Sunday’s not been as lazy as the old song by the New Faces remembers (although more of that in the next blog). Instead, I’ve had a busy day here in Southport, catching up on exercise routines now that I have access to the park equipment that I’ve found so useful whilst I’ve been here. Admittedly, my muscles have felt the strain after a week-long gap, but it’s all good.

Apart from the physical endeavours much of my day was taken up with editing pictures from the first of my HS2 visits earlier in the week, in order to get them out to the writer and editor who need them first thing Monday morning. Then there’s all the other stuff I took on my second visit, along with a horde of other general railway pictures I took the opportunity to take whilst in the capital. They’re going to be keeping me busy for a while. On top of that I have other work and stuff to sort out, which is going to keep me occupied for the rest of the week. Hang on, I’m meant to be semi-retired, although it certainly doesn’t feel that way right now!

No rest for the wicked, eh? I’m not complaining, I’d rather be active than bored. One thing I notice about Southport after being back in London for a while is how the town resembles ‘God’s waiting room’. There’s an awful lot of retired people who seem to have little purpose other than to aimlessly wander the town centre, drifting from one coffee or charity shop to the other, or taking refuge on the benches that bedeck Lord St, like they’re living sculptures. At my most cynical, it reminds me of the old Colin Crompton joke about Morecambe, where he said ‘they don’t bury the dead in Morecambe, they just stand ’em up in the bus shelters’. I shouldn’t mock, as I’m now part of that demographic – although my bus pass sees bugger-all use!

Anyway, tomorrow’s another week and I’ve a lot to do. I won’t be travelling much, but expect a flood of pictures to appear on my Zenfolio website as and when. In the meantime, here’s a taster from my visit to the HS2 construction site at Old Oak Common in London. Regular readers will know of my interest in architecture. It’s why this shot inside the new HS2 station appealed to me despite their not being a train in sight…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
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Cheers,

Paul