Monthly Archives: March 2021

21st March picture of the day…

21 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by in India, Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

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We’ve had a quiet weekend here in Bigland Towers. Dawn went for her first Covid vaccination on Saturday so we didn’t plan anything just in case she had much of a reaction. As it was, Dee’s side-effects have been limited to feeling tired whilst nursing an arm that feels like it’s been punched. Not that there’s much to plan at the moment anyway. It’s not like we’ve got a place to catch, is it? Instead we’ve taken it easy without any pressures to do much other than mooch around at home and catch up on life’s everyday chores. Now that Spring is officially here I’ve spent time tidying up the gardens so that we can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine when it finally arrives on a consistent basis. We may be slowly edging our way out of lockdown, but the opportunities for travelling away from home look like they’re going to be marginal for some time yet – especially when one casts eyes abroad. I’d love to be be able to set foot outside the ‘museum of Brexit’ for a while and remind myself what a less inward looking country looks like, but with the uncertainties over vaccination rates in other parts of the world this could be problematic.

Until the picture becomes clearer I’ll resign myself to being restricted to this septic isle for a while and keep my head down to make the most of my house-arrest by scanning old slides, work on the cottage and downsizing the mountains of physical baggage I’ve accumulated over the years. There’s still some journalistic work to be done too – I’ve articles to write which will help keep the wolf from the door. At least photographic commissions are in the pipeline once more now that people are planning for a post lockdown world (more on that when it happens).

Right now, my photography is revolving around those old slides – which are providing today’s picture. I took this picture in Jaisalmer, India on the 3rd November 1991. This is the Salim Singh ki Haveli, one of the stunning old buildings that dot the town.

Jaisalmer is a city that’s straight out of the Arabian nights. The town itself is built in the lee of the fort which is built high above it on a promontory. Thus sheltered from Thar desert sandstorms its narrow streets and remarkable buildings make it a fantastic place to wander around. You can find many more pictures of Jaisalmer in this gallery on my Zenfolio website. Oh, you might notice that my blog’s header picture has finally changed! The old one was of Seathwaite in the English Lake district, which is officially the wettest place in England. You can find the original full picture here. The new picture is a crop of a shot taken at sunrise from the top of Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka. It’s one from my 1991-92 travels and I’ll be adding it (and many others) to this gallery shortly. Now that I have so many more travel pictures scanned I’m intending to change the header picture on a monthly basis, just to keep you all entertained!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

19th March picture of the day…

19 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by in India, Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

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Have I really been away from blogging for two days? Damn…

As usual, it’s not that I’ve had nothing to say, just that there never seems to be enough hours in the day especially as my normal time for writing these blogs is in the evening. Despite ‘lockdown’ that work/life balance thingy is a tricky little bugger and days run away with you. Time is never on my side.

I’d intentions to catch up on several blogs I’ve been wanting to pen but that never happened. Instead I was immersed in the mundanities of life, scanning more old pictures and trying to keep fit despite having my wings clipped by Covid. I sometimes wonder how I managed before lockdown but then I look at how many slides I’ve managed to scan in the past year and the answer becomes obvious! Looking through so many old pictures has brought me both joy and sorrow during lockdown. On one hand it’s made me appreciate how many places I’ve had the fortune to visit over the decades and the people I’ve been lucky enough to meet, but that’s also reinforced the feelings of constriction due to Covid. Funnily enough, those same feelings have been reflected in my daily perambulations. Spring is very much in the air here in West Yorkshire, but I’d normally be seeing the season make its way up the country through my travels – travels I’ve simply not been able to make in the past year. I’ve never been so tied to one place since I was a child – and it’s starting to chafe on me. I can’t wait until the restrictions are lifted and I can start to spread my wings again. Hopefully, that will be soon as jobs are starting to trickle in again as others are scenting the smell of freedom again and the opportunities that brings too…

Tomorrow Dawn gets her first Covid jab which is yet another step on the road to release from our collective confinements. If Dee reacts the same way that most I suspect I’ll be playing Nurse tomorrow, but that’s no bad thing and I’m prepared. Besides, I’ve plenty to keep myself occupied with and my office is within groaning distance of the bedroom!

OK, now I’ve go to choose a picture of the day, which is actually rather difficult as there’s so many old slides that are worthy of the title as the current crop are from India, a country that’s impossibly photogenic for a whole host of reasons. Looking back at my archive I’ve realised how so much of it seems commonplace and familiar to me due to the fact I’ve spent so much time there, whilst to others some of these pictures must seem incredibly exotic – or just plain strange! So let’s try you with this one. As much as we may bitch about our first world problems we are incredibly fortunate compared to the majority of the population of this planet – we just forget that most of the time. Travelling in countries like India (if you leave the comfort of your resort complex) teaches you that.

I took this picture on the 30th October 1991 at the steam locomotive depot in Jaipur, Rajasthan, but it’s not about trains…

These young people are picking through the ashes of fires thrown out of steam locomotives, looking for pieces of unburned coal that they can either sell or use for cooking. And yet – do they look unhappy? I was wandering around taking pictures when I spotted them and realised what they were doing. Despite the fact we didn’t share a common language they were perfectly happy to pose for a picture when I asked if I could take one. One of the wonderful things about India is that most people aren’t camera-shy (exactly the opposite) despite their circumstances which is rather humbling in more ways than one. I often look through old pictures like this and wonder what became of the people whose images I froze in time…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

16th March picture of the day…

16 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by in India, Picture of the day, Transport, Travel

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Apologies for the lack of a picture of the day these past few days. I’ve been to busy to blog as I’ve been catching up on other stuff – although I have been managing to continue with the slide scans. There’s now a healthy pile ready for editing and adding to my Zenfolio site and a search of Dee’s parents loft at the weekend has revealed that the end really is in sight! I’ve returned home with a few more albums to add to my collection at Bigland towers but after perusing them and doing some calculations I reckon I can have the remaining few thousand slides completed before the end of the year – which is going to feel like a real achievement after 30 plus years! So, without further ado, here’s today’s picture, which is from the latest batch.

I took this image of a Harley-Davidson trishaw taxi in Connaught Place, New Delhi, India on the 24th October 1991.

These weird beasties used to work like buses on a route between Connaught Place and the Red Fort in Old Delhi. They were noisy and polluting but fun at the time as they were great for using as mobile camera platforms. Most of the guys who drove them were Sikhs. Needless to say, as Delhi started to clean up its polluted act they finally went to that great motorcycle scrapyard in the sky. I’m not sure what year it was when they finally disappeared but I’d be surprised if they saw the turn of the century. Maybe a reader of this blog will know?

Soon, you’ll be able to find (and buy) this and many other pictures from my 1991-92 travel odyssey in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

Hs2’Rebellion’, the latest farce…

16 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, Protest

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There’s an old philosophical question that’s really rather apt when it comes to the farcical ‘campaign’ against HS2. It’s “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” One could update it to the present day to ask “If an Hs2rebellion protest camp’s evicted and no-one was around to Livestream/video it, did it really happen”?

This question could have been posed today when an eviction took place today of the sole anti HS2 camp north of Warwickshire. Named ‘Camp Isla’ after someone’s canine friend, it really did seem to be a one man and his dog operation! Although it appears on Hs2Rebellion’s dwindling list of ‘protection’ camps, it hasn’t been any trouble for HS2 as nothing much has been happening – until today, when this appeared on the camp’s Facebook page.

This eviction must hold a special place in the annals as since this appeared, not a single video, livestream, photograph or any verifiable record of the event has appeared – despite the appeals for people to turn up to ‘protect’ the camp. This is all the more mysterious when one looks at some more claims made when the camp went from one man and his dog to group of people down a tunnel and folk festooning the trees! .

Needless to say, not of this has been supported by the slightest bit of evidence from anyone. I’ve little doubt an eviction has happened – but the rest strikes me as pure fantasy. Not one of them has a camera-phone? Well, that’s a first. Normally the internet is awash with long and boring livestreams recording every eviction.

Of course, the daft thing about all these Walter Mitty fantasies about tunnels etc, is they soon fall apart in the cold light of day. I suspect (and not for the first time) the ‘camp’ Facebook account will be kept alive to churn out messages of support, fictitious updates and claims of winning – but the reality will be very different. Mind you, the HS2Rebellion website is rather good at that too. Here’s the list of ‘protection’ camps they claim exist, with the reality added…

So, 8 camps. 3 of which no longer exist, 2 more which have been partly evicted and 2 more (Crackley and Denham) which are almost certainly redundant as there’s nothing left to ‘protect’ anymore! Some ‘winning’! Two other camps have never made the list as one (Leather Lane near Jones’ Hill woods) didn’t last a fortnight whilst the other on Wormwood Scrubs has no permanent site and has less than 5 regular occupants! In fact, if you added up the regular occupants of all these camps together I doubt you’d find more than a couple of dozen people.

Pitch this against the largest construction site in Europe with 10s of 1000s of workers over 300 worksites on a 140 mile long route and you can start to see the futility of all this. Mind you, so can many of the protesters, which is why so many of them have wandered off back to other causes to fight yet more lost battles for Extinction Rebellion and other groups – hence some of the Euston tunnel refugees appearing in Lichfield to spray paint on a factory supposedly supplying military equipment to Israel. Obviously, political activism (just like being a SPAD to the PM) makes you immune to Covid or the need to follow lockdown rules! Whilst XR and it’s friends might not think those rules apply they might find the new police, crime, sentencing and courts bill which passed second reading by 359 to 263 votes rather harder to ignore as provisions in it will criminalise some of their activities. Despite my own personal reservations about the bill I will be interested to see how quickly it becomes law and how it’s used in practice against groups like Extinction Rebellion and HS2Rebellion.

Of course, today happened on the same day that HS2 Ltd announced the start of work on what will be one of the most visible civil engineering projects on phase 1 – the 3.5km long Colne viaduct on the edge of London. Unlike ‘Camp Isla’, this won’t be a one man and his dog operation! The world’s moved on even if the remaining protesters haven’t. Poor ‘Isla’ is left barking up the wrong tree – in more ways than one…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

13th March picture of the day…

13 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in India, Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

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I’m back! My Covid vaccination didn’t cause me too much of a problem, but it certainly made its presence known. I had a crap nights sleep on Thursday due to the flu-like aches and pains it generated. I still felt low on Friday morning so stayed in bed but by lunchtime the effects had worn off and I felt right as rain. So much so that I was well enough to get out for a long walk and hit my daily exercise targets without any trouble – which was a bonus.

My spirits were further lifted by a phone call. Sometimes, as a Journalist, you wonder if the stuff you write ever has an impact or if it’s worthwhile. The current copy of RAIL magazine contains a piece I’ve written on ‘Platform 1’, the mental health charity based at Huddersfield station. On Friday I had a phone call from Bob Morse, the charities Project Manager. Not only did he love the article (which he thought told was pitched just right), he also told me that’s it’s already saved one life. He explained that a young man who was about to commit suicide had picked up his Dad’s copy of RAIL and read the article. Doing so spurred him on to change his mind. Instead, he’s contacted Platform 1 and they’ve taken him under their wing. As Bob said to me – ‘we won’t let him go now’. Those of you whom know me well will know mental health and suicide is an issue that’s touched my life. This news makes me feel that the job I do can sometimes make a difference. It would be unfair not to mention that the idea for the article came from RAIL’s Paul Stephen, who commissioned me to write it, so Paul also deserves credit for this. To get positive feedback on the stuff you write is always good. One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is that readers can (and do feedback directly). But to be told that something you’ve done has had such a positive outcome is very special.

Charities like Platform 1 are very much in the front-line right now as Covid has clipped the wings of many agencies who would normally offer help to people. The problem’s exacerbated by the fact lockdown has massively increased the need for these services, so anything I’ve been able to do to help has been worthwhile. If you think you can (practically, or financially), here’s a link to Platform 1’s website which contains all their contact details as well as far more about their services.

OK, it’s Saturday night and I’m not going to blog forever – it’s time for a night off. Dawn and I have picked up a fabulous food package from the Moorcock Inn which we’re going to start preparing shortly, so right now I’m going to leave you with the picture of the day. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve begun the task of scanning old slides from a solo trip through SE-Asia that I undertook in 1991-92. Right now I’m on the first tranche of pictures taken in the few days after I landed in Delhi, India. I’d pitched up in the Paharganj, an area next to Delhi railway station (not to be confused with old Delhi) which was a fantastic if anarchic area. I still stay there when I go back and it’s not changed much in character in the intervening years. One evening I came across a wedding procession in the street outside. The Groom was riding a white horse and he was accompanied by friends, family – and a band with their own light-show. This being India – the light-show was both labour intensive and a hazard to anyone else! Imagine 7-8 people carrying these fluorescent tube ensembles on their heads – all linked together by flex like mountaineers roped together – only at the far end of the flex there was a pedal rickshaw with a big old generator on the back of it! All, this, in a narrow, busy street in the middle of the Paharganj!

I followed the wedding for a while and took a host of pictures whilst chatting to the family of the groom. We got on so well that they invited me along to the wedding! Me – absurdly under-dressed in a singlet, but that didn’t matter! It’s what I love about India – the friendliness of people. I’ve ended up going along to several weddings like this – although not in a singlet – honest (I learned my lesson and keep a shirt with me now). You’ll be able to find all the pictures of this and the rest of my adventures in a special gallery I’ve started here.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

Hooray! – it’s jab day…

11 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

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Well, the first one anyway. I was invited to apply via NHS letter so immediately followed the website link to book my appointments. Oddly, I wasn’t offered anywhere in the Halifax area – only Huddersfield or Bradford. Plumping for Huddersfield I had the choice between the John Smith stadium or Boots the chemist in the centre of town. Choosing Boots as I could walk there seemed like a sensible choice to that’s where I booked.

So, this morning Dawn and I drove in as Dee had arranged to do some work at the Community Rail Network office at the station, which left me with a short walk into town. I decided to make the most of it by combining my visit with a wander around the centre to get some exercise before the jab just in case I was laid low afterwards. To be honest, my perambulations were rather depressing. I’d not been into central Huddersfield for several months so I’d forgotten just how many vacant shops there are. Whilst the Council have clearly got plans for the place they’re facing an uphill struggle to attract businesses. The world’s changed with the triumvirate of online-shopping, Brexit and Covid coming together to create a perfect storm for the traditional high-street. I’ve no idea what sort of businesses will want to take on many of these premises with their expensive overheads, but I wish the Council well in trying. I could see another problem on my travels, I don’t know what Huddersfield’s demographic is nowadays, but I lot of the people I saw out and about were what could best be described as ‘economically inactive’ – a trend I’d noticed before Covid reduced numbers on the ground to a shadow of their former selves…

It gave me something to think about as I headed to the large Boots the Chemist in King St which used to be a busy pedestrian street – only now the pedestrians are mostly missing. The vaccination centre had been set up on Boots’ first floor, where one side had been partitioned off. They were very efficient. You queued to give your details to a chap who had the air of Captain Peacock from the 70s sitcom ‘Are you being served’? He had the same ex-military manner, clipped tones plus a lack of a local twang that made him easy to understand. Once you’d answered all the questions correctly and you go the green light he ushered you behind the screens to a socially-distanced waiting area where single seats had been laid out with precision. I was waiting a matter of minutes before I was escorted to one of the two groups of staff who were administering the injections. I had a young Asian couple. Whilst she double-checked I had no medical conditions he prepared he AstraZeneca vaccine and within minutes it was all over. I was given a vaccine leaflet to read and told to sit in the exit area for five minutes (to double check I wasn’t going to keel over) – and that was that. Done.

Wandering back to the CRN office I picked up my back and left Dawn busy working as I’d decided to get the train back to Halifax. I mean, having your Covid jab must count as an essential journey, surely? Plus, it was my chance to take my first train trip of the year! The station was pretty deserted. It’s hard to believe that (pre Covid) 4.7 million people passed through its doors every year. A Manchester-bound Trans-Pennine service arrived just as I did and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people detrained, but even so, this was nothing like the numbers we used to see. But then – what’s there to travel for? Everything’s closed!

I grabbed a few record shots for the library whilst I was there before joining the 11.35 Huddersfield – Bradford Interchange shuttle service which was worked by what’s now one of the oldest diesel trains in the fleet – the BR built Class 150s.

These old girls have always been my least favourite of the old BR diesel fleets, but right now I was happy to see one! 150222 waits to work the 11.35 Huddersfield to Bradford Interchange hourly shuttle service.

In a sign of the times only two of us occupied the front car of the two-car train when departed, weaving its way across the viaducts above the town to head to Halifax. By this time my left arm was starting to throb but as I’d been told that having a reaction to the vaccine is a positive sign your immune system’s working I wasn’t worried. Instead I relaxed and enjoyed the sights and sounds of something that used to be so commonplace, but that now had become special – a trip on a train.

All too soon we arrived in Halifax – at a time that coincided with a hailstorm, but I was fully kitted out in waterproofs as I’d taken no chances before leaving home. Knowing that there was a real possibility I’d feel like death warmed-up later I elected to walk home and get my daily step quota in before I did. I really enjoyed it because after being stuck at home for so long there was a new-found novelty to treading old boards as it were…

I may have pushed myself just a little bit too far, because when I did get home I soon felt like death – only sans warmed-up! I’ve not sallied forth since. Instead I’ve spent the day shivering and aching in front of a computer, but I really don’t mind! These side-effects are positive and short-lived, unlike the severest side-effect of catching Covid!

Tomorrow the sun could shine or the wind may blow – it matters not to me – I’ve lots to do at home, so expect my ‘picture of the day’ feature to return then as I’ve a lot of new scans to choose from. Right now, I’m off to bed….

10th March picture of the day…

10 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Scotland, Transport, Travel

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Despite the fact I’d had high hopes, today was another one that wasn’t exactly vintage as so many events conspired to make it otherwise – most of which were completely out of my control – such as the weather! Much as I’d love to have the power to decide whether the sun shines or not, that ain’t going to happen, so I just had to watch the rain sweep in for much of the day – but there was a surprise feeling later.

Having been stuck in for most of the day travelling back in time scanning old pictures and dealing with paperwork the pair of us did venture out in the afternoon to drop a present at a friend’s house for his 69th birthday. Dawn has been busy the past couple of days playing around with and perfecting her Vegan chocolate recipes which was what we dropped round at our friends. In the process we found out some awful news about some other people we’ve known for many years. I’m not going to name the couple as it’s not my place to do so, but we discovered that one of them (in their early 60s) has been diagnosed as having Motor Neurone Disease – just as they’ve managed to sell their business ready for retirement. If ever you’ve wanted to curse the Gods…

Earlier on the week a friend contacted me to say that his Father had passed away due to COPD, so you start thinking ‘sheesh’! None of this has anything to do with Covid or the present situation we all find ourselves in but it does start to concentrate the mind. Needless to say, these events gave me food for thought. Despite the weather I went out for a long walk and ended up sat up on what I think of as a retreat – the cliffs on the promenade above the valley looking down on our local woods. It was dark by the time I got there and the wind was literally blowing a gale but to sit there on my own, being battered by the elements made me feel grateful to be alive and also wonder at the simple joys of living which we don’t always appreciate in these complicated times. Us mere mortals will come and go, but the seasons and the elements will always remain…  

These thoughts about change are reflected in the choice of today’s picture which is from the latest batch of slide scans. I took this shot of the ferry to the Isle of Skye on the 24th July 1990.

The ferry ‘Lochalsh’ arrives at the Kyle of Lochalsh with the Isle of Skye in the background. Now the ferry has gone and the town’s declined as a result. The new bridge crosses to the Isle of Skye about a mile away to the right of the picture.

Back then I’d take a yearly break from my London life to travel around Scotland for a week on a rail rover ticket. This particular time I pitched-up at the Kyle of Lochalsh in perfect weather so stayed a night in the hotel overlooking the terminal for the ferry across to Kyleakin on the isle of Skye. This was an idyllic spot. You may have seen from a previous blog that I’ve always had an affinity for ferries like this. Sadly, this one is long-gone. It was replaced by a bridge in 2005 – although that fact that was built as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project which charged huge tolls was both contentious and unpopular. Sadly, like the ferry villages in my other blog, the Kyle of Lochalsh has gone into an economic decline – even tho’ it’s still the terminus of the railway from Inverness. Still, my pictures remind me of happier times over 30 years ago…

8th March picture of the day…

08 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day, The USA, Travel

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The week’s got off to a mundane start with no excitements or surprises, but after the ‘fun’ of last week that’s really no bad thing. The weather’s been mixed, with temperatures remaining stick in single figures so spring still seems some way off but the lighter nights are certainly welcomes, as was a few hours of sunshine which really brightened the place up. The forecast for the rest of the week isn’t looking much better so I’m assuming I’ll be spending most of my time office-bound, which is no bad thing. At least I’ve plenty of exotic pictures to look at.

One bright spot in the day was taking our moggie (Jet) for a check-up at the vets and hearing that he’s in no immediate danger. OK, he’s nineteen and a half, and he has long-term kidney problems, but considering we thought we were going to lose the old boy last week this is actually a result! Hopefully he’ll be here to get under our feet (and set traps for me at the top of the stairs) for some time yet…

My latest batch of slide scans has provided me today’s picture of the day, which features what’s probably the planet’s most famous hole in the ground. I took this shot at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA on the 3rd November 1990. Four of us were touring the West Coast together and we stopped on night at the Canyon so that we could see what it looked like at sunrise. We weren’t disappointed.

Once I’ve got all the pictures scanned I’ll set up a USA travel gallery on my Zenfolio website as I realise I only have one for rail pictures – which is an odd omission as I have travel shots from 3 previous visits to the States. Ho hum!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

7th March picture of the day…

07 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Well, that was a week I’m not unhappy to see the back of! Hopefully this next one will be rather calmer and more productive, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to anyway so I’m going to remain positive and optimistic whilst taking one day at a time.

I’m not going to bore you with a blog about the minutiae of life as there would be plenty of minutiae to bore you with! Instead, I’m going to go to the picture of the day, which has been chosen from some of the few slides I had time to scan today. It’s the end of an album, so you won’t be seeing any more like it for a while as its partner and next in the series is further down in the queue.

I took this shot in the town of Ubud on the isle of Bali, Indonesia in December 1994.

One of the many cultural delights of the island is going to see some of the variety of Balinese dance performances that you can witness at hotels, temples or theatres. This particular location is the Ubud Palace which provides an excellent backdrop for the dancers. It’s also right in the centre of town, which makes it very easy to get to. The dances vary from solo to mass performances, all of which are accompanied by a live Gamelan orchestra. The movements of the dancers are extremely stylized and choreographed, plus – they take years to learn. Many Western tourists don’t appreciate the art or understand the messages the dances convey and just enjoy the spectacle – which is OK as it helps fund these dance troupes and keep the traditions alive. I’ve always been impressed with the way the Balinese have managed to (mostly) make foreign tourism work for them without it subsuming their unique culture. I’ve many more pictures to add from Indonesia but the next batch will be from a country that’s culturally very different but that has some stunning scenery. Personally (out of the two) I know whose food I’d prefer, but I won’t knock some of the American national parks!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

6th March picture of the day…

06 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in London, Photography, Photojournalism, Picture of the day

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Life’s slowly returning to normal for now as (despite his age) our cat shows a stubborn resistance to the idea of dying. The old bugger’s scared the life out of us this week but we’re so knackered by it all we’ve decided the only thing we can do is give him all the love and attention we can whilst starting to think this was a clever ploy on his part just to become the centre of attraction even more than usual! Poor Dawn’s been kept busy trying to find different foods just to attract his appetite and get him to eat, which could be part of his plan…

Moggie maintenance has taken up most of our week so I’m looking forward to getting back to a less fractured routine and chance for more exercise and less stress – especially as the weather’s slowly warming up and the days are getting longer. With a bit of luck I might even be able to dust down the camera and document the present besides scanning the past…

Talking of the past, here’s the picture of the day. I’ve not sorted and slides this weekend so this is one from the last batch. I’ve been posting pictures from all sorts of exotic locations but this is one that used to be close to home. I took this shot at Columbia Rd flower market in London’s East End on the 12th March 1994 which was when I still lived in the East End. Lynn and I used to cycle over to the market from my flat in Bromley-by-Bow to pick up plants to decorate the communal balcony outside our homes. Columbia Rd was a brilliant place to while away a few hours of a Sunday morning, buying plants from the street stalls or drinking coffee outside a cafe whilst people watching and grabbing pictures like this.

I do miss it. Going to local garden centres here in West Yorkshire just can’t compete!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!