Monthly Archives: October 2021

Rolling blog: Coastaway…

19 Tuesday Oct 2021

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06:20.

Having slipped out of bed at 04:45 in order to beat the alarm clock and not disturb Dawn I’m currently on Northern’s 06:00 from Halifax to Leeds. My extra early start gave me plenty of time to walk to the station and the rain Gods smiled on me. So now today’s adventure starts. I’m heading for the South coast before a night in London. Stay tuned to see how the trip goes…

The 06:00’s the first train of the day towards Leeds and never the busiest as it’s only working from Hebden Bridge. That said, the 3-car Class 195 that’s working it today has (at a rough guess) loadings of between 20-25%. This time of day the passengers are all solitary folk on their way to work.

Early-birds off the 06:00 from Halifax at Leeds.

07:00.

I’ve transferred to the 07:00 to London Kings Cross. At this time of day Leeds is a hive of activity for LNER as trains from outlying towns and cities converge like Bradford and Skipton converge on the station before taking Yorkshire business folk down to the capital. The 07:00’s one example. Having started from Bradford Forster Square it reverses at Leeds, after which it makes one more stop at Wakefield Westgate before running non-stop to London, making the 185 miles and 70 chains trip from Leeds in 1 hour 59 minutes.

07:17.

We’ve just left Wakefield Westgate where several dozen passengers awaited our arrival. Needless to say, they’re almost exclusively business travellers. The tables in my car are now covered in laptops as people catch up on emails or other work. There’s a sea of red seat reservation lights in my coach, but a quick headcount reveals many seats are unoccupied. On a walk-through the car I count 31 people in a vehicle with 88 seats (27.3%) but as this is coach 9 of a 10 car set I know the cars that were nearer the Leeds gateline will be busier.

07:45.

We’re now flying down the East Cost Main Line, having just passed Retford. The day’s just beginning to dawn and I can see it’s wet. Very wet! Rain’s beating on the opposite side of the train so hard it’s making noise like a sizzling frying pan. I’m happy to be stuck inside this metal tube where it’s warm, dry and I can get on with some work.

08:20.

Fortified with a rather good coffee from the buffet (it’s strong and rich, unlike the dishwater you get on some trains) I’ve been occupied with researching today’s assignment whilst keeping one eye on the weather. The rain’s stopped for now but the low grey clouds look very uninviting. The forecast for the South coast is better, but we’ll have to see. We’re only 40 mins away from London now…

08:40.

Joy! Watery sunlight’s penetrated the murk here at Hitchin! Cloud level doesn’t seem to be changing, but it does appear to be thinning. On another note, I’ve just wandered through the car to the loo and observed that I’m the only person who’s still wearing a mask. Still, they don’t matter anymore now that Covid cases are dropping, do they? Oh, wait…

And the moral of the story is – wear a mask!

09:30.

I decided to take the ‘scenic’ route to the South coast which saved me having to cross London on the tube. I’m now on a Southeastern ‘Javelin’ service from St Pancras International to Ashford. I say ‘scenic’ but as much of it is in tunnels and it passes through Dagenham before it reaches the Rainham marshes that is somewhatof a misnomer! I’ve not been this aay since Covid kicked-off so I was amazed to see the amount of new housing neing built on brownfield sites on the ribbon of land North of the railways to Rainham.

I have to say it’s a pleasure to be able to speed between central London and Ashford in this fashion. As a former Londoner I remember what a schlep this was from our home in Crouch End, having to get the tube across to Charing Cross/London Bridge for the slow service.

10:40.

Having arrived at Ashford just 38 minutes after leaving St Pancras I’m now on the ‘Marshlink’ line on the non-electrified line between here and Ore. I’ve come this was as I’m hoping to kill two birds with one stone and get pictures around the area for another client. Fortunately, the weather’s playing ball. The skies are clearing, the sun’s appearing and the skies are turning blue! My luck might just have turned…

15:00.

Apologies for the gap in updates but I’ve been a busy bee. I took an hour-long break in the lovely town of Rye. Built on a hill and once famous as the nearby home of the comedian and author Spike Milligan (who lived close by in Udimore) it’s still a lovely place to visit as it has some fascinating old buildings. Here’s an example. That said, the place is starting to look a bit tatty. Many building are in need of quite a bit of TLC. Rotten window frames, peeling paintwork and closed shops are common. It’s a crying shame.

I was tempted to tarry but as the train service is hourly and I had a lot more to do I resisted the temptation. That said, I fitted a lot into the hour as the weather worked out for me which allowed me to get some half-decent pictures before moving on to my main destination. Eastbourne.

20:00.

I’m now back in London and winding down for the evening after a packed day. I struck lucky with the light as soon as I arrived in Eastbourne which allowed me to get shots in the bag sooner than I expected. Having done so I was able to have a wander around town, something I’ve never done before. Like many towns (seaside or otherwise) there’s a glut of empty shots as retail faces the forces of rising rents, online retail, Brexit and Covid. I saw a number of buildings that looked like they were once department stores but also a lot of smaller shops that were once eateries. It’s sad, but the world’s changing – as it always has.

Anyway, I’ll end this blog with a few pictures as I’m too knackered to write anymore after a 04:30 start and I’ve a busy day tomorrow.

The windmill at Rye, which is right next to the railway. Sadly, the classic shot of the two is now far too overgrown, but I’m tempted to do a wide-angle, higher level shot next time…
The frontage of Eastbourne station. The building itself is being restored and the local Council have helped by changing the roads outside.

Tomorrow I’m in search of the new rather than the old as I’ll be exploring the High-Speed 2 railway construction sites at Euston in London…

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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. 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: Kicking off Community rail week…

18 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Green issues, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs

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It’s a reasonably early start for me as I’m off to Manchester to join colleagues from Community Rail network to kick off Community Rail week, a new event with an exciting range of activities taking place across community rail, this year championing the message Go Green by Train, as part of the build-up to COP26. The essential message is quite simple. Ditch the car and go by train. Here’s why;

Our opening event is at Manchester Piccadilly station from 10:00 – 15:00.

Community Rail Lancashire, Mid Cheshire CRP, Calder Valley CRP and Liverpool to Manchester CRP will be promoting the Go Green by Train message, highlighting how visitors can explore a wealth of attractions and activities by train.

I’ll be blogging and posting pictures through the day…

09:10.

I’m en-route to Manchester although my train’s running late. I was in plenty of time at Halifax so caught an earlier Blackpool bound train as far as Hebden Bridge in order to get a few library shots and admire the old pictures of the railway displayed in the waiting room.

The Manchester service was running behind us but was several minutes late. Made up of a pair of Class 195/0s the service lost even more time outside Todmorden as (I’m assuming) it was stuck behind another service). Having crossed over the border into Lancashire we’re now running 16 minutes late.

I finally arrived at Piccadilly ‘on time’ but 22 minutes later than I’d planned. The lateness of our train turned out to be because of signalling issues around Todmorden. ho hum! Still, I managed to get the pictures we needed, including this one for the official launch of Community Rail Week.

Meanwhile, on the concourse, various community rail groups (and Network Rail) had set up a stall filled with leaflets and various goodies to give away…

16:00.

Whist some of the CRN team stayed at Manchester some of us had another appointment back in West Yorkshire. The friends of Mytholmroyd station were unveiling artwork painted in conjunction with a local school, so I headed back across the Pennines with Jools Townsend and other CRN colleagues to cover the event. For once, the weather let us down! Rain had set in as we left Manchester and it followed us home. Even so, we had a station building in which to shelter from the rain and also some delicious food laid on for us to enjoy before the pupils of ‘Spider Class’ at Scout Road academy could join us. Here they are with the artwork they’d contributed to, which is on the theme of ‘Transport through the ages’.

20:30.

I’m now back home in the warm and dry, preparing my kit for the next few days adventures which will be a marked contrast to today. Early tomorrow I head down to London and (hopefully) the South coast for an assignment which will no doubt generate a rolling blog. On Wednesday I’ll be looking at the opposite end of the railway spectrum and checking out work on constructing Hight Speed 2 at Euston. There’s a massive amount of work going on on hundreds of sites along the HS2 route at the moment, and of course Euston is one of the main terminal stations, with the challenge of building complex tunnel approaches without disturbing the existing railway. It should be a very interesting visit…

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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

HS2rebellion: The fat lady’s singing (day 8)…

17 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Protest, Railways

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There was always a dull predictability about what was going to happen at the last remaining anti Hs2 squatter camp, laughably named the Wendover ‘active resistance’ camp. How a tiny handful of people retreating into a hole in the ground until they’re dug out by bailiffs can be classed as ‘active resistance’ is a mystery but then everything about the protesters campaign has been about them writing metaphorical cheques they couldn’t possibly cash. They boasted they were going to stop the biggest construction project in Europe, but in reality, they couldn’t even stop themselves being evicted from any of their squalid camps, much less stop HS2!

The eviction of Wendover began eight days ago. Last Sunday in fact. In that time, the three sites that made up their camp have all been secured by bailiffs and the handful of occupants have been evicted, bar the small group who are now holed-up underground, who look to number less than half a dozen people. All their boasts about holding out for ‘months’ are looking increasingly hollow. The tower they’d built over their sole tunnel (the boasts of more than one tunnel were false, as usual) lasted less than a week, despite their claims that it was so reinforced with barbed wire and other obstacles that it would be a real challenge to demolish. The truth is, a few upper middle-class kids playing ‘eco-warriors’ was never going to be a match for a team of bailiffs – many of whom are ex-military. Yesterday, the final occupant who remained above ground was cut free from his ‘lock-on’ and given his marching orders. The young man, whose name is Tristan (why do I get the impression he’s not from a working class background? Ed) was interviewed for a ‘livestream’ on the HS2Rebellion Facebook page by the increasing ridiculous sounding Mark Keir. Tristan (who sounds every bit as posh as his name suggests) was hardly impressive and seemed to be very happy his jolly jape was over so he could collect his car from the nearby car park and drive home!

With the last protesters holed-up in their tunnel the bailiffs and HS2 contractors have been examining the camp to ensure there’s nobody left. I’ve obtained some pictures of the site which show that these ‘environmentalists’ have left the place a shit-tip. It looks more like a junkyard than the eco-nirvana they pretended they’d turned it into. Take a look.

Needless to say, taxpayers (local and national) will end up paying to have this vermin attracting mess removed and disposed of in an environmental way. Not that this is the first time. Every camp these ‘environmentalists’ have been evicted from or abandoned have looked like this to a greater or lessor extent. The damage these people have created compared to their grandiose claims about ‘protecting’ the environment is a joke. I wonder what some of the mugs who’ve been persuaded to fund the protesters through various crowdfunders think about the reality shown in these pictures, rather than the ‘cute, cuddly and eco-friendly’ image the squatters try and project? Of course, one could also ask what damage the useless tunnel they’ve dug has done to the root systems of the trees around it? A number of trees have had to be severely pruned (at Denham) or removed (at Euston) because of the actions of these people.

No doubt the joke will continue for a little while yet, although it’s obvious from the viewing figures for Mark Keir’s livestreams and the hits on the HS2rebellion Facebook page that most people have lost interest. I’m sure that many people who log on to listen to Keir speak are only doing so to see what ridiculous lie he’s going to come out with next! One of the latest bits of craziness is Keir’s claim that HS2 is going to cause the Grand Union canal to dry up!

The numbers of people turning up to ‘support’ the protesters by standing on the side of the A413 has been rather embarrassing too. Most days it’s been around a dozen – and all the usual suspects whose faces are familiar from other pointless protests around the Chilterns. I expect this number to dwindle even further now there’s nothing to see as the tower’s demolished, the protesters are hiding in a tunnels and the fence has been covered over to block the view. Now, the only question is how long this farce will drag out for before the last few in the tunnel give up or are dug out.

How many days of work on HS2 have been lost because of this. A big fat ZERO as the Wendover camp isn’t even on the route of HS2 – as this map shows. The location of the camp is circled in red.

Sandwiched between the A413 and the existing Chiltern railway it’s outside any of the HS2 construction sites. The protesters could stay in their useless tunnel till Doomsday without affecting HS2 in any way!

Away from this circus HS2 construction’s really ramping up. On Wednesday I’ll be visiting the construction sites at Euston to bring you updates on the work there. I doubt I’ll be blogging about Wendover again until the waste of time protest is over. The fat lady’s song will soon be coming to an end. I’ll bring you an update from her curtain call…

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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. 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. Go West…

15 Friday Oct 2021

Posted by in Food and drink, Manchester, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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11:00

It’s a beautifully sunny day here in West Yorkshire, so after being cooped up in the office since Monday I’m venturing out and heading West to give myself and the camera an outing and make the most of the autumn light. I’ve also arranged to meet a friend who’s over from Ireland and pick up some exotic food shopping from Manchester’s Chinatown as I can’t get the ingredients in our neck of the woods. I’m hunting Kecap Manis, the Indonesian/Malaysian sweet soy sauce which is a staple of Asian cousine in that part of the world. Anyone who’s been to Indonesia and eaten locally will immediately know what I’m talking about. The little plastic bottles of sweet chili sauce and Kecap Manis are ever-present on the tables of Rumah Makan’s (food stalls) across the archipelago.

Right now I’m sitting on the 10:44 from Halifax to Manchester which is made up of a pair of CAF built 195/0s. It’s busy, but not overly so. Passenger numbers on the railways have really bounced back, especially leisure travel. Commuter and business numbers are still down but climbing. The bounce-back has confounded the sceptics who predicted a much slower recovery. I’ll be interested to see how busy Manchester’s main stations are later today…

Watch out for regular updates and pictures throughout the day…

20:33

Sorry! I take back (with embarrassment) what I said about regular updates. I’m now on my way home from Manchester after a really good day but one that went anything but to plan. I’d intended to head West to get pictures of the Porterbrook leasing Class 769 bi-mode trains and also get a few shots of the new Stadler Class 777s which are on test runs before being introduced into service on Merseyrail. But today was ‘one of those days’. For once I had company on my quest. I met an Irish friend who’s over in the UK for a break but who’d never explored the routes I was looking at, so it seemed like a natural synergy. Having hooked up at Victoria we headed West on a pair of 156s to Wigan with the intent of catching up with the 769s there. It wasn’t to be. On arrival we checked ‘Real ‘Time Trains’ only to find the bi-modes were few and far between and certainly not on any train we were waiting for. There was only one thing for it. Adjourn to the pub and plan..

The Swan and Railway is a great refurbished multi-room pub that’s kept all its original features. It also has a cracking range of real ales. You can find it opposite North Western railway station or two minutes down the hill from Wallgate station.

Admitting defeat when it came to finding Class 769s we moved on via old rattletraps (aka Class 150s) to Burscough Bridge where we stopped for a pint at the Hop Vine, a brew pub that’s well worth a visit. We’d held out a forlorn hope that we might find a 769 going our way, but it wasn’t to be. However, our cunning plan was that we’d arrive at our next destination (Southport) ahead of a test run of one of Merseyrail’s new Stadler built Class 777s. Like most plans that involve test trains, it soon fell apart as the train path wasn’t activated. So, yet again, there was only one thing to do – adjourn to the pub after a lightening tour of the town.

(to be continued)…

HS2rebellion: The fat lady’s singing (day 5)…

14 Thursday Oct 2021

Posted by in 'Green' madness, Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Politics, Protest

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It’s just as well I promised not to give you a day by day account of the eviction of the Wendover squatters as I’m not sure I could have sat through hours of their turgid ‘livestreams’ and rambling commentaries that would make GBNews (the ‘gammon channel’) seem interesting.

Most of the videos posted on the HS2rebellion Facebook page have come from that fantasist Mark Keir. I did recommend that *if* you had to watch them to do it with the sound turned down. Sadly for me, I’ve had to endure his unhinged ramblings so that you don’t have to. Apart from the general lying through his teeth about the impact of HS2 on the environment the general rule of thumb with Keir is that if he asserts or suggests something in his commentary you know the opposite will actually happen. A few days ago he claimed that the bailiffs were packing up for the day because they were moving a cherry-picker. A short while later they’d plucked the last remaining tree protesters out of a bath stuck up said item of foliage. The other day he claimed an Inspector from the Health and Safety Inspectorate was going to stop all the work because it was ‘dangerous’. A few minutes later the cherry-picker was back in action, resuming demolishing the only Tower on the site! Oh, and never trust a man who spends so much time laughing at his own (unfunny) jokes! One thing I’ve noticed and a trend that’s continued since the start of the eviction is how few people tune in to watch these tedious livestreams. They never get into triple figures. When you consider that some of the folk dipping in to observe will be supporters, not opponents of HS2 these numbers are appalling, but predictable. A lot of HS2rebellion supporters have moved on after defeat after defeat.

Frankly, the last few days have been an embarrassment for HS2Rebellion. Despite all the ‘calls to arms’ from people like Keir, no-one, apart from a handful of the usual suspects, have turned up to stand helplessly on the opposite side of the A413 to ‘bear witness’. Whilst Keir and Co have focused on the slow demolition of the tower over the only tunnel on the site which is held by less than 10 people, they’ve deliberately ignored what’s happening on other areas of the three sites that make up the camp but one of their number let it slip in his livestream. Iain Oliver (aka ‘Pirate’), who’s been evicted from several camps (most recently the completely useless Wormwood Scrubs squat) filmed the dereliction and destruction of what appeared to be the main camp through the fence. This part of the camp was allegedly meant to remain untouched as one of the protesters – who faces several serious charges unconnected to her HS2 activities – had been remanded on bail to that address. The fact the bailiffs are now taking possession of that part of the begs the question as what’s happened to said person, as the other protestors aren’t even mentioning them anymore. Has ‘Yogi’ done a runner?

This leaves the ‘tower’ and the only tunnel on site which lies beneath it. Both appear to be occupied by around half a dozen people. The bailiffs are taking their time scrapping the tower before they can get to the tunnel, but why wouldn’t they? There’s no hurry. The camp isn’t in the way of any work. It’s not stopped any HS2 construction anywhere. Plus, there’s only ever going to be one result.

Because half a dozen people cut off from the real world on a site that’s not even needed to built HS2 was always going to stop HS2…

No doubt this farce will drag on for a while yet, but it’s achieving nothing other than wasting time and money. If anything of any note happens I’ll do an update. In the meantime expect a blog next week from somewhere where the real action is – the HS2 construction sites at Euston…

Meanwhile, the fat lady’s in fine voice and enjoying her last hurrah…

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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. 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 October picture of the day…

13 Wednesday Oct 2021

Posted by in Down memory lane, London, Musings, Photography

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Today’s been a curate’s egg sort of day. I won’t dwell on the bad parts but the good ones are that I’ve managed to arrange some more jobs, sift yet more emails and paperwork, get my daily exercise in – and book tickets to see Paloma Faith for when she appears at the Piece Hall in Halifax next year. Oh, I’ve also managed to scan another bunch of old slides, this time from the 1990s, which has made me rather introspective as they’re of old friends and family that I’ve lost in the intervening years.

Some of the work I’ve been arranging is around the forthcoming COP26 conference and series of events in Glasgow in November. The importance of this major Climate Change conference can’t really be overstated, but looking at the record of our Government I can’t help but wonder if they’re taking hosting the event any more seriously than anything else they do. You know, like actually running the country for the benefit of the people who inhabit it, rather then the folk who donate money to the Tory party?

The signs aren’t good. Here’s why,

You’d think that decarbonising our transport infrastructure (the biggest single source of UK Co2 emissions) might be seen as a bit of a flagship policy and something to boast about at COP26? But then this happens – a story broken by an old friend on the International Railway Journal.

Yep, UK freight operators have been forced to revert back to diesel traction because of the rocketing cost of electricity! I’ll revisit this story in the next few days.

Meanwhile, here’s the picture of the day, which is rather a personal one. The tranche of slides I’ve been scanning include some of the one and only time my mum came down to visit me in London. After much persuasion Lynn and I managed to get her on a train to come and stay with us in the East End – an area she was fascinated with because of her Civil Service experiences in World War 2. One of her jobs was re-issuing ID cards to people who’d been bombed out of their homes. I remember her telling me that she knew exactly which cities and areas had been attacked because of the stream of applications they dealt with – even if it was never mentioned on the BBC due to wartime censorship.

So, here’s Mum looking comfortable in the ‘Sun in Splendor’ pub on the Portobello road on the 21st May 1994.

Mum loved markets and a bargain so she was fascinated by the stalls and butchers in the Portobello Rd and elsewhere in London. A trait I’ve obviously inherited…

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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

12th October picture of the day…

12 Tuesday Oct 2021

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

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We’ve had a quiet but busy day here at Bigland Towers. I’ve been whittling down a list of ‘things to do’ both business-wise and socially, whilst at the same time lining up some jobs for the future with varying degrees of success. During the process I received a phone-call from a work-colleague of 12 years standing who’s become more than that as we see each other as good friends. She wanted to let me know that she’ll be leaving her job by the end of the year but wanted to tell me herself rather than me find out on the grapevine. I was delighted for her as she would be crazy to turn down the opportunity she’s been offered, but also sad that we probably wouldn’t work together again as she’s leaving the industry completely. Such is life, when you’ve been around for so many years as I seem to have been now you often see people come and go. Some of them you miss, others not…

Apart from that note of sadness it’s been a positive day. The weather’s been kind I’ve managed to bump up my exercise regime as a consequence and still get a lot done. Oh, there’s several blogs in preparation too – all I have to do now is find the time to root out the pictures for them.

As well as everything else I’ve also managed to get around to scanning a few more old slides. Not a huge amount, but the logjam is starting to be cleared once more. When the photographic work quietens down again (as it normally does in December-January) I’ll be rattling through slides at a much faster rate. Normally, January would be our big holiday. Dawn and I would get away for at least a month in SE Asia and I’d often stay away much longer, but Covid’s put paid to those plans, at least for now. Instead, I’ll be clearing the decks of various projects here in the UK. But, in homage to warmer climes and those long trips to exotic locations that have been the mainstay of my life for so long – here’s the picture of the day from today’s scans. I took this picture (on slide film) on the 14th December 1993. This was my hotel in India – honest!

The building you see is the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The palace was begun in 1929 as a job creation scheme as the area was suffering from a severe drought that deprived many farmers of their living. It was commissioned by Maharaja Umaid Singh and designed by the British architect Henry Vaughan Lanchester (a contemporary of Edwin Lutyens). The Maharajah’s ancestors still occupy the majority of the 347 room building, but when I was there part of it had been converted into a hotel. Lynn and I hadn’t planned to stay there, but it was Lynn’s first time in India and we’d had to sleep in the luggage racks of a packed overnight train from Delhi, so I thought a bit of luxury was in order as a commiseration. Of course, in 1992, the cost of luxury was very different to what it is today and the room we had was actually quite reasonable! That evening we sat out on the balcony you can see here, sipping cold beers, watching peacocks wander the lawns and through the bougainvillea bushes. Then at sunset, a sitar and tabla player appeared to give us our own personal performance. Magic! If you want to see more pictures that I took at the palace, you can find them here.

Oh, to be able to have the freedom to do these things again…

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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

11th October picture of the day…

11 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by in Architecture, Musings, Photography, Travel

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The pair of us are starting to adjust to the idea of being back at home and work after a much-needed break in Shropshire. The positive note was that we came back just in time to catch some lovely autumnal weather which has stayed with us today – even if we only got out to enjoy it this evening as the day’s been full on for the both of us, catching up with work commitments as well as planning the next few weeks. I’ve got some interesting events coming up over the next few weeks, plus some new opportunities in the pipeline. Dawn’s been occupied catching up with her colleagues at Community Rail Network, one of whom pointed out that it’s only eight weeks until we’re down in Southampton for the Community Rail Awards! This year seems to be flying by, despite the continuance of the fallout from the pandemic, lockdown and all the other stuff that made 2020 feel to drag. To be honest, I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see the back of 2021 in the hope that 2022 will finally see a return to near normal and I can get away from ‘plague island’ for a while.

The change in the seasons are becoming very obvious in our local woodland, where the leaves are developing their autumnal palette, far more so than the trees we observed in Shropshire which are clinging on to their summer greens. I’m praying we get plenty of bright, sunny days before the final leaves are shed as it’s a glorious time of year to be out with a camera. But first, I have a few other jobs to do that involve cities, not countryside. Although not all will involve such architectural gems as the picture of the day…

Today’s image was taken on our Shropshire sojourn during a visit to Ludlow, a fantastic old market town full of Tudor and other era gems. This is the frontage of the wonderfully wonky Feathers Hotel.

The frontage of the building was completed in 1619 although the core is earlier. The hotel is three storeys high excluding the cellar and has a three-bay plan, with bays which are moulded and carved mullions and transoms, with cast diamond glazing. It was built by Rees Jones, an attorney from Pembrokshire who had come to Ludlow to pursue his profession at the “Council of the Marches”. Clearly, the legal profession was a wealthy one in those days. Nowadays it’s a grade 1 listed building that’s been a hotel for many years.

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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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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HS2rebellion: The fat lady’s singing (day 2)…

11 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Protest, Railways

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Tempting as it is to lapse into a ‘Big Brother’ style spoof (“it’s day two in the Wendover house”) I refrain from succumbing! This is only going to be a short blog anyway as little of interest has happened. The bailiffs and police have the site secured with a literal ring of steel, having it all fenced off. Access was always made difficult by the fact the squatter camp was bounded by the Chiltern railway to the West and the A413 to the East. Sneaking in was never going to be easy and now the remaining occupants are cut off from their tiny bunch of supporters, few of whom turned up today.

This morning less then a dozen of the usual suspects (Keir, Thompson-Smith et al) spent their time in a pointless stunt outside Bucks County Council offices ‘demanding answers’ as to why the CC had leased the land to HS2 to carry out the eviction.

The selection process for the Golgafrincham B Ark – sorry – the HS2Rebellion protesters outside the Bucks CC office this morning. I’ll bet staff were quaking in their boots! As for ‘local’ Mark Keir (one of the 9) lives in West Drayton in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Who knows where some of the others have been drafted in from.

It was the same tired and trite diatribe and bluster about how everyone, HS2, the County Council, the bailiffs, the police, the courts – and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all – were colluding and acting ‘illegally’. In fact, the *only* people who were supposedly acting legally were the protesters! It’s a bit like an unfunny version of ‘Carry on Cleo’ with Keir in the part of Kenneth Williams, shouting “infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it infamy!”

A weary Council Officer was sent out to talk to the protesters and listen to their nonsense. No doubt a reply will be drafted laying out in legal detail the reality of the situation – to which Keir and co will respond in true pantomime fashion with ‘oh no – it isn’t’! – and the curtain will rise on the next farcical act as none of this will change a thing.

A video has appeared on Youtube with Mark Keir, who went full Goebbels on camera to Sky News. His fantastical claims have become more and more unhinged. HS2 will drain the Grand Union Canal and destroy drinking water? He seriously thinks people will fall for this stuff? Keir and Co have got to the stage now where they’ll literally claim anything as they know the game’s up.

Of course, while their pantomime was in Aylesbury there was no-one to bother the bailiffs, who just got on with the job of assessing the site and working out how many protesters might be playing their pointless game of hide and seek. There’s obviously no rush to get them out as they’re not interrupting any construction work in the slightest – which is why this camp (like the Euston one) is utterly pointless. Plus, the longer this drags on the more of the tiny bunch who turn up outside will get bored and drift away. There’s little in the way of boastful livestreams or posts coming from inside the camp either, so the keyboard warrior voyeurs who normally feed off this stuff have little to send ‘love and rage’ about (unless you get off on a 14 sec, close cropped vid of someone eating out of a can). Euston or Denham this ain’t, it’s all going to be a bit boring and tedious. So I won’t be doing daily updates, merely try and keep a tally of how many have been evicted and when it’s all over.

Meanwhile, the fat lady’s in fine voice, even if it’s a comic opera she’s singing in!

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Thank you!

HS2rebellion: The fat lady’s singing…

10 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Politics, Protest, Railways

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I woke up to the news this morning that HS2 contractors, police and bailiffs had begun the long-awaited eviction of the last anti HS2 squatters camp remaining on phase 1, the risibly named “active resistance” camp outside of Wendover, Buckinghamshire.

As it’s situated alongside the busy A413 road the operation’s begun on a Sunday in order to lessen the disturbance to locals (most of whom will only be too glad to see the back of the squatters). It’s difficult to say at this stage how few people are still occupying the camp but the numbers are small – as can be judged from the absence of comments and livestreamed videos from inside the camp compared to previous evictions. As news of the eviction has spread on social media a few more people have attended but as they can’t get into the camp they’re doing little other than creating a nuisance to traffic!

Events are unfolding on the HS2 Rebellion Facebook page where some videos are being posted, but they make it clear that the squatters and their few friends watching outside are vastly outnumbered. A large number of the familiar faces who were the ‘hard-core’ of the protesters are noticeably absent. Currently, the bailiffs are repossessing areas of the woods and erecting fencing. There’s very little in the way of confrontations as even the squatters seem to have realised the futility of their actions. The numbers watching the videos are also markedly down from previous events, which suggests many of the keyboard warriors and armchair activists have lost interest as the result is only going to go one way. None of the livestreams have had viewers above double-figures! Mind you, as the one’s on the Rebellion FB page are from fantasist and liar Mark Keir (the Walter Mirtty type who claimed to have watched the Roald Dahl tree being cut down in Jones’ Hill Woods) that’s hardly surprising. His commentary’s so away with the fairies you’re better watching the videos with the sound off!

I’ll keep you informed of how things progress as it could be several days before the farce is finally over.Whenever that is, it can’t change the fact that the ‘rebellion’ against HS2 was always more bluster than fact. It took little more than a year for the protests to collapse in ignominy. Now the fat lady’s singing…

UPDATE: Sunday evening.

It’s only day 1 of the eviction and already some of the handful of squatters have been removed. One left of their own accord as they were feeling ‘unwell’ and another two were removed from a bathtub up a tree! I mean, seriously? a bathtub up a tree? The camp has been established for two years and if that’s the best they can come up with. Needless to say, the bailiffs soon pulled the plug on them!

The farce will continue tomorrow and for a few days hence. However long it takes doesn’t really matter as (like the Euston tunnels) this camp isn’t stopping construction of HS2 in the slightest. Oh, if you are tempted to watch any of the videos on Facebook, I would seriously recommend turning the sound down if the commentator is Mark Keir! He’s made a tedious ass of himself as usual today, at one point claiming ‘victory’ because a cherry-picker was being moved so (according to him) the eviction was over for the day – only for said cherry-picker to then pluck the pair from the bathtub! Keir reminds me of the old adage – “How do you know when he’s lying? His lips move”!

Just how away with the fairies these people are is demonstrated by this earlier tweet from an old face. “Boots” (aka William) – the ‘eco-warrior’ who’s recently flown back to the UK from one of his regular jaunts to Spain.

Apart from the fact you can file this under ‘it never happened’ the idea that these people (who have minimal supplies as the donations have been running out) can hold out for ‘months’ is hilarious! You just know this tweet isn’t going to age well…

So, turn down the sound (you won’t learn anything factual) and pull up the popcorn as the eviction unfolds over the next few days…

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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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!