Krauss & Union Station - It Doesn't Matter

Dixie Chicks - Everybody Knows

Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy (Live)

Elvis Presley - I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton & Loretta Lynn - Silver Threads & Golden Needles

Tim McGraw - Something Like That

George Jones - I'm Not Ready Yet

Taylor Swift - The Other Side Of The Door

Nanci Griffith - From A Distance

Eric Brace & Last Train Home featuring Charlie McCoy - Stone Fox Chase

Elvis Presley - That's All Right

Charlie Rich - I've Got Mine

Patsy Cline - Lonely Street

The Bellamy Brothers - Sugar Daddy

Faron Young - Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young

Willie Nelson - On The Road Again

Please give the Eden FM Country with Martin Facebook page a 'Like'. Thank you!

A Beautiful Sunset.

TAKING you back to September 1st, 2013, to a beautiful sunset in the Caribbean. The lady in the photograph is the magnificent Miss Maria Sharapova, and it is from her official Facebook account that I have shared this photograph as Wallpaper of the Week. Enjoy.