Another short blog from me tonight as I’ve been out all day and only got home late. The pair of us were up early as we had a dentist’s appointment at 08:30 over in Huddersfield – one of our regular 6 month check-ups and visit to the hygienist for a wash and brush up. I’m not someone who’s afraid of dentists and rather enjoy coming away afterwards feeling the new definition in my teeth after having the hygienist gave ’em the once over – not that there was much to remove.
As we were in that neck of the woods and the weather was ideal for photography I decided to have a day out exploring Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) territory. I’ll explain more at greater length tomorrow, but for now here’s a couple of pictures.
A TRU engineers train passes Bradley Junction with the single line spur towards Brighouse heading off to the left. This section will be four-tracked with the new fast lines being laid on the old trackbed to the right. A TPE service takes the Huddersfield route at Heaton Lodge Junction. The line to Brighouse is in the background. The new 100mph fast lines will be laid to the right of the train. The new bridge pier is for the road down to the waterworks between the two railways which will replace the one I’m standing on..
I’ll be back working from home tomorrow, so expect more pictures and a vastly expanded blog 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/
Today’s been another busy one here at Bigland Towers. Nearly all of it has been spent wading through hundreds more pictures to edit and caption. I’d foolishly thought I’d broken the back of things yesterday. Then I opened up another couple of picture files. Oops! I’m now far more confident that I’m where I want to be as there’s just a handful left from my Asia travels. I’m not going to post loads of links again, I’m merely going to do what I did yesterday and post one to my ‘recent’ page. I doen;t take long to work out which galleries the new pictures have gone in to.
Whilst sat at home I’ve been keeping one eye on the news (and social media), watchin the American political binfire burn. Vice-President JD Vance has done a fabulous job alienating most of Europe – and especially the UK and France with his comments about the military. He’s tried to deny it of course, but that’s just added fuel to the fire as no-one likes being taken for a fool (well, unless you’re a Reform voter: Ed).
The furore has become more interesting as it’s revealing fault-lines between various right-wing commentators, media outlets and political parties. Some, like the Daily Mail and Sun have been outraged at Vance’s words. Suddenly, the world has turned upside down and I find myself agreeing with the likes of Julia Hartley-Brewer and Dan Hodges (don’t worry, I’ve had a bath since). Even Andrew Neil is taking sense. Then temporary Tory leader Kemi Badenoch completely misreads the mood and defends Vance , who’s a ‘friend’ of hers, apparently! An amazing take when even Nigel Farage (who was better at seeing which way the wind was blowing) didn’t support him.
These are interesting times for Reform. They’re becoming split between those who slavishly support Trum p and those who can see the danger of being exposed for what they really are – Russian assets and little more than ‘surrender monkeys’ who’re riding on the back of Putin and Trump’s coat-tails. Reform MP (and millionaire) Rupert Lowe being a classic example with this tweet, which has already aged like milk.
I’ve no doubt the row will continue, stocked by the trolls and bots on social media under the command of Putin (who must be laughing his socks off).
But this row’s about to be overshadowed by the latest Trump disaster. Tariffs. Trump is starting a trade war. The world’s markets have already taken fright at what he’s doing, but – undeterred – he’s proposing to bring in more. The poor saps who voted for him are about to find out *exactly* who it is who pays for tariffs. One American TV channel has just pointed out that (overnight) a Dodge pickup has increased in price from $80,000 to $100,000 – and it’s American consumers who’ll be picking up that tab. Now American farmers are about to find out where much of their supplies come from (Canada). Of course, it’s not just the US who suffers. But I’ll tell you who doesn’t – Trumps millionaire friends who’ll be playing the stock market as they knew in advance what was coming. This is likely to be insider trading on a gargantuan scale. As the old saying goes – follow the money….
We are living in very dangerous times. The one ray of sunshine is that this is forcing Europe to unite and get its act together. There’s some very welcome signs on that front. In the meantime, batten down the hatches, the world’s in for a rocky ride…
I’ll be taking a break from the computer tomorrow as I have a dentists appointment. Weather permitting, I may venture further afield as a result.
On a brighter and more peaceful note. Here’s today’s picture – a Balinese Hibiscus flower.
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/
There’s not much of a blog from me today as nearly the whole day’s been spent glued to a computer screen as I try and complete a photo editing marathon. I’ve broken the back of it now, having edited and filed 80% of the pictures I’ve taken so far this year, which cover five countries (if you include the UK). I did get diverted into an archive search too, which took up some time, but I’m pleased with what I’ve got done as one more day should leave me free to get on with other projects.
There’s far too many galleries that have been updated to add individual links on my Zenfolio website, but if you click on this link it’ll take you to the ‘recent’ section, which shows you (by date) all the galleries that have had pictures added to them.
The weather’s not been up to much here in the Pennines so it’s hardly been an ideal day to be going out with the camera. It’s made looking at pictures of sultry climates and the streetlife they enable rather frustrating! Still, there’s no doubt that spring’s is in the air here in the UK. The days are noticeably longer compared to when I left for Asia and our garden is on the cusp of breaking into life – which is a bit of a bugger as I’ve not had chance to move things around beforehand. Ah well, there’s still time…
Whilst I’ve been editing and captioning a lot of pictures there’s one thing I’ve struggled with. Ships? Easy. Planes? No problem. Trains? Simple. But, our feathered friends? I haven’t got a clue! So, today’s picture is of one of the critters I’m struggling to identify. Can anyone help? I saw this beautiful creature feeding off the plants around our swimming pool in Bali.
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/
Today has been another where I’ve hardly moved from Bigland towers as I’ve been determined to crack on with editing the hundreds of pictures I have in the queue from all my travels. Mind you, whilst the weather’s slowly picking up as spring approaches, it’s still chilly enough to keep me indoors. I’ve managed to get all sorts of images done today. The straight travel shots are the easiest. The ones that take time are the shipping and aircraft shots as I need to look up the technical details of each one. Here’s the galleries that have had pictures added today;
Whilst doing this I’ve been keeping one eye on the news and the unfolding story of the European summit on Ukraine which has been held in the UK today. After the American debacle (which shows every sign of backfiring on Trump and Vance) it’s been refreshing to see the levels of international support for Ukraine – even from some right-wing governments like Italy and Turkey. What was also great to see was the UK centre-stage with the adults back in charge again. I don’t agree with everything Sir Keir Starmer and his government is doing, but – by God! – what a difference to the past few clowns we’ve had as PM! Contrast Starmer in the thick of it with other European leaders who are engaging with him and respect him with the past scenes of Boris Johnson at summits where he was ignored and wandered around (hands in pockets) like ‘Billy no-mates’. The UK is finally starting to shake off the disgrace of Brexit and the Tory shit-show to regain some credibility in the world.
How things will pan out in the long run is open to question, but there’s no doubt that the majority of the UK supports Ukraine – despite what bots, trolls and Russia apologists on social media are trying to project.
One of the interesting things about the situation is how it’s almost impossible to fit a fag paper between the hard-left and the far-right on so many policies (like Starmer and Ukraine). The poor ‘tankies’ of the hard-left still can’t get over the fall of the Soviet Union, or the fact Jeremy Corbyn turned out to be a failure. They still hanker after both which leaves them irrelevant to politics in the modern age. Mind you, Farage and ‘Reform’ are also struggling. Having nailed their flag to the Trump (and Putin) mast their populist politics are looking increasingly hollow. It’s too early to say with certainty, but this does show every sign of being a seismic shift in world politics and alliances. I’ll blog more about this another time, but for now it’s time to go.
I did see one comment on social media that made me laugh today. Someone posted (in reference to the apocryphal Chinese curse) ‘I think I’ve had enough of living in interesting times’. I can’t but agree…
I’ll leave you with a picture, which is from my Jakarta sojourn. Streetlife in the Indonesian capital’s never boring as there’s always something to see – and traffic to negotiate. Here’s an example.
Food outlets line Jalan Lontar Raya whilst an endless procession of scooters and other forms of transport add to the noise and chaos.
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/
Today’s been a quiet one here at Bigland towers. After all my travels and adventures it’s time to kick back a little and catch up with myself. My sleep patterns have just about returned to normal now, helped by not being on the ‘go’ all the time. Instead, I’ve been concentrating on catching up with some household chores, enjoying the opportunity to cook once more – and continue editing pictures from my travels.
You can find the latest additions to my Zenfolio picture website here;
I’ve still got hundreds of pictures to edit. They’ll gradually get filed over the next few days as I’m not expecting to be travelling anywhere much over the next week as I’ve too much to do at home. It’s a shame as the weather’s beginning to pick up here in West Yorkshire. We’ve had some stunning sunsets with fabulous colours these past couple of days. I was fortunate to capture this one from the bedroom window this evening.
The setting sun over Sowerby has produced some amazing colours these past few days.
I’m expecting tomorrow to be a little more active today, but productive when it comes to producing pictures. Plus, there’s a political blog brewing. Yesterday’s disgraceful ambush at the White House is certainly causing waves of outrage. Plus President Zelenskyy arrived in the UK today – a country that backs him to the hilt – despite what the hard-left and far-right would like you to think.
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/
Paul Bigland 