As expected today’s been a less frenetic one than of late. Much of my time’s been spent editing and captioning the haul of pictures I’ve captured over the past couple of days. They’ve been spread over several galleries which means you can find Travel images here, Nottingham trams here, East Midlands Railway pictures here and Cross-Country trains here.
In-between getting boggle-eyed staring at a computer screen I’ve managed to get out and enjoy the mild weather that’s snuck up on the Calder valley and get out for a walk or two around the local woods. Having spent two months in Asia which was mostly on the flat my legs are starting to regain their hill-walking muscle memory. I sometimes forget the fact we live on the side of a valley as the highest thing I climbed in Asia was flights of stairs!
In-between working and walking I have been keeping one eye on the news – depressing as it is. It was sad to hear of the death of Paul O’ Grady as he was such an entertaining character and also one of the good guys whom we can’t afford to lose in what’s increasingly becoming a sea of celebrity mediocrity. Mind you, the word celebrity has become devalued. Now all you have to do to be a ‘celebrity’ is appear on some awful ‘reality’ TV show to gain that appellation. The days of the Hollywood greats this isn’t. But Paul was a genuine character, celebrity and campaigner who put his fame to work for the betterment of many groups of people – and animals.
Despite the fact the news can often be depressing and social media even more so, there comes those moments when it all comes good due to some people’s irrepressible urge to take the pee out of the nuts – especially American gun nuts after the latest in a long line of tragic mass-shootings and slaughter of more innocents at the hands of deranged people with automatic weapons. So tonight’s picture of the day is actually a picture of a tweet on Twitter. It’s a social media platform that’s gone downhill since it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk, a man with less than liberal views who’s not been without controversy over said attitudes, his relationships with the opposite sex or his welcoming back to Twitter of formerly banned right-wingers and hate-mongers. But tonight the British have responded with their usual flair and brought the world’s attention to this person and his views. Welcome, Keith Arsewank!
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Tempting as it was I decided not to do a rolling blog today because I had more than enough plates to keep spinning without adding another one to the mix. We had a convivial night with many of the Community Rail Network team as we were saying goodbye to Director of Support and Development (and Deputy Chief Executive) Brian Barnsley. Brian was one of the early members of the team from the days when the organisation consisted of a handful of people. After a fun ‘life of Brian’ presentation at the conference social a few of us adjourned to a local hostelry that served real ale – and where you didn’t have to pay hotel prices! Even so, we were good as Dawn and I had to be up by 7am because Dee was working on the conference reception desk with Community Rail Support Officer Daniel Wright. The pair of them made a great double-act, prompting humour and a relaxed atmosphere – just what you need to know that the conference you’re attending isn’t going to be stuffy! We were starting early as many delegates had a long way to travel home, so whilst I had time to tuck into the excellent hotel breakfast Dee was preparing for the delegate deluge. leaving me no option but to drop in a Red Cross parcel of a Danish pastry, croissant and coffee to provide that all important sugar-rush! The conference was a really good event. There was a great range of speakers and presentations to keep people engaged which meant I was kept busy with the camera and laptop as I was constantly feeding the CRN media team with images to use on Twitter and other social media. That said, I did get to listen to and learn from some of the presentations, as well as chat with old friends during the coffee-breaks. The event wrapped up by 16:00 when we bid our farewell to Nottingham with many of us heading North to Yorkshire via Northern’s 16:17 to Leeds. Now the pair of us are relaxing at home ready for another busy few days.
You can find some pictures and more details of the event on CRN’s twitter feed at @CommunityRail.
Now, what to choose for picture of the day? I’m tempted by some of the conference photos but decided against it. Instead, here’s a look at some of the lovely old buildings that make up much of Nottingham’s city centre. In places like this is always worth looking up, although in Nottingham this is made easier by the fact the town’s built over a range of hills!
Here’s the view looking down Queen St with the clock and dome of the Town hall in the background.
Tomorrow I’ll be based at home as I’ve a lot of pictures and paperwork to catch up with before my next escapade later in the week which will involve a popular (and regular) feature of this blog as a friend and I will be visiting several High Speed 2 construction and mitigation sites along the phase 1 route between London and Warwickshire, so expect plenty of words and pictures to come.
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We’re packed, all electronic devices charged and ready and about to head off to the station to begin our journey to Nottingham to prepare for the Community Rail Network conference. I’ll blog about the trip en-route so feel free to pop back later to see what we get up to…
11:00.
We’re on our way on a bright but bitterly cold day. We even had a snow flurry before we left. Right now we’re on Grand Central’s 10:40 train from Halifax to London which we’re using to get to Wakefield where we connect with Northern’s Leeds-Nottingham service. This GC class 180s busy and even more so after calling at Brighouse where a few dozen were waiting to join. The latest ORR statistics show that GC services have really bounced back from Covid. They’re currently at 103% of pre-Covid figures. Great news for an open-access operator.
The section of line between Ellend (where a new station’s due to open in 2025) and Brighouse has recently been opened up by a huge amount of lineside tree clearance which makes it feel less like a green tunnel.
11:45.
We had 10 minutes for a cross-platform interchange at Kirkgate, where a new building has appeared on the island platform 2-3. Built on behalf of Grand Central it’s a substantial 3 room structure that replaces the draughty and basic shelter that used to be there. There’s staff accommodation at one end, a seated waiting area in the middle and what looks like a potential retail outlet or small office at the other. Only it doesn’t appear to have any power sockets, just a fuse board, which is odd!
The new structure at Kirkgate.
Our Nottingham train arrived spot on time. Thankfully, it’s formed of a 2-car Class 195 so we can make the most of the power sockets and wifi as there’s other members of the CRN team aboard too.
14:15.
Having reached Nottingham and the venue in plenty of time I’ve a few hours to kill before I’m needed I’ve nipped out to make the most of the good weather and grab some new library shots whilst I’m here. East Midlands Railway have had many Class 170s cascaded to them from other operators to start replacing their old BR built fleets. Some have come from Anglia, via Transport for Wales, such as this example.
With Nottingham Eastcroft depot in the background 170271 works 1K67, the 13:43 from Newark Castle to Crewe. To the left is the former parcels depot. The building’s intact and used as a Virgin active health club.
16:40.
I’ve enjoyed a couple of hours exploring and getting pictures of railways, trams and the town. One thing that struck me is how many vacant shops there are now. Parts of the town centre are almost deserted. One street I walked along was 90% derelict. Here’s a couple of phone pics to be going on with. I’ll add camera shots later.
The old parcels depot which is now a fitness studio.There’s one mad Tory Chiltern Cllr who insists that reopening the Great Central is a viable alternative to building HS2 as most of the route is intact. Really? This was the Great Central through the centre of Nottingham. Nothing remains.
We’ve had another quiet(ish) day here at Bigland Towers but that’s mainly because today was chance to relax before a busy week beginning on Monday when the pair of us are off to Nottingham for the Community Rail Network Conference which spans two days.
As the clocks had gone forward, depriving us of an hours sleep we enjoyed a leisurely morning drinking coffee and catching up with friends via social media before brunch, after which we got our acts together to potter around the house doing nothing too ambitious until it was time to get out for a stroll. Today’s weather was dry but cold thanks to the wind-chill. Even the cocoon of cloud over the valley couldn’t keep the heat in. We wandered downhill to the valley floor and Sowerby Bridge in time to pick up some shopping before everywhere closed, then decided to adjourn for a quick drink (and chance to warm up) before heading home. We’d normally have a pitstop at the Hogshead brew house but the place was packed due to them having a band playing. As the pair of us wanted to sit and chat rather than boogie we flagged it and moved on to a pub we rarely visit, the Navigation, which sits above the canal basin. It’s an old pub that had 5 real ales on (I chose the Oakham Citra) but seems as popular for its food as its beer. Many of the other customers were eating and several tables were reserved for later arrivals. The portions look huge and the prices are reasonable. It’s also a dog-friendly pub which makes it ideal for canalside walkers.
The canalside was the route we chose to walk home along as neither have traversed the path since last year. Seeing spring very much in the air added to the pleasure. Now we’re back at home. Dawn’s had the night off as I’ve been on cooking duty. As much as I’ve loved trying all the exotic food I had in SE-Asia, I missed cooking.Like gardening, it’s another of my pleasures/therapies. Tonight we went vegetarian as a rustled up a Chana Masala served with chapattis, the ingredients for which provide the picture of the day…
Preparation is part of the fun of cooking and I love using our selection of bowls which were (mostly) purchased on our travels. The top kne’s from Thailand whilst the blue ones came from Hoi An in Vietnam. The big one full of chickpeas? That’s from somewhere far less exotic. M&S!
Expect a mix of blogs next week as I’ll be traversing a lot of the UK and visiting a variety of locations…
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The pair of us have had a domesticated sort of day here at Bigland Towers. To be honest, with the way the weather’s been, there’s been little point to doing much else. Torrential rain overnight led to a miserable start to the day, but thankfully, that gradually improved. Dawn had a morning appointment elsewhere which left me free to chalk up some household chores – albeit not always successfully. I’ve been trying to change the cartridge in one of our bath taps. The first one was easy but the second one is stuck fast. You can’t apply too much brute force as the fittings made of soft brass so it’s easy to strip the nut. Even a ring spanner, oodles of WD40 and tirade of swear words won’t shift it. I’ve one trick left up my sleeve. After that I’m calling in an air-strike…
Once the rain finally subsided I moved outdoors to tidy up the gardens (front and back) having not been around to look after them since January. I really enjoy gardening. It’s such a therapeutic pastime and the joy of producing life through planting is hard to beat. This year I’ve decided to do some major replanting as many of the shrubs have outgrown their locations or simply spread too far. I rescued some yellow Iris from a canal a few years ago. They’d been dumped in dredged mud, so I brought a few home. They’ve loved our garden and spread like wildfire. The same with a variegated Hosta. I really like Hostas – but so do slugs – which is always a problem. I’ve split the original plant several times but now it needs doing again whilst being confined to a few pots, some which I can give away. Sod paying garden centre prices!
Our herb garden’s being revised too. Previously we had stuff all over the place (front and back). Now I’ve cleared a bed opposite the kitchen window where the panoply of edible plants will be congregated. That said, I sowed some French Parsley in the terrace above the back of the house last year and that’s going great guns already as it obviously likes the location. Sadly, not everything survived the winter so I’ll have to buy a new Rosemary plant. Our previous specimen loved it out at the back. So much so we had to severely chop it back to let the neighbours get past. Eventually it had to be chopped down as it just got too big. The new one I planted in a pot in the front did well initially, but this winter was its nemesis. Sadly, our Variegated Thyme didn’t survive either. Having fresh herbs you can pop out and crop as you need them is wonderful. Plus, if you love cooking as we do – it also saves you loads of money.
Gardening duties done I joined Dee for a trip into Halifax for a spot of shopping. Retail therapy isn’t a thing for either of us, but when needs must. At least Halifax still has a decent range of outlets, including an M&S and a ‘Body Shop’ plus the obligatory supermarkets. Our trip was prolonged because we couldn’t get Dawn’s favourite tipple for love nor money. Being teetotal, Dee’s developed a taste for the alcohol-free Guinness as dark beers were always her favourite (personally, I’m a pale ale fan) and apparently, the AF Guinness tastes just the same as the real stuff, but it’s hard to come by. Only one of our local supermarkets normally stocks it but they’d run out days ago. We ended up diverting to Sowerby Bridge where Tesco’s had finally had a delivery – so now Dee’s well happy!
Now we’re kicking back at home. I’m writing this whilst Dawn’s cooking one of her fantastic Chicken Madras curries. So, it’s time to relax and watch a film together with a drink and some brilliant home-cooked food. That leaves me to find a picture of the day – so I’ve chosen this. The garden’s too messy to post right now and I can’t find the picture I’m thinking of, so this will have to do. It’s a bit more exotic than anything I can grow here in Yorkshire. This is Duranta Erectica, otherwise known as Golden Dewdrops, shot at Gardens by the Bay. Singapore.
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Otherwise known as that was the blog that wasn’t! From a writing perspective today’s been the literary version of ‘no comment’. Nothing has happened that isn’t a reprise of earlier in the week apart from the fact it’s Friday, which meant that at the end of the working day I adjourned to our our local pub, the Big 6 – joining friends and other regulars to indulge in the quiz which Mel reads out from the ‘Pub Paper’.
I must admit, I rather enjoy the Friday brain teaser. There’s two different quizzes, one easy and one hard. But it’s a great way to end the working week, especially when the humour, diversions and anecdotes flow which always generate plenty of laughter. Just what you need on a Friday.
Now I’m back at home, writing what’s going to be a very short blog. Dawn’s busy preparing supper, so it’s time for me to go so that we can enjoy some quality time. All that remains is to post today’s picture, which comes from this evening’s session in the 6. The pub maintains four rotating real ale handpumps. The selection changes every few days depending on how busy (and how thirsty) the clientele are. Most of the beers are local and there’s always one dark beer on the second pump, so here’s today’s selection. Oh, did I mention that there’s also free pork pie on the bar on Fridays?
Choose your poison…
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 wasn’t a bad day to have been working from home as the weather’s been changeable to say the least – and not exactly balmy either. We’ve had shower after shower interspersed with heavy cloud, bright sunshine, rainbows and wind. I didn’t mind too much as I’d plenty to keep me occupied at home including editing all the pictures from the past few days. They’ve been captioned and placed in several different galleries on my Zenfolio website. If you’re a transport nerd I’ve pretty much covered all bases. You can find ships here. Aviation here and even some buses here. On the railway front there’s pictures of Trans-Pennine Express as well as Northern and Merseyrail. If freight services are your bag I’ve also added a few shots of loco-hauled GBRf trains. Right, everyone happy now?
Ah, that leaves me with one problem. What to choose as the picture of the day…
OK, there *is* one picture I’ve not added to anything yet. It’s one I took in New Brighton the other day and it’s of a pub sign that became rather famous due to the subject matter. Folk on Merseyside are well-known for humour and directness when it comes to politics. You can get into some great discussions on the latter on both sides of the Mersey (unless you venture into Tory Cheshire) where the heat of political discussion is almost always leavened with acerbic wit.
This particular establishment (formerly the James Atherton on Victoria Rd) decided to make their feelings known about Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock. Considering yesterday’s events when Johnson made an arrogant, unapologetic and entitled arse of himself in front of the Parliamentary Standards Committee this seems rather appropriate.
Some folk may be wondering why I’m referring to Merseysiders rather than ‘Scousers’. There’s a simple reason for that. ‘Scousers’ is a term that only applies to those born in Liverpool – not elsewhere on Merseyside. So, people from Birkenhead (the ‘wrong’ side of the Mersey) and satellite towns outside the city real Scousers call ‘Woolybacks’! I was born in the L9 district of Liverpool. Therefore, by an accident of birth (and a long story) that makes me a Scouser. ‘alright’!
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Today was one of those days that didn’t really go to plan because of the bane of the outdoor photographer’s life. The weather. It started well enough. I was working from home, wading through all the pictures I took on Merseyside yesterday whilst also dealing with emails and other correspondence. But I could see the weather was ideal for photography. Dawn was going into the Community Rail Network office in Huddersfield for a meeting with Network Rail and TPE so she suggested I might want a lift into town. It sounded like a good idea to me as I could get pictures of some of the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work and diverted services for the the archive. I really should have checked the weather forecast first…
All was well until we got to Huddersfield, the weather looked cracking. Then I dug the camera out. Just as soon as I did dark clouds marched in from the West – bugger! Huddersfield station was quiet as only a few services were running (to Sheffield, Bradford Interchange, Marsden, Leeds and Hull) the busiest place was the station forecourt where fleets of coaches were ferrying people across the Pennines to Manchester. My plan was to hang around for half an hour before catching the first available train to Brighouse where I’d intended to get a series of lineside shots of the TPE services diverted via the Calder valley, only the bloody clouds followed me and the weather got gloomier – and wetter. I ended up retreating to the Market Tavern in order to have a pint and make a series of work phone calls to make something of the day whilst hoping the weather would clear again. It teased me a couple of times with brief flashes of sunshine, but then the rain arrived so I gave up and came home via a train to Sowerby Bridge before slogging up the hill to home and my desk. Ho hum!
Still, I did get the picture of the day at least. The friends of Brighouse station have done some fantastic work over recent years, transforming the station with plants and flowers. Now they’ve branched out and added a series of local history boards which tale the tale of the town and some of its inhabitants. One in particular caught my eye. Do you remember the old song about the man who broke the bank of Monte Carlo? Well, he was real – and he was local…
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Having tired of being tied to my desk (and home) I checked the weather forecast firs thing this morning and found it was more optimistic than 24 hours earlier and decided “bugger it, it’s time to stretch my legs”. I’ll be blogging throughout the day so feel free to pop back and see what I get up to…
Right now I’m on the 09:59 from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester en-route to Liverpool to have a look at one of the few positive stories about UK railways right now – the introduction of the Stadler Class 777 train fleet which have ushered in the era of level-boarding across Merseyside.
Journey’s beginning…
The weather en-route has been moody to say the least. There’s gangs of marauding rain clouds lurking but so far we’ve escaped any deluges. This Wigan bound train’s made up of a pair of Class 158s which are now relegated to secondary duties after the arrival of the CAF units. Loadings across the Pennines were low until we called at Rochdale were dozens joined us for the run into Manchester.
11:45.
I had 30 mins to spend between trains in Manchester which gave me time to observe activities. Trans-Pennine Express were busy. A pair of Class 185s arrived from the East. Having disgorged dozens of people (the service was well loaded) the units were split. The rear set returned East as the 11:01 to Saltburn whilst the rear set worked empty stock back to Ardwick depot on the other side of the city. I was waiting for another TPE service, the 11:21 to Liverpool Lime St. This arrived (on time – heavens!) worked by 802216. Finding a free table in the front car as it’s not a busy train I’ve set up the mobile office so I can download a few pictures en route. The journey only takes 40 mins so there’s little time to do much else. The good news is the weather’s picking up the further West we go. Muscly white clouds are edging out the rain to leave space for blue skies and sunshine to follow.
12:45.
After an on-time arrival and brief photo stop at Lime St I’m now aboard 777049, the first Merseyrail Class 777 to enter service which I picked up at Liverpool Central. I’m posting this via my phone and the trains wifi which even works in the tunnels. My phone’s also charging up via the under-seat sockets whic have a 3-pin connection and 2 USB sockets. First impressions? I’m impressed. It’s not the first time I’ve been on board a 777 but this is the first time in regular passenger service on the route they were built for. I’m sitting at the back of the train behind the driver’s cab and over the bogie, but the ride is still smooth (until you hit switches and crossings). Acceleration is impressive and also smooth. More soon…
13:00.
We’ve arrived at Kirkby…
Having got some pictures I stayed on the same unit as far as Rice Lane (a stones throw from where I entered this world) to see how the ride was by the leading cab. There was a lot more hunting coming out of Kirkby but I suspect that has as much to do with track quality as much as the trains.
The 777s are good. Very good. I like the controlled saloon lighting that changes when you pass under bridges and tunnels, and the LED strips around the doors which aid access.
18:00.
Apologies for the gap in blogging but the day took a bizarre turn – as I’ll explain in a minute. My trips on the Kirkby were really interesting. 2 of the 3 sets operating tge service were 777s. The other was fleet pioneer 507001. Sadly, of the two 777s set 009 was clearly having problems. There were isdues with the doors and the PIS system which meant it was taken out of service a couple of times, leading to gaps in the service. It’s surprising as the sets should have had plenty of time to ‘bed in’ during their mileage accumulation runs. But then, these things happen. I’ve no doubt the problems will be fixed, but it’s embarrassing when the units have just been introduced.
Whilst I was out I posted a 777 pic to a WhatsApp group I and a few close friends have – only to get a reply from an old friend and colleague who was out with his boss doing exactly the same as me! We arranged to meet up at Lime St where his boss got a train back to London, but Hassard dallied, so we had time for a spin out to New Brighton – a place he’d never visited before. I rather enjoy New Brighton and so did Hassard as he was fascinated by the river views and the artwork adorning many of the buildings.
Mersey rovers…
We had time for a quick beer so stopped off at the “Bow-legged Beagle” micropub where the second co-incidence happened.
The chap we sat next to saw our cameras and struck up a conversation. It transpired he also had an interest in railways and travel. Clearly, his accent wasn’t local but it was only in passing he mentioned he was on a day out – from Sowerby Bridge! He lives about a mile away from me! What’s the odds of two Yorkshire neighbours (one there totally by chance) bumping into each other like that?
Having headed back into Liverpool I bid adieu to Hassard so that he could head back to London whilst I caught TPE’s 17:54 service to Manchester. I’ll blog more later when I’ve had chance to download some of today’s pictures. Right now I’m heading back across the Pennines aboard another Northern Class 158 en-route to Sowerby Bridge and home.
21:30.
Home again, so here’s a last update with a few more pictures from today.
777009 was the other new unit working Kirkby services but it wasn’t having the best of days. Here it is calling at Fazakerley with a service from Ormskirk. As you can see, the PIS isn’t working – hence the ‘not in service’ displayed on the front. I had to persuade an elderly woman who questioned me that – yes, this train was going to Liverpool. Once on board I saw a Stadler engineer busy on his phone, making it clear the train would need to be taken out of service at Kirkdale. Having abandoned 777009 at Rice Lane to get some more pictures I travelled on to Kirkdale before walking to Bank Hall where I caught 507001 (the first of the BR built EMUs) passing the depot where 777009 sits in the background in disgrace. Meanwhile, just the other side of the road to the last shot, here’s 508124 and 508112 calling at Bank Hall with services to and from Southport. When I was a kid this station had four platforms – hence the disused lines on the left. To say the area’s changed a bit in 50 years would be an understatement.
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/
Not a great start to the week this week. I’ve been pretty optimistic since my return from Asia but today (for a variety of reasons) that optimism evaporated. To be honest with the UK the way it is at the moment optimism is a bit of a slog. One only has to look at the mess the Government is making of the rail industry (and as a consequence – net zero) to see that. Add in the fact that once again bankers have been wankers and done their best to crash the global economy, plus a few issues closer to home and it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimism and ‘what am I doing here?’ It will pass. It always does, but there’s no denying the world’s in a mess right now and the UK feels like a failing country. Not that the Tories seem to care. They seem to have given up any real hope of winning the next election on the basis of any competency. Instead they’re cutting back spending to save money for election bribes whilst planning to fight their next campaign on ‘culture wars’ rather than anything tangible. Let’s face it, they’ve no claim to economic competence (Brexit, anyone?) and corruption has been rampant, so what else is left other than to sow more division with such nebulous crap as the ‘war on woke’ whilst at the same time trying to demonise trans people and their rights. It’s straight out of the American far-right playbook of course – hence the ridiculous huffing and puffing over drag acts being a ‘danger’ to children – as if no-one remembers watching mainstream TV in the 1970s where you had Danny la Rue and Stanley Baxter with their own shows, or the Two Ronnies and Les Dawson, and let’s not even mention pantomime. I have a feeling that the next election is going to be a very nasty and divisive affair with repercussions that will go on long after the result is declared.
I know, I’m a right ray of sunshine today, but this is my blog so my rules – and feelings!
Anyway, I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which adds a splash of much-needed colour to life. I spotted this plant in the gardens by the bay in Singapore but I’d no idea what it was. I’ve now been able to identify it as . Mussaenda erythrophylla, otherwise known as Ashanti blood.
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 