Monthly Archives: February 2024

15th February picture of the day…

15 Thursday Feb 2024

Posted by in Calder Valley, Climate Change, Musings, Picture of the day, Politics

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Today feels like one of those days where you don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the state of the country – or planet. To say it’s been unseasonably mild here in the Calder Valley would be an understatement. According to various registers we hit a balmy 15 degrees. There’s only one problem. That’s way, way above the seasonal average for Sowerby Bridge and (if confirmed) a new record. So, to those who say global warming is a myth. I have a two word answer – and the second word is “Off”…

The pair of us spent most of our day working from home apart from an outing in the car as Dawn had to drop off work papers at their accountants, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone to pop into our local Indian supermarket to stock up on various exotic herbs, spices and other goodies before doing the more mundane shopping at Tesco. Not that we bought crap you understand, just staples.

Back home I ploughed on with various work including a request for a selection of old railway pictures from the early 1990s that may (or may not) make it into a magazine. When I took them it was purely for pleasure. I never dreamed that one day they might make it into print, but that’s nostalgia for you. What seemed everyday on the railways back in 1990 looks anything but now.

Whilst I was working I did have half an eye on’t t’internet and the campaigning that’s going on in two by-elections today. Labour are widely expected to win both former Tory safe seats and in the case of Wellingborough it’s not hard to see why. Not only were the local Tory party stupid enough to pick the girlfriend of the ousted MP (Peter Bone) as their candidate, the other parties are making a mess of things too. ‘Reform’ – formerly known as the Brexit party, has put forward ‘man of the people’ (My arse: Ed) Ben Habib. Only it seems Mr Habib is about as familiar with his potential constituency as he is with the truth. Hence this, from Twitter – and it’s only one of many mocking examples!

The only saving grace of fools like this is that Reform don’t stand a chance of getting elected but they will abstract enough votes from the Tories to make it an easy Labour win. I’ll look forward to waking up in the morning to a very different future – in two constituencies at least. The rest of us? We’ll have to soldier on in a country that’s increasingly falling apart as it’s asset stripped by Sunak and Co to try and fund their election bribe – sorry ‘tax cuts’ in order to win the next election. Only they won’t win, and neither will we. The only people who will are the people rich enough to make money from such tax cuts and insulate themselves from what comes next. Hopefully, enough people will wake up to that fact before it’s too late.

In the meantime I hope to enjoy some short-lived schadenfreude at the Tories expense tomorrow. Oh, I’ve other plans too, but that’s for another blog…

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

14th February picture of the day…

14 Wednesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Halifax, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

There’s not much of a blog from me tonight as it’s been Valentine’s day. So, after a few hours catching up with work I’ve been out with Dawn enjoying an afternoon in Halifax. First up was La Luna, an old favourite where we enjoyed a spot of lunch, sharing some of their ‘small plates’ including the Greek Mezes. Add in another dish and their chunky chips and we were stuffed! Despite it being Valentines day the place was busy but not packed and we didn’t need to book a table. They didn’t ‘ching’ you with a special menu either and the staff were as laid-back but attentive as usual. After a quick drink in the Victorian Craft Beer Cafe which was equally relaxed we headed off to an afternoon film at the Vue cinema. Dawn fancied seeing the latest Marvel comics spin-off “Madame Web”. It was an enjoyable bit of nonsense that passed a couple of hours. Don’t expect much of a plot, or fantastic special effects just enjoy the escapism. Plus, Dakota Johnson’s easy on the eye, even if she didn’t have to act her socks off in this yarn. With it being half-term the cinema was the busiest we’ve seen it for a long time as teens (and a few older folk) had turned out to watch it. Mind you, the trailers for other films looked good. I’d love to come back and see ‘Dune 2’ and Dawn fancies the Bob Marley film. ‘Dune’ looks spectacular and I have to admit to an affinity for the series as I first encountered Frank Herbert’s novel back in the 1970s when I was an avid reader of science-fiction novels, along with the ‘sword and sorcery’ genre made popular by the likes of Michael Moorcock.

Now we’re back at home after having a last drink in the new Grayston Unity which was the quietest place we were in all day.

Anyone for Mezes?

Tomorrow it’s back to the grindstone as the work I did this morning means my diary is looking rather full over the next few weeks. All will be revealed soon…

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

13th February picture of the day…

13 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel, Virgin Trains

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Today’s been another long one here at Bigland Towers, the pair of us have been working from home (upstairs and down) which means we keep meeting up in the kitchen to swap those ‘watercooler moments’ you get in mainstream offices. Admittedly, I have managed to me more mobile than Dee and nip out to do some shopping as well as get my daily steps under my belt. The weather’s certainly been conducive to working at home. It’s not that we’ve had torrential rain (nice for a change) more that it’s been dull and rather dismal – although there’s signs of life in the garden with plants poking their heads above ground, promising lushness to come. I can’t wait – I’ve had my fill of winter, the thought of spring fills me with joy.

Talking of Spring, the office ‘spring clean’ is reaching its end. There’s mounds of old paperwork stacked up in front of the shredder (which has been working overtime) whilst the office bookcase is looking decidedly empty. I’ve also discovered stacks of old photographs stashed away in various files, which included today’s picture, which in some ways seems like a different world. It’s certainly from a different railway age. It was taken at Penzance on the 13th August 2003, almost 21 years ago…

Myself and a group of fellow railway journalists and photographers were guest of Virgin Trains on a rather special adventure. Having rendezvoused in Aberdeen two nights before where we were entertained by Virgin PR staff including the irrepressible Alan McLean we’d travelled down from Penzance on what was the longest single railway journey in the UK – from Aberdeen to Penzance in a day, crossing three of the railways most famous bridges on one trip – The Tay, Forth and Royal Albert bridge at Saltash. In those days the service was still operated by HSTs (Voyagers were yet to take over). Virgin though it would make an interesting press trip – and who were we to disagree? We jumped at the chance! Having enjoyed a second night of Virgin’s hospitality we were making our way back to Birmingham where the group would disband to head off to our individual abodes. In my case – London.

I wrote up the trip for RAIL magazine. On board I’d met what could have been Britain’s longest regular commuters. Two fishermen from Buckie on the Moray Firth travelled down to Penzance to join their Scallop boat for the season. They’d do the round trip once a fortnight.

Here’s our HST ready to depart Penzance, working the 09:15 back to Edinburgh.

As I gradually digitise these old prints I’ll add a few memories to the daily pictures. I hope you’ll enjoy the stories.

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

Happy Mondays…

12 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in Halifax, Musings, Photography, Politics, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Right – I’m back! My enforced absence from blogging is coming to an end. From now (and for the foreseeable future) normal service will be resumed. There’s plenty for me to blog about as my travels around the UK rail network will resume shortly, along with magazine articles and site visits.

On Friday I spent time with friends from the nearby Mytholmroyd station group who were having a planning meeting to give new members the chance to have their say and offer idea on the groups 2024 programme. This year sees the 150th anniversary of the opening of the station building they’ve worked so hard to restore and bring back into community use. Here’s a couple of pictures from the event.

Admiring a selection of vintage photographs of Mytholmroyd and the railway which had been brought in by one of the new members.
The results of the brainstorming was a plethora of suggestions and new ideas for activities in 2024.

A you can see, there wasn’t just food for thought on offer but an excellent supply of pies, quiches, sandwiches and other goodies sourced locally from Jo’s kitchen.

My weekend’s been spent at home, sorting out the contents of my office in order to have a good clear out of stuff I no longer need but that’s been hanging around for ages. In some cases since I moved here from London. Our shredder’s been working overtime to deal with a mound of old bank statements and other confidential paperwork. The local charity shops and our recycling centre are getting a fair share of trade too! Part of the clear out saw me having to take a trip into Halifax itself and a visit to the market, so I couldn’t resist trying out my new Nikon Z9 and 50mm lens I’ve just bought to get a few shots whilst the refurbishment of the building is underway.

The multi-faced clock which dominates the centre of the covered market in Halifax.

Meanwhile, Monday has seen me busy as Bigland Towers, continuing the office clear-out and lining up various activities for the coming week – although some are dependent on the weather behaving itself, which is looking doubtful. Mind you, it’s Valentine’s day on Wednesday so my focus (as you can imagine) will be elsewhere! To add to the weeks entertainment we have two by-elections on Thursday, one in Wellingborough and the other at Kingswood near Bristol. Both were Tory safe seats but with the Conservatives being as popular as a fart in a spacesuit the chances of both seats being lost is very real. Expect lots of wailing and gnashing of Tory teeth on Friday. My reaction?

Either way, I’ll try and keep you entertained with comment, analysis (and pictures) on a regular basis from now on. Cheers…

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

8th February picture(s) of the day…

08 Thursday Feb 2024

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Weather, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

There’s no day like snow day! Admittedly, I took some convincing this morning as when I woke up and looked out of the bedroom window all I saw was wet roads and sleet, with no indication that snow was going to stick. It was only after I’d been working away in the office for a few hours that I noticed the sleet had turned to ‘proper’ snow and that it was coming down rather heavily. Even so, I decided to stay busy indoors, finished a magazine article I’d been writing, then sorting through yet more stuff for eBay whilst preparing the latest sales for postage. Dawn had decided to cook this evening and needed some fresh veg, so by 14:00 I decided to head down to Sowerby Bridge and take the camera with me in the hope of getting some snow shots. There wasn’t a breath of wind, so the trees around us were coated in a thick layer of the stuff. They looked beautiful, so I was hopeful of finding the same effect alongside the railway in the valley below.

No such luck!

Something I’ve learned to appreciate living here in the Pennines is just how much of a difference a few hundred metres in height can make – especially when it comes to snow. By the time I got down into Sowerby Bridge conditions had changed. I was faced with more miserable sleet and trees completely clear of the white stuff. I’d half-hoped to recreate the picture I posted a couple of days ago but there was no chance. Sowerby station had a light dusting but even the ballast wasn’t covered, making pictures pointless. There was nothing to do for it but slog my way back uphill into the snowline. Here’s a couple of pictures to illustrate the contast.

Our road at 20:00 with the snow still clinging to the trees around a deserted street.
Sowerby Bridge station mid afternoon with just a dusting of snow. All a bit disappointing really.

This evening the weather still remains above freezing with the snow gradually melting. I expect most of it to have gone by morning, which is a shame as I’ll be in nearby Mytholmroyd tomorrow for a catch-up with he station friends. I’ll still be wielding the camera but it’ll be with people, not snow scenes in mind…

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

Rolling blog. Sallying forth (despite the weather)…

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

10:15

‘Tis yet another wet and windy day here in’t Pennines. Despite that I’m going to get out with the new camera for a few hours. I’ve got to nip down into Sowerby Bridge to post some eBay purchases and pick up some shopping anyway, so I thought I might take a little detour to check out a couple of local rail sites. All will be revealed shortly. But first, it’s time to get kitted-out in waterproofs…

11:15.

It’s just as well I did don the rainwear. To say it’s somewhat inclement out there is an understatement. It’s bin day today. on my walk downhill I oassed thiis clutch of wheelie bins which have all been lashed to a gatepost due to the wind and torrents of water running down the hill.

Having deposited my deliveries at the post office I’m now drying out on the late-running 10:58 to Leeds as far as Bradford, where I’m probably in for another soaking.

13:10.

Yay! Despite the crap weather in the Calder Valley I managed to bail across Bradford without getting wet. Even better, when I arrived in Shipley the weather had broken. For a spell I was treated to patchy blue skies and watery sunshine whilst thunderous looking clouds hung around on the horizon.

Why was I in Shipley? I’d come to look at the site of the old rail connected Crossley Evans scrapyard on the branch from Bradford. This is going to be the site of the new Northern electric train depot that will be home to the company’s class 331 and 333 fleet. It’s very early days yet. Right now the site has been cleared of mountains of scrap and decades of woodland growth. Here’s a couple of pictures.

Thus are used to be covered in mountains of scrap. Now the old tracks are revealed. The main part of the scrapyard is beyond the bridge in the background. Tucked away under the bridge are two old diesel shunters that were used to move wagons in the scrapyard sidings. Unfortunately there’s no way to get a decent picture of them. The plan is to build a four road shed with each road capable of holding a four car set at the left of the site.
Looking down on the still-active scrapyard and rail connection to the Bradford branch with Shipley station in the distance. Regular scrap trains haven’t run from the site for many years. Once, the site was known for having a steam engine which was kept for shunting trains. Blogger Kris Ward has some good pictures of the industrial locos and mainline workings which you can find here. Access from the main line will be retained whilst four dead end stabling sidings will be built where all the blue skips are in the background.

To say this is a rough neighbourhood is an understatement. Even the XL bully’s walk round in twos! So, I was circumspect with the camera as the footbridge I was perched on to take some of these picture was an absolute dump that looked like a hang-out for some of the local ne’er-do-wells. The skilled and semi-skilled jobs the depot will bring to the area will no doubt be welcome to some, although ironically, the local MP is a right-wing Tory who’s not a fan of rail. Quite what he’s ever done for the area (or why they keep electing him) is a mystery as – having had a wander around the place I can honestly say it’s a bit of run-down dump.

17:00.

Whilst I was lucky with the weather in Shipley It was clear that wasn’t going to be the story elsewhere, so having achieved my aim I didn’t hang around other than take a slight detour on the way home to admire other work nearby. Guiseley station on the line to Ilkley is having both platforms extended, so I popped in between trains to have a quick look.

Guiseley, looking towards Leeds.

The extensions will allow 6-car trains to use the Ilkley line in rush-hour. I must admit, I’ve not travelled the line since Covid struck so I really should take a trip up there soon.

Catching the next train into Leeds I changed to get home via Dewsbury in order to have a look at progress on the Trans-Pennine Route upgrade as far as Heaton Lodge Junction where my train swung off to head back to Sowerby Bridge. There’s a lot of earth-moving around Ravensthorpe but no massive changes that demand another photographic visit just yet. Maybe when the weather improves…

Right, time to bring this blog to a close as I’ve other stuff to keep me occupied this evening, such as writing for a living rather than fun!

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

5th February picture of the day…

05 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Hmm, last week didn’t end well and this week’s carried on in the same vein. Bugger.

Saturday evening saw the fun sight of me having to break into Bigland Towers via the front door, which turned into an ‘interesting’ exercise. The front door lock seized, leaving us with no way in as all the windows and back door were firmly closed, so getting through the front door was the only option. Thankfully, two of our lovely neighbours were at home and Gary had the ideal tool for the job (a mini circular saw) – and the cable to run from their house to power it! Fortunately, we’d returned from an evening out in Halifax at a sensible time so the sound of me cutting out a panel of a pretty solid front door – whilst noisy – wasn’t going to keep anyone awake (just provide entertainment). Having removed said panel I managed to crawl through the gap and open the back door to let Dee in. It’s fortunate that both of us are on the ‘svelte’ side – otherwise we’d have been stuffed (literally)! Having effected a temporary repair overnight Sunday involved a trip to our local DIY chain to buy new timber to reinforce the door. Our plan was to replace it in the future anyway. Now that future’s moved forward.

Today I was meant to be preparing for a trip down South tomorrow in order to be in place for a big media event on Wednesday morning. This afternoon I received an email to say the event’s had to be postponed due to technical difficulties, so that’s this weeks plans up the swannee. Drat and double drat! To add the icing on the cake the weather forecast is looking decidedly ‘iffy’. We’ve lots of rain on the way and maybe even snow – although I’ll believe that when I see it. All this uncertainty makes this week a sod to plan. On the bright side, I do have an event locally on Friday, so come hell or high-water (or even snow) I’ll be able to make that.

So, apologies for the lack of new photos being added to my Zenfolio website. Ironic. I have a brand new, start of the art camera and it’s hardly been out of the bag (except for one job) since I bought it! Instead, I’ve been stuck at home to continue my clear-out, which means there’s now a lot my old railway memorabilia for sale on my eBay site – which you can find here.

Weather permitting, I’m hoping to get out for a couple of hours tomorrow to catch up on some local changes to the rail network. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture. If we’re going to have snow, can I put in a bid for it to be proper snow, like this, not just a dusting that disappears in the blink of an eye? Here’s a train approaching Milner Royd Junction, Sowerby Bridge on the 5th January 2010.

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

2nd February picture(s) of the day…

02 Friday Feb 2024

Posted by in Calder Valley, Down memory lane, Photography, Picture of the day

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Yes, I’m still alive! There’s little time for blogging at the moment as I have other things going on right now, one of which is having a clear-out of stuff I’ve accumulated over the last 50 plus years of my life. In short, half a century of stuff that I’ve been clinging onto and (in some cases) that I’d even forgotten I had. It’s been an interesting experience. Some of it (mostly – but not all – old railway memorabilia) has ended up on eBay. You can find it here. I’ll be adding more stuff over the next few days. There’s a selection of old button and pin badges and comics that may be of interest to collectors of such stuff. Here’s a sample of what’s to be added.

YES always used to tour around my birthday and seeing them at the Bingley Hall in Stafford was my present to myself. It was the first gig I ever went to on my own as a teenager. Fond memories!

As for the rest, it’s either gone to charity shops – or the bin!

I hope to get back to blogging again soon, we’ll see. In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. Well, yesterday’s really. This was the sunset over the Calder Valley.

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