Today’s been a curate’s egg sort of day. This morning I strolled into Halifax in bright sunshine in order to visit a well known chain of opticians in order to have my two-yearly eye test and choose some new glasses. My old ones are past their sell-by date due to the photochromic darkening breaking down, leaving them rather blotchy. My eye test went well in that it revealed only a minor change in my prescription. But it also revealed that I have the very early stages of cataracts in both eyes. I’m not too surprised – or worried. After all, it’s an age-related problem that 30-50% of people will suffer from in their lives due to their age – and it can be cured with surgery (if it ever gets that bad). I’d never have known I had it if the optician hadn’t picked it up as It’s not affecting my eyesight. On the bright side, I’ll have new glasses and a new look in a fortnight’s time. Dawn came with me to approve my choice of frames. She’s happy with my pick which is good as she’ll spend more time looking at them than I will!
Appointment done and dusted and with the weather staying dry I decided to nip out for a few hours to reconnoiter photographic opportunities on the new railway electrification scheme between Bolton and Wigan. The quickest way to Wigan was via the old Lancashire and Yorkshire railway main line via Walkden. This route’s changed out of all recognition. It was once a four-track main line through a landscape dotted with collieries and cotton mills. All that’s gone. Now the route serves areas that are little more than dormitory towns for Manchester. That said, at least the stations have seen money spent on them and have a half-hourly train service. It’s a far cry from when I used to travel on it as a teenager in the 1970s.
My pair of Class 158s deposited me at Wigan Wallgate where I had 25 mins to wait for a return service, this time via Westhoughton on the section soon to be electrified. My return transport was rebuilt hybrid Class 769 which was rather nice as I was ensconced in the former first class saloon. Apart from vegetation clearance and some serious bridge reconstruction at Hindley where the station remains closed until 24th July whilst platforms are lengthened and resurfaced there’s little sign that electrification’s coming as installation of electrification masts and associated equipment has yet to start.
Back I Manchester I swapped my 769 for a busy CAF built Class 195/0 for the trip back across the Pennines, changing once more at Todmorden in order to arrive at Sowerby Bridge. Now I’m having a quiet night in with Dawn as the pair of us have another busy day tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a picture from the day for now.
158792 coupled to 158849 brings up the rear of 2I15, the 1249 Wigan Wallgate to Leeds (via Brighouse) service as it leaves Todmorden earlier today.
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Hmm, it’s been a wet start to the week here in the Calder valley and hardly a brilliant start to July – especially after hot weather we had in June. I see that the Met Office have declared June the warmest on record, which is hardly surprising. I was watching the daily forecasts (not from the Met Office) which showed average temperatures being broken day after day. Of course, this news has brought out the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging climate change deniers out in force on social media. Their best conspiracy theory has been that it’s only the hottest because the Met Office have fiddled previous years figures to make it look that way. Proof (if ever it were needed) that they’re not the sharpest tools in the box – and neither are the people who fall for them.
Still, after the heavy and persistent rain we had this morning I was rather pleased to see the sun this afternoon – even if the high-winds that have battered us for several days took the edge off the temperatures. Both Dee and I have been busy working from home today but we did manage to get out for a rare joint walk, which was lovely. The local woods are bursting with life at the moment. So much so that some of the footpaths are becoming obstacle courses due to all the brambles and nettles. I’ll not complain too much as I may be able to pick a good crop of Blackberries again and Dee’s threatening to have a go at harvesting Bilberries – something that are alien to me. Still, with Dawn being such a fantastic cook – if she wants to rustle up a few Bilberry pies I’m not going to complain. Maybe we can do a trade with my sister Anne for some of her home-grown and made Gooseberry pies…
The weather’s looking pretty crap for the rest of the week but I’ve things to do tomorrow so I’ll be out and about in some form whatever happens. With luck I may be able to get a blog from the day. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day, which reflects how the weather and the seasons can change the landscape around here. This is the very first picture I took from our bedroom window when I moved here from London in January 2010.
Looking across to Norland from our home on the 3rd January 2010. We have had snow in June here in the Pennines – but not like this! Ironically, with global warming making weather patterns more unpredictable, we may have more scenes like this – but not in July – unless we’ve completely screwed the planet!
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This blog illustrates the history (from 2003 until the present day) of the 14 strong fleet which has had a varied if chequered history which is a pity as from a passenger perspective at least they’re good trains. I’ve been using them on a regular basis, especially since 2010 when Grand Central introduced their ‘West Riding’ service from Bradford and Halifax to London Kings Cross using the fleet.
The Class 180s were originally ordered by First Great Western back in 1999. They wanted extra trains to complement their high-speed HST fleets to run new services to Cardiff. Alstom won the tender, offering a 125mph, five car diesel version of their ‘Coradia‘ platform which has been supplied to many countries since.
The 180s and their cousins the Class 175s were some of the first new train orders placed since rail privatisation, which had led to a 1064 day drought in UK rail orders. This presented problems as the Washwood Heath factory had been run down and staff let go, so gearing up to a sudden glut in orders meant recruiting a new workforce. This led to build quality issues with the Alstom fleets which dog them to this day.
The first Class 180s was unveiled to the press in April 2000, before beginning the test programme. The sets were meant to be introduced into traffic by the May 2001 timetable change but a variety of problems meant it wasn’t until the December timetable that they first entered service. I remember attending one of the early unveilings where staff were seen trying to lever the nose-end coupling cover open with a plank of wood, which didn’t bode well!
The technical issues and reliability problems with the fleet has been a real shame as – from a passengers perspective – they’re a good train. Despite having an engine under each car the ambience in the saloons is very good. They’re spacious and airy, both in first class and standard. The buffet counter fitted to one vehicle also adds to the feeling of being on a proper inter-city train.
Due to the repeated problems with the fleet FGW decided to dispense with their services and replace the 180s with HST sets cascaded from Midland Main Line who’d replaced them with Class 222s. The 180s began to return to their owners (Angel Trains) from 2007 until the last one was relinquished in March 2009, which led to the next chapters in their careers. The fleet has moved from pillar to post since FGW decided to let them go. Three sets went on short-term lease to Northern trains between December 2009 and December 2011 before returning to FGW.
Hull Trains first used a couple of sets as maintenance cover in 2008 before replacing their whole fleet of class 222/1s with 180s in 2009. These four sets lasted in service until 2020 when they were replaced by new-build Hitachi Class 802. The surplus 180s then went to East Midlands Railway in 2020 but only lasted until May 2023 when they were surplus once more.
Grand Central first took on a pair of the units in 2009, then increased this to five sets in 2010 when they started running their ‘West Riding’ service from Bradford to Kings Cross. In 2017 GC took on another five 180s in order to increase services and dispense with their HSTs. This left them with a homogenous fleet.
Sadly, decreasing reliability of the 180s has caused problems for GC leading to two former Hull Trains and later EMT sets (180110 and 111) being added to the fleet, as well as a pair of former Avanti West Coast Class 221s.
The future of the 180s looks uncertain. They continue to be dogged with mechanical problems leading to GC cancelling services. Soon more Avanti class 221s will become surplus to requirements. Could this spell the end of the Adelante’s?
Here’s a pictorial overview of the entire fleet.
Here’s 180101 in original condition on the 9th January 2001 during testing of the fleet before it entered public service in December of that year. It’s pictured at Reading on its way back to Old Oak Common. 180101 seen in Sonning cutting en-route to London Paddington on the 8th August 2006. To say this view’s changed would be an understatement! Gone are the 180s and the HSTs. Now this is an electrified railway. On the 31st July 2020, 180102 forms a service from Hebden Bridge to Leeds whilst on-hire to Northern Rail to cover for a stock shortage. This was during the first Covid 19 lockdown so the train was hardly well used.180103 still wearing First Great Western ‘dynamic lines’ livery stand at Halifax after arriving from London not long after the set had been transferred to Grand Central. 8th January 2018. 180104 passes through Slough at speed whilst still working for First Great Western. 2nd April 2014. Like most locations on the GWML this one’s changed out of all recognition. 180105 prepares to call at Pontefract Monkhill on the 20th April 2011 whilst working an afternoon Grand Central service from Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange. Since this picture was taken the track layout has been rationalised with sidings either side of the line stripped out. 180106 sporting a variation of Northern livery and branding on the 18th November 2010. It’s pictured passing Kirkham and Wesham whilst working a Manchester Victoria – Blackpool North service. This is yet another line that’s changed completely since the picture was taken as the Blackpool route is now electrified. Note that this unit still has its coupling cover door in place.Here’s 180106 again in the early days of service with First Great Western when the troublesome retracting coupling covers were still in use. It’s pictured at Paddington with a Cardiff service on the 13th May 2003. To the left is Virgin Cross-Country’s 221107 which is working the 07:00 to Manchester Piccadilly. 180107 trundles into Halifax with 1A67, the 1537 from Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross. 29th July 2013. No, this wasn’t taken with a drone. It’s the view from Beacon Hill!180108 speeds through Slough on the Great Western Main with a service from Paddington. 2nd April 2014. The Class 180s tenure with East Midlands Railway has been brief. The units have been handed back early and sent into store. Here’s 180109 calling at Luton on the 15th May 2021. This particular set is now stored at Ely. The 180s have always suffered from reliability problems. Here’s Hull Trains 180110 which was being terminated at Stevenage on its inbound run to Kings Cross due to a fault with the train. The date’s the 5th August 2019.On the 12th August 2016 180111 leads a sister unit into Selby station en-route from Hull to Kings Cross. 10 car formations were rare but I can’t remember why they were running at this time. The cabs of 180112 and 180103 show off the lines of the original FGW livery at Paddington on the 22nd February 2004. Vehicle 59912 from set 180112 has been converted to run on dual-fuel (diesel or LNG). To distinguish it from the normal Grand Central fleet it’s had its orange stripe converted to green. The set was named ‘James Herriott’ at Kings Cross in August 2011. The eagle-eyed will not that the nose-end door is carrying the number 180109, which suggests it’s been pinched off that set as a replacement. Hull Trains set 180113 speeds North through Harringay, en-route to Hull on the 11th November 2009. The Conductor is busy in the back cab making a PA announcement! Last of the class. Grand Central’s 180114 is seen in between duties at London Kings Cross on the 11th July 2010. This set is still using the sliding coupling cover which have all been dispensed with as they were just another bit of kit to fail. Mix and match! 180110, wearing EMT livery but carrying Grand Central branding leaves York whilst working 1N95, the 14:27 London Kings Cross to Sunderland. Seen on the 12th September 2023.
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It’s been a very windy couple of days here at Bigland Towers. Nothing to do with the food I’ve been cooking you understand, the phenomenon’s been weather rather than digestive related. However, it did cause damage to some of the plants I have in pots out at the back of the house, so part of today’s been spent visiting various garden centres spread across the area. Pot prices (and choices) vary enormously depending on where you go. Fortunately I’d already checked out a few likely candidates recently, so our ‘go to’ garden centre was Totties near Holmfirth. They have a great selection of pots and other garden bits besides plants. Oh, the cafe’s not bad either – although the pea soup we ordered today turned out to be mushroom because no-one had changed the specials blackboard!
Once back at home I spent the afternoon up to my elbows in compost and cuttings, which is great therapy. We’ve replaced several old pots and baskets with some made out of recycled plastic. I do love traditional terracotta pots but with the cold winters and freezing winds we get here in the Pennines they can mean plants have a very short life.
Here’s the view from outside the kitchen window, where we have a mixture of herbs and flowers. It certainly brightens the place up – not to mention giving us a good selection of fresh herbs which we don’t have to pay through the nose for in supermarkets.
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/
Yep, I know it’s rather late in the day for a rolling blog but this is the best format to describe the day – and I’m still out and about.
I’d always hoped to get out today but the weather’s been grey and wet, so my original objective of garnering some scenic rail pictures went out of the window. But I did have another idea in mind. A discussion about surviving railway signalboxes has been generated on Twitter following my outing the other day. This reminded me that there was one old box at Pontefract I’d never managed to get a picture of as the sun was in the wrong place. Not a problem today – obviously! That said, I’ve not been around that area for years and was overdueca visit. So, after completing some other work this morning I decided to head off to ‘Pontycarlo’.
Walking down into Sowerby Bridge I jumped the first train to Leeds. I’d have preferred to have caught a Grand Central train direct from Halifax to Ponty but I was too late in the day. The trip to Leeds was fine. The train wasn’t too busy and Leeds station itself was in that quiet time between rush-hours and the mad influx into the city for a Friday night on the town.
My local service to Pontefract was late due to the fact two units had to be joined to form the service and one was late arriving. Sadly, this route’s worked by Class 150s now rather than the old ‘Pacer’ railbuses which I much preferred (although plenty of ordinary passengers would disagree!).
Arriving at Pontefract Monkhill I made a quick dash through a former council (or possibly NCB) housing estate to the kevel crossing where I could spy the old signalbox. It was built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire in 1912 and its showing its age – not helped by a fire that damaged a lot of the wooden structure in 2019.
The colliery it allowed access to (which was to the left of the picture) is long-gone by a decade or more. Now it’s a housing estate. The box itself was originally blanned to have been abolished in 2019 but like many of Network Rail’s resignalling plans it never happened. Who knows how long it’ll last now?
Right now I’m heading back to Leeds aboard yet more late-running Class 150s. It’s been an interesting day. Partly because I realise I got to see the last of the Yorkshire coal traffic by moving up to this neck of the woods in 2010. So much has changed in that time, even though to me it seems recent.
At some point I’ll write a blog dedicated to the surviving signalboxes of West Yorkshire. I have pictures of all but two. Once I’ve snapped those…
One of the joys (and frustrations) of railway photography for someone who’s trying to document the whole scene is it’s a bit like trying to complete a jigsaw. One wgere people keep removing and adding pieces! You’re never going to finish the picture, all you can do is try and leave as few missing pieces as possible.
17:40.
I’m back in Leeds and waiting for the 17:43 to Manchester Victoria to leave. It’s remarkably quiet in the front unit but I suspect that’s because it’s a ‘poets’ day in June. The station’s busy, but that’s with people heading into the city on a night out rather than returning home.
21:45
It’s time to end the day – and the blog. But I’ll do that with a few more pictures. On the way home from Halifax I did pop into our local pub to catch up with friends whom I’ve not seen for a few weeks as Friday night’s quiz night. Here’s some of the types of beer on offer.
Meanwhile, here’s a couple of extra pictures from the day…
LNERs ‘Azuma’ number 800109 is ready to leave Leeds for London Kings Cross. Later in the day, Grand Centrals Bradford – Kings Cross service worked by 180105 is about to call at Pontefact Monkhill whilst working 1A67, the 1450 Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross.
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Here I am, almost in July – wondering where the bloody hell the year’s going! 2023’s certainly had its interesting moments so far, but I feel that I’ve a long list of things I want to do/see/achieve and I’m only scratching the surface in a race against time.
I’d intended to get out and about today but realised I’d more than enough things to do here at Bigland Towers – especially as I had a couple of hours set aside this afternoon to be part of a ‘Zoom’ seminar. Us Community Rail judges have made ourselves available on 2-hour long scheduled Q&A sessions to help people with their entries for the CRN awards. After the last one I’d contemplated holding the surgery whilst I was travelling but that wouldn’t have been fair on those popping in as you just know technology would let you down at the crucial moment.
So, I stayed at home, ignored the good(ish) weather and edited loads of pictures and dealt with paperwork instead. You can find the latest batch of pictures in the following galleries. Railway stations are here, whilst railway infrastructure and engineering is here. Borth galleries relate to my travels yesterday.
This evening I’ve been busy in the kitchen, giving Dawn a break after her culinary endeavors on our Norfolk holiday. Tonight’s effort was batch-cooking Thai green curry with chicken, which should keep us well fed for a few days and the freezer topped up for the future.
Of course, tomorrow’s another day. Will I make it out anywhere? Let’s wait and see. In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. As I was wading through the archives earlier I realised there’s one batch of pictures I still haven’t done anything with. These are the transport pictures from our visit to Turkey nearly two months ago. Eventually, they’ll go in their own gallery on my Zenfolio website, but for now, here’s a taste.
Modern trams in Sultanhamet Square. If only more cities had this greener form of transport.
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/
The weather’s finally picking up. Well, it’s stopped raining – so I’m off to have a look at recent work on the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) for the afternoon.
Having walked down to Sowerby Bridge station I fear I may be overdressed as it’s far warmer and muggier than the forecast suggested, shorts and a vest top would have been better than walking pants, polo shirt and a denim jacket. Today may get sweaty!
I’m currently aboard Northern’s 11:22 to Leeds made up of a pair of Class 158s. I’m not going to complain as the air-conditioning’s welcome! Next stop is Batley, then Morley…
Feel free to pop back and see what I get up to during the day…
11:40.
Our first stop was at Brighouse where I spied half a dozen members of the station friends group buzzing around keeping the place clean and maintaining the garden and planters. The station looks stunning at the moment as everything’s in summer bloom. I really need to pop in and get some pictures whilst I can.
Network Rail have been busy too. Sections of the old 4-track route towards Huddersfield have had some serious vegetation clearence carried out. The work’s removed many large trees and opened up views lost for 30-40 years, as well as having made the lineside safer.
14:00.
Time for a break. Detraining at Batley I walked to the site of Lady Anne Crossing, a former road level crossing that’s been reduced to a foot crossing for several years. It was guarded by one of the last operational signalboxes in West Yorkshire, but it was abolished last weekend as it’s been replaced with a footbridge as part of the TRU. Here’s a few pictures.
Looking across to the ramp that’s been built out of the old GNR railway embankment to allow level access to the footbridge from the Eastern side of the railway. Work’s still in progress to create steps as a shortcut, finish some fencing and minor works as well as landscaping.Seen from the new footbridge, a TPE Class 185 bound for Manchester crosses the site of the old foot crossing. Not the new bi-directional signalling which has been commissioned during the blockade. The new footbridge. This was installed by a rail-mounted crane in four lifts over two days. The decommissioned signalbox. This leaves Horbury Junction box near Wakefield as the last operational signalbox in West Yorkshire.
Next stop was at the new station at Morley which opened on Monday after a 9 day blockade of the line which also allowed the work at Batley to be completed. Well, I say completed – neither is as there’s still cosmetic and other work to be done but the point is the facilities they were replacing have closed. TRU staff have worked hard to get these improvements done on time and the new station at Morley is a great improvement on the cramped old station.
The site of the old station. The footbridge and Huddersfield bound platform have already been demolished and track through the site relaid. A stopping service from Leeds to Huddersfield pulls out of the new station. As can be seen, there’s still a lot of work to be completed. The footbridge has temporary steps and no lift towers. Looking down from the footbridge onto the new platforms at Morley.A TPE service from Huddersfield to Leeds calls at the new platform 1.
16:15.
Things haven’t entirely gone to plan! After a brief stop at Dewsbury to upload pictures and avoid showers I caught a TPE service to Huddersfield and back to check out TRU work as things change on a weekly basis. At the moment a worksite’s being set up West of Deighton where two rail overbridges are to be replaced. The new signalling that’s been commissioned streches East from LNW junction by Ravensthorpe to beyond Morley. Huddersfield itself remains little changed – at the moment. I was only intending to change trains at Dewsbury in order to head back to Brighouse but I got caught up in 30 plus minute delays due to kids trespassing on the lines I’d only just traversed. Now I’m finally on a delayed Northern service heading in the right direction.
21:30.
I stopped off in Halifax en-route to home for a swift libation at the Meandering Bear, a bar in town where some neighbours work. As they were both in I ended up chatting and the swift beer turned into two. Oops!
Name your poison…
Back home I was on cooking duty, learning to use our new Ninja air-fryer. Dawn’s already converted but I’ve yet to get to grips with it, although after a couple of tries I have to say I’m impressed.
I’ll get the hang of it, eventually…
Now it’s time to relax. 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/
Yes – it’s back! It’s been increasingly difficult to find candidates for this feature as there’s so few people left pretending they can stop HS2 and the ones that are would all (in one way or another) qualify for this title. But one does stand head and shoulders above the others at the moment, and helps illustrate a wider political problem. Step forward Sarah Green, long-time anti HS2 timewaster and fantasist and the new Green party candidate for the forthcoming Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. This is the seat vacated by that narcissistic sack of custard, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who abandoned it in a hurry when his lies caught up with him.
In their ‘wisdom’ the local Green Party chose Green as their candidate, replacing another no-hoper and anti HS2 fantasist Mark Keir (blogs passim), who failed to get anywhere in the 2019 election. He came 4th with just 2.2% of the vote way behind Johnson who won with 52.6%. Both Keir and Green have stood (and been rejected) for the Council several times in the past. I’ve no doubt this record will be maintained.
This time the election’s an even more crowded field as this candidate list from Wikipedia shows.
The favourite to win is the Labour candidate, Danny Beales, a local lad who’s currently Camden Counciller. Labour have always come second in the constituency and with the levels of disgust at both the Tory party and Johnson the predictions are they’ll win (albeit narrowly) this time.
Sarah Green will get nowhere, just like the greens candidate (Carolyne Culver) in the Amersham and Chesham by-election in 2021. Culver managed to decrease the green party’s vote in Amersham and I have a suspicion Green may well do the same in Uxbridge. Why?
Green is running a hopeless single-issue campaign that’s entirely focussed on her personal opposition to HS2. It’s a horribly ‘nimby’ and parochial campaign (just like the one Culver ran) based on nothing but scaremongering and exaggerations on the supposed damage HS2 just might do to the area’s rivers and pollution to the Chiltern aquifer that supplies some of London’s drinking water. There’s just one teeny, tiny problem here. None of this scaremongering has ever come true. No streams have been polluted by HS2 and London’s drinking water remains unaffected. A few minor spills of Bentonite (inert drilling mud) and several sinkholes (embarassing, but with no real impact on anything) do not a pollution incident make. Meanwhile, the piles for the Colne valley viaduct (something else Green spread scare stories about) were all sunk without incident and the two tunnel boring machines launched from the South Ruislip portal continue to bore their way Eastwards – away from the aquifer! Of course, none of these inconvenient facts have stopped Green spreading her scare stories, but like the boy who cried wolf, people are getting increasingly bored of hearing them. Even dragging out Jenny Jones from the House of Lords to join in the scaremongering – sorry – ‘campaigning’ hasn’t had the desired effect as the replies to Jones’s Twitter posts have been anything but supportive. As usual, that led the notoriously touchy Jones reaching for the block button even more. Jones really doesn’t like being challenged by anyone – especially people in possession of facts! She is so infamous Greens4HS2 used to sell a T-shirt which said ‘blocked by Jenny Jones’! Here’s a recent bit of nonsense they’ve put out on Facebook. Note the £100m a week figure, which has been plucked from thin air. Also note that they’re protesting about building a green electric railway – outside a green electric railway station that Jones used to get to there from the Lords! Ironic, eh? – only these people don’t do irony (or self-awareness).
Needless to say, people locally and elsewhere seem to be less than impressed, hence Green’s crowdfunder bombing. With only two days left to go it’s stuck on 25% of its modest £2500 target.
5th July funding update. Greens crowdfunder closed on the 29th of June, having raised no more than the £630 (or 25%) shown here. Way short of the £2,500 they wanted.
Whilst Green doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell, there is a wider issue here – which is the Green party’s inability to put forward credible candidates due to their structure. Why aren’t the Greens (unlike their EU counterparts) seen as little more than a repository for protest votes?
Probably because the Green party of England and Wales (the Scots are much more sensible – and independent of GPEW) are not a credible political party. At best they’re a semi-anarchic protest movement who’ve had the luck to get a single MP elected – although that luck may not hold now that Caroline Lucas has announced she’s standing down from her Brighton seat at the next election. Her personal popularity has helped her get elected but if the local party put forward someone of the caliber of their usual candidates, that could change…
Green party members don’t like being told what to do. They’re an undisciplined and contradictory bunch and that’s how they like it. Their problem is – voters don’t, which is why GPEW have never broken through on the national stage and never will. Oh, it’s OK to have some local councillor posturing and prancing around with a placard but people (in general) expect their MPs to have more credibility. Yes, I know some of the Tories 2019 intake have proved to be a bunch of clowns (especially in ‘red wall’ seats) but they’re heading for extinction at the next election. Does anyone in Uxbridge really look at Sarah Green and see someone who they think can represent their best interests in Parliament (never mind Government)?
Greens aren’t bothered by that. Because most of them would never want to be in power anyway as it would mean putting their money where their mouth is. In that respect they’re like a lot of people on the left, they value ideological purity more than making compromises to actually get anything done.
There’s another problem that’s prevalent within the GPEW. Nimbyism. The BBC recently carried an article illustrating how many ‘green’ Cllrs oppose things like solar farms – often on the flimsiest of pretexts. The irony (and hypocrisy) of a party that’s always telling us we’re in the midst of a ‘climate emergency’ but that constantly opposes ways of tackling it (HS2, solar and wind farms) isn’t lost on a lot of people. This is a classic case of Greens ignoring the science by suggesting solar panels should be on roofs not in fields, ignoring the fact that you can’t build the utility scale of solar we need on rooftops. But hey ho – what do experts know compared to green party members? It’s HS2 all over again.
I’m not alone in being frustrated with GPEW, there’s quite a few decent party members who see the problem too, but the way the party is constituted means there’s no way to change things without root and branch reform and there’s no way the majority of the membership would countenance such a thing – which is why – if you really want to see a green future, it’s a waste of time voting green. There’s more chance of stopping climate change than there is getting GPEW to reform.
I’ll watch the result of the Uxbridge by-election with interest. Still, there’s on bright spot on the horizon. Unlike last time, voters will be spared the pantomime sight of former @stophs2 ‘Campaign Manager’ Joe Rukin dressing up as a tree!
5th July update.
More analysis has come out about the campaign which shows why the Green and the greens are barking up the wrong tree as usual. Ben Walker from ‘Britain elects’ has written this very interesting piece in the New Statesman which suggests local issues may well mean it’s not the cakewalk that Labour are anticipating. But that local issue isn’t HS2 – it’s London’s ULEZ (the Ultra Low Emission Zone) proposed by Boris Johnson but enacted by Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan. This offers no help to the Green as she’s entirely focused on HS2 and if pressed would support the ULEZ.
The bookies aren’t impressed by her either. Here’s recent odds on the various parties.
Green and the greens are 300/1 – behind the Reclaim Party, which is the vehicle for failed actor and right-wing bandwagon-jumper Laurence Fox!
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It’s another working week back here at Bigland Towers. The holiday and the weekend flew by all too quickly. Now my focus is centred on work, although parts of the holiday were very much the proverbial busman’s. Sunday was in similar vein as I waded through pictures I needed to get out to clients or just place on my website. It wasn’t too much of a problem as the pair of us had no great plans for the day. The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms so there was little point in planning a great outdoors adventure. In the end the predictions were false. Oh, we had some moody skies- but no pyrotechnics – much to our joint disappointment. What we did gate late in the day was some very heavy showers, which saved me the job of watering the gardens so I’m not going to complain! In the evening the pair of us sat down to watch the finale of the Glastonbury festival with the appearance of Elton John, who was excellent. It certainly took me back a bit. I’ve not been to Glastonbury since 2000 and the last time I saw Elton John live was in 1975!
Today’s been another day where I’ve spent much of my time glued to a computer screen. I needed to finish penning my net article for RAIL which is about the ‘3 peaks by rail’ marathon from the other week. You’ll be able to read all about it in RAIL 987 which will hit the newsagents on the 12th July. Tomorrow my work moves online as I’ll be taking part in an online seminar for Community Rail Network as part of my role as one of the CRN awards judges. Hopefully, on Wednesday (weather permitting) I’ll be out and about looking at the latest work on the trans-pennine route upgrade (TRU) before I’m back to online work on Thursday.
In the meantime, expect more blogs to appear as I’m free to write about other stuff just as ‘me’. O, and there’s plenty of pictures to look at too. You’ll find recent railway images from the Anglia network here, travel images here and social issues photography here. There’s more to come when I’ve finished editing other categories later in the week.
I’ll end with the picture of the day which comes from last weeks outings. I found these old wooden-bodied railway coaches just down the road from where we were staying. These were once a common sight around the country from the early part of the last century as railway companies sold off old vehicles to be used for a variety of uses, from chicken coops to holiday homes. Few remain, which is why I was surprised to find these two still in use as part of someone’s home.
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 our last day here in Norfolk before heading back to Yorkshire tomorrow. We’ve been extremely lucky with the weather which has been better than was originally forecast and a damned sight better than the conditions we’ve missed up North where there’s been a lot of rain whilst we’ve had hardly a drop here.
This morning we visited the aviation museum at Norwich which is opposite the airport on the old Norwich Rd. The whole area is part of the former Horsham St Faith RAF base and the museum occupies a small site on the other side of the A1270. Whilst the site may be small, it fits a lot into it. The museum buildings house a fascinating history relating to East Anglian airbases during WW2 with lots of memorabilia, aircraft parts, uniforms and hardware, along with informative displays on what the RAF’s 100 Group got up to during the war. Outside the buildings are the aircraft – large and small – from tiny Cessna’s to the mighty Vulcan bomber and Nimrod maritime aircraft (you can book tours of the inside of both). There’s also various cockpits and engines on display. For those interested in aviation or WW2 it’s a great place to visit.
The Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft is based on the old De-Havilland ‘Comet’ jet airliner from the 1950s. The mighty ‘Vulcan’ V-bomber.
Having nipped back to Cromer for a last afternoon stroll on the pier we returned home to pack before nipping out to eat locally at the Black Boys hotel in nearby Aylsham. This popular pub sits in the centre of town on the market square. The four of us dined here last year and enjoyed it so much we returned again this year. I enjoyed the belly pork – a dish I don’t cook at home, so it’s a treat to have when I’m out.
The diet starts on Monday…
Now it’s time to call it a day before an early start tomorrow in order to finish the packing and begin the trek Northwards. Our time down here has flown but there’s plenty for me to do when we get back so I’m not too sad to leave. After all, there’s always next time…
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 