10:30.

I’m having time away from the office today to make the most of the latest good weather and meet up with an old friend in Manchester later this afternoon.

Right now, I’m aboard Northern’s 10:17 from Halifax to Manchester Victoria, traversing the Calder valley.

The valley’s looking very lush at the moment. Whilst Network Rail has been busy felling lineside trees on the approach to Sowerby Bridge the stations along the line are a riot of colour and blooms thanks to the efforts of the various station friends groups. Some lineside locations are trying to compete. West of Todmorden, the embankment has been taken over by the invasive and pernicious Himalayan Balsam.

10:55.

We’ve now crossed the Pennines and called at Rochdale, which has provided another rich crop of passengers for this four-car train. The weather’s vloudier than I’d hoped, but temperatures are still in the middle 20s, so I’m not complaining!

12:30.

I hung around Victoria just long enough to change trains in order to visit Salford Crescent and inspect the work on building the new (3rd) platform, which is progressing well.

Next stop was a station i’ve not taken any shots at for a while – Deansgate. The surrounding area is a mix of Victorian red brick plus modern glass and steel high-rise with the railway threading its way through the middle on a series of viaducts (pix later).

14:35.

Having walked to Oxford Rd station, where I managed to get a range of shots before moving on to Piccadilly, I’m now having a hiatus as I watch the trains go by whilst getting a few pictures. There’s lots of local railway enthusiasts out and about the Oxford Rd corridor today due to the nain line through Stockport being closed whilst a major road bridge above the railway is replaced. The closure has caused many services to be diverted – especially freight. A Liverpool – Drax power station ‘biomass’ service heading this way seemed to attract many photographers. They’d been around for a while, but as soon as it passed through they all disappeared, leaving ne with the platform to myself!

Piccadilly is quieter than normal as local services that passed through Stockport that can’t be diverted have been replaced by buses.

16:05.

I’ve abandoned heavy rail for light and a side-trip to Chinatown to stock ip on goodies from one of my favourite shops. I’m now laden with Kecap Manis, Hoisin ans fish sauce, pea aubergines, and some fiery red chillies.

21:25.

Well, that was a fun! Having wandered the rails around ManchesterI met up with my old friends and some of his rail colleagues in a location I’ve never visited before.

As you can imagine, after a few pints folk were putting the railway to rights.The big difference? They have the operational experience.

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