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Paul Bigland

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Paul Bigland

Monthly Archives: February 2019

Bog-eyed!

28 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, West Yorkshire

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Musings, West Yorkshire

Having spent the past three days travelling I’ve had a day at home that’s left me bog-eyed because of the number of pictures I’ve had to edit and get onto my Zenfolio website. There’s now close to 200 new images which you can find if you follow this link to the recent section of the website where 16 different galleries have gained pictures.

To be honest, I couldn’t have asked for a better time to be stuck at home. The fantastic weather we’ve enjoyed for the past few days had morphed into more traditional weather. It’s been cold and cloudy with mist blocking off views of the valley since early morning. I didn’t leave the house until Dawn got back from work and we nipped out to our local for a bit of exercise and a beer. Now I’m back at home and editing a last few pictures in order to clear the decks for a busy day tomorrow which (hopefully) will involve blogging at greater length. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one picture from yesterday which shows how our railways are changing. These Hitachi built Class 800 ‘Azuma’ trains for LNER are just some of the 7000 plus rail vehicles that have been ordered or delivered since 2014.

DG319533. 800103. Hitchin. 27.2.19crop

G’night!

 

Rolling blog: The morning after the night before…

27 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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It’s a beautiful morning in London and the sun’s already cracking the flags. I’m sipping coffee in my hotel room in preparation for the day ahead whilst recovering from last night.

Yesterday’s Bradshaw address was a very interesting event, not so much because we learned a huge amount about what will be in the forthcoming Williams report (we didn’t) more because the event was packed with the great and the good from the railway industry and everyone talks. Afterwards, the Rail Delivery Group held an informal get-together for the media and other colleagues, which was just as informative as the main event, but Chatham House rules and all that. All I will say is that the night ended in the company of a long-time friend called Rupert (whom most in the rail industry will know) so it it was great fun, but I’m paying for it this morning!

I’m going to make my way home by meandering up the East Coast Main Line and have a look at some of the huge changes that are taking place as I go, so expect lots of words an pictures later…

11:15.

After leaving my hotel near Kings Cross I walked over to Euston to check out progress on building Hs2, the new high-speed railway. Every time I visit something’s changed. There’s a huge amount of work going on as old buildings are torn down to make way for the expanded station, which is spreading to the West. I couldn’t help but crack a grin at seeing all the work going on then thinking of the few remaining Hs2 antis on Twitter who insist that none of this work means Hs2 is actually being built! Talk about kidding yourself!

Afterwards I headed back to King Cross to begin my meander North by catching a Great Northern service as far at Potters Bar, a place I have mixed memories of, and this is why.

Within an hour of the crash happening I got a phone call to my North London home from RAIL magazine, commissioning me to cover the accident. I ended up spending several days at the scene, documenting the tragedy and the subsequent recovery operation. Journalists from all over the place had been scrambled to cover what was a major news story. The best vantage point was stop a wooden fence in the beer garden adjacent car park, which is where many of us ended up. I remember helping a rather posh middle-aged woman to climb the fence and we got chatting. She explains that she was a photographer who normally worked for ‘Horse and Hound’ magazine but had got a call because she lived in the area!

After the first couple of days the weather turned an rain set in, which bade life difficult for everybody. A huge crane had been set up to remove the car of the crashed train that was wedged under the station canopy and we were all keen to get a shot of the lift, this meant hanging around for hours and many of us took shelter in the pub! ITN had set up a huge cherry picker in the pub car park which they used for filming. Whilst they were waiting to go on air the ITN crew joined us in the pub and I got talking to Nicholas McGinty, their reporter. Nick wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather so I lent him my waterproof jacket whilst he did his piece to camera. In return, he arranged for me to go up in the cherry picker to get pictures! We met again a few years later at another rail tragedy, Ufton Herbert, Nick remembered me and I got another go in that cherry picker too. Thankfully, those times have changed and there hasn’t been a fatal rail crash since 2007.

12:35.

I stopped off at a famous bottleneck on the East Coast Main Line, the two track section at Welwyn North. There’s been talk of quadrupling this section for decades but it’s no easy (or cheap) task at it contains a lengthy viaduct and two tunnels.

15:00.

I’ve slowly been making my way up the East Coast Main Line, making the most of the stunning weather to top up my photo library with shots at some locations I’ve not visited in years.

It’s been an interesting experience that’s brought back many happy memories but also shown me how rapidly this stretch of railway’s changing. All the Great Northern services to Peterborough are now worked by the Siemens built, 12-car Class 700s. Now they go via St Pancras Thameslink and across London to Horsham instead of terminating at Kings Cross. The intercity fleets are changing too. Hitachi built Class 800s are up and down on test on a regular basis and are due to start displacing the BR built HSTs and Class 91s in a matter of months. They’ll also replace Hull Trains Class 180s. It’s not just the trains either. Network Rail is busy renewing the overhead lines and replacing cable headspans with portals.

16:48

I’m gradually getting North now after stops at Peterborough and Grantham. It’s such a gorgeous day that I want to make the most of the weather and get a few more shots in the can. Sadly, after all the rebuilding that’s gone on, Peterborough isn’t the photo opportunity it once was. That said, it’s interesting to observe operations there. The amount of intermodal freight trains that have to cut across the Northern approaches to the station to get to the Ely route and on to Felixstowe must be a train planner’s nightmare! No wonder Network Rail are building the dive-under from the GN/GE joint line.

18:20

I’m on the last leg after a final change of trains at Doncaster. Yet another LNER ‘Azuma’ flew past, luckily in full branding. That done, I couldn’t resist a visit to the Draughtsman, the tiny real ale bar on the station which opened in 2017.

Now I’m on Grand Central’s 18:04 service to Bradford Interchange, which takes me straight to Halifax and home. Tomorrow’s weather forecast isn’t great. The run of fantastic weather’s coming to an end, so it’ll give me chance to have a day at home catching up on paperwork and plans – as well as editing all the pictures that I’ve taken over the past couple of days!

20:45

Right, time for a ‘swifty’ in my local before heading home. It’s goodnight from me…

Rolling blog: Tuesday travels…

26 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Raiways, Rolling blogs, Travel

11:12

After having such an early start yesterday I’ve had a slower one today, getting some financial stuff sorted out and preparing for the next couple of day’s travels. Now I’m ready for the off and to make my way down to London for tonight’s George Bradshaw address. So, let’s see what happens today, shall we?

I’m heading to Halifax today and (unlike yesterday) there’s not a trace of mist. In fact, it’s a stunning day and I’m beginning to think I should have packed the suntan lotion!

12:00

I’m not joking about the suntan lotion! Today’s temperature’s ridiculous for February. It’s lovely and deeply worrying at the same time as climate change is real. I wonder how many records will be broken this year?

On my walk to the station I detoured through Halifax’s magnificent Piece Hall. The piazza was busy with people basking in the sun or snacking at one of the cafe’s. When you see the place it’s hard to accept you’re in West Yorkshire and not Italy.

Right now I’m on my first train if the day, the 11:59 to Leeds via Bradford. It’s being worked by a cascaded 2-car class 158 from Scotrail, so we have the luxury of capers and more tables than normal!

12:58

I didn’t hang around in Leeds, instead I caught LNER’s 12:45 to Kings Cross, which is being worked by one of their venerable HST sets. It’s a lightly loaded service, as you can see from this picture.

I’ve bagged a vacant table and set up the laptop to take advantage of the fact LNER have now made wifi access free to both 1st and Standard Class passengers, which is great!

14:02

I abandoned the HST at Doncaster as a couple of photo opportunities were presenting themselves. Firstly, one of the LNER ‘Azuma test runs was due through. These Hitachi built trains are due to enter passenger service in the next few months (although no-one, even DfT can say when exactly). At the same time, a pair of refurbished HST (High Speed Train) power cars were making their way from Brush, Loughborough to Scotland. Here’s a shot of the power cars.

With the sun out, the railway enthusiasts were out in force, cameras and notebooks in hand. This station’s almost certainly the busiest when it comes to the number of enthusiasts. They’re attracted by the variety of passenger and freight trains that pass through and because the adjacent railway works can produce all sorts of strange and exotic vehicles for refurbishment or repair.

Trainspotting (which is the focus of many of the rail enthusiasts at Doncaster, although other flavours are available) reached its peak in the 1950s. After that it went into a gradual decline which was hastened by the end of steam trains on the national network in 1968. Of course, nowadays there’s such a variety of hobbies or sports available compared to the post-war years it’s no wonder few young people are attracted to the hobby. Add to this the fact ‘trainspotter’ has become an insult and you can understand the decline. That doesn’t mean some young people (make and female) don’t take up the hobby, but the throng at Doncaster displayed a common trait. They were all elderly (mostly retired) men. I reckon that if I went back in 10 years time the number would have thinned considerably simply due to the passage of time.

14:36

I’m now on another LNER HST heading South. This one’s rather different as the fact it still uses the original style seats betrays the set as one acquired from East Midlands Trains. I’ve never been a fan of the IC70 seats as their fixed armrests make it awkward to get in and out.

15:40

After a brief pause at the much enlarged Peterborough station I’m on the move again getting ever closer to London, this time aboard one of LNER’s MK4 coach sets being propelled by a class 91. I know many people thought GNER were the epitome of post privatisation operators but I have to say LNER have beaten them on many levels. There’s a far better passenger information system now with screens that give you realtime information. No more paper reservation labels either and the free wifi’s a boon.

Rolling blog: Monday meanderings

25 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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05:07

I’ve been up since 04:45 as I’m starting the day with an early appointment in Birmingham, so I’m heading down to Sowerby Bridge station to catch the 05:57 to Manchester. Expect a varied blog with lots of pictures throughout the day as I’ll be doing a fair bit of travelling.

06:00

The walk down into Sowerby Bridge was rather surreal this morning as I could see the valley floor was shrouded in mist which was lit by a bright half-moon shining through otherwise clear skies. I only had the hooting of owls in the surrounding woods for company until I arrived in the town which was deep in fog.

Now I’m on the first train of the day, which is running on time and (at this stage) pretty empty although I’ve no doubt it won’t be by the time we reach Manchester.

The service is made up of a pair of single-car Class 153s so it’ll be interesting to see if this proves adequate this time on a Monday morning.

Whilst I’m sitting on the train I’m scanning the news and trying to get my head around the criminal stupidity of our Prime Minister, who has postponed any vote on Brexit until March 12th. UK businesses must be in utter despair. That leaves them in limbo yet again with absolutely no idea what’s happening. The point of no return has already passed for any that are reliant on imports from places like China. The last ship has already sailed that could guarantee getting goods here under our existing trade deals. Now no-one has a clue what terms will apply. For a Government to put its citizens and the economy in this position for no other reason than it’s own stupidity is breathtaking. The tragic farce of Brexit has already caused huge damage to the country and our politicians are piling on the agony. May continues this deception that her flitting back and forth twixt Brussels and London means anything other than increasing incredulity in Europe and a hardening of attitudes towards us, she holds a gun to her head and threatens the EU that she’ll pull the trigger. It’s madness, utter madness. Whatever happens in the next few weeks one thing is certain: it will only end in pain and humiliation for the UK – and all for what? Blue passports? How could we as a nation have been so stupid?

06:31.

After calling at Rochdale my train is half to two-thirds full of commuters heading to work. Dawn’s just breaking through a clear sky and Manchester looks like it’s in for another lovely day. Passing the brightly lit Northern Rail depot at Newton Heath the work to pay extra sidings for the company’s new trains is very much in evidence.

07:29

I’d no time to waste in Manchester as I decided to see if I could make an earlier train. A sprint across the city centre in record time allowed me to catch Cross-Country’s 07:05 to Bristol via Brum. Thankfully, it’s a five, not a four-car Voyager. Despite it being a peak train it’s well loaded – even in the unreserved coach B. Now I can relax with a Starbucks coffee off the trolley and admire the Cheshire countryside as it flies by me in bright sunshine.

08:01.

After calling at Stoke, my coach was almost full.

Now, after a stop at Stafford, it’s standing room only, with several people wedging themselves into the small luggage racks at either end of the car.

10:15.

Well, that was a busy little interlude! The High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL) group was holding a PR event outside Birmingham City hall this morning. A giant jigsaw was used to show how HS2 will join up many of our major cities. The event was supported by the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, local business leaders and Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani amongst others. This presented some interesting photographic challenges for me and the other snappers in attendance due to the strong sun and heavy shadows, combined with the sheer number of people! Here’s a few pictures.

DG319116crop

DG319129CROP

DG319146crop

After the event I nipped off to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and visit some of the recent rail investment in the West Midlands. My first port of call was the extension of the electrification on the Cross-City line as far as Bromsgrove, where a brand-new station’s been built to replace what used to be there.

DG319175crop

Next stop? Redditch…

15:15.

After a trip to Redditch in glorious sunshine and the chance to get some library shots I headed back into the city to meet up with an old friend (and best man at my wedding) who works for Network Rail. He’d come up for a meeting, so we grabbed a coffee together before he headed back to London and I resumed my travels. I’m currently on the 15:05 from Birmingham to Shrewsbury which is standing room only. Mind you it is worked by a two car Class 170, which isn’t exactly helping!

16:17.

I’m on the move again after taking time to look at construction of Wolverhampton’s new transport interchange which is bringing together rail, tram and bus in one location. Here’s a view of the work going on to rebuild the station. The tram tracks will run in the foreground.

Tracks for the tram extension have been laid right up to the station approach. I’m assuming that once more work’s been done on the new station building space will have been created for them.

Sadly, all these signs of looking forward to the future were put into stark perspective when I saw this Government poster on the station.

This is what we’ve become. Our fellow EU citizens (like us) have had the right to freedom of movement for nearly half a century. Now we’re treating them like illegal aliens. They’re our friends, neighbours and work colleagues, even a husband, or a wife. How long I wonder before the posters appear asking to to inform on any EU national you think doesn’t have the right to remain? Maybe Teresa May will resurrect those vans that toured round with hoardings on them? What a nasty divisive country we’ve become.

17:49.

Whilst on a XC Voyager to Manchester I got into a chance conversation with one of the crew who happened to mention that one of their HSTs was working a Manchester Piccadilly-Bristol Temple Leads diagram, which is highly unusual. This prompted me to jump off at Stoke-on-Trent in the hope of recording event. Sadly, as we pulled in, it pulled out – which didn’t exactly make for a great picture!

I ended up drowning my sorrows in the new Titanic Brewery station bar which occupies the site of the old Virgin Trains 1st Class lounge. Now I’m back on another XC service en-route to Manchester.

I’ve a favour to ask.
If you enjoy reading these blogs, please consider clicking on an advert – or two! You don’t have to buy anything, honest! The clicks just help me cover the cost of running this blog. Many thanks, Paul

Hazy days and Sundays…

24 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Sowerby Bridge, Travel, Uncategorized, West Yorkshire

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Musings, Sowerby Bridge, Travel, West Yorkshire

It’s almost mid afternoon but the Calder Valley’s still covered in haze which is giving the Southern side a ghostly appearance, a Yorkshire Brigadoon if you like. We’ve been pottering around and finished our chores, so now it’s time for a Sunday constitutional. This is the view across the valley and over Sowerby Bridge as we walked up to Savile Park

Crocus’s provide a riot of colour along the roadside.

A bit farther on we dropped through Scare Woods to begin our descent to the canal.

The sun has got his hat on…

23 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Gardening, Musings, West Yorkshire

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Gardening, Musings, West Yorkshire

It’s an absolutely glorious day here in the Calder Valley, where it feels more like spring than February. The thermometer has hit 14 degrees, double the average for this time of year.

I’ve been busy tidying up the garden wearing just a polo shirt as it’s that warm. Gardening’s always been a great escape from the stresses of everyday life and the world’s problems. Whatever else happens you can always rely on the seasons to change and for plants to burst into life after hunkering down for the winter. As well as cutting back some of the bushes and climbers ready for spring I’ve also cleared out and replanted a couple of the hanging baskets with these violas.

DG319006crop

They’re adding an extra splash of colour to complement to dwarf daffodils that are beginning to open in the flower beds.

DG319037crop

Whilst I’ve been busy in the garden, Dawn’s been occupied in the kitchen, preparing dishes for when her parents arrive later so it’s very much a domestic and relaxed day. On the menu is Lasagne and a Cheesecake – although I’m not sure it’s going to have candles in it – or if they’d all fit! Dawn’s mum (Norah) celebrated her 78th birthday earlier this week so the meal is a belated birthday celebration. Cooking can get complex due to dietary requirements nowadays, both Dawn’s parents are gluten free and Dawn can’t eat cheese, so we’ve ended up with two different Lasagne’s. Here’s one ready for the oven.

20190223_170927

Now the cheesecake (with blueberry topping) is ready…

cheesecake

When February feels more like Spring.

22 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Politics, West Yorkshire

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Musings, Politics, West Yorkshire

Today’s been one of those unseasonably warm days when you really do wonder what month you’re in. I’ve had a day at home sorting out pictures for a magazine, then sorting out some paperwork before spending more time on tiling our bathroom – a job which has taken almost as long as building the Pyramids, much to my wife’s annoyance! Now I’m on the final stretch, having learned one or two valuable lessons which I’lll never have to put into practise again (days he, fingers crossed). Firstly, never ever decide to tile a small bathroom in an old Victorian cottage with large tiles – until you’ve checked the level of the walls with a large spirit level! It was only when I started tiling that I realised our bathroom must have been plastered by a drunken midget! The curvature on the walls was ‘challenging’ to say the least. There’s not a straight line in the bloody thing! Even the woodwork is on the piss. I’ve just been tiling above the bathroom door and realised that the doorframe is cock-eyed, so I’m really going to have to be creative with the new architraving!

I can’t do any more work to the bathroom tomorrow as Dawn’s parents are coming  round for a meal to celebrate her Mum’s birthday which was earlier in the week. Instead I’m going to dig out the garden gloves and move into the garden to get that ready. Bulbs are popping up all over the place, so with the weather forecast to hit a balmy 14 degrees tomorrow (the same as London!) it sounds like an ideal time to clean up the garden, clear down the bench and prepare for when Spring really does arrive. Mind you, as this is the Pennines that probably means snow!

Whilst doing the DIY I’ve been listening to the latest  instalment in the never ending farce of British politics. Labour has lost yet another MP, this time it’s Ian Austin the MP for Dudley North in Birmingham. He’s said he won’t join the other rebels as, unlike them, it seems he still believes in (Brexit) unicorns, but then he only had a majority of 22 and Dudley North voted Leave.

Whatever his future choice, he was very scathing about Corbyn, his acolytes and the way they run the Labour party. It’s difficult to see how ‘Magic Grandad’ is going to recover from this as I very much doubt Austin will be the last Labour MP to jump ship. There’s no sign of the party or the hard Left Corbynistas getting the message. Instead, they’re blaming everyone else but themselves. Right now, it’s almost worth seeing what odds the bookies will give on who from the Tory or Labour ranks deserts next as the Brexitshambles looms ever closer to D-Day.

A quiet day at the office…

21 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Politics, West Yorkshire

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Well, the home office. Wait, No! I mean my back room, not THE ‘Home Office’. I’m sure there’s plenty of headaches there dealing with the Brexitshambles and the uncertain status of over 3.5 million EU citizens living in the UK after March 29th, not to mention the stuff around a young girl in a refugee camp in Syria.

My status was that of someone having a quiet day editing pictures, shuffling paperwork and generally clearing the decks. Whilst I was working I had one ear tuned to the news to see if anymore MPs had jumped party ship today. In that respect it was a slow news day. I did check in on Facebook to see what the reaction was amongst some friends who remain members of the Labour party. Denial was the only word to use. I saw a very pained post from someone where the essence of their whole validiction was “I’ve been deeply involved in Labour for years. If Antisemitism exists, I’ve never seen it” So, that’s alright then. As you were. No mention of the problem his ‘golden boy’ Corbyn is about as popular as a fart in a spacesuit – and the fact EIGHT Labour MPs have abandoned the whip never even got a mention! This is why I think Labour are screwed. Their inability to engage with the disappointment and frustration with Corbyn and his acolytes many people are feeling and expressing is incredible. For them it’s business as usual and –

basil

Mind you the Tories don’t seem to be much better. Our two party system’s broken. Both have lost the trust of the people (and may of their natural supporters). I can only hope that the defections continue and it will lead to the disastrous path we’re following to the Brexit cliff-edge changes.

On the bright side, I’m making my own personal financial preparations and I’ve just booked a number of jobs that mean next week is going to be full of interesting and varied events at several locations that’ll fill a few rolling blogs.

 

Rolling blog: out of office…

20 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in ACoRP, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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10:19

Well, out of MY office! I’m currently at ACoRP Towers in Huddersfield as I have a meeting about judging this years ACoRP awards and changes to the ‘It’s Your Station’ category. We’re getting more and more entries each year and the judging criteria needs to be refined to cope with this.

12:02.

It’s been a productive meeting and the IYS category been refined to reflects the growth in stations being entered. I’m looking forward to spending some summer days touring the country to visit more excellent examples of the work community rail volunteers and rail staff get up to. I wonder where I’ll get to this time?

Whilst I was in the meeting news broke that one more Labour MP and three Tory MPs have joined the breakaway Independent Group. There’s a clear feeling that the old parties are too in thrall to their extremist wings to put the needs of the country first. Good luck to the splitters!

Now I’m back on the rails for a while…

13:15.

I’ve popped over to York, where new trains are very much in evidence.

DG318981. 800107. York. 20.2.19CROP

Meanwhile, over on platform 2 under the magnificent curved roof…
DG318994. 68022. York. 20.2.19crop

Both these trains will enter passenger service later in the year, working from London to Scotland and also on Trans-Pennine services. When I see sights like this I have to laugh at the likes of Liam Halligan and Hs2 antis who insist money should be diverted from the project to invest in the North! Another thing they completely miss is that York gains fivefold. Not only does it benefit from new and longer Trans-Pennine trains it also benefits from the modernisation, electrification and enhanced capacity of the Trans-Pennine route. Meanwhile, the intercity fleet operated by LNER is replaced by brand-new Azumas. York will also receive Hs2 services running to Newcastle via the dedicated high-speed line that’ll be built as far North as Church Fenton. Finally, the old Pacers operating Northern services via the Harrogate loop or to Hull will be replaced by more modern trains. So much for Hs2 ‘starving’ the North of investment – Hs2 is part of the investment!

15:11

The weather’s deteriorated and I’ve a few chores to do back in Halifax, so I’m en-route via a rather damp Bradford. The Calder Valley line I’m travelling on now is another sign of investment in the North a £100m renewal & resignalling scheme was commissioned last October. I’ve just passed a new station (Low Moor) which even boasts of daily direct trains to London! Meanwhile, Transport for the North have even more ambitious plans for the line. Funny how none of this got mentioned by Halligan in his Dispatches hatchet job…

16:00.

After a spot of shopping in Halifax town centre I’ve retired for a swift half in one of the town’s excellent micro-pubs, the Pump Room.

These have opened up in the past few years, bringing new life to a town centre that’s seeing an increasing number of shops close. Another place worth visiting is the Victorian covered market.

21:24.

The day’s ending at home, where I’ve been spending time editing the pictures I’ve taken today and uploading them to my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to see which galleries they’ve been added to. Whilst it’s been a steady day workwise it’s been another extraordinary day politically. Some of this stuff you just couldn’t make up! The Labour party continues to descend into an unpleasant farce with the latest instalment being that Derek Hatton, who was only allowed back in the party 48 hours ago, has already been suspended! Apparently, some dodgy tweets he sent a few years ago have come to light! I can’t imagine that it’ll be long before there are more desertions from Labour as the party seems to be descending into a vicious internal war. Mind you, the Tories don’t seem to be in any better state. It’s like a fight’s broken out on the bridge of the Titanic just as the iceberg’s been sighted. God help us all…

The curious crossover of Brexit supporters who oppose Hs2 and Twitter trolls.

19 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Anti Hs2 mob, Brexit, Hs2, Liam Halligan, Politics

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Anti Hs2 mob, Brexit, Hs2, Liam Halligan, Politics

The past few weeks have demonstrated a curious crossover between the dogmatists who still support Brexit (despite all the evidence of the utter shambles it was always going to turn into) and opposition to building Hs2. Anyone could be forgiven for thinking this is actually collusion. Today we’ve had Andrew Neil add his name to the list, claiming Hs2 money should be diverted to building high speed rail in the North. For the North this is all very touching. It’s also completely false. None of them could really give a damn about the North, it’s just the latest excuse to try and get Hs2 cancelled.

Liam Halligan trotted out the same excuse in Dispatches (which I analysed here). By pure co-incidence Neil is the Chairman of the Spectator, a magazine well know for printing anti Hs2 stories. Who had one in there recently? Yep, you’ve guessed it – Liam Halligan.

The crossover isn’t just through this little cabal of right-wing media types. It’s taken an interesting and rather darker turn. We’re suddenly seeing a lot of Twitter trolls which have been bashing out pro-Brexit propaganda now starting to tweet in opposition to Hs2. Who’s the guiding mind behind this I wonder? Meanwhile, other (long dormant) Twitter accounts have been resurrected to Tweet against Hs2. Here’s some examples.

brexit

pro brexit 2

stratfan

It’s clear that this is now a co-ordinated campaign. The truth is, the anti Hs2 campaign’s getting rather desperate. They’ve been campaigning to stop Hs2 for nearly a decade now and got absolutely nowhere. In that time most of the local Stophs2 groups have collapsed, meaning there’s little in the way of a ‘grassroots’ campaign anymore, just a few isolated people. Even the notionally ‘national’ groups like HS2aa have failed and gone to the wall as the cross-party support for HS2 has remained unbreakable. Now, all that’s left is the Tory right-wingers in the media and their curious contacts with the shady world of social media manipulation through the use of Twitter trolls to further their aims.

Trolls are desperately needed because StopHs2’s own tiny band of Twitter followers are pretty useless. There’s just over 6000 of them. The problem is most of them never retweet or like anything, so they’re as much use as a chocolate fireguard! Foolishly, StopHs2 keep ‘pinning’ tweets to the top of the page, which makes it easy to see how many retweets or likes they get. It’s never over 100 and often far less. I crunch their social media numbers every month. Here’s last month. There’s a very obvious flaw in their troll strategy. Trolls and bots can’t write to their MPs or vote in elections. Oh, you might influence one or two people, but as Hs2 has never been an electoral issue you’re on a hiding to nothing. Also, this is not a referendum. Besides, who would Chiltern or Northern Nimbys actually vote for other than their normal party. UKIP? They’re finished. Try as you might, you’re not going to frighten many MPs in to opposing Hs2 – if any -and it’s MPs who vote on building Hs2.

Here’s a graphic illustration of their problem – all the dead Twitter accounts of people like this who’ve moved away from the Hs2 route after being bought out/relocated of their own accord. Unlike bots, these people could vote but Ms Carter gave up in June 2015. There’s many, many more like her…

caro

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