Rolling blog. Getting away from it all…

11 Wednesday Mar 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Politics, Railways, Rolling blogs

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10:17

Well, sort of. I’m still in the UK (sadly). But I’m escaping the confines of the Calder valley to do some exploring whilst the weather’s good and we have sunshine – even if the temperatures dropping due to a cold wind with snow threatened for later in the week.

And what a week it’s been. Talk about a mad, mad world! Trump’s busy trashing the world’s economy at the same time he’s trashing Iran, and the longer this goes on the more and more obvious it is that he has no plan. Iran lashing out in response is causing even more issues. Meanwhile, I’ve had bad news at home (which I won’t go into in this blog) which makes me conscious of the future and my own mortality. So, I need a break.

Right now I’m on a Northern service from Sowerby Bridge towards Manchester. I’ve a vague plan in mind, but that depends on the weather when I get across the Pennines. Let’s see what happens…

Leaving, but not on a jet plane…

11:45.

My journey into Manchester flew by. The train was crowded but that’s what happens when you only run a 2-car that time of day. Manchester city centre was equally busy with shoppers and the odd shoplifter getting nicked by police! There’s always plenty of life to observe in the city..

Having made my way to Piccadilly I’m now sat on an old friend to head out to New Mills Central.

The plan is to walk to a photographic location I’ve not visited for 26 years. I kept meaning to go back but never made it. Today’s the day, and a day where I expect to get a lot of steps in…

16:00.

I’m back as I’m taking a break, having wandered for miles. On arrival at New Mills I wandered the backroads to get to a bridge that overlooks New Mills South Junction. Here’s how it looked the last time I was here in May 2000.

158744 heads for Manchester past New Mills South Junction signalbox on the 26th May 2000.

Here’s how it looks now. Not much has changed.

A pair of Trans-Pennine Express Class 185s thunder through the junction on their way to Sheffield.
This trans-pennine route sees a lot of freight traffic due to the Peak District quarries and cement works.
The old Midland Railway signalbox has had a bit of a makeover in recent years. Now the signallers have the benefit of a outside loo at working level!

Having got the shots that I wanted I walked back into New Mills and caught the train to Edale, where I am now, enjoying a pint, a warm and the wifi in the Ramblers Inn by the station. It’s a cracking pub to stay the night in, or just pop in for a meal or a pint. Here’s a few shots from when I first arrived.

Another TPE service scurries through the Hope valley, this time bound for Cleethorpes.
An empty stone train from Bletchley (near London) makes its way back to the Peak District quarries for another load.
There’s worse views to gaze upon whilst you’re waiting to photograph trains. Here’s Lose Hill, part of the ridge that I love walking as the views are sublime.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Going up the ‘pool*. (with apologies to Jethro Tull)…

05 Thursday Mar 2026

Posted by in Blackpool, Photography, Politics, Travel

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Well, that was grim…

Having been confined to the Calder valley all week and waking up to a day where all you could see was fog I decided to take a break. But where to? Halfway through the night and in a semi-dream state my mind had hit on the idea of a trip to Blackpool, where the weather was predicted to be sunny. I’d not been for several years, so the idea appealed. Little did I know…

The trip there was easy. Direct trains from Sowerby Bridge are in short supply nowadays but it’s easy to make a connection a couple of stops down the line at Hebden Bridge. This time of year it’s not too much of a challenge to get a seat (or table) which I managed to do all the way to the coast.

En-route, the fog cleared, leaving us to travel under clear blue skies through the old ‘cotton country’ of Burnley, Accrington and Blackburn. We weren’t so lucky by Preston and the last few miles into Blackpool were bedeviled by high, hazy cloud. Even so, it was better than where I’d left.

A new tram terminus has opened since I was last in Blackpool. Now the system (which only used to run along the seafront) has a spur which ends just outside the railway station in an area that’s seen a lot of redevelopment. Much of Blackpool’s centre has seen a large injection of money over the past decade. There’s only one drawback. Whilst you can invest in infrastructure, how do you rebuild people?

Tram 001 at the new terminus. The railways station can be reached through the subway behind.
Tram 001 leaves the new terminus and heads for Starr Gate.
Tram 002 swings off the Promenade to head for the new terminus.

Having grabbed a few pictures of the changes I took a stroll along the seafront. In many ways there’s few things more depressing than a British seaside town out of season, when most things are closed. Trust me – I know. I grew up in one. (Southport, just the other side of the Ribble estuary).

The Central pier looks attractive in backlit light.

What added to the depression was the people. The hordes of pensioners and obese people on mobility scooters raised a wry smile as they reminded me of a ‘Monty Python’ sketch about ‘Hell’s Grannies’. It was the political undertow that I struggled with. Overhearing a young person holding forth in their criticism of Keir Starmer, who, in their opinion was the ‘leader of the liberal party’ (eh?). Shortly afterwards I watched the antics of a drunken young man draped in a Union flag being filmed by a couple of people who’d obviously set and staged an interview with him using Blackpool Tower as a backdrop. One of the pair was trying and failing to film with a drone which he clearly couldn’t control. I assume that this excrescence (if it ever makes it) will appear on TikTok or suchlike. I spotted said idiot wandering around later, carrying a speaker blasting out ‘Keir Starmer’s a w*nker’ on repeat. Such is the level of political discourse in Blackpool it seems.

Nothing sums up the state of English patriotism more than wandering around the streets draped in a tattered union flag whilst playing abusive songs.

Having justified being there by getting a couple of useful pictures I beat a hasty retreat, catching a train to Preston just as the rain arrived, reinforcing my reasons for getting the hell out of the place. I can’t think of any reason to return for a while…

*for those wondering, the title of this blog comes from a song by one of the bands that defined my teenage years, ‘Jethro Tull’ who were formed in Blackpool back in 1967. ‘Up the pool’ is a track off their classic 1972 album ‘Living in the Past’, which rather summed today up!

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/

Cheers,

Paul

4th March picture of the day…

04 Wednesday Mar 2026

Posted by in Donald Trump, iran, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics

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We’ve had an absolutely glorious day here in the Calder valley as we’ve seen blue skies and warmer temperatures all day. It really does feel like Spring has arrived. Just getting out to feel the sun on my skin again (no need for winter woolies) has been wonderful. Almost overnight blossom has started to appear on trees near us, whilst the birdsong has reached a crescendo as our feathered friends realise it’ll soon be time to find a mate – and they’re on it!

What’s been less inspiring has been human activity and Trump’s ‘operation divert from the Epstein files’, AKA the undeclared war on Iran. This reached a new low today when an American submarine sank an Iranian military ship off the coast of Sri Lanka. Why? Other than the fact they could, because they had a submarine in the area? The 1,500 tonne ‘Dena’ was no threat to anyone. It had been taking part in joint exercises with the Indian and other navies 3000km away from Iran. Over 100 sailors have died. I hold no candle for the theocrats of Iran, but this seems like a completely unwarranted attack that not only demeans the US but also paints a big target on US ships not in a war zone as it sets a precedent. There’s something else that’s uncomfortable too. The US submarine – despite being in absolutely no danger from anyone – failed to assist survivors. Even German U-boat captains during world war 2 were known to help survivors of the ships that they sunk (despite the risks). This does not look good on America, but I’ve no doubt their apologists will be out in full flow.

I can’t help thinking that Trump and his acolytes are taking the USA in a very dark direction. Far from being the ‘beacon of democracy’ they now look no better than some of the countries they criticise. America’s gone from the world’s policeman to the world’s bully. I also note that the Americans don’t call this a war, it’s akin to a ‘special military operation’. Now, where have we heard that before, and who from? That SVO’s going as well as can be expected too…

We live in dark times. Well, apart from spring appearing here in the UK, obviously. So, on that brighter note, I leave you with a picture I took just down the road earlier today.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Just when you though it was safe to get back in the water…

02 Monday Mar 2026

Posted by in Donald Trump, Musings, Politics, Travel, ukraine

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Thanks to the orange fool in the White House mine and everybody else’s weekend turned out to be rather different than planned. After weeks of military build-up, with fleets of aircraft crossing the pond from the US to Britain and the Middle-East, Trump finally decides to bomb Iran, along with his mate from Israel.

Needless to say, this has turned into a mess from day 1, not least because none of the protagonists seem to have a plan. Having killed Iran’s Supreme Leader (no loss) and many of the Iranian leadership there’s no sign that Trump knows what to do now, what the strategic aims are – or how long the war will last. Mind you, the Iranians don’t seem to have much of a clue either – other than to hurl missiles and drones around the Middle-East, hitting mostly civilian targets across the Gulf. Talk about how to make friends and influence people. Meanwhile, Russia – who’re meant to be Iran’s firm ally – send nothing but ‘thoughts and prayers’. Mind you, the hardware they sold previously wasn’t much cop. The missile systems bought at great cost to defend Tehran have proved to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard (just as they have been in defending Russian targets from Ukraine). The US and Israel are now reported to ‘control the skies’ above Tehran which is going to be causing some consternation amongst the surviving Mullahs and military. Even more embarrassing is the fact the Kuwaiti’s have proved to be better at shooting down American aircraft than the Iranians, apparently the score currently stands at 3-0.

Thankfully, our Prime Minister has stepped back from Trump’s coat-tails, learned the lessons from the 2003 Gulf War and taken the pragmatic decision to only allow UK airbases to be used by the US to knock out Iranian missile systems in order to defend British citizens and interests. Common-sense prevails.

Whilst this war is anything but something to laugh about, I couldn’t help but crack a wry smile at the antics of the UK tax-exiles in Dubai who (after slagging the UK odd as being ‘unsafe’) are suddenly expecting UK taxpayers to save their necks. That wonderful German word ‘Schadenfreude’ springs to mind. I can’t help thinking of the brave Ukrainians, who’ve endured their cities being attacked night after night, looking at these Dubai immigrants having hysteria and thinking ‘you think a couple of drones is bad’?

An unfortunate consequence of all this is that any plans I have to head out to SE Asia with any of the Middle-Eastern airlines are currently on hold until we see how all this pans out. In some ways, the timing couldn’t be better as I’ve just had a renewal notice for our annual travel insurance. Talk about making your eyes water! It’s gone up from £117 to £390. They’ve not got back to me yet when I emailed them to say ‘WTF’? but I’m assuming that it’s because I’ve now crossed over into old-fartdom by hitting 66.

So, bugger that, I’m going to be shopping around. But now I have the time to do so…

I’ll be working from home for the next few days as I’ve a lot of admin to sort out. Hopefully, I’ll have chance to get out now and then as the weather’s really looking to be improving as spring certainly feels to be in the air, which brings me to today’s picture which was taken in Halifax on Saturday. Have a crocus. In fact, have lots of them!

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Political news and views from the Gorton and Denton by-election.

27 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Politics, Railways

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Today, Reform were soundly beaten in the Gorton and Denton by-election by the Greens (by more than 4400 votes). As a consequence – and almost within minutes of the result being declared, the right-wing and their friends across the media have rolled out the Trump playbook to claim the election was ‘stolen’, the latest excuse being due to ‘family voting’. Here’s the full results.

Allegedly, Muslim families were persuaded by the head of the household NOT to vote for the racist from St Albans (Matt Goodwin) and instead vote for *checks notes* a woman from a party led by a gay Jew!

How stupid do you have to be to fall for this?

That hasn’t stopped the media going full-tilt on this angle this morning, but the flaws in the argument are obvious. This was not a close election. The Greens majority is 4402. Pus, there’s the rather inconvenient fact that the Muslim population aren’t even close to being a majority in the constituency.

No matter how you try and spin it, the idea the election was ‘stolen’ from Reform by the Asian community simply doesn’t stack up. But hey, what do facts matter when you can just blame Muslims?

Oh, to add to the fun. The latest far-right party led by a millionaire (aren’t they all) – ‘Restore’ was beaten by the Monster Raving Loony Party by 159 votes to 154 despite fielding a local candidate, Nick Buckley. There’s several things to be learned from this. One is that most people haven’t got a clue who ‘Restore’ or its leader (Rupert Lowe) are, either nationally or in Manchester. Lowe, who was too racist for Farage and got kicked out of ‘Reform’ formed his own party this year. Lowe has an army of bots on social media who constantly ‘big him up’ but bots can’t vote, so when it comes to the real world he fails to make any impression. A handful of Reform Councillors have defected to his new party which has been amusing to watch but the chances of them holding onto their seats isn’t great. The idea that ‘Restore’ will ever be anything other than a syphon for a few far-right votes is the stuff of fantasy.

There was also bad news for the Conservatives, who had a terrible result. Just 706 votes, which led to them losing their deposit. Oddly, a lot of the media have glossed over this fact. I wonder why?

So, whatever way you cut the result, the by-election’s been a poor one for the far-right. All their bluster on social media and their army of bots has failed to swing this, but that’s not for the first time. Reform have failed to win the last THREE by-elections. They lost to Plaid Cymru in Caerphilly (Wales) and Labour in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse (Scotland). So, that’s failures in England, Scotland and Wales! It’s worth mentioning that the only by-election ‘Reform’ have won was Runcorn, where their odious candidate Sarah Pochin scraped in by a mere 6 votes.

Meanwhile, the former British home secretary and Buddhist daughter of a Kenyan descendant of Goan Catholics, and a Mauritian Hindu descendent of Indian Tamils, born in Harrow, studied in New York, married to a Jewish South African who lived In Israel says multiculturalism has failed, which suggests multiculturalism is thriving but irony is certainly dead…

Of course, the election’s a disappointment for the Government and some of the media are back to their usual trick of painting this as throwing Keir Starmer’s leadership into question – so no change there then! The truth is less dramatic. I predict that Starmer is safe for several reasons, not least because he has a massive majority of over 160 MPs, that there’s no real appetite in the party for changing horses midstream as well as the fact there’s no obvious candidate to replace him. Plus, there’s 3 years to go until the next general election, which gives Labour time to turn things around, and for Reform to continue to stumble as their local councils expose just how incompetent they are.

In the meantime, congratulations to Hannah Spencer, the new MP. Now, is their any chance that you might be able to get a daily train service restored to Denton, which only sees one train each way on a Saturday?

156426 calls at Denton whilst working 2J45, the return 09:04 Stockport to Stalybridge on the 21st September 2024.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. More Piccadilly pictures…

24 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs

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10:45.

The past few days have been quiet here in the Calder valley, although Saturday did see us spending time over in Mytholmroyd, visiting old friends to help them out with a little project for the future. Beyond that we’ve been very much home-based. The weather’s beginning to turn drier, swapping with high winds that have turned our bird feeders into something of a challenge for our feathered friends. It’s akin to trying to land a plane on an aircraft carrier in high seas! Now we’re into a new week where I’ve decided to make the most of the brightening skies to return to Manchester and check out how the approaches to Piccadilly look from a photographic perspective now that the station’s reopened after the engineering blockade.

Right now I’m on a Northern service from Sowerby Bridge to head across the Pennines. It’s a quiet train, so there’s plenty of available table bays in which to set up the mobile office to type this.

I’ll be blogging (intermittently) throughout the day, so feel free to pop back and have a look at what I get up to (and where)…

Here we go…

13:30.

Phew! Time for a break and chance to upload a few images. Piccadilly station’s back to its normal buzzy self with both concourse and trainshed full of activity. What isn’t easy to see is the fruit of the past 9 days labours as the track that’s been renewed is some way away from the station itself. Hoping to get a better look I walked the backstreets to Manchester’s least used railway station – Ardwick. Just two trains a day call here, with a 2024/25 footfall of a mere 262 souls. The state of the entrance probably helps explain that.

The walk through some of the city’s less salubrious areas is fascinating from a photographic and social perspective, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be wandering around there after dark! When you catch a train from Piccadilly you don’t appreciate how much life there is in the arches below you. Despite the outward signs of decrepitude and decay there’s a myriad of small businesses. Many involve catering. Others supply hairdressing products or repair e-bikes used by Deliveroo drivers. Some are really rather posh behind the anonymous shutters. Here’s a few pictures.

Welcome to Ardwick station!
The view from Ardwick. Fresh ballast (stone) and cleaner rails give away which tracks have been renewed during the blockade – as do the clean speed restriction signs!
Shopping by numbers. Each of these arches are a small business – or available to be one.
Looking back to Piccadilly along Temperance St. The bridge in the foreground carried tracks into the former Mayfield station, latterly used for mail trains until it closed completely in 1986.
A train calls at platform 14 at Piccadilly whilst a mural of Ian Curtis from the band ‘Joy Division’ on the side of the Star and Garter looks on.

18:20.

Due to the spring-like conditions I decided to hang around in the city centre in order to enjoy the weather, explore and get some  architectural shots (which I’ll upload later). This also gave me time to pop into my favourite store in Chinatown to pick up some more goodies. This time it was different types of rice…

Now I’m heading back across the Pennines, which hasn’t been easy due to very busy (and short-formed) trains. I made it as far as Rochdale where I thought numbers would tail off. Bad move, as there were crowds of young men (well provisioned with bottles and cans) heading East on their way to some sporting event. Ah,well. At least I’ve managed to find a seat…

21:15.

Home!

It turned out that the sporting event was in Halifax, at the Shea stadium. I’ve no idea what as I’m not tribal and don’t follow these things. Half a dozen police officers kept an eye on the crowds flooding off the station, whilst more hung around pubs in town where supporters congregate. I was amused to see dozens of teenage lads – all dressed the same – in trainers, black jogging pants, black hoodies and baseball caps. So much for individuality it seems!

Finally, after 15 miles and 33,000 steps I made it home. Now it’s time to curl up with Dawn, enjoy a film and relax. There’s now a lot of new pictures to edit tomorrow. Here’s a couple of samples…

The glazed brickwork of the Midland hotel really caught the sun this afternoon…
A slightly different perspective on Metrolink trams.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Oh, go on then…

20 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Rolling blogs, Travel

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12:00.

I hadn’t intended to be on a train to Manchester right now. My day had been set as I was expecting to be at home waiting for a plumber to check out our boiler. Only he came early. Dawn’s out for the day as it’s her mum’s birthday, so I was sat twiddling my thumbs after completing my chores, and thought ‘bugger it, i’ll nip out for a few hours’.

As usual, the weather’s dank and dismal but that doesn’t matter in a city, where rainy reflections and opportunties abound.

Let’s see what I get up to…

13:00.

For once, it wasn’t actually raining in Manchester when I arrived. This gave me time to amble over to Piccadilly whilst observing life (and photographing trams) en-route without getting soaked.

Piccadilly was even more deserted than on my last visit. Even the engineers trains had decamped. All that lingered inside the trainshed was the smell of fresh paint.

Echo, echo, echo…

15:30.

Talk about changeable weather! I made my way from Piccadilly to Oxford Rd by train, just to see what the loadings were like – and to avoid a soaking as the heavens had opened. I spent the next hour ducking between downpours as I tried to photograph a series of freight and passenger trains trying to find paths through this constricted corridor (pix soon).

Despite the appearence of the odd flash of blue sky I’ve decided to abandon the city before rush-hour. Partly because I can see the colour of the skies to the East (doom-laden) and partly because I hope to stop off en-route…

17:00.

As suspected, the weather changed my plans. I was intending to change trains at Rochdale in order to pop into the delightful ‘Old Post Office’ micro pub in Castleton. Then the heavens opened – again!

I’ll pass, thanks – even though it’s my favourite tyoe of old train…

Abandoning such a visit I caught the next train East across the Pennines where the weather was considerably more clement, allowing me to stop off in Todmorden for a  swift pint at the Alehouse (blogs passim).

Now I’m heading to Halifax on a hot and steamy Northern service to Leeds which is doing a passable impression of a Chinese laundry thanks to the number of damp passengers.

On the bright side. I’ll be back in Halifax in time to join friends in our local pub for the Friday quiz – and free pork pie…

21:55.

I’m home after a day I didn’t expect. The wind and rain’s beating on the cottage windows, not that it matters for me as I’m warm and dry and able to present these pics…

A bus rather than a train all the way From Manchester to Chesterfield is less than desirable, especially if you have to stand outside in the p*ssing rain.
A ‘top and tailed’ Freightliner service threads its way through the Castlefield corridor towards Trafford Park with 66589 on the rear as insurance.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

18th February picture of the day…

18 Wednesday Feb 2026

Posted by in Climate Change, Environment, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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After the past couple of days travels I’ve been have a home-based one, which is not bad thing as the weather’s resorted to type apart from one important difference. It hasn’t rained at all today. Oh, the weather forecast has threatened us with a ‘yellow’ warning of snow, but that’s failed to materialise – again. What has happened is temperatures have dropped and the wind’s sprung up, which has made walking ‘fun’. I hadn’t planned to go out today but whilst I was away a parcel arrived. I’d ordered a new charger for my laptop only to find what was delivered was very different to what was promised. It looked great in the pictures. A USB-c charger with decent cables. What I got was a less than A1 product with a series of interchangeable head – and not one was USB-c! Bugger! So, I had to wander down to the Post Office in Sowerby Bridge to send the damned thing back. Still, it meant I hit my daily step count.

The rest of the day’s been spent in the warm, editing yet more pictures from the ever-expanding repertoire. I’d still not got on top of all the London shots. Now I have Derby, walking in the snow and a trip to Southport in the queue. Thankfully, I’ve managed to clear the bulk of them and should have the rest dealt with before the weekend.

The pictures are in far too many different galleries to post links to, but if you follow this link to the recent section on my Zenfolio site you’ll be able to see where they’ve been placed. Once they’re all done I’ll be able to update yesterday’s blog with some more of the history of Burscough and something I only noticed yesterday – although I must have walked past it dozens of times.

The forecast for tomorrow is for more rain and snow so I’ll probably end up having another day at home if that’s the case. I have to be here on Friday as Dawn’s out for the day but we’ve a chap coming round to fix a leak on our boiler. The ‘rock and roll lifestyle’ eh? That said, I’ve plenty to keep occupied with even if I can’t get out – including planning a few new adventures…

In the meantime, here’s today picture. I feel for farmers right now. My recent travels up and down the country have shown just how much land is flooded. Trying to get crops into such sodden ground must be nigh on impossible. Then there’s crops already planted which are drowning – and there’s no end in sight. Here’s how some fields looked like around Burscough yesterday.

A former ‘Thameslink’ Class 319 converted to bi-more 769424 passes waterlogged fields at Hoscar, just outside Burscough yesterday. This is a scene repeated up and down the country right now and is bound to have an effect on food prices later in the year. Not to mention farmer’s livelihoods.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling (ish)blog. Every cloud has a silver lining…

17 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Southport, Travel

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It’s nealy 14:00 and I’m gradually making my way back from an unexpected night in Southport, which turned out to be rather enjoyable. I didn’t get to meet up with the friends I’d expected to – but after getting marooneed I called in for a beer at a backstreet pub by the light show. I’ve not been in the Masons Arns for years and it was the last place I expected to see anyone. But by pure chance I stood at the bar next to a chap I’ve not seen for what must be 30 and more years! Alan (or ‘Bod’ as he was nicknamed in those days) was instantly recogniseable and was completely taken aback by seeing me. I ended up staying for a couple as we caught ip after so many years.

This morning I got to meet one of my neices (who’s growing up fast) as my sister was looking after her today. So my stay turned out to be very sociable.

Now I’m on my way back to Nanchester after a bruef stop in Burscough to make the most of the weather. Here’s some pictures.

One of the new Stadler built Class 777s bought by Merseyrail. These units are proving to be troublesome for a whole host of reasons.
A pair of the oldest diesel units left on the national network, the Class 150, make their way from Southport across the West Lancashire plain at Burscough
It’s a far cry from their Thameslink days! A class 319 converted to a bi-mode (diesel and electric) crosses the Leeds and Liverpool canal at Burscough.
Is there something about the residents of Burscough that we’re not being told?

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. The light fantastic?…

16 Monday Feb 2026

Posted by in Liverpool, Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Southport, Travel

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10:25.

The beginning of another week sees me combine business with pleasure for a varied day that promises to be fun – despite the poor weather. Yep, we’re back to heavy grey clouds, rain and possibly snow here in the Calder valley, so I’m having a day out.

Right now I’m on Northern’s 10:00 from Sowerby Bridge, heading for Manchester. Piccadilly, the city’s main railway station is closed for the next 9 days to allow the old trackwork on the approach to the station to be replaced. Only the two through platforms remain open to allow for freight to run to Trafford Park container terminal, and a handful of passenger services to Blackpool North and Liverpool Lime St with a shuttle service working to Oxford Rd to allow connections to elsewhere. Want to go South? Then you’ll be bussed to Stockport where all other trains are terminating.

After checking out how things are going my plan’s to head over to Liverpool, then to Southport, where something rather special is happening. This evening’s the last performance of ‘Lightport’. Billed as “free immersive light and sound experience produced by leading international artists Lucid Creates, that will turn Lord Street into a walk-through rainbow of colour and creativity”. Apparently it will light up a 400m stretch of the famous street, including the Monument, so I though it would be worth checking out.

Watch this space…

12:30.

My arrival in Manchester coincided with what Manchester’s famous for. Rain. Lots of it, which made walking from Victoria to Piccadilly a very soggy experience. Have you ever seen the film ‘Bladerunner’, where it’s always raining? That’s how Manchester felt. Sadly, there wasn’t much to see at Piccadilly. Whilst the concourse is open, the normally bustling trainshed was devoid of activity. A solitary class 66 sat burbling away, whilst a couple of Kirow rail-mounted cranes occupied another platform, having deposited their load of new pointwork.

At present much of the engineering work is taking place out of camera shot so I didn’t hang around and caught a train to Oxford Rd instead, which was rather more interesting (and photogenic). As well as passenger services there was a continuous stream of container trains, all of which were ‘top and tailed’ with a locomotive at each end as insurance in case of a failure (which would really bugger things up).

I’m tempted to come back to get pictures when the weather’s better. As it was, I departed the city under apocalyptic skies to head to Liverpool and my next port of call – which wasn’t a bad choice as the weather’s drier. We’ve even been teased by a few snatches of blue skies!

My 6-car train to Liverpool isn’t too busy. I’ve managed to set up the mobile office in a table bay and download some of the Manchester pictures which I’ll add shortly. Right now, it’s time to enjoy the journey…

22:30.

Sorry for the gap but today’s turned into a very different one to the one I’d expected – for a whole host of reasons. Right now I’m updating this blog from my sister’s sofa in Southport – where I’ll be staying the night due to Northern cancelling enough trains towards Manchester that I haven’t got a hope in hell of getting home. Not a good look when you consider today was the last night of the light show.

I’ve so much to blog about but the rest is going to have to wait until tomorrow when I have more time. Right now I’ll leave you with this…

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/

Cheers,

Paul