Apologies for the fact blogging’s going to be intermittent this month but I’ve a lot of other things to concentrate on right now, including writing 12,000 words (three articles) for RAIL magazine. Oh, and then the pair of us are off on holiday on Saturday for a couple of weeks sunshine and R&R in Rhodes where a social media detox will form part of the plan. Don’t worry, the occasional blog will still appear, but many might be limited to the picture of the day. Here’s today’s, which was taken in Rotterdam a week last Sunday. I love the contrasts in architecture, and this is one of them…
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There was no blog from me last night as the pair of us were having a convivial night round at the house of friends. Tonight, Dee’s out with friends whilst I’m ‘billy no mates’, sat at home working and trying to catch-up with writing and picture editing, along with a few household chores. Not that I’m complaining. After my time in Germany/Holland it’s nice to have some time not lugging a heavy camera bag around all day. Instead, I get to sit at home in the warm, do some work and observe (via the internet) the Truss government implode. Sadly, that’s not all that’s imploding, the FTSE100 and the currency are too. I always suspected Boris Johnson’s reputation of being the worst Prime Minister we’ve ever had was going to be short-lived, but I had little idea Truss would be so quick to steal that mantle. After all, she’s only been in the job for a few weeks! Today she gave a series of BBC local radio interviews which were excruciatingly painful as it was obvious how ill-prepared and wooden she was as she responded to some very pertinent and hardball questions – or rather, didn’t respond, as time and time again she came back to her script rather than answer the actual questions but doubled-down on her economic madness which immediately caused more damage to the pound and the stock market!
I’ve avoided talking much about politics recently, but the events of the past week have left me both angry and fearful as it painfully obvious the swivel-eyed loons of the libertarian right are in charge now and seen hell-bent on wrecking the country as they apply their economic theories, no matter what.
The result? A sense of disbelief across the country as this shitstorm is engulfing everyone. It may be dogmatic theory to Truss and her Tufton St cabal but ordinary people are genuinely worried about how they’re going to keep a roof over their head and feed themselves and their loved ones. Forget the lie that Truss told that no-one will pay more than £2,500 for heating bills this year. As many others have explained, either she doesn’t understand her own policy, or she just outright lied about it. Meanwhile, the very real threat of massive interest rate hikes could see many people losing their homes which is a far greater worry than paying to heat a house you no longer have.
The upshot of this is that the Tories are tanking in the opinion polls. One (YouGov) put Labour with an unheard-of lead of 33 points! Others had more modest but equally ‘wipe-out’ territory leads of 17-19 points. Next week’s Tory party conference is going to be a very ‘interesting’ event as many Tory MPs arses are going to be twitching like a bunny’s nose. They know they can’t depose another leader and get away with it, nor can they survive the levels of public outrage over her policies. All they can do is try and persuade her to change her mind (or what passes for one) but as she models herself on Thatcher the lady ‘who wasn’t for turning’, that’s going to be a massive challenge.
If it wasn’t so damned serious and affecting us all so badly I’d be happy to sit back with some popcorn and watch the Tory party tear itself apart. They’ve got themselves into the mess, sadly, the rest of the country will be collateral damage.
Right, enough for now. I’ve got to go back to writing for a living. So, here’s today’s picture which was taken on our recent Suffolk holiday but is with others in the queue for editing and adding to my Zenfolio website in the future. This is the rather elegant National Trust property called Blickling Hall.
I hate to think what their energy bills are going to be this winter…
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Being back in Bigland Towers seems rather strange after such a great week away. The fact the weather’s so different isn’t helping. After a week in balmy temperatures where I’ve hardly ever been out of shorts and singlets it feels odd to be back in heavier clothing – and enclosed shoes! Not that it’s mattered too much as I’ve spent most of the day chained to my desk in an effort to edit the backlog of pictures that I have to deal with before Monday arrives, and I have to rewrite my diary due to what Harold Macmillan beautifully described as “events, dear Boy”…
This means there’s not much of a blog from me tonight as I’m ‘cream-crackered’ and looking forward to catching up on some down time. There is another chore I’ve sorted out tonight. The next few hundred old rail slides and assorted memorabilia have been added to eBay tonight. Interested parties now have five days to browse and place their bids. You can find out what’s on offer by following this link.
OK, on to the picture of the day which is one more from our trip to North Norfolk. Here’s the superb roof inside the 900-year-old Norwich cathedral.
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Today’s our last day here in North Norfolk as tomorrow we head back to West Yorkshire. There’s going to be a very short blog from me tonight as there’s too much to do in the way of packing and also – how do I blog about the events of the week in just a few minutes? A week where we’ve ‘gained’ a new Prime Minister and a right-wing disaster of a government – and also lost a Queen who’s been on the throne for 70 years? To quote Bob Dylan, “the times, they are a changin”…
The UK’s reaching a critical path in its history and I’m really not sure how this is going to pan out, so I’m going to take time to ponder to myself and enjoy the last day of the holiday before facing a new reality. Right now, I’ll leave you with the picture of the day, which is of a place we visited today – Blickling Hall.
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Having suffered heavy overnight rain we began to think today might have been a washout so we plumped for a last minute change of plan and a trip into Norwich on the basis that – if it’s going to rain – at least there’s plenty to do undercover in a city!
As it was the weather was a pleasant surprise. We had more than our fair share of sunshine and I enjoyed showing the trio around a city they didn’t really know. It was fun for me too as I also got to explore some nooks and crannies I’d not visited before.
So, no long blog from me tonight, just an image from the inside of Norwich Cathedral, a 900 year old special place which is ideal for some quiet contemplation.
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Another week and another day spent chained to a desk, but hardly in a bad way. The weather forecast was threatening rain and even the possibility of thunderstorms so it seemed like a good day to be at home. Neither rain nor thunder materialised, all we had was a few desultory spits of rain which didn’t even wet the pavement.
Away from the weather my time was spent productively. I’ve a lot more of next weeks around Britain trip and now have an idea of where I’ll be ending the week as I’m not going to try and return home on the day, it would cramp my style too much and mean too much retracing of steps. I’ve not finalised everything as I’m waiting for a few temporary timetables to either be confirmed or cancellations be announced. I may have to be flexible on the Saturday as a result. Even so, it’s going to be quite a trip!
Another project that’s taken up a lot of my day has been preparing another batch of old railway slides and sundry memorabilia for sale on eBay. I’m hoping to have many of the articles added tomorrow and released for sale in the evening. There’s a mixture of UK pictures going back to the mid 1990s plus a selection of Sri Lankan railway images dating from 2003 which feature some old British built locomotives.
One unexpected diversion today was the return of an unexpected visitor. On Friday a racing/homing pigeon put in an unexpected appearance. The poor thing was suffering from exhaustion due to the heat and crash-landed at the back of the house where I found it voraciously chugging water out of an old flowerpot. I managed to save it from the local cats and put it in our outhouse with a supply of food and fresh water for the night then released it successfully the next day and watched it fly away. Well, it seems it enjoyed its holiday a little too much. This afternoon I was looking out of the office window and noticed it perched on the wall opposite, almost as if it was watching me! This time it was a much closer call with the cats who were already stalking it – but now it’s back in the outhouse. This time we checked the rings on its legs and found a phone number – which is local! I’ve rung the chap and he’s going to collect our feathered friend tomorrow. Let’s hope this time it decides it’s given me enough stress! Besides, I don’t want to fall out with the cats…
OK, time for today’s picture. This one’s from my recent jaunt to Manchester and features the Edwardian baroque magnificence of the Midland Hotel. The hotel was designed by Charles Trubshaw and constructed between 1898 and 1903 for the Midland Railway Company at a cost of more than £1 million. It’s coated in a variety of terracotta and granite and it looks stunning!
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After the past few days exertions and travels I’ve enjoyed having a day at home sans camera bag. If nothing else it’s allowed my skeleton to begin to re-assemble itself in some semblance of a correct posture without any compression. Oh, I also had the luxury of a lie-in! Beyond that most of the day’s been spent wading through the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken over the past few days and getting the early edits out to a magazine whilst dealing with a completely different picture request from another. This has led me to being chained to my desk for much of the day, not that I’m complaining as the weather’s been as predictable as the national lottery! Come late afternoon I’d had enough and broke free to head out to our local pub for the Friday quiz with friends. Poor Dawn was even busier than me so remained home working.
The pub was an entertaining interlude. The quiz exercised the little grey cells whilst the humour that flowed as a consequence gave the chuckle muscles a work-out too! Oh, and the beer (in my case Salopian brewery’s ‘Lemon Dream’) helped lubricate both. Now I’m back at Bigland Towers. There’s been no need to cook tonight as we’re living off batch cooking spaghetti bolognaise tonight so we can relax with a film and ease ourselves into the weekend – although in my case that means captioning hundreds of pictures in the morning!
Talking of pictures, here’s today’s picture which is from my stay in Banbury earlier in the week. I saw this decoration on a building called the Old Wine House, which made me do a double-take as it says it dates from 1537. What fascinated me was the design is a representation of what appears to be Indian Hindu god or even a Buddha. Look at the posture, the arms positioning and the fact they’re sitting on what appears to be a Lotus flower, yet the British didn’t come to India until the 17th century. The East India Company started in the year 1612.
All is clearly not what it seems. The building is listed Grade 2 and listings details give away the fact that – whilst this was a house that dates from the 15th century it’s been much knocked-about and altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mystery solved! Well, sort of…There’s still no explanation of what an image of an Indian deity is doing on an old English building called the old wine shop.
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A very short blog from me tonight as I’ve had a very busy few days with no time to write as spending time with family and friends has taken priority. That said, I have had a little time to catch up with editing some of the hundreds of images that I took earlier in the week – hence today’s picture.
Whilst in London I commented on how much the city’s skyline’s changing. Here’s an example. I’d not taken pictures from this spot (St Johns station) in South London since 2015. The backdrop’s changed completely. Welcome to yet one more of London’s satellite skyscraper districts, the ‘megapolis’ of Lewisham. The tower cranes give away the fact that this is just the start. Come back in another couple of years…
Back in 2015 there was just a single high rise on the horizon in my pictures. What I can’t work out is who exactly is going to be living in all this speculative (but certainly not cheap) building.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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/
It’s a short blog from me today as the vast majority of my time’s been spent glued to a computer screen, sifting through and editing all the pictures that I’ve taken over the past few days as various clients are chasing me for them. In this line of work you get very little notice of jobs and when they’re done – everyone wants the results yesterday!
That said, after a few days running around I wasn’t too averse to a day or two sat at home. Admittedly, I’d been spoiled with the catering arrangements with being away and the novelty of eating other people’s well prepared food and the one luxury I enjoy when away – a full English breakfast! The odd thing is I never miss such things when I’m travelling abroad, it’s purely a parochial delight to be savored this side of the Channel. Anyways, tomorrow’s another busy day so let’s cut straight to the picture of the day which was taken on my recent trip to explore Crossrail – sorry – the Elizabeth line…
We were given the opportunity to explore the new station at Liverpool St which has a rather interesting history. Like most of modern London it’s built on the site of something else. In this case it’s Bedlam and I mean that literally as this glass panel on one of the levels explains.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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/
I had to nip out for a few hours today in order to amass a few pictures for a forthcoming article. Tempting as it was to do a rolling blog I decided not to put myself under any pressure in order to enjoy the trip and exploring. Having travelled via Bradford and Leeds I arrived at my destination – Wakefield. Although I’ve passed through the town many times and had one night out there with a bunch of friends when we were on a canal holiday many moons ago – I can’t say I really know the place. So, having bagged the pictures I needed I had a wander – and was quite surprised at what I found. Normally, I’ve passed through the town in transit between the two stations Westgate and Kirkgate and never really deviated from the route. Today I explored further by taking random turns just to see where I’d end up. Despite suffering from the problem every UK town has nowadays (a surfit of empty shops) I was pleasantly surprised to see how much of the centre has been pedestrianised. It makes a huge difference to the feel of a place. The scale of the new developments around town surprised me too. Not just around Westgate station – although that impressive enough, but also the area now known as the Trinity Walk shopping centre. Now shopping’s really not my bag, but I have to say that for anyone who does indulge, Wakefield seems a good choice. Modernism aside, I love some of the older buildings and the narrow streets and alley’s between them. There was always something to see – from tucked-away pubs to old stables. The local Civic Society have provided plenty of blue plaques that record a buildings provenance, which was both useful and informative. I’d certainly pop back again with the camera.
Having enjoyed my perambulations I headed back home, retracing my steps via Leeds, but this time detouring to take the train to Bradford Forster Square in order to walk across town to Interchange. I love the buildings of Bradford. It’s another place I keep meaning to have a day out in, just looking at the architecture. The area known as ‘Little Germany’ sounds fascinating, but I’ve only ever skirted the edge of it. Maybe it’s a project for the winter…
Now, back home I’m editing today’s pictures ready for a busy day tomorrow. So here’s a snippet from Wakefield. Sadly, this grand-looking pub which is adjacent to Wakefield Westgate station has closed. But the city has a habit of reusing these buildings, so who knows what its next incarnation may be…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 