Monthly Archives: May 2021

15th May picture of the day…

15 Saturday May 2021

Posted by in Indonesia, Musings, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Is this really May because you could have fooled me. The weather’s been bloody awful. On Thursday I was freezing my tits off in London whilst dodging the rain. Since I’ve been back in West Yorkshire we’ve seen nothing but rain, OK, the mercury has risen a smidgeon, but seriously? The pair of us would have loved to have gone for a long walk today but with visibility down to a few hundred metres and the rain being constant you feel severely disinclined to venture out and concentrate on other things instead – which is what we’ve done after enjoying a lazy morning. There’s one bright spot. Last Saturday I spent an abortive night waiting for a Pacer train to be unloaded by crane in Huddersfield. There’d been a possibility it would be re-arranged for tonight but that’s not happening, so I’m not in for another soaking and long walk home as the jobs been postponed until June. Instead I’ll be able to have a lovely evening with Dawn and a sensible start tomorrow in order to crack on with some projects at home ready for a new week ahead.

My recent flurry of slide scanning has resulted in over 120 new pictures appearing in my 1991-92 travel gallery. The series has now moved on from Sumatra to Bali which is a little frustrating because it makes me realise what I’m missing – which is about a month’s worth of pictures. Let me explain…

When I returned to London from my trip at the end of 1992 I had 1000s of slides which were unmounted. I’d had many films developed as I’d travelled and posted the pictures back to the UK. Partly because it wasn’t worth the risk of carrying them with me and the possibility of them being stolen but also because of the amount of space they’d have taken in my rucsac. Sadly, some of them got damaged in transit and I’d kept them between sheets of paper in my flat in London which seemed like a great idea at the time – until (inadvertently) I threw the paper away, not realising what it contained. The frustrating thing now – 30 years later – is that I’m starting to remember some of those pictures, and there were some beautiful and unique shots amongst them. But, c’est la vie and all that…

I may have lost some images, but some of the ones I didn’t are still special. The memories they evoke will always stay with me, like the one that I’ve chosen as picture of the day…

I took this shot of a Indian tribal healer ready to go hunting on the island of Siberut in the Mentawai Islands on the 18th June 1992.

How I ended up here and what happened whilst I was is a long, long story that deserves a full blog of its own to do the trip justice. Whilst I’d been in Sumatra I’d heard from some of the more adventurous travellers about the chance to go jungle trekking on Siberut, one of the Mentawai islands off the West coast of Sumatra. I’d also heard about the importance of getting the right guide (one who spoke the local language) as you would end up relying on the hospitality of people like this as it would be their homes you’d be staying in. It really was the most amazing experience but I was lucky. Not only did we have an excellent guide (Joni) and team of helpers, the group I went with jelled very well. We were a mix of Brits, Aussies and Scandinavians from a range of ages but that was no problem. OK, in a longer blog I’ll explain why someone was nicknamed ‘Rambo’ and another the ‘Wingeing Pom’ (not me I hasten to add!). Groups dynamics can make or break experiences like this and they’re often the luck of the draw as you never know who you’ll be trekking with and as a solo traveller that’s really important. I once went camel trekking in India with a small (but mixed) group and had a fantastic experience. When I got back I met a lovely young German girl who’d gone on a similar trip where she found herself alone with five Israeli’s. You can perhaps guess how that went. Anyway, for now I’ll leave you with this image. There’s plenty more in the gallery I mentioned earlier. Please feel free to take a look.

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!

Rolling blog: The great escape…

13 Thursday May 2021

Posted by in London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

06:30.

I’m escaping the confines of the Calder Valley today to head back to my old home (London town) for the first time this year. The country is slowly opening up again after so long in slumber due to the pandemic and I’m looking forward to being able to stretch my legs once again and catch up with both people and events. Today’s a beginning.

Apart from the unconscionably early start I really enjoyed the stroll into Halifax to catch the train. Despite the amazing mixture of weather we’ve been having the temperature’s slowly rising bringing far less chilly mornings than we’ve been used to. Admittedly, Halifax is still quiet at the moment.

I was one of only four people waiting for the 06:17 to Chester to arrive but I’ve no doubt that picture will soon change. The three car class 195 that arrived to take us West wasn’t much busier either. Still, it’s been a good journey so far, the Calder valley’s starting to bloom as the trees develop their summer finery whilst early morning mist clings to the hills, making me realise why I’ve always been attracted to this part of the world.

I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so stay with me to see what happens. I’m travelling down to London via the West Coast Main Line (WCML) due to ‘events’ with a certain train builder’s products which will allow me to pass through many old haunts en-route….

06:55.

Having called at Todmorden and Rochdale my trains begun to fill up with early morning workers on their way to Manchester. There’s a mix between folks wearing suits and those in steel toe-caps but it’s far too early for leisure travellers. Whilst the railway may still be quiet I caught a glimpse of the M62 as we passed Castleton and the motorway is chokka. It’s not that people aren’t travelling, it’s what mode they’re taking…

08:20.

Manchester was pretty quiet when I arrived. Victoria station wasn’t exactly a hive of activity and my walk across the city centre was hassle-free. Unusually, the vagrant quotient around Piccadilly Gardens was the lowest I’ve seen for some time although I’ve no idea why. Some other things were noticeable by their absence too – big name department stores like Debenhams. It’s quite eerie to see their huge building on Market street empty. What impact the absence of some famous high-street names will have on city-centres is yet to be seen. It’s sometimes easy to forget that there’s still 5 million people on furlough. When they return to work the effect on city centres should be rather interesting…

Manchester Piccadilly has changed since my last visit. The one-way system is much more regimented now and reinforced with barriers. The mezzanine floor remains closed so it’s not as easy to get photos of the concourse. Mind you, a few platforms were empty too, reflecting the lack of hustle and bustle. I was here to catch the 08:05 Avanti West Coast service South. The coach I’m in contains half a dozen people. We’re about to call at Macclesfield, so I’ll be curious to see if any more join us there…

09:00.

After calling at Macclesfield and Stoke our carriage has gained three more people, but that’s all so I’m looking forward to a hassle free journey South. The weather’s dry but cloudy with little definition in the sky – hardly conducive to photography but I’m hoping it’ll pick up when I get further South. Either way it’s great to be back on a Pendolino again. I’d forgotten how well they ride and the terrific performance as they accelerate. Oh, and let’s not forget the tilt!

Having joined the main line at Colwich Junction we’re now cruising past the old power station at Rugeley at 115mph although you’d never know from the behaviour of the train. I only know because I’ve an app on my phone that measures these things! The power station’s a sad sight nowadays. The turbine hall and chimney’s disappeared, as have the coal trains that used to supply it with fuel. All that remains are the four tall cooling towers although – as the site is being cleared for further use I can’t see them standing for much longer.

09:50.

We’ve just pulled away from Milton Keynes where dozens of people were waiting to catch this train. We arrived well ahead of time and sat for 8 minutes waiting for our scheduled departure time. I’d toyed with the idea of changing trains here but the weather’s deteriorated. Now we’ve got a steady drumbeat of rain hitting the train so I’ve decided to stay put in the hope things will be better in the capital.

10:12.

We’ve just passed through Watford Junction, a place where I spent many a bank holiday working on the Network Rail rebuilding and relaying work in 2015. Sadly, the sky’s now as black as Hades so I’ve no idea what to expect when I arrive.

11:27.

I’m now wandering around Euston in the rain. Something’s missing here, but I can’t quite put my finger on it…

22:00.

I’m back! Sorry for the gap in the blog, that was because I was having too good a time doing something we’ve not been able to do for ages – meet up with a few friends. Oh, that and the fact we can only do that outdoors and the weather’s bleedin’ freezing! Considering this is mid-May the weather’s anything but spring-like.

London was cold, wet and hardly ideal for getting pictures, although I did manage a few around Euston, documenting how much the area’s changing thanks to the HS2 rail development. Afterwards the day became social as I met up with some old friends for the first time for ages and the four of us caught one of the last traditional High-Speed Trains from St Pancras North (just for old times sake). There was a real feeling of deja vu about the event as the train was busy with railway enthusiasts. Hang on a minute? Weren’t railway enthusiasts condemning these trains when they were first introduced? Oh yes! In those days the HSTs were replacing many locomotive-hauled services so loved by enthusiasts, so the HST’s were labelled ‘plastic’ trains or denigrated as ‘trams’. Now they’re talked about with nostalgia. Talk about the wheel coming full circle!

The four of us travelled up to Nottingham where we had time for a quick pint before splitting up. Two returned to London whilst Merv and I continued North towards home. The weather didn’t get any warmer but at least we swapped rain for watery sunshine! Having bid adieu to Merv in Sheffield I’m on the final leg home from Leeds to Halifax, having had a thoroughly enjoyable day out. We all agreed that being able to meet up with friends in the flesh, enjoy a few beers and plot future adventures has been good for the soul.

11th May picture of the day…

11 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Today’s been another day of mixed fortunes working from home. I can’t really complain as it’s been rather productive. I’ve no commercial writing to do this week so I can concentrate on pictures and rebooting scanning my old slides. A few weeks ago I managed to buy 4 packs of ‘Gepe’ glass slide mounts on eBay. I’ve been using the same 40 old mounts for nearly 15 years now and they’re showing their age. The plastic starts to split after hundreds of times of being remounted, so many of them are ‘cream crackered’ (Cockney rhyming slang for knackered = broken). Now with another 80 in the arsenal I can mount 60-80 slides at a time which speeds up the scanning process. OK, it’s still a tedious thing to have to do but there’s certainly light at the end of the tunnel now as I can see the physical pile of albums dwindle. Hallelujah!

Aside from scanning and answering emails Dawn and I did manage to get out for an afternoon constitutional – and avoid getting soaked. For the past couple of days we’ve experienced thunderstorms and some very moody skies. They’ve been wonderful to watch but you really don’t want to get caught outside when the heavens open. Thankfully, because we live high up on the valley side there’s normally plenty of warning as you can see the rain approaching which can make for some very dramatic sights. One of those sights is today’s picture of the day – just to give you all a break from exotic travel images (oh, and have I got some great ones in store)…

Here’s the view from our bedroom window earlier today as the latest in a line of thunderstorms darkened our door – and the valley…

One of the wonderful things about living here in the Pennines is the skies. They’re constantly changing to provide amazing backdrops to the green hills of the Calder Valley. I’ll never get bored of trying to capture their variety and moods…

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!

9th May picture of the day…

09 Sunday May 2021

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

After last nights failure to deliver a Pacer I got home around 3am this morning which meant today was initially a slow one whilst I caught up on some sleep. The plan was was to potter around at home anyway, so the indifferent weather forecast didn’t make any difference. It’s not as if I had to go out and get any exercise as I’d walked the 7.5 miles back from Huddersfield so I was quids in on that front!

Instead the days been taken up with a mixture of gardening and household chores to try and catch up with stuff that I’ve been promising to do for ages. The rain held off long enough for me to get several hours in the garden without getting drenched which allowed me to dispose of a lot of the remains of a Russian Vine that had been invading us from a patch of no-man’s land above the house. God, I hate that stuff! We haven’t been able to kill at its source (yet) but we’ve hacked it back so much that it’s not going to bother us again for a while. By the time the rain arrived I’d moved indoors to catch up on some internal DIY and cleaning, so the day’s not been a complete waste of time. Now, in the evening I’m trying to catch up on some work and old slide scanning as I’ve exhausted the backlog of pictures awaiting editing so I need to get some more in the bank. I added over 100 old travel images from my solo trip through Asia in 1992 to this gallery on Saturday. There’s a large selection of stuff from Sumatra to enjoy and one of them is the picture of the day….

I took this shot in the market at Bukittinggi in West Sumatra on the 3rd June 1992. I love Asian markets as they’re fascinating places to explore and to indulge in people watching. There’s always something to new to discover, whether that’s a variety of fruit or veg I’ve never soon before, bizarre kitchen utensils, or ornamental ironwork for homes and gardens. The market here had the lot! In this case what caught my eye was some of the market porters who made their living moving goods round the market for a few rupiah a barrow-load.

Apart from the battered leather jacket and traditional hat, notice the man’s barefoot? If you look through the other shots in this series you’ll see him pushing his barrow through floodwater at the market after a heavy storm. This is no easy gig. In the background are ‘Dokars’ – horse-drawn taxis who’re waiting for trade, hoping to take shoppers and their purchases home. I made a couple of visits to the market whilst I was staying in the town before heading off to lake Maninjau. It remains one of my favourite towns ion the island but then I rather fell in love with West Sumatra. It has some of the most fantastic scenery, the people are a delight and the local food is superb. ‘Padang food’ as it’s known is famous throughout Indonesia, just look for ‘Masakan Padang’….

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!

P-p-pickup a Pacer (with apologies to Penguin biscuits)…

08 Saturday May 2021

Posted by in Huddersfield, Northern Rail, Pacers, Photography, Porterbrook, Railways, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

23:18.

There’s lots of ways of spending one’s Saturday night. Well, OK, not as many as there used to be pre-Covid, but tonight is a little different.

I’m in Huddersfield, waiting for the latest old Pacer train to be delivered to its new owners, the platform 1 charity based at Huddersfield station.

Unlike the first delivery which was to a school in Bradford this one is much, much more complex. It involves two large cranes (one’s a 500 tonner) half a dozen articulated HGVs plus loads of support vehicles. To make it even more interesting it also requires a possession (complete line closure) of the railway, which isn’t scheduled until 01:00.

Here’s how things look right now.

This is the smaller of the two cranes with the Pacer behind it to the left. It’ll be craned into position over a wall behind where it sits now. Thankfully, although the evening’s wet it’s not windy as that would kibosh the lift.

Right now, all we have to do is wait fot the possession – a feeling familiar to anyone involved in rail engineering! I’ll update this blog as events unfold…

00:00.

Don’t you just love it when a plan doesn’t come together? The job’s been cancelled at the 11th hour. I won’t go into detail other than to say it involves cranes – and mats…

Right now everyone’s busy deconstructing the site and packing everything away ready for another day.

Me? I’m off home to a warm bed. Sorry about that folks!

Meanwhile, in the best quiz show tradition – here’s what you could have won. 55801 from set 144001 repainted especially for platform 1.

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!

More cognitive dissonance from ‘Conservationists’…

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by in 'Green' madness, Hs2

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

Regular readers will know I’ve become increasingly cynical about the UK ‘green’ movement. Mainly due to my support for building the High Speed 2 railway. This has brought me into contact with various charities, pressure groups and ‘celebrities’ in a way I’d never had before. Like many people, I simply assumed they were on the right side of things, knew what they were talking about and actually cared about Climate Change. Several years down the (metaphorical) line and my rose tinted glasses are well and truly consigned to the dustbin.

Over the years I’ve blogged about the fact free nonsense, scaremongering, hypocrisy (and downright lies) pushed by many conservation groups. Like the Woodland Trust (who’re still at it) or people like Chris Packham who really is beyond the pale (remember his ‘largest deforestation since WW1‘ claptrap?). Today I’ve found another in the Packham mould who I’d never heard of before. One Iolo Williams.

It seems Williams is another TV celebrity Conservationist. Well, in Wales at least – although he also works for the BBC and has appeared on ‘Springwatch’, so presumably knows Packham. What drew my attention was this fact-free load of nonsense on Twitter.

Ignoring the usual lazy canards about HS2 being a ‘Vanity project’ and only saving 20 mins we have a new one. According to Williams HS2 “destroys thousands of acres of prime wildlife habitat”. Really? Where? As usual, the truth is completely different. HS2 affects a tiny amount of ancient woodland (less than 1 ha on Phase 1) a large chunk of the line is in tunnels and the land it does traverse is mostly monocultural farmland – which is hardly renowned as “prime wildlife habitat” (as many environmentalists are at pains to point out)! In fact, some of the farmland that HS2 crosses and that’s being used in the construction phase will be repurposed afterwards and turned into genuine “prime wildlife habitat” like this example (link).

Here’s an image of what to expect once the line is built. Not exactly the barren wildlife wasteland people like Williams pretend, is it? Not only that, but HS2 is committed to ensuring there’s no net loss of biodiversity, something Williams ignores completely.

Let’s have a look at Williams other claims too shall we? Let’s start with the tired and trite canard about HS2 only ‘saving’ 20 mins. Apart from the blindingly obvious fact HS2 isn’t just an end to end railway with just two stations (but a network serving 31) so can’t just be a single time saving, let’s look at the real figures. Note: 20mins isn’t true on any of them…

Right, that’s that canard exposed. Now let’s move on to one of my favourites, that HS2 is a ‘vanity project’! Here’s my standard response to anyone who’s lazy enough to trot that one out;

Since HS2 was first mooted in 2009 we’ve had a Labour government, a Coalition government and now a Tory Majority government. We’ve had four Prime Ministers: Brown, Cameron, May and Johnson. We’ve had five Transport Ministers: Adonis, Greening, McLoughlin, Grayling and Shapps.

The HS2 phase 1 bill passed with the biggest majority of any Coalition legislation, both in the Commons and the Lords. It continues to enjoy massive cross-party support from all the major political parties. Hs2 is also supported by the elected regional mayors (both Labour and Tory), The Core Cities Group, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPS) transport bodies, business groups and individual companies. The list is huge.

So, exactly whose ‘Vanity project’ is HS2 meant to be?

Oh, there’s another thing. As I’d never heard of Williams I did a bit of research and found this on his website. Just like Packham, Williams advertises expensive trips to exotic locations where you can enjoy the pleasure of his company. For a price, of course. Williams is currently advertising 6 such trips in 2021-22. Destinations are Brazil, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, the Antarctic, Cantabria and East Africa. These trip don’t come cheap either. Here’s an example.

Five grand each for a party of 10. Nice work if you can get it. But how far is it from London to Costa Rica by air? Here’s your answer…

Yes folks, that’s a round trip of almost 11,000 miles (not including any internal trips within Costa Rica itself). As old Cilla Black used to say – that’s a lorra, lorra Carbon Emissions – and that’s just one trip…

So, (just like his mate Packham) Williams is happy to see groups of wealthy people fly around the world as a business opportunity, but opposes building green land transport in the UK for everyone (rich or poor). Because without HS2 we simply won’t have the rail capacity for the future to get people & freight off roads and cut transport CO2 emissions to tackle GLOBAL ClimateChange. Stopping HS2 isn’t ‘green’, it’s exactly the opposite.

Hypocritical, much?

There seems to be a recurring pattern here. With these people it’s very much a case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ plus a completely cavalier approach to facts and fact-finding. Scaremongering and exaggeration’s the order of the day and they seem to feel no obligation to report responsibly which is sad as we desperately need a Green movement that is worth its name. Sadly, these people aren’t it.

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

Stupidity, thy name is HS2Rebellion!

06 Thursday May 2021

Posted by in Extinction Rebellion, Hs2, Local elections, London, Politics

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , ,

With the anti HS2 campaign continuing to fall apart as more and more activists become ‘slacktivists’ or disappear completely now it’s obvious the game’s up. There’s been little to comment on recently because it’s really all over bar the posturing. Until today, when in one glorious cock-up HS2Rebellion and others who’re linked to the rather ridiculous (but also faintly sinister and rather fascistic) Extinction Rebellion spin-off political party ‘burning pink’ have excelled themselves in utter stupidity and tinfoil-hattery on the day London’s voters go to the polls!

Why? Well, Burning Pink have put up a candidate for London Mayor, one Valerie Brown (who? Ed). You may well ask, as no-one’s ever heard of her before now. Apparently, she’s the co-founder of ‘burning pink’ along with the odious Roger Hallam, who was previously one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion. Frankly, there’s less chance of her winning as there is of finding Lord Lucan.

SkyBet are offering odds of 750-1 on her. To put that into perspective, Count Binface is way ahead of her with odds of 500-1! For someone standing on a supposed environmental ticket her campaign’s been a joke. Money’s been found from somewhere for a campaign ‘battlebus’ which turns out to be a pollution disaster as it’s 17 years old and wouldn’t be allowed on the streets of London any other way.

With her campaign going nowhere Hs2rebellion/Extinction Rebellion activists came up with an idea to attract publicity and make some impossible demands at the same time. Two (one of whom is serial failure Larch Maxey) clambered on to the roof of 1 Eversholt St at Euston and sprayed the building with pink paint, then said they’d only come down if their ridiculous demands were met. They and their hangers-on like ‘Boots on the ground’ (see previous blog) claimed they were spraying the HQ of HS2.

To say these people aren’t playing with a full deck is beautifully illustrated by another of ‘Boots’ tweets from yesterday.

This is tinfoil-hattery of the highest order. Why the Chinese would want inland naval bases miles from the sea would seem to be a logical question, but obviously not if you’ve been sucked into the ‘shocking pink’ orbit where it seems the first thing you’re asked to do is leave your brain at the door.

Now, as Larch Maxey had previously spent 3 weeks holed up in the pointless tunnel under Euston Gardens early in the year, you just might have thought he’d have an idea of who had offices at Euston and where. But no! Needless to say, this stunt backfired in spectacular fashion as people pointed out what should have been blindingly obvious. HS2’s HQ is in Birmingham. Yes, the do have offices at Euston – at the Podium. The offices Maxey and his mate painted are the offices of err…Network Rail, the company that runs the publicly owned rail network, you know – public transport – the sort of thing Greens are meant to like…

Here was the reaction of one person on Twitter who pointed out the obvious.

Of course, the mistake is even harder to make now as buildings 1 and 2 have been demolished so Maxey had a 50-50 chance of getting the correct building – and still failed to get the right one!

Meanwhile, others started doing some digging about that ‘battlebus’…

I sometimes wonder if Extinction Rebellion and ‘Burning Pink’ aren’t actually working for the oil and road lobby as the only thing they’re good for is bringing the UKs green movement into utter disrepute. Whatever these idiots thought they were achieving that would help their cause is a mystery. The reaction on Twitter has been overwhelmingly negative, if anything it’s exposed just how ridiculous, arrogant and unpleasant ‘Shocking pink’ are – with Extinction Rebellion not far behind. Remember, ‘shocking pink’ under their other name ‘beyond politics’ attacked the offices of several political parties (including the Green Party) because they claimed they weren’t ‘radical’ enough.

Still, tomorrow we’ll be able to see the election results. One thing I can confidently predict and that’s the fact Valerie Brown will not be Mayor of London! I’ll update this blog with the results. Anyone care to bet she has less votes than Count Binface?

Of course, this futile act of stupidity does beg one question. Whilst these two and their rag-bag of supporters are poncing around outside Network Rail’s offices, who’s meant to be on the frontline trying to ‘save’ trees and stop HS2?

UPDATE: 9th May.

As promised here’s an update on Brown’s performance in the Mayoral election. She came last! She managed a measly 5305 votes and was trounced by Count Binface who garnered 24775 votes! Worse was to came. ‘Burning Pink’ have reported Brown was arrested at home by the Metropolitan police on Saturday morning for conspiracy to cause criminal damage (of for ‘caring’ as Burning Pink’ claim). She’ll be in good company as Larch Maxey and his co-vandal Xavier Gonzalez Trimmer were also arrested after their stupid stunt.

Meanwhile, in the real world. HS2 construction continues uninterrupted…

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!

5th May picture of the day…

05 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by in Food, Picture of the day, Travel, West Yorkshire

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

It’s been a long day and it’s after 10pm so I’m going to be relatively brief in this blog although I’d had intentions of doing a rolling one today as I was out and about but never found the time. I was up at 6am this morning as Dawn was up early. I’d got an article for RAIL magazine to finish so an early start seemed like a good idea. Having sent my copy off I was intending to potter around at home but then I saw the weather it was glorious sunshine and such a contrast to the past couple of days which have been wet and weary, so I decided ‘bugger it’, packed the camera bag and headed off out to enjoy the sun and capture some new shots. My RAIL article is on the local rail network and it was whilst I was researching pictures form my library to use in it that I discovered that a goodly proportion of pictures were out of date. I blitzed a lot of the area when I first moved here from London in 2010 but I’d not been back to several locations for a while – and certainly not since the Northern franchise (and livery) change so today seemed like a good time to make good on that. Having walked down to Halifax station my first port of call was Brighouse where I managed to get a few decent shots of Calder valley freight services. Having done so – and having time to kill before my next train – I wandered into the town centre for a mooch around. As I passed a little delicatessen called ‘Le Gourmet’ on Bethel St I noticed something unusual in the window. Nestled in between the pork pies and pasties was ‘Yorkshire Duck’. No, I’d never heard of it either! Looking like a massive mutant Scotch egg and costing £1 for two I couldn’t resist. I’m adventurous when it comes to food and a sucker for trying something different – and these certainly fitted the bill. So, what did they taste like? Well, they were a bit dry but they were certainly spicy! They appeared to be a mix of pork, breadcrumbs and spices although I couldn’t tell you for sure what was packed into them. Without doubt they were substantial and a real belly-filler for a quid. Having posted a picture of them on Twitter the reaction I got from most folk was bafflement although a Lancashire friend reckoned they could be a version of faggots. So, for tonight’s picture of the day I bring you – ‘Yorkshire Duck’!

The weather’s due to return to normal tomorrow so It looks like I’ll be busy in the office sorting out pictures from today’s travels. I’ll add a blog about it too as there’s no doubt rail passenger numbers are picking up again and some of the old locations I revisited are about to see massive changes. But for now, it’s good night from me – and the duck!

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!

3rd May picture of the day…

03 Monday May 2021

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I’m so happy we took note of the weather forecast and went out walking yesterday as today we’ve had traditional bank holiday weather – absolute crap! When I first gazed out of the bedroom window this morning I thought “well, it’s not brilliant, but at least there’s no rain”. Little did I know what was in store for the afternoon…

As we’d nothing exciting planned and Dee was feeling the effect of so much walking uphill we decided to have a lazy start to the day. Well, it was a bank holiday after all and we’d certainly put effort into yesterday! Several cups of coffee later we both decided that – actually – a day at home wasn’t really a bad thing. Then the rain arrived…

One of the beauties of where we live is that we have a commanding view across the Calder Valley and the direction that most of the weather arrives from, so we can literally see it coming. Today was a case in point as the skies got darker and more ominous, making it clear what we were about to experience. Depending on the speed of the wind we can normally expect to see the rain sweeping in about 10 minutes before it hits us and today was no exception so it was a case of batten down the hatches, make another coffee and get on with other things. In my case this was sifting and editing pictures for my next article in RAIL magazine then spending time Photoshopping another load of old slides from my 1991-92 travels that have been added to this gallery. So, not entirely a wasted day and listening to the rain beat against the windows was actually rather therapeutic.

Having felt virtuous because I’d achieved so much I decided to venture out for some shopping and get some exercise despite the weather. OK, I’d have to don full walking waterproofs, but what the hell, I was only going to the supermarket, not the North Pole. It seemed like a great idea at the time until I started walking back and the high winds arrived which turned the rain almost horizontal! It was at that point I realised that perhaps my waterproofs need a little TLC as they were were more water than proof! Despite my rainwater revelation I rather enjoyed being out in the eye of the storm. I don’t quite know what it is but there’s something about being out in the elements when you feel the full force of nature. Perhaps it’s the fact it puts you into perspective – puny humans with their momentary lifespan against the elements that are timeless and ageless.

The theme of the elements brings me on to the picture of the day which is another of my latest batch of old slide scans. I took this at Lake Maninjau in West Sumatra, Indonesia during the first week of June 1992.

In some ways Maninjau reminds me of where I live now although the landscape couldn’t be more different. Maninjau is a lake in the caldera of a massive extinct volcano. But, the lake is so wide and where I was staying faced the prevailing weather you could watch storms approach in the same fashion that I can now. The little ‘homestay’ I shared with several other travellers was right on the lake. We has access to canoes and rubber rings (old wagon inner-tubes) so we’d spend many a happy hour floating or swimming in the temperate waters of the lake. In the evening we’d sit there with a few beers, chatting and watching the sun set, which sometimes produced scenes like this.

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!

West Yorkshire wanderings…

02 Sunday May 2021

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Travel, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

The bank holiday weather’s been mixed to say the least but today was meant to be the best of an indifferent bunch so Dawn and I chose it to get out and go walking. We’d originally considered driving over to Derbyshire but then I suggested exploring somewhere more local – the hills above Todmorden. We’ve often hiked around the town but that’s either because the pair of us have walked up to Stoodley Pike (a favorite walk with fantastic if windswept views) or I’ve been up in the hills around Walsden as it’s an excellent location for railway pictures. Today we tried somewhere different. After parking the car on the edge of the town we headed up some steep paths through an area called Hole Bottom (no, really!) towards Todmorden golf club which gave some wonderful views across the town. We also passed some really interesting and curious properties. I love this old mill towns as they contain some fascinating buildings tucked in backstreets or on the edge of town. Many have seen several incarnations in their lifetime so often have original features like doors or windows bricked in. Trying to work out what they might have been is always fun. Here’s a classic example.

Further up the hill on the edge of the golf course we discovered this view. I’ve often tried for this shot from the other side of town without the same degree of success so I’m pleased to have found this place – even if you’d be shooting directly into the light on a sunny day.

Here a train from Blackburn to Southport traverses the viaduct which bisects the town centre before it arrives at the station just to the right of the viaduct. The imposing building behind the train is the neo-classical Town Hall. Designed by architect John Gibson it’s a grade 1 listed building that originally opened in 1875. Beyond the town hall is the Gothic splendor of the Unitarian church (The Unitarian movement originated in Todmorden in the early 19th century). Another grade 1 listed building designed by Gibson it was constructed between 1865-69. Both buildings were paid for by the wealthy Fielden family who were local mill owners, reformists and philanthropists.

By the golf course we joined the Calderdale Way footpath and headed west along the edge of the valley for several miles. This gave us some stunning views – even if we did end up stopping to eat our sandwiches in one of the rain and hailstorms that passed our way! You can see what the weather was like from this wider picture.

What’s very different about this side of the valley are the number of rocky outcrops and strange formations that dot the skyline. Places with names like Whirleaw, Stannalley or Golden stones – or the one we walked to – Orchan Rocks high above Lydgate.

From the rocks we continued on for another mile or so along the valley edge as far as Cross Hill before heading back to the valley floor. The first part was easy as we followed the road but then we cut across country along various footpaths to a place called Shore before descending an incredibly steep and narrow path through the dense woodland along Wittonstall Clough. I’m glad we’d not made the mistake of trying to climb this way as it’s band enough on the way down!

Reaching the main road at Cornholme we decided discretion was the better part of valour and walked back along the main road to Todmorden, although if we’d had time it would have been very tempting to scale the opposite side of the valley. Instead we decided to leave that for another day.

Now we’re back at home and relaxing. Dawn’s making one of our favorite weekend treats – spicy prawns and garlic bread. After that it’s time to settle down in front of the TV to join a large chunk of the country to watch the final episode of ‘Line of Duty’ – what a perfect end to a great day…

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!