Monthly Archives: September 2022

Rolling blog. Letting the train take the strain…

19 Monday Sep 2022

Posted by in Germany, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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13:30 (European time).

Apologies for not blogging before but it’s been a busy day and I didn’t want to start anything until I was on the train to Berlin.

It’s wonderful to be back in mainland Europe. I realise now how much I miss my time this side of the channel – for a whole host of reasons. It’s cleaner, the infrastructure’s modern, prices are cheaper and it just feels more relaxed.

Arrival…

The ferry trip from the UK was great and having a cabin felt very luxurious – a far cry from my old backpacking days when I’d have just curled up in a corner for a few hours. We arrived on time at the Hook of Holland, a place that’s changed hugely since I was last there. There’s no international trains anymore. In fact, the railway station has been made redundant. It houses a Japanese restaurant but no trains. Now the line’s become part of the Rotterdam metro but the new station’s unfinished. Instead there’s a temporary one which is a good 10 minute walk – which is ironic as the ferry stops right opposite – but then you walk down a very long gangway to get off and pass through customs and immigration to get questioned on the purpose of your visit and get your passport stamped (thanks for nothing, Brexiters).

The trip into central Rotterdam’s painless, if not particularly fast. It takes around 40 minutes. That said, it’s fascinating to see all the traffic in the docks as you pass. I bailed at xxxx station and elected to walk to Rotterdam Centraal which took me about 12 minutes. I calculated it because of my return trip where timings are tight. I now realise they’re too tight so plans are going to have to change.

Rotterdam was a doddle that time of day as the place hadn’t really woken up yet. Centraal station surprised me as it has a ticket gateline – something I’m used to in the UK but not in Germany. Otherwise the station’s typically European with a long subway lined with shops and eateries which provided me with a cheap breakfast.

The station architecture’s modern and quite striking. I’d several hours to wait for my train so spent the time wandering with the camera. Even though I had a suitcase in tow I still managed to get my daily step total in before I left. Those long platforms soon eat up 12,500 steps!

Big yellow taxi – my train from Rotterdam to Amersfoot to connect with DB’s Intercity train to Berlin.

My Dutch train left at 12:35, heading for Amersfoort Centraal. Travelling overland rather than flying was a lovely experience as I had the opportunity to appreciate how many waterways this part of the Netherlands contains. Homes backing onto a canal isn’t too unusual where I live in West Yorkshire but then I’m spoiled. Here everyone seems to have access to water. You even see blocks of flats on stilts that are surrounded by a lake. Plus, there’s not the scenes of dereliction so common back in the UK. Here, everything feels better maintained or renewed.

I did have a momentary feeling of ‘oh, shit’ when my train to Amersfoot was signal-checked and ran late. I had a 5 minute cross platform connection with the Berlin train. As it was, the pair of trains arrived at exactly the same time and the coach I had a reservation in pulled up almost opposite me!

Now I’m on IC147, a loco-hauled intercity service to Berlin Ostbahnhof where we’re due to arrive at 19:34 local time.

International intercity travel, old school German style.

16:10. (German time).

The trip was going really well (apart from the heavy showers, but hey – I’m on a train!) until we got to the Dutch/German border station of Bad Bentheim where we swapped locos and crews. Dutch engine 1765 was replaced by a DB ‘lok’ of unknown heritage. Well, for now anyway. The crew also changed nationality. The whole operation is meant to take seven minutes but with DBs crumbling edge of efficiency it took far, far longer, meaning we left 25 minutes late. No announcements were made either, we just started pulling away.

This delay means my connection at Berlin Ostbahnhof will be tight. I should have had 30 mins to connect with my train to Frankfurt (Oder) but that’s looking dodgy now. Never mind, I’m not going to let it worry me or spoil the trip.

Now we’re over the border Covid facemasks are mandatory on trains. It feels a little odd wearing one again but people are more relaxed about them than they were. Right now as well as enjoying the scenery I’m people watching. There’s a table opposite me containing four middle-aged women with a fifth friend behind. One of them has been to the restaurant car (at the back of the train for some reason) and stocked up on Bitburger beers! They’re now making merry but not messy…

16:33.

We’ve now left Osnabruck which has a large railway yard full of car transporters moving VW cars and vans around the country. There’s even a hump for sorting and shunting wagonload traffic – a sight that disappeared in the UK in the 1980s…

18:00.

We’ve now pulled out of Hannover and made up quite a bit of time. I was surprised to see that most of the occupants of my coach bailed out here but I’ve no idea why. Fair play to DB, I was wortied about the delay but they send you emails to keep you updated about connections. The latest one tells me we’ll be seven minutes late in Berlin which gives me plenty of time to make my connection. Thankfully, that connection will be made undercover as the weather’s gone to ratshit. We’re running under stormy skies and patches of heavy rain.

This rail trip highlights the great difference between the UK and Germany. Germany still makes stuff – hence all the railfreight yards I’m passing. The UK has become a service sector – which makes Brexit even more stupid. What tangible exports we had (mostly food and drink) are now hamstrung by red-tape. Germany? They have all of Europe and the world whilst we just posture.

19:00.

I tempted fate, didn’t I? I praised DBs emil system that let’s you know if your connections are up shit creek. Almost as soon as I’d mentioned it we came to a stand in the midfle of nowhere for no apparent reason. The latest helpful missive tells me we’re now running 40 mins late and my connection’s up the Swannee. Ho hum…

21:20.

Today’s been a long day! My express finally arrived into Berlin Ostbahnhof 50 minutes late, adding another hour to my schedule as my next onward train wasn’t until 21:04. I’m noow on another loco-hauled service made up of a rake of Double-Deck coaches. Even this train’s running five minutes late! I reckon I should get to my hotel around 22:30 and frankly, I’ll be quite happy to just crawl into bed and get some kip. The next few days are going to be hectic to say the least so recharging the batteties now whilst I can seems an eminently sensible idea.

Oh, a little aside. I’ve travelled all the way across Germany without once having my ticket checked..

22:50.

Finally! I’ve made it to my hotel care of this beastie.

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting a suite. Shame I’m not here longer, I could get used to this!

I’ve a small 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!

Rolling blog. Continental drift…

18 Sunday Sep 2022

Posted by in Innotrans, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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12:20.

And we’re off! Well, I would been much earlier if I hadn’t been kicking my heels in Huddersfield for the past hour. As I’m handicapped by a suitcase and Dawn was driving in to Huddersfield so kindly offered to give me a lift I decided to head to Harwich this way.

What I hadn’t bargained on was Trans-Pennine Express excerable timetable. Forget the 5 trains an hour of the real timetable. Leeds are now hourly. I’d actually have been better sticking to Northern via Halifax. Ho hum…

Even so, i’m in no hurry. My ferry doesn’t leave Harwich until 23:00 so I’ve plenty of time to get there. Despite running such a wafer-thin service TPE still can’t run to time. The 12:10 arrived and left 7 minutes late. It’s a 6-car service that’s an all-stopper and it’s rammed. Some people have come from Manchester Airport with humongous suitcases which isn’t exactly helping.

Suitcase? I’ll bet my ferry will be carrying smaller life rafts!

13:07.

After the schlep from Huddersfield it’s a relief to be on LNER’s 13:05 from Leeds to Kings Cross. This is another busy train but I’ve managed to blag a table – for now anyway. The reservation system’s kaput so I might get turfed out at Wakefield or Doncaster.

14:05.

All’s well that ends well. Whilst we’ve picked up a load more passengers at both Wakefield and Doncaster no-one came forward to claim my table. Now we’ve just left Newark so it looks like I should be safe as far as my destination – Peterborough – as there’s plenty of spare capacity. I note from the news that people have been told not to travel to London to join the crowds queuing to pay their last respects to the Queen, so I don’t expect to encounter anyone on any of my trains today.

15:00.

Another train, another operator. Now I’ve swapped my fancy intercity ‘Azuma’ for an example of BRs finest “garden shed engineering” as the Class 158s were once described due to the many faults that bedevilled the first examples. Mine is one of East Midlands Railway’s fleet of 2-cars with high-backed seats but no USB or power-points, which is a retrograde step in this day and age.

My train arriving at the ‘new’ island platform at Peterborough en-route to Norwich having started from Sheffield at 12:45.
The high-backed seats are comfortable but they do make the unit feel claustrophobic.

15:40.

I’m now kicking my heels for an hour at the sleepy little junction of Ely. There’s not much happening here of a Sunday, so the local Starling population has found a different use for the overhead wires.

16:45

I enjoyed my break at Ely. Even on a Sunday the station has both a shop and cafe on platform 1 that remain open so I had time for a ‘swifty’ and chance to get a few pictures before moving on. Now I’m on what’s regarded by many (including myself) as the best modern train on the UK network, the Stadler Class 755 bi-modes. Swiss engineering at its best. They’re comfortable, have level access, a variety of seating configurations and plug-sockets and USB ports at every seat. Their performance is just as good too, they shift like sh*t off the proverbial shovel!

Heading for Stowmarket…
The smart, multi-level (and comfortable) seating aboard my Stadler train.

As you can see, this is a quiet train. A fair few got off at the newly reopened station at Soham which was good to see, otherwise this feels very much like a Sunday afternoon service.

18:45.

I’m getting closer to escaping…

I swapped trains yet again at Stowmarket, mainly for one purpose. I’ve always had an interest in railway architecture in general but signalboxes in particular and I’ve never managed a picture of the abandoned example at Stowmarket until now.

I only had a few minutes to wait before my next train which was a case of swapping to the Stadler 755s bigger Intercity brother to get me to Ipswich where I took another short photographic break and went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Greater Anglia has the best train fleets but it also has one of the worst. Yet it’s brand new – and units are still being delivered!

These things are bloody awful. I’m not overweight but even I struggle to make my way down the narrow aisles – not helped by the fact the grab-handles are so low they dig into your ribs and made the space even more constricted.

22:30.

Is that the time? Apologies for the blogging gap but I’ve always been on the move and sometimes it’s about experiencing things so that you can write about them later. Right now I’m sitting on the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland waiting for departure time. I’ve not done this trip for so, so long. In fact the last time I did this the film they were showing was the then blockbuster ‘Flash Gordon’ with a soundtrack by Queen and the famous line from the actor Brian Blessed (delivered in his customary gusto) “Gordon’s alive!”. Gosh, so many things have changed since then. In those days I was hoping to make a home in Amsterdam with my girlfriend of the time. It never worked out but I’ve no regrets. It all seems like a different world. Mind you, so does this ferry. It’s massive compared to what I remember from those days. I’m on the ‘Stena Britannica’ and even have a cabin – but only because they’re mandatory nowadays. In the 1980s we used to get on as foot passengers and just curl up in a corner.

I arrived in Harwich in plenty of time and had chance to explore. It’s funny how things work out sometimes. I’d not been around this neck of the woods for years then end up here twice in the space of twelve months! Harwich Town’s a curious place that’s worth exploring because of it’s history and architecture, but like a lot of UK seaports it’s lost its mojo. The days of the train ferries are long gone. Now the port’s been eclipsed by Felixstowe due to the move to containerisation. Like this.

Looking across to Felixstowe from Harwich

Still, I’m looking forward to leaving Brexit Britain and the social and political museum the country’s fast becoming. The next week is going to be very different. And this ain’t a bad way to get there either..

One of several restaurants on board.
I’ve not had a cabin on a ferry for years!

23:15.

We’ve left port and we’re on our way, so it’s time for me to sign off until tomorrow. See you on the other side as they say…

I’ve a small 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!

Interregnum (in more ways than one)…

17 Saturday Sep 2022

Posted by in London, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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We’re back at home after a few days in London but for me it’s a brief visit. Being back in London was lovely but what a strange time to be there. It’s certainly not the city I used to live in for so many years – for a whole host of reasons.

Right now it’s time to regroup and prepare to head off to Germany tomorrow. I’m looking forward to my travels as I’ll be exploring some places I’ve not been to a very long time (and can’t really remember) as well as new destinations and the landscape in-between. As the trip involves avoiding flying it’ll take some time – but that’s part of the fun.

Keep an eye out for the next week’s rolling blogs – starting tomorrow as I head for Harwich and the ferry to the Hook of Holland. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day which was taken at London Kings Cross station this afternoon just before we headed back North.

I’ve a small 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!

Rolling blog. A tale of two cities…

16 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in London, Musings, Photography, Rolling blogs, Travel

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10:00.

We’ve a full day in London today and we’re about to head out and make the most of it. There’s very much a feeling of two cities right now. There’s the classic city with Londoners and tourists going about their normal lives and then there’s the other city which is coping with the late Queen lying in state until her state funeral Monday. Today we’ll be exploring both, so expect flow of pictures throughout the day…

10:40.

I nipped out to buy some snacks for breakfast whilst Dee gets ready. The Bayswater Rd is traffic free but you can tell you’re in ‘posh’ London as the local petrol station has a mini Waitrose supermarket rather than the usual Tesco! Petrol’s surprisingly cheap too. £1.63 a liter (we were seeing it at £1.75 in Norfolk last week). I nipped into Kensington Gardens to sit and watch the world go by for a while. Life appeared normal. The paths were full of runners and dog-walkers or tourists out for a stroll. Back at the hotel the TV announced that the ‘queue of queues’ as it’s becoming known is so long it’s been closed. Newcomers are being kept in holding pens in a park in Bermondsey and it’s been announced no-one else should try to join until after 4pm today! Somehow, I can’t see that happening…!

13:20.

Having wandered back down to Leicester Square then across the Thames at Charing Cross we’re now sitting outside the Founders Arms on the South Bank (one of our favorite spots) watching the queue of queues and enjoying a view of the river and city of London beyond.

15:21.

Crowdwatch – pt 2

22:15.

We’re now back at the hotel after yet another full day walking around London and experiencing what’s going on in the capital due to the death of Queen Elizabeth. It’s been a fascinating experience on so many levels. I’ll add more about this soon when I’ve more time to go into detail. But here’s a few shorts. As far as we could gauge (and we saw a lot of it) the queue was almost evenly balanced between genders. It was overwhelmingly older, with most folk over 30 years old – and also mostly white, although Asian communities were a significant minority with (from what we saw) the African and Afro-Caribbean less represented. It was also good-humored and stoic – despite the length of time. Here’s a few pictures from our observations.

A Pigeon decides to take a close look at the queue near Blackfriars.
Ex-members of the armed services were much in evidence.
Not everyone came with others. There was a significant number of people who came on their own to pay their respects.
The queue by the Globe theatre with Tourists strolling past in the opposite direction.
More medals on display…
The queue by Tower Bridge. This was far from the end.
Grandad and Grandson by HMS Belfast.
Vanessa Feltz from Talk TV out interviewing members of the crowd.

Having walked for miles around the South bank we headed back to London Bridge and crossed to the North bank of the Thames for a wander past St Pauls, Fleet Street and the Inns of Court before heading up to Euston where we dropped into Drummond St to eat at an old haunt. Ravi Shankar is a long established Indian vegetarian restaurant which I’ve been frequenting since the 1990s. It didn’t disappoint..

Chana dahl.
Uthappam – South Indian pizza!

I’ve a small 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!

Rolling blog. Capital caper…

15 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by in London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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12:50.

After a slow morning at home, we’re finally on our way to London having travelled to Leeds to catch an LNER service to Kings Cross. Trains are surprisingly quiet today. Our 3-car Northern unit from Halifax was quieter than normal. As we pulled into Leeds we watched the 12:15 to the Cross depart with lots of empty seats. OK, it may fill up on its way South but then the station itself was far quieter than expected. Is everyone taking time off to stay at home and watch endless hours of TV about the royal funeral, or are people simply talking the time off anyway?

We caught the 12:45 to Kings Cross which was formed of a Mk4 set straight off Neville Hill depot. Propelled by Intercity liveried 91119 it was a substitute set for the scheduled working that should have been inbound from Kings Cross but that was cancelled due to a track circuit failure. This train is also empty. We’re in coach B (the quiet coach at the rear) with just half a dozen others. I’ll be interested to see how many get on at our intermediate stops of Wakefield, Doncaster and Peterborough.

91119 ready to push 1A30, LNERs 12:45 from Leeds to London Kings Cross.

14:00.

After our stops at Wakefield and Doncaster I had a wander through the train to the buffet and counted 85 passengers in Standard Class and around dozen in 1st. Stopping to chat to the crew they reminded me that today was meant to be a strike day which has clearly had an impact. Our fellow passengers are a mix. There’s one or two who look like they’re travelling for work but the majority are young single travellers (a surprising amount of whom are of SE Asian descent) plus one or two elderly couples – just the leaven the mix.

No worries about getting a seat on this service.

16:20.

We’ve arrived and checked-in to our hotel just off the Bayswater Rd. Now we’re getting ready to explore. We took a roundabout route via Farringdon and Paddington just so Dawn could have her first taste of the ‘Lizzie line’. London seems rather subdued and not as busy as I thought it might be. But then we’ve not hit the areas where the mourners are yet…

St Pancras Thameslink. Quieter than normal.
On an Elizabeth line train to Paddington.

22:10.

Today’s been very much the tale of two cities. After dumping everything in our hotel we went for a walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, following the Serpentine. The parks weren’t busy, but a massive enclosure with screens was being set up in the N/E corner of Hyde Park with more portaloos than you could shake a stick at. I’m assuming this is to do with the funeral. Afterwards we went for something to eat at a Wagamama at the base of the Edgeware Rd. The restaurant was almost empty which was a real surprise.

Not how you expect to find a Wagamama just a stone’s throw from Marble Arch on a Thursday.
Still, the food was good!

Bellies full of delicious food we caught a bus along Oxford St to Oxford Circus before wandering through Soho to Chinatown. These areas were absolutely packed. All the pubs had people spilling out into the streets and the atmosphere was anything but funereal.

Business as usual in Soho…
– and in Chinatown…

It was only when we walked down to Charing Cross and across the Thames to the South bank that the atmosphere began to change. As we crossed the river we could see the queue of people who were going to pay their respects to the Queen, but it was moving very quickly and people were hardly nose to tail.

Ambling along the South bank we recrossed the Thames at Westminster bridge which was closed to traffic. It was very busy with people taking in the sights but the atmosphere was subdued, almost respectful. It was the same in Parliament Square. We lingered for a while so that Dawn could soak up the atmosphere before walking along Whitehall (also blocked to traffic) and back to Trafalgar Square.

The queue on the South Bank by Charing Cross bridge looking East.
Parliament Square was busy, but the atmosphere was subdued. Still, it’s good to see the tower without scaffolding after so long swathed in the stuff.

From there the hardest thing to find was a pub that was selling decent beer. If I’m going to be paying £6.50 a pint I at least want something decent to drink – and a seat! Eventually, after several false starts we found a Sam Smiths pub called The White Horse on the corner of Rupert St and Archer St. It was a typical London corner boozer that was surprisingly quiet and ideal for a quick pint and chance to rest our feet.

We decided to eschew further refreshment stops and headed back to the hotel by bus after stopping at a supermarket to pick up supplies. We’ve walked miles, seen a lot and need time to relax and digest. Tomorrow’s another day…

I’ve a small 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!

14th September picture of the day…

14 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Today’s been my last full day here at Bigland Towers for quite some time, so I’ve been making the most of it to catch up on a (long) list of household chores, paperwork and picture editing, as well as getting stuff in place for heading off to Europe on Sunday. Even the weather Gods have played ball, gifting me some wonderful autumnal sunshine to accompany my afternoon stroll and break from staring at screens.

Now it’s time for a quiet evening at home before we’re up early to get ready to head down to London for the next couple of days. I’ve no idea what to expect as these are unusual times. What I do know is that the capital will be busy but I’ve no idea how that will play out. Will the new Puritanism that’s seen so many places close as a ‘mark of respect’ for the passing of the Queen have any impact on life in London, or will Londoners simply treat it as just another event in a very crowded history? We’ll soon find out.

My blogging will be mostly (but not all) confined to pictures and explanations rather than a magnum opus or running commentary. We’re there to enjoy ourselves after all. But I hope to give some insights into my old hometown – even if those days do seem like a long time ago now.

In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. It’s from a previous royal funeral, that of the Queen Mother on the 9th April 2002. I watched the funeral procession pass Horse Guards Parade and took this shot of the Royal crown atop the coffin through the crowd.

At some point soon I’ll relate the tale of when I met the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and became a royal photographer. I was tasked with taking their picture along with the staff of the Royal Train at a private event. It turned into every snapper’s nightmare due to a variety of circumstances outside of my control, but it makes a great story!

I’ve a small 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!

13th September picture of the day…

13 Tuesday Sep 2022

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

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It’s been another busy day here at Bigland Towers. Well, for me anyway. Dawn’s been equally as busy but working from the Community Rail Network office in Huddersfield rather than from home so I’ve been the sole occupant of the manse. Editing and sending off the pictures of my recent round Britain trip for RAIL magazine took up a lot of the day whilst sorting out my next work trip to Europe took up much of the rest. Some of the stuff was mundane, like renewing my National Union of Journalists press card. To the NUJs credit they do this very quickly and sent me a useable PDF of my new card by return email. I needed it to gain accreditation for where I’m off to next week – the vast Innotrans railway trade fair in Berlin.

Originally, due to various other recent ‘happenings’ I wasn’t sure I’d be able to attend. Innotrans is held every two years, the last one was in 2018. We should have had one in 2020 but Covid but the mockers on that so this is the first event in four years. I’ve been going since 2008 and was loathe to miss such an important worldwide event in the railway calendar. This week I looked into the logistics and decided that – despite the last-minute nature of booking I could pull it off – and get there in the greenest possible way – even if it will cost me.

I’ll be heading to Europe on Sunday via the Harwich – Hook of Holland ferry. I’ve not used this route since 1981 so I’m expecting it to be part trip down memory lane and also part new adventure as so much has changed since then. From the Hook I’ll be making my way to Rotterdam via the metro, then catching a series of trains that will carry me all the way to Frankfurt (Oder) where I’ll base myself for the next 5 nights. Hotels in Berlin are far too expensive because of Innotrans which is attended by tens of thousands of people from all over the world. It’s OK if you book months in advance but right now hotels are charging anything from £2,000 upwards – which is OK if you’re on generous expenses – but that’s not us freelances! Instead, I’m within 70 minutes commute, which isn’t much different to travelling to work in London from many locations. In recent years the weather at Innotrans has always produced to fine sunny days. I’m hoping this year will be the same. Even if it rains there’s miles to be walked through the vast indoor halls of the Berlin Messe. You certainly use up a lot of shoe leather!

I’ll be attending all four days of the event before retracing my way across Europe by train – a trip I’m really looking forward to almost as much as the event itself. Expect daily blogs and lots of pictures like these from the 2018 event.

Before I go to Germany I’ve one more day working from home, then both Dee and I head to London for a short break, which leads me on to today’s picture which is a view of the city of London (aka the ‘square mile’) taken from the South bank of the Thames by Blackfriars in October 2017. Needless to say, it’s changed a bit since then!

I’ve a small 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!

12th September picture of the day…

12 Monday Sep 2022

Posted by in Food, Musings, Picture of the day

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Another working week begins here in Bigland Towers now the holiday’s over. Well, for now at least. The pair of us have had a busy day keyboard-bashing, photo-editing and researching our next trips in the UK and elsewhere. The problem (as always) is there’s just not enough hours in the day or days in the week to get everything done which can be quite frustrating at times. Still, all will become clearer over the next few days. The pair of us are down in London on Thursday/Friday which is when we were meant to be at the National Rail Awards, instead we’re just going to enjoy a couple of days in the capital although I suspect it may be a rather different atmosphere due to ‘events’. We shall see…

As I’m now bog-eyed from said concentration and staring at screens it’s time for the pair of use to knock off and have some quality time together. We’ve raided the freezer and broken out some home-made urad dahl and chana masala to go with some firecracker basmati rice. Well, the salad days are behind us now after all as Autumn is fast approaching. This means the picture of the day is in the finest tradition of those food bloggers or people who love posting their meals on Facebook! Normal service will be resumed tomorrow when I’ve waded my way through more edited pictures. In the meantime, I’m off to scoff this!

A wicked combination of urad dahl (left) and chana masala (right) on a bed of firecracker rice and garnushed with hot lime pickle and mango chutney. I may need to put a toilet roll in the fridge for later…

I’ve a small 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!

11th September picture of the day…

11 Sunday Sep 2022

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day, Politics, Railways, Thailand, Travel

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Talk about life comes at you fast! There’s been no lazy Sunday here at Bigland Towers as the maelstrom of events in the real world have kept me occupied most of the day. Planning stuff at the moment is proving to be difficult due to what the late Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously replied to a question in an interview when asked about what would determine his governments course “Events, dear boy, events.”

I know exactly how he felt – although I’m not facing my own personal Suez crisis. Instead, I’m responding to the events of others. The death of the Queen is the one that’s having the biggest impact on my own life due to the way it’s affecting the rail industry. Outside of that I’m looking at worldwide events and the situation in the Ukraine where the Russian invaders are suffering a humiliating defeat right now. The Ukrainian offensive has recaptured 1000s of Kms of territory and inflicted a rout on the Russian army the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941 – but with one huge difference. Now the Russians are the aggressor. Twitter has proved to be invaluable when it comes to accurate and up to date information and accounts like ‘Ukraine Weapons Tracker’ @UAWeapons which documents losses on both sides is well worth following. My hope it that the Ukrainians continue to be supported by the West (including the UK) and that the Russian people begin to wake up from the fantasy they’ve been fed by their leader before more people on all sides have to die.

What I find fascinating about how the internet age and the way various social media platforms are disseminating (often real-time) experiences from the frontline is how it’s made control of the media impossible. In the Vietnam war the Americans learned how a free media was damaging their ability to control the narrative. The public swung against the war because of the scenes they were seeing played out on their TVs most nights. Both the British and the American governments learned from that in future conflicts by ’embedding’ journalists into military units as a way of controlling (and therefore censoring) their outputs. The internet age has destroyed that level of control. Now you can see cameraphone footage as it happens. Troops record and broadcast their experiences (even sometimes their last experiences). The genie is out of the bottle once more and the war in Ukraine is playing out in real-time in a way no other war has. Add in the drone footage of actual strikes and it’s a million miles away from grainy gun camera footage from world war 2 fighter planes.

Meanwhile, remember Covid? It’s still here – even if it’s no longer considered newsworthy. Thankfully, it’s on the decline worldwide, so I’m looking forward to being able resume my international travels soon. But before that I’ve an awful lot of pictures to edit and words to write – and events to attend if I possibly can.

Apropos of that, here’s today’s picture, which is another delve into my travel archives. Here’s a country I’m really looking forward to returning to – Thailand. It’s no paradise (where is?) as it has a military government, but the people are amazing, and the railway system is changing so much. This picture was taken at Hua Lamphong station in central Bangkok 10 years ago. Soon the station will be made redundant by a newer, vaster and more modern multi-level interchange at Bang Sue. It will be fit for the 21st century – but it won’t be the same…

I’ve a small 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!

10th September picture of the day…

10 Saturday Sep 2022

Posted by in Architecture, Musings, Norfolk, Photography, Picture of the day

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Being back in Bigland Towers seems rather strange after such a great week away. The fact the weather’s so different isn’t helping. After a week in balmy temperatures where I’ve hardly ever been out of shorts and singlets it feels odd to be back in heavier clothing – and enclosed shoes! Not that it’s mattered too much as I’ve spent most of the day chained to my desk in an effort to edit the backlog of pictures that I have to deal with before Monday arrives, and I have to rewrite my diary due to what Harold Macmillan beautifully described as “events, dear Boy”…

This means there’s not much of a blog from me tonight as I’m ‘cream-crackered’ and looking forward to catching up on some down time. There is another chore I’ve sorted out tonight. The next few hundred old rail slides and assorted memorabilia have been added to eBay tonight. Interested parties now have five days to browse and place their bids. You can find out what’s on offer by following this link.

OK, on to the picture of the day which is one more from our trip to North Norfolk. Here’s the superb roof inside the 900-year-old Norwich cathedral.

I’ve a small 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!