Yipee! We’ve now passed the shortest day of the year. There’s no noticeable change for a little while but the days will soon be getting longer. Not that you’d notice anything in this neck of the woods we’ve existed in perpetual twilight these past couple of days. I’ve hardly been able to make out the opposite side of the valley due to fog and low cloud. No wonder some people suffer from SAD (seasonally adjusted disorder) when there’s so little sunlight around.
Still, I’ve had enough to occupy me here at Bigland Towers as we gradually wind down (or up, depending on your perspective) to Christmas. Whilst Dawn’s spent all day slaving away in the office, I’ve been busy in the kitchen to keep her supplied with lunch and also cook some of the dishes that will make up our Christmas feast. I’ve managed to get two off the list, none of which I’ve ever cooked before, so that’s been fun. Now the kitchen’s redolent with the smell of mustard seeds, garlic and coconut after preparing dishes from Kerala (S India) and Sri Lanka. First up was the one where the ingredients form today’s picture. Carrot and Beans Thoran.
Tomorrow I move on to dishes from Northern India whilst Dawn joins the party to bake and make desserts…
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There’s another day of mixed fortunes here at Bigland Towers, mostly due to the weather, which has done its best to keep us guessing of its intentions. Just when you think there’s going to be a sunny spell some dastardly clouds sneak up the Ryburn valley and bring with them a good soaking! It’s frustrating, but at least I have decent waterproofs – thanks to a birthday present from Dawn who treated me to a new Mountain Warehouse jacket to go with my ancient Mont trousers (bought in Oz in 1998).
Not that I’ve spent much time outdoors today, apart from a supermarket run and a late walk. Apart from keeping Dee fed and watered whilst she slaves away in the office upstairs a goodly proportion of my day’s been spent sorting out more old railwayana to go on eBay. I’ve added a selection of railway badges (old and new) to go with the hundreds of slides I have on offer. You can find the full list by following this link. Who knows? You might find a late Xmas prezzie for yourself or a loved one! Here’s one of the most recent additions, shown with a ruler for scale.
Tomorrow there’s a distinct change of tempo as I head down to London for a couple of days. Expect a mixture of blogs and pictures as I swan around the capital. Of course, if you read/watch the right-wing media you’d think I should be packing a stab-vest and letting Dawn know where my will is as London (in their hysterical imaginations) is dome kind of dystopian hellhole. It’s a load of bollocks of course, as I’ll show…
Whilst I’ve been complaining about the weather there’s one thing the mild days have provided as a bonus. I still have Chrysanthemums flowering in the garden! I have several plants in the front and back, all of which have flowered at different times, right through from October. This particular plant is opposite the kitchen window and only just coming into bloom…
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Another (wet) week begins here in Bigland Towers as the Calder valley remains sodden and often shrouded in mist and cloud. We may be getting closer to Christmas but there’s little likelihood of us having a white one. Daily temperatures have been hovering around double figures and well above what they should be by a minimum of 2-3 degrees. We even hit a ridiculous 14 degrees last Tuesday. With such unseasonably warm weather it’s hardly surprising we’re getting so much rain, which isn’t encouraging me to get out and about with the camera very much.
That said, on Saturday the sun Gods smiled, which was just as well as it was the official opening of the restored and repurposed Mytholmroyd station building. Dawn and I have been involved on the periphery of the project so it was lovely to be invited to see the finished building. I’ll write up the day in a separate blog once I’ve dug out some of the old photo’s which show what the interior used to look like. It was a lovely event and chance to catch up with old friends and colleagues from the world of community rail and the wider rail industry. Then on Sunday, it was back to normal with rain, rain, rain!
I’ve another couple of days working from home before heading down to London for a couple of days starting on Thursday. Looking at the forecast this crappy weather’s due to follow me South, but I don’t mind too much as Thursday is the Railway Carols service so most of my time will be spent indoors anyway. I was hoping to maybe catch up with the few remaining Class 455s working for SouthWest Railways but I may have to take a rain-check on that – literally!
Friday’s a more social event, after which I’ll be heading North ready for the last weekend before Christmas, although that won’t be a frenetic as previous years. We don’t have to tour farm shops as it’s going to be (mostly) a meat-free Xmas – which is easy on the wallet as well as the stomach! We’re intending to get out walking too as the weather’s looking more promising, so it may prove to be one of the healthiest festive seasons we’ve had for a while.
In the meantime, I’ve a few projects to fill the next few days with, which will keep me occupied whatever the weather. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s pictures which was taken with a long-lens from our bedroom window this afternoon. Here’s how the Calder valley’s looked for much of the day.
Now you see it, now you don’t…
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Well, here were are in the final month of the day, and in a new week to boot! What hasn’t changed here in the Pennines is the weather. It’s still wet, wet. wet – but with the added fun of high winds which are rapidly stripping last last remaining leaves off many of the trees. Winter is approaching but (on the bright side) that means the days will soon start to get longer!
I’ve not ventured out of the valley today as I’ve work to do at home, plus, there’s no point in taking the camera out in these conditions. Instead I’ve pottered around the house and begun the preparations for the festive season here at Bigland Towers. The pair of us will be having Xmas at home this year, which will make a pleasant change. It won’t matter what the weather throws at us as we won’t need to venture far and the car can stay where it is.
I’ve begun to investigate various recipes as the plan is to eschew traditional festive fayre and go mostly vegetarian instead. Our Xmas day meal will more resemble an Indian thali than anything else. I have a collection of katori and other stainless steel ware so we can make it realistic. One of the beauties of this choice is that we cam prepare many of the chosen dishes in advance, making Xmas day far less stressful and busy, so more relaxed and enjoyable. There’s going to be no panicking over getting the turkey cooked on time or any of that nonsense!
Of course, there’s still a few weeks to go yet and other events on the calendar to tick off. Tomorrow I don my judges hat for the last category of the Community Rail awards that I’m involved in. ‘It’s Your Station’ always gets a lot of entries and this year we’ve had a bumper crop. After that I’ll try and get out for a day with the camera as the forecast is set to improve, although I’m not quite sure where I’m going to go yet. Later in the month I’ll be back in London again for a couple of events, including the annual railway carols service at St Mary’s Somer’s Town, Eversholt Street (details here).
So, there’s going to be lots to blog about in December, and that’s without any wry looks at the state of UK politics! I note that today 3 former Tory MPs have moved over to join ‘Reform’, one of which is former Deputy Chairman and butt of so much well-deserved lampoonery – Johnathan Gullis, the ex-MP for Stoke-on-Trent North. Now, you’d have thought that if you were going to accept defectors, you’d be picky over who you let in, but not Reform! Gullis is a running joke and political liability, the fact he’s been warmly welcomed into Reform says a lot about their lack of political judgement. The party looks more and more like a depository for recycled and talentless Tories. What was the Reform slogan? Oh, yes – ‘vote for change’! Quite how you do that when Reform is packed top to bottom with ex-Tories is a mystery! Looking at the polls it seems the Reform bubble has already burst. This latest round of defections could assist that slide…
Anyways, on to today’s picture. One of the things I was doing over the weekend was getting involved in some cooking therapy. I’ve been making several different soups recently and wanted to return to a recipe I’ve not made for ages. French onion soup made with a mix of onions, shallots, Dijon mustard and fresh Tarragon. Here’s the preparatory stage.
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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/
Sorry for the lack of blogging recently, but it’s been a dull but busy week here at Bigland Towers. I’ve been going nowhere fast due to work commitments which have kept me tied to home. Now’s the time of year when I put my sorting hat on as one of the Community Rail Awards judges. There’s a huge amount of entries in the two categories in which I’m a member of the judging panel so it takes a lot of time to sift through them, giving our individual scores before we convene for the full judging panel.
Mind you, the weather’s been utter crap here in the Calder Valley. Most days I’ve not even been able to see the opposite side of the valley. Taking my daily stroll through the woods has been ‘fun’ too as some major branches have been brought down by the wind and rain, so you take your life in your hands. Fortunately, I’ve never been in the wrong place at the right time!
The evenings have been entertaining in a different way due to it being the week of Bonfire night, which has meant we’ve had fireworks going off every day so the place sounds like living in a suburb of Beirut or Damascus (only without the ricochets). Still, the valley’s looked very pretty with a fusillade of fireworks lighting up the sky each evening.
Now the week’s winding down. I was hoping to get out and about tomorrow but I fear I still have too much paperwork to do – and the weather’s not looking much better, even though it’s been incredibly mild for the time as year. That said, Dawn’s taking next week off as it’s our weeding anniversary and we’ve just booked a few nights away in Shropshire – so all’s not lost.
Hopefully, I’ll have time to catch up on some more blogging tomorrow, in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a taster of the weather here today. For much of the day we’ve been living just below cloud level…
The Wainhouse tower above the end of our road disappears into the clouds.
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There’s been another quiet day here at Bigland Towers and in the Calder valley. I’ve spent most of it working from home, having had the place to myself whilst Dee’s been over at her parents to sort out the aftermath of the car accident.
Mind you, the weather here this morning was spectacularly awful, with high winds and driving rain, so being cocooned in the cottage was ideal. This afternoon, the weather changed. We had a spell of glorious sunshine and clear skies, so I thought I’d nip out with the camera to get shots of the railway crossing the Copley viaduct surrounded by trees in their autumnal colours. Only it didn’t quite work out that way. By the time I got down to the river the weather had changed again, with leaden skies and rain heading my way. However, I did find Network Rail contractors who’d been busy clearing trees along the embankment of the line to Greetland. This has opened up a couple of new photo locations, with more in the offing as the work is continuing.
I made my way up the other side of the valley through a lovely green tunnel which has formed over an old sunken track. Then, sheltering from a sudden downpour under some Oak trees, I surveyed the valley. Here’s the results.
The green tunnel, and old track which is slowly being reclaimed by nature. A train bound for Halifax passes the site where contractors have denuded the embankment of trees to open up this view which has been hidden for decades. In the background is a modern housing estate which has been built between the River Calder and the canal. The same train crossing the Copley viaduct, surrounded by trees which are slowly gaining their autumnal finery. The widest arch to the right is where the railway crosses the Calder and Hebble Navigation (canal).
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There’s been a dank and dismal start to the week here in the Calder valley, which is hardly surprising as that’s how last week ended so set the tone. Sunday was miserable weather-wise as low clouds and rain obscured the sides of the valley and made walking a very damp experience. Today’s been little better, the only bright spot being the fact the weather’s still mild, for now at least.
I’ve spent the majority of the day at home, ploughing through yet more picture editing and filing. I’ve only a few more left to do now before I’m up to date. All but a handful of the Portuguese pictures have been uploaded to my Zenfolio website. You can find the railway ones here and the travel pictures here.
With the weather looking the same for tomorrow I’m planning to have another day working at home and staying warm and dry – although with the autumn leaves starting to take on some dramatic colours I’m hoping there may be an opportunity for some pictures in the surrounding woodland when I get out for a walk. If not, I’ll be able to catch up on some blogging as I did manage to get out last Friday, even if was only as far as Brighouse!
In the meantime, here’s an illustration of how the Calder valley looked yesterday.
Wet and windy, with Norland moor on the opposite side of the valley hidden by low clouds.
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/
Bugger. Another day when things didn’t quite go to plan so I ended up trapped at home. The moral of the story? When you get a new phone, don’t forget the new password you entered for getting into the bloody thing! I did, which set me back as I ended up having to do a factory reset after wasting several hours trying a combination of passwords, all to no avail. These new phones drag out the agony too. Every time to enter a wrong ‘un they extend the time you’ve go to wait before you can try again. My wife, on hearing what I’d done, summed it up thus – “you dipstick!”. Who am I to argue?
Now everything’s sorted and my time wasn’t entirely wasted as I’ve cleared the decks of more old photos which have now appeared on my Zenfolio website. You can find the latest gallery update by following this link.
I did manage to get out for a little while in the evening whilst Dawn was working late in order to wrap up her work before going away. I popped up to our local pub (The Big 6) to join friends for the Friday quiz. It’s an informal gathering where Mel reads out the two quizzes published every week in our local ‘Pub paper’. It’s neither serious, nor competitive – just fun. Oh, and there’s plenty of beer – and free pork pie.
Now I’m back at home, compiling a list of more stuff to sort out before going away. I’m looking forward to being back in the sun and balmy weather rather than the barmy weather we’ve still got here. The snow’s never gone away in many places. Instead, it’s turned to sheet ice thanks to the sub-zero temperature of the past few days. Minor roads and pavements resemble skating rinks. I’ve never known the snow stick around for so long in the 15 years I’ve lived up here so I’ll be more than happy to see the back of it on Tuesday. Today’s picture shows how the Calder valley looks today. This is a view taken with my new Nikon Z series 100-400mm lens, looking out across the Calder valley to Sowerby. As you can see, the snow’s certainly sticking around.
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/
It’s a short blog from me tonight. Today was another one that didn’t quite go to plan – but in a good way! I’d intended to get out with the camera, despite the sub-zero temperatures but an email and a phone-call soon put paid to that. The email was from an old client, a railway magazine which was after a selection of archive pictures. Whilst I was sorting and sifting through those I received a phone call from a company in the rail industry whom I’ve never worked for before. They were anxious to source pictures – and more. So, I ended up dealing with a long-term work proposal and yet more urgent picture requests. On top of which I’ve been busy sorting out more of the logistics for next week’s trip which has involved a fair bit of research and purchases which will (snow permitting) arrive before we leave.
Next thing I knew it was nearly dusk. The quality of the light at the back of the house made me look out of the bedroom window, which is when I saw this rather amazing and colourful sky as the sun set over the Calder valley.
I have to go out tomorrow to pick up some of the stuff we’ve ordered so maybe there will be the chance to get a final few snow pictures…
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 