Having spent the weekend back in West Yorkshire to help dawn with redecorating Bigland Towers it was time to head back to sunny Southport where I had a list of chores to do to help my sister. I chose to avoid Manchester and take the route via Preston, which inspired the title of this blog. You’ll soon see why!
At Preston I encountered the first of the newly repainted Class 222s which will operate the new ‘Lumo’ service from Stirling in Scotland to London Euston. This will begin to carry passengers from May 28th but right now they’re busy training the crews and running a ‘shadow’ service. Lumo’s West Coast operation will be based in Preston so it’s a good place to see their trains.
After picking up more Lumo staff at Preston, 222601 heads for London Euston.
That wasn’t my only surprise of the day as shortly afterwards this venerable machine arrived light engine on its way North. It took me right back to the 1970s!
47270 is owned by West Coast Railways. Originally built in the early 1960s it survived in mainline service until 2005. Recently refurbished, it’s returned to traffic in 2026.
Heading down the West Coast Main Line to Wigan before heading to Southport one last surprise was in store. Local enthusiasts told me that steam engine ‘Blue Peter’ was due, hauling a special train from London Euston to Hellifield. It wasn’t the ideal loaction to grab a picture, but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance!
Built at Doncaster in 1948, ‘Blue Peter’ is a Peppercorn designed A2 Pacific. It’s first claim to fame is that it was originally restored to service by donations to the TV programme ‘Blue Peter’ back in the 1970s. It’s out on the mainline again this year.
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My idea of catching up with blogging last week turned into a dismal failure for a variety of reasons, but we’re now into a new week. After spending the weekend back at Bigland Towers I’ve returned to Southport for a few days, which will give me time to do what I need to do – which includes blogging.
Today I’m out shopping and finding a temporary ‘office’ where I can work in peace whilst getting my steps in ‘commuting’ to and from my sisters. The commute has often turned into an exploration as I try and take a different route into town each day. This involves suddenly deciding to take a detour and explore streets I’ve not visited since I moved to London back in 1986, or even before as some were near my old school which I left a decade earlier!
One thing that’s caught my eye is how the corner shop had died a death. There used to be loads of them around my parents house. Now they’re almost all gone. The newsagents/tobacconists of old are almost extinct, as are local butchers, grocers and chip shops. Even hairdressers have disappeared in some parts as people retire, or realise their business has become unprofitable. Trying to remember where these places were and what they were has become a new game. In some cases it’s easy to spot them because of the way the building’s been converted rather than demolished. In others there’s hardly any clues. Mind you. it’s not just shops. Many pubs have disappeared too, like this one – the George, where I spent many an hour with an old friend who lives around the corner.
By the George is a large old cemetery where my grandmother used to take us young kids on walks. It’s not as well maintained as I remember, but I did find this memorial which I recalled as a child. It’s to the crew of the lifeboat Eliza Fernley, as 14 of the 16 members perished, along with 13 members of the St Annes lifeboat whilst both boats were trying to rescue the crew of the ship ‘Mexico’ in 1886.
Before I made it into town I passed one last empty shop, but this one has family connections. DM Rogers was the family business. It was opened by my mum and dad and named after my mother (Doreen Myfanwy Rogers, her maiden name). When my dad gave up the business it was taken over by my brother David who moved it from Nelson St to Shakespeare St. This was the third incarnation after moving across the road. Dave retired last year and now workers are converting the shop for another tenant, so this is the last time I’ll see the sign and name.
How times change…
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I’ll be busy catching up with blogging over the next few days so don’t be surprised when things appear out of kilter. Like today! I’m splitting my time between Halifax and Southport at the moment which is adding to the confusion. I was back in West Yorkshire over the weekend, helping Dawn with decorating the living room at Bigland Towers. To be honest, Dee didn’t really need my help for more than giving her advice on not rushing things and not to get impatient when things don’t quite go to plan. Dawn’s proved to be a dab hand at wallpapering, transforming the living room from what was quite drab into something with real sparkle.
The pair of us spent a lot of the weekend working but by Monday it was time to take a break as Dee’s taken the rest of the week off. This gave us chance to relax, then get out to explore. Monday’s not the most exciting of days in the Calder valley as many places are closed. Even so, we decided to head out to do some exploring by driving over to Todmorden with the hope of doing a bit of shopping first. Bad move. All the butchers we wanted to visit were shuttered, but the day wasn’t wasted as we decided to head out into the top of the valley in a directions we’ve not explored before. This took us to a place called Bridestones, which is a fantastic collection of rocky outcrops high above the town. I can see we’re going to revisit as there’s some stunning views to be had from the footpaths around the area – all within striking distance of the town centre – if you don’t mind walking uphill!
As our day was unplanned I’d left the camera at home for once, so you’ll have to excuse a couple of pictures taken on my phone. Rest assures, I’ll be back with the Z9 soon.
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I’ve been splitting my time between Southport and Halifax recently, for a number of reasons which include family duties. This has given me an insight into two very different worlds across the North of England. Right now I’m back in Halifax, having come back on Thursday to vote in the local elections. Sadly, the election results were far less favorable in Calderdale than they were in Sefton (the area which covers Southport). I’ll blog about the results in detail tomorrow but the upshot is that whilst Labour retain control in Sefton whilst they’ve lost control of Calderdale to Reform. I now await the inevitable political shitstorm that will follow as Reform indulge in their usual backstabbing, abuse of anyone not ‘one of them’ and pointless performative politics whilst pretending they can be trusted to run more than a whelk stall.
Politics aside, Dawn and I have been getting on with home improvements and redecorating the living room. Dee’s proving her skills at wallpapering despite never having tackled it before. I’ve been offering support and technical advice in the background whilst covering other chores. Sadly, the great weather I’ve been enjoying over on the coast hasn’t followed me to Calderdale, but then the place does feel rather gloomy after the election results. No matter what you read in the media desperate to ‘big up’ Reform, it’s clear the majority of residents didn’t vote for the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’ Farage’s latest party and most reactions are less than favourable.
I’ll be here for a few more days yet as as we both want to get the living room to a stage of completion where it’s a livable space rather than a just a work in progress. After that I’ll be on my travels again. Whilst I’ve been here a couple of commissions have come in that will see me on the rails again at the beginning of next month, which will dovetail nicely with other projects in the pipeline. Plus, when the weather picks up I’ve more Merseyrail and Liverpool adventures planned – and more. June’s going to be a busy month.
But for now I’ll leave you with a picture of the weather over the Calder valley earlier today. It neatly sums up the mood of many in Calderdale after the election result was announced.
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We’re in the last day of campaigning for the 2026 local elections here in the UK so I wanted to write down some thoughts.
If you’ve been paying any attention to the media you’d be forgiven for thinking Nigel Farage and his Reform party are going to sweep all before them. This impression becomes more exaggerated on social media which is awash with pro-Reform bots and trolls who pile in from nowhere at the mere mention of Farage’s name.
But is Reform’s support really that strong in the real world?
I’ve been staying in Southport on Merseyside these past few days, walking miles around the town to explore old haunts, whilst doing so I’ve been keeping my eye out for expressions of support for the different parties. This is totally unscientific of course. Most people keep their politics to themselves. However, some supporters of various parties display their allegiance through the use of placards in the gardens (or in extreme cases, flags!).
So, I’ve been looking out for these across the town and noticed that there’s an almost even spread between Lib-Dem, Labour and Green parties, but overt support for Reform is noticeably absent. In fact, I could only find one Reform placard. Well, I assume it was Reform as only broken stub remained! It was in the garden of a large, well to do house on the edge of the town centre.
Across the road in another garden there flew the tattered remnants of a Union flag which rather set the scene in that part of town.
Because nothing says you’re proud to be British like (sort of) flying cheap Chinese made Union flags…
Meanwhile, some Lib-Dem supporters displayed a sense of humour as well as allegience!
There’s plenty of these around town.I do find it rather ironic that these ‘Greens’ have destroyed their front garden and turned it into a car park!
We’ll know the outcome of the elections on Friday. Whilst Reform are expected to perform well due to dissatisfaction with the Government I can’t help but wonder if their support has been overstated. There’s certainly not much of it evident on the ground, and their local election material is hardly convincing. One of their leaflets claims they’re going to ‘reclaim’ Southport beach, but don’t explain what that even means. Reclaim it from what?
The promises to cut council tax have been ditched and replaced with claims they’ll ‘audit’ financial waste and inefficiency. But what if they don’t find any?
Southport is part of Sefton, which has been run by Labour since 2012 who currently hold 51 of the 66 seats. Reform currently have 1, the same as the Greens and ‘your party’. The largest opposition group is the Lib-Dems who have 9 seats. In third place are the Tories, who have just 4.
From 1974-86 Sefton was Tory run, it slipped to no overall control between 1986-2012, then Labour won a majority. It would take a massive swing for Sefton to become a Reform-controlled Council.
I’ll watch this one with interest.
Back in West Yorkshire, Calderdale council has 51 members and is Labour controlled (26 members). The Tories are the largest opposition group with 8 and the Lib-Dems next with 6. The Greens have 3, as do Reform. Calderdale’s been Labour controlled since 2019. Before that there’s been long periods where there’s been no overall control with a couple of periods when the Tories were in charge (1975-80 and 2000-2002). Wandering around at home I’ve observed the same phenomenon, hardly any sign (literally) of Reform support – apart from one large converted farmhouse up at Norland where someone’s flying both the Union and Reform flags!
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Purely by accident my time here in Southport coincided with the town’s ‘big top’ festival, a free event which spread across five locations in the centre of town but mostly revolved around Lord St and its gardens. It’s a two day event and I have to say I was seriously impressed by the quality of it. The acts I saw were superb. Here’s a few pictures.
Here’s ‘Smashed2’, a group of nine jugglers who mix their act with acrobatics, choreography, humour and a wonderful mix of music, from classical to blues. How they memorise their varied and complex routines amazes me. Life is a beach are a pair of performers who explore a day at the beach through acrobatics, with a wry look at pollution and antisocial behaviorsAustralian group Circa perform ‘Wolf’, acrobatics with fangs…There’s another stage at the Monument, where I caught ‘Beyond’ performing. Moving back to catch one last look at smashed 2 I moved over to Market St, where cirque di kaka were about to perform.As part of the event, Market St lived up to its name with several dozen stalls selling a variety of goods from food to handmade jewellery.
From what I saw (and judging by the crowds) the event was a great success. The acts were excellent, the event was well-organised and the atmosphere relaxed. It was a day out which would entertain all the family. I’m loving the way Southport seems to be reinventing itself in such an imaginative way.
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At the moment I’m enjoying time in Merseyside, rediscovering old haunts and basking in glorious sunshine. Well, until today. Now, with a bank holiday looming the sun’s decided to have some time off too! Blue skies have been replaced by grey, with cutting through temperatures and rain adding to the mix. Hey ho…
I shouldn’t really complain, yesterday I took a break from paperwork and plans to head over to Liverpool in order to do some food shopping. Whilst Southport has become much more cosmopolitan when it comes to the availability of exotic ingredients there’s still stuff you can’t get here, which gave me the impetus to visit the city of my birth and the Chinatown area, where I was sure I’d be able to buy what I needed.
It was lovely to be back in Liverpool. The city’s so vibrant nowadays compared to how I remember it in the 70s-80s. Bold St, at the back of Central station’s a great example. Nowadays is lined with cafes, bars and restaurants with people dining alfresco as seating’s spilled outside to take over the street. The atmosphere’s great. I also rediscovered ‘News from Nowhere’, a radical bookshop which used to be elsewhere in the city. One thing I discovered during my brief browse was a selection of cards. This one particularly amused.
In contrast, Chinatown was remarkably subdued. Many places were closed, I’m assuming because it’s just not economical to open during the day that early in the week. Still, here’s a selection of pictures from my wandering.
The gateway to Chinatown in Nelson St. I photographed this over 25 years ago for the the Lonely Planet guide to England. Art and relaxing in the sunshine in Great George SquareSt Luke’s bombed out church.
To be continued..
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Humble apologies for my long absence. This has been down to a catalogue of circumstances which is too long to detail.
But now I’m back, and I intend to stay back..
Right now I’m back on the rails, heading for Southport and time with some of my family on what’s a glorious day, weather-wise. I caught a train from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester through the Calder valley which looked simply stunning. There’s blossom aplenty. Plus a plethora of shades of green as the trees renew their leaves for another year. The only downside has been a steady wind which has reduced temperatures to bordering on chilly.
My train into Victoria gave me a few anxious moments as it was late and I only had a 6 minute connection. Fortunately, this was a cross-platform connection and the Southport train was late too.
Now I’m enjoying the journey to the coast via Bolton in the former 1st Class section of a bi-mode Class 769.
15:30.
I’m currently rediscovering old haunts in Southport, the town I grew up in. It’s changed a bit! I’ve just realised that next month will herald the 50th anniversary of me leaving school and starting my working life here when I began training as an apprentice locksmith. The business that emplyed ne disappeared decades ago, but the building by the side of the railway station still exists.
Lord St, with its canopies still looks lovely, even if all the posh shops and department stores are history.
17:00.
And pause…
Remember I said about where I first started work? Here it is today. Although to be fair, it’s been an amusement arcade for decades.
Back in 1976 it had an even bigger glass front. And the summer of 76 was a record-breaker, so we suffered. Some of my old schoolfriends would walk past and poke fun, but I had the last laugh. I was earning £17 a week whilst they were still looking for jobs.
At that time the business was owned by a father and son who were the Trotters before the Trotters were invented. The son eventually went to prison, but I’ll fill in that part of the story later – along with some of the other things I (as a naieve 16yr old) got dragged into by the Davies clan.
Right now I’m taking a break in Birkdale, having a pint in a Southport version of the Big 6 at early doors (it’s full of tradesmen) – aka, the ‘Upsteps’ and recharging my phone.
Here’s a couple more pictures from the day.
Birkdale station in Southport’s Southern suburbs is a lovely little station which recently won a community rail award for the work the community has done in restoring the old station house as a community asset. A Stadler built Class 777 calls at Birkdale. It would be safe to say that these trains are not the companies finest product. They’re a good example of what happens when non-railway people procure trains.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m back – and it’s been a long day! The hotel I stayed in last night was fine, with one odd exception. They wouldn’t let you leave any luggage after check-out. So, having already changed into my PPE I ended up carrying a rucsac full of ‘civvies’ around with me. Fortunately, the site was only 35 mins walk away.
My morning has been spent on a steep embankment where McGinley contractors have been busy digging boreholes to allow the condition of the embankment to be monitored. You may think the Victorians were great engineers, but you’d be shocked if you knew how they built railway embankments. They’re often impossibly steep and constructed out of any old rubbish, which is why they slip, so need monitoring. I was out with a team doing exactly that. It’s not the easiest of assignments due to the ground conditions.
Pictured in action…
Still, we got the job done so I’m free for the rest of the day.
Having been dropped off at Wolves station I’ve decided to explore. Right now I’m heading for Birmingham New St…
13:05.
I’m off again. After a cold start in Wolves this morning the weather’s warming up and there’s lots of sunshine in the offing so I’m having a spin out to Birmingham International on one of the new Class 730/2 trains. They’re the longer-distance version of the Class 730/0 and I have to say I’m rather impressed. The seating’s very good as is the layout – although the fact there’s not many table bays will annoy some.
19:00.
Back again en-route home after a busy day exploring Birmingham and Wolves. With the weather in my favour I spent the best part of an hour at International station grabbing pictures before heading back to the city and a break from national rail to photograph the tram extension to what will be the HS2 station at Curzon St – where work is really moving forward. After that, there was time for a trip to look at dome of the new stations which have been built on the Camp Hill line. How can you resist a station called ‘Pineapple Rd’?
The quality and thought that’s gone into the new stations is a credit to TfWM.They’re really rather good. If I had one gripe it would be the lack of toilets, but otherwise they’re very well laid out and landscaped. I’ll be interested to see the actual first year footfall statistics compared to the estimates.
Back in Brum I took another West Mids service via two other new stations on the route through Bescot. Willenhall especially brings back lots of memories for me as I spent several days here back in 1977 job-hunting in the lock trade. But that’s another story!
Having returned to Wolves I couldn’t resist nipping in to a local institution for a swift pint. The Great Western pub is tucked away in a back street below the surviving station but adjacent to the one that inspired its name.
19:30.
Now I’m heading to Manchester on a beautiful spring evening. I’d have been tempted to linger, but it’s been a long day and I’ve another busy one tomorrow. Due to some Cross-Country services being late I caught an Edinburgh bound Avanti Pendolino to Crewe where I had just enough time to catch another Pendolino bound for Manchester. It beats Voyagers hands down! Both trains have been busy but relaxed and at 9 -11 cars length very different to a Sardine-can Voyager.
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Having spent the weekend at Bigland Towers and the Calder valley, it’s time to wander further afield as I’m working for a rail company in Wolverhampton first thing tomorrow, so I thought I’d make the most of getting there and the overnight stay the job entails.
My first leg of the journey is from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester aboard one of Northern’s old Class 158s where I’ve been able to set up the mobile office. Today’s a lovely day for travelling. Spring’s very much in the air and the Calder valley is bursting into life with cherry blossom much in evidence in towns like Todmorden. The valley’s quickly turning green as leaf-growth expands at a rate of knots. All we need now is for the weather to warm up!
Train 1 from platform 1…
My 2-car train isn’t to crowded as yet, despite it being the first off-peak service, but as it’s Monday that’s hardly surprising. The story may be very different once we’ve traversed the Pennines and reached Rochdale.
I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to pop in later and see what I get up to…
10:45.
As expected, this train’s almost full after leaving Rochdale, having picked up other passengers en-route. We’re now speeding towards Manchester under clear blue skies.
12:00.
Ho hum! I walked across Manchester city centre in glorious sunshine, looking forward to the next leg of the journey. I’d planned to catch Transport for Wales’s 11:30 to Crewe where I’d have a short break to get pictures before my next train to Wolves. Then I saw the crowds waiting on the platform and realised it was a two-car train! What’s the Welsh for ‘Sardine can’?
Maybe not…
Thinking ‘bugger that’ I dashed across from 10 to 4 and joined a five-car Cross-Country Voyager heading for Bournemouth. It’s just as busy, but at least there’s breathing space in the vestibules.
Now I find myself recreating a regular commute from 12 years ago when I worked on the Staffordshire Area Improvement Programne (SAIP) which rebuilt the West Ciast Main line through and around the county town. How time flies!
Here we are again…
12:47.
Stafford’s bathed in sunshine, so I may linger…
14:10.
And linger I did! I stayed for on hour in which time I managed to get some useful pictures, swap banter with station staff – and soak up the sun.
Now I’m on the last leg to Wolves aboard another XC service. This one’s less busy but no more quiet. There’s an ‘interesting’ British family in my car where the matriach of the family is watching (and broadcasting) one of those conspiracy/get rich Facebook channels. I’m sure that will work…
15:30.
Having arrived in Wolves I’ve wandered to the hotel in order to dump all my PPE. For the cost I’ve stayed in far worse.
2230.
I’ve really enjoyed today and a huge part of that has been because of the people that I’ve met. I’ve mentioned my love of this neck of the woods in bĺogs passim. Now, the only thing that’s spoiling stuff is technical shit that’s stopping me adding more pics
I’ve a very busy day tomorrow but hope to have the problem fixed soon.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 