It may be a weekend but nothing’s really changed apart from the weather. The fantastic run of sunny days that we’ve had finally came to an end today, albeit only for a few hours. We actually had rain for the first time since the lockdown began, much to the relief of many plants! Not that it lasted very long so i’ll still be out with the watering can on Sunday as the sunshine’s due to reappear.

My day was spent writing, decluttering and scanning yet more old slides to gradually whittle down the queue and free up more space at home. Well, some anyway as our local tip remains closed so the bags of broken slide mounts and other detritus are mounting up outside waiting for the day it reopens.

The gray and cold weather didn’t encourage venturing outside so I was happy to keep occupied with work and ploughing through pictures, with occaisional forays to the bedroom to stare out of the window and gaze across the valley to see what the clouds were up to. Sadly, there’s not much of a view out of my office window, unless you like staring at dressed Yorkshire stone. Our row of cottages are built on land that was hewn from the side of the valley and I’ve often wondered if the same stone was used to build them. The result is that we have a narrow cobbled alley at the back of the houses with the old outside toilets up some steps on the other side. Nowadays all these have been converted to sheds. Then above them and reached by steep stone steps are small gardens or terraces, one per cottage. My office looks out on the steep retaining wall and stone shed roofs which are a playground for birds and the local cats – although not at the same time! I have put an old bathroom mirror up against the wall so that I can see the reflection of the sky in the valley, which acts as a rudimentary weather early-warning system.

By late afternoon the weather had brightened up even if it hadn’t warned up to the same degree, so I donned my walking gear and headed out to get in my steps solo, which gave me time to think about life, the universe and everything. I’m genuinely curious to know if these exceptional times will result in any major change to people’s behaviours. My personal thoughts are that they won’t. Oh, there might be some differences. There might ne a small increase in the number of people working from home on the odd day, but we’re (mostly) sociable creatures so I can’t see many people being happy to be based from home full time – even if they could be – and I have grave doubts about some of the claims being made about how muddling through these few months will set the patterns for the future. Time (as always) will tell…

What did make me thoughtful was considering how many peoples lives have been ended prematurely by the pandemic and how plans for the future can soon turn to dust when something like this comes knocking on your door. The old motto ‘Carpe Diem’ has never seemed more appropriate. Events have also made me realise just how cluttered my life is with ephemera, which is something I’m determined to do something about now that I have time. At least charity shops and e-bay are going to benefit from events! I’ve got so much memorabilia that I’ve horded over the years and now’s the perfect time to let it go…

Meanwhile, my Zenfolio website is coming on in leaps and bounds. Tomorrow I should pass the 64,000 picture mark as I’ve added over 2,400 images so far this year. Don’t forget, you can buy prints of various sizes directly from the site. In some ways my website is a documentary of almost half my life. That’ll become more personal once I move on from the old railway pictures and on to the travel stuff. I really want to get the images from my world travels in 1991 and 92 on there so that I can start blogging about them in diary form. Over the past few years my life seems to have been taken up fighting for/against things – such as HS2 and Brexit. Now it’s time to let those things go. I’m tired of fighting. Now I want to move on to a more relaxed and reflective phase of my life. Right now, the one thing that appeals more than anything is getting away from it all. Sitting on a beach, listening to the waves, feeling the sand between my toes and the sun on my skin and the chance to ‘be’. Watch this space…

The announcement we all knew was coming was made today. We have another three weeks of lockdown to look forward to. It’s no surprise as the messages about the progress of tackling Covid-19 in the UK are decidedly mixed. Late to the lockdown party and with no firm data to go on regarding infection levels or even deaths I’m not sure anyone really knows what the true picture is.

On the bright side, I still have plenty of pictures to scan, things to write about, chores to do and a lifetime of accumulated belongings to sort through with much to jettison. Oh, and the sun’s still shining. We’re having a glorious run of good weather, which is well – a real ray of sunshine! Sadly, for other reasons, the day was less than perfect. It was the shittiest of the lockdown so far and made me wonder about the future, but right now there’s little to do be done except carry on…

Despite it being Thursday when we normally have our ‘day out’ doing the shopping for Dawn’s parents I elected to stay at home today, so I managed to get a lot of stuff sorted out, which was good. Lots of pictures (new and old) made it onto my website which is growing at a rapid rate. Don’t forget, you can buy copies of individual pictures and all manner of other goodies by visiting the online shop. I’ve added over 2300 pictures so far this year with many more to come.

With the weather being too good to waste I relocated into the garden for a few hours to weed through old pictures, research my next article for RAIL and simply enjoy the sun on my skin and the chattering and antics of the local bird population, who’re clearly enjoying the good weather as much as us humans. 

I did take a break late afternoon to take my daily constitutional on the standard route. Hardly exciting, but it’s better than ossifying at home. I suspect there will be some interesting statistics to come out at the end of lockdown. How many people will have got fitter and how many will have turned into couch potatoes? Will the populations general health have improved or declined? Only the future will tell… 

Back at home my evening was spent glued to the computer, editing yet another batch of old slides. Hardly the most exciting task but I really want to feel I’m getting something out of the lockdown and making progress on a task that feels endless. I’m now into 1990 with (I think) just four rail albums to go, so if lockdown IS extended even more I may be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, wait, there’s all the travel and social issues pictures yet: Bugger! Maybe after the next pandemic then…

I’m beginning to understand what life in a monastery must be like…

It’s the routine. It’s not that I mind routine. Well, some of the time, it’s the fact that right now there’s no opportunity to deviate from it. It’s not like you can leave work early and drift into your local on the off-chance of meeting someone for a chat and a laugh. You can’t make impromptu decisions to go out for a meal or see a show or go into town or even have a weekend away by the seaside or somewhere.

Yes, I know we’re doing it for everyone’s good – and I fully support it, just let me let off some steam as it’s almost certain we’re in for another 3 weeks at least of this.

At least the weather’s great. It would be a lot harder if we were cooped up inside as the rain hammered on the windows. Being able to sit out in the garden’s such a blessing. As I’ve mentioned before, my heart goes out to people who’re living in places where they can’t do that – as I have in the past.

Apart from thinking about these things my day was quite productive. Both Dawn and I kept ourselves busy and I managed to get a lot done. By evening time the pair of us had reached saturation point with staring at computer screens so we got out for a stroll in the sunshine. It was a lovely way to reconnect with the real world outside cyberspace where things had been pretty busy for me as our new high-speed railway (HS2) had been given “notice to proceed”. This was the final Governmental green light, so the project moves on from site clearances and utilities diversion to mobilising the main Civil Engineering contractors who will actually build the line. It means the Dept of Transport has now signed off the four major civil engineering contracts worth a total of £12bn. A dozen firms involved can now start work immediately with site preparation works and (crucially) placing key subcontracts which gives the construction industry some certainty (and a guaranteed workflow) in these uncertain times. Needless to say, those opposed to HS2 had an attack of the vapours at the news, but there’s not a damned thing they can do about it other than moan. I’m blogging about all that separately so you don’t need to worry! 

Back at the grindstone I managed some decluttering as well as everything else. It’s amazing some of the stuff you amass in a lifetime. Stuff that you don’t want to part with for sentimental reasons and the happy memories that it triggers, but when do you ever actually look at it, especially when its 33 years old and several lifetimes away – as well as stuffed in a folder in a cupboard?

Still, I might just digitise it before it gets binned, purely for the sake of posterity! There’s a few more like this too. They’re an interesting look back at a very different age but that has a resonance with some of the stuff I’ve been talking about regarding HS2 in another blog. 

With another 3 weeks of lockdown to go and with an eye on the future afterwards, I think I’m going to be keeping the council’s recycling team busy. Thankfully, despite the lockdown Calderdale are still collecting stuff. They’re yet more unsung heroes, the people you take for granted but who you can’t do without. Sadly, Calderdale has closed its main recycling centres out of concern for the staff, which I can understand, but it has led to many more incidents of fly-tipping, like this one on the promenade I noticed the other day.

To be honest, we get a lot of that in our local woods even when the recycling centre IS open. There’s a lot of lazy sods around here…

Despite the odd moonlight fly-tipper, the promenade has become a lovely place to walk and enjoy the views over the valley. The Constabulary have stepped up their presence as they know it’s a place where you’re likely to find a few Covidiots who can’t resist congregating. Now the Covidiots are getting the message and staying away. How everyone will cope with a few more weeks of this is an interesting question, but in general (ignoring the few idiots) the reactions have been good. My main concern is for local businesses and how they pick up the pieces afterwards as there’s some very mixed messages coming from the Government, but no change there…

Right now, all I can do is hunker down. I’ve articles to write, pictures to scan and decades of memorabilia to rationalise. Bored I ain’t…

The start of another working week in lockdown, although the days are hardly that clearly defined now as the routine doesn’t vary that much for me. It’s more marked for Dawn as she’s freed from her desk and telephone to concentrate on personal and home matters.

We started the day early at 05:50 so Dawn could do her HIT training before beginning work. I don’t mind getting up at that time either as it gives me chance to have a coffee, plan the day and edit and upload any last slides from the previous days scanning. After meeting up for breakfast we managed to meditate together, then we were both straight into work. My mission for the day was to catch with slide scanning as the pace has slowed in recent days due to the holidays and other work. I also had a batch of pictures to get off to a magazine so I had to ignore the fabulous weather outside and concentrate my attention on a lightbox, slides and computer screen. The time flew in more ways than one as the slides transported me back to November – December 1989, when the world looked very different in all sorts of ways. I’ll show you what I mean later in the blog.

The day flew, but it was a productive one. I managed to get a lot of work done and around 60-70 slides scanned, edited and mounted, which is quite a volume of work as it’s such a tedious process. We did manage to get out later to enjoy the brilliant sunshine which was the ideal time as the day had really warmed up. The past few mornings have been distinctly chilly because of the clear evening skies the day before. I don’t know if the lockdown and consequent lack of traffic pollution has contributed to this phenomenon but the air certainly seems clearer and sweeter. We certainly notice the lack of traffic noise from the main road at the bottom of the valley and infrequence of cars using our road. It’s something that I’ll miss when normality’s restored.

There was no time for a walk to the other side of the valley today so our usual circuit up through the woods, along the promenade and around the park and back again had to suffice, but at least I managed my 12.5k steps as we were later than normal we were treated to a gorgeous sunset on our way home.

The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed. I caught up on some world news, which is showing some signs of optimism as various countries begin to look at easing their lockdowns. How long before we do is anyone’s guess as it’s impossible to get an accurate picture of what’s happening with coronavirus in the UK. We’re not carrying out the levels of testing that would allow us to accurately map infections and the number of deaths is hopelessly unreliable as the figures aren’t collated accurately or consistently. The official figures given out daily have no credibility at all. Personally, I’m preparing myself for the idea that the lockdown will remain in force for another month, but who knows?

The pair of us took a break from reality later in the evening and indulged in some escapist TV by watching a couple of episodes of “Unforgotten” on Netflix. It’s a ITV police series written by Chris Lang that stars Nicola Walker (‘Spooks’ & ‘Last Tango in Halifax’) and Sanjeev Bhaskar. It’s very well written, directed, filmed, acted and also – thoughtful.

Well, that’s probably the quietest and weirdest bank holiday Monday I’ve had – certainly in the UK anyway! No travel, no socialising, no pubs, no meals out – just a healthy walk in the country.

Don’t get me wrong, over the years I’ve been in some interesting places at ‘interesting’ times. I’ve sat through strikes (Bandhs) in India where we’ve been through lockdown in our hotels for a night (or two). I’ve sat on rooftops in Kathmandu during a strike where the police are patrolling the deserted streets after shooting students dead – I even had to walk several miles out to the airport to fly out as the whole country was on strike the next day. I’ve been through coups in Thailand where Bangkok airspace was taken over by military helicopters like something out of ‘Apocalypse Now’ and I’ve watched the ‘reformasi’ (reformation) demonstrations in Java after the fall of President Suharto – but I never quite expected something like this happening in the UK.

Our day started much as normal, or what passes for normal now. The weather was good but bloody cold, we actually had frost on the cars outside today, but the mercury rose throughout the day until the temperature was actually quite pleasant in the sunshine. Not that the pair of us were going anywhere. The day passed more like a normal Monday as we tried to keep occupied with various chores and bits of work until late afternoon when we escaped for our daily walk. Being thoroughly bored with our normal circuit I took Dawn on the amble across the valley I’d discovered the other day, which certainly broke the monotony of trudging around Savile Park. The beauty of being on the other side of the valley is the views. You’re looking across to the South facing side which looks gorgeous when its bathed in sunshine, especially when you’re high up on the opposite side – as this view illustrates.

Here’s a bit of information about the viaduct, which is Grade 2 listed. Built in 1851 for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company it crosses the River Calder, the Calder and Hebble Navigation and Wakefield Road. It’s built from snecked rock-faced sandstone, with 23 arches in all on tall piers: 15 semicircular, with rock-faced voussoirs brought to course and 4 at each end, wider, segmental, with similar voussoirs in Ashlar. The Easternmost arch over Wakefield Road (just at the right edge of the picture) is considerably flatter. There’s a plain band at impost and cornice level with parapet above. Railway Terrace, below the viaduct is also grade 2 listed. Built in the 1840s for Colonel Edward Akroyd, it’s considered an important early example of planned industrial housing.

As you can see from the picture, the woodlands are just starting to burst into leaf after what feels like a long, wet, winter. 2020 has certainly thrown some challenges at us. We’ve survived floods and now a pandemic. The only thing we haven’t seen this winter in any quantity has been snow (thankfully). Now the weather’s warming up, so if we have to say at home, at least we’ve got decent weather to do it in.