Category Archives: Calder Valley

Lockdown. Day 69 (Sunday).

31 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Uncategorized

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I’m really not sure that ‘lockdown’ actually describes the situation in England anymore as the Governments contradictory advice and actions have pretty much demolished that idea. We never had the severity of isolation the many other countries had anway, but now it’s feeling like the whole idea’s been thrown away in a sort of “well, do what you like now” free-for-all where the Government has washed its hands of any pretence of controlling the situation. That said, that pretence slipped when Johnson backed Cummings a week ago and it’s been a slippery slope ever since.

Now we see many of the Governments expert advisors backing away from them and breaking ranks to put their side of the story and social-distance themselves from what’s looking like a disasterous mistake. Having locked down the country too late the error’s being compounded by by releasing lockdown too soon. Who can blame the experts for not wanting to be left carrying the can for this one?

Still, it’s not all bad news eh? Matt Hancock has announced horseracing can resume soon, so everyone can take their mind off things by having a flutter with whatever money they have left by betting on the gee-gees. Hang on, isn’t Health Secretary Hancock the MP for Newmarket? You bet…

With all this in mind the pair of us resolved to continue with life as the new normal. The weather’s still amazing, with the sun cracking the flags, so it’s not much of a chore to stay at home when you’re blessed with the amenities and countryside that we have.

Even so, the day passed quickly, although as usual, our plans were fluid. Dawn needed to get a few hours work done so whilst she was banging away at her keyboard I was occupied in the same fashion whilst trying to catch up with a backlog of blogging. There’s so much that I could write – and want to write, but finding the time is surprisingly difficult. It wasn’t ideal, but I sat in the garden and soaked up the sun whilst blogging via my Samsung Galaxy phone rather than being stuck in the office and bashing away at the computer. The smaller screen, glare and tiny keyboard make typo’s inevitable and the ‘spullchucker’ constantly rewrites things for me so every so often I’d disappear inside to correct them on the laptop and check on the cat, who’s still not at his best. 

Later in the day, when work was finished we did manage to walk up to the supermarket to pick up some essential shopping. The place which was blissfully quiet. There were no queues and the isles were empty. Most people seemed to be out enjoying the weather. Later on we decided to do the same. Rather than walking from home we drove up to Norland Moor on the opposite side of the valley. As it was late in the day the moor was equally quiet. We only saw a handful of other people and it was glorious! 

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Looking down from Norland Moor over Sowerby Bridge. You feel on top of the world up here.

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Dawn enjoying the exercise – and the view.

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This pond atop the moor is normally a magnet for every dog being taken for a walk on the moor. You’ll normally find several having a doggy paddle whilst there owners relax and wait for them to get bored. This time of day it was deserted.

The walk wasn’t a long one, but it was lovely to get out and enjoy such a fabulous evening. The one thing that’s made up for being locked-down has been this run of glorious weather. Back at home we had another relaxed evening. Whilst I watered the garden Dawn was busy in the kitchen rustling up our evening meal. Hake on a bed of salad with fresh Tarragon, Chives and Parsley taken from our garden. Ideal summer food!

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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 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 locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…


Thank you!

Lockdown. Day 68 (Saturday).

31 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Musings, Railways

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In the words of the Lou Reed song “what a perfect day”…The pair of us had a relaxed start to the weekend by lying in until 08:00 despite the presence of the moggie on the bed in between us for most of the night. He obviously considers this his sickbed and us his 24 hour nursing care!

On flinging open the bedroom blinds it was obvious it was going to be another cracking day weather-wise. When you’re cooped up and restricted weather like this will always be tempting. The pair of us are missing beaches and the sound of the sea but there’s no way in a million years we’d be foolhardy enough to join the lemmings flocking to the seaside as if everything’s normal.

Instead, we stayed locked-down and local – for everyone’s sake. Besides, it’s not like we don’t have some gorgeous places to walk to from home. OK, the River Calder isn’t renowned for its sandy banks and the area’s industrial heritage has left its marks on the river and its surrounds, but this is hardly the inner city.

So, after a leisurely brunch took a stroll and retraced our steps from the other week when we explored the footpaths and fields around Hollas Lane. Being on the opposite side of the valley to where we live gives us a very different perspective. Surprisingly, we encountered far fewer walkers than we did the other week. The two of us speculated upon why. Were they all sunning themselves in their gardens, or stuck in their cars driving to more far-flung destinations now that lockdown is starting to fall apart (by both accident and design)?

Not that it mattered to us. We found a meadow to plonk ourselves down in and soaked up the sun and the quiet for an hour whilst admiring the vibrant woodland around where we live. The fact where we stopped had this view is (of course) entirely co-incidental!

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Not a bad place to sit and while away an hour, is it?

Strolling on we followed the rest of the route down into Copley village where we were surprised to see the car park of the rugby club absolutely rammed with cars. But only a handful of people were in evidence outdoors. Surely, they weren’t all inside the Rugby club, were they? I’ve no idea of the answer to that but the sight certainly made me feel uncomfortable…

Moving on we crossed under the railway, over the canal and across the main road (then another railway) before cutting back into the woods on ‘our’ side of the valley. They were blissfully empty which did surprise me as they’re normally a popular spot for walkers.

Back at home we once again retreated to the front garden which was bathed in evening sunshine. It’s become our little oasis where we can sit and watch the world go by, chat to the neighbours and say hello to passers-by whilst listening to the glorious birdsong from the copse of trees opposite. Whilst Dawn was busy washing the car I pottered around, weeding or dead-heading before the sun set enough that I could start watering. There’s no water supply so I’m kept busy carrying watering cans through from the kitchen but I don’t mind as it’s good exercise. I don’t think either of us have been as appreciative of this space as we are now, especially as the lack of traffic makes it even more pleasant. We’re going to miss the quiet when things return to ‘normal’ – if they ever do. 

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This feels like it should be a caption competition for an old Ken Dodd joke. “What a beautiful day for”… 

Neither of us were on cooking duty tonight as we decided to eat from the freezer. We had plenty of home cooked meals to choose from and plumped for a Vegetable Pulao I’d cooked, plus some of the Chicken Madras that Dawn had made. As it was late by the time we were eating we chose to be decadent and eat in bed whilst the cat kept us company and we settled down to a good bit of escapist TV. We’ve discovered a series on the BBC’s iPlayer called ‘The Honourable Woman and become rather hooked. It’s a political drama centered around the middle-East and starts Maggie Gyllenhaal as a woman called Nessa Stein who runs a charitable foundation. It appeals to me as parts of that world are familiar to me because of my past – although not the shootings, murders and spies!

And so another day ended…

 

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 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 locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…


Thank you!

 

 

 

Lockdown. Day 61 (Saturday).

24 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Our cat, Jet, Politics

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This morning we woke to the sound of the wind unabated. For the second day running it battered the trees and homes around us. In fact, it seemed to have increased in intensity, so my first job after breakfast was to strategically position bamboo stakes in the front garden to support the Irises and Lupins which were in danger of being beaten into submission. Even the two-stage aluminium ladder I keep chained up at the back of the house had shifted and needed re-securing which was a tribute to the strength of the wind as this is a sheltered space .

None of this could dim our happiness that we’d be getting our cat back today, although an early phone call from the vets was a concern. Whilst Jet had responded well to the opiates overnight the vet was a little concerned about his demeaner and the fact he was drooling so wanted to keep him under observation for a bit longer. Out of deference to their expertise we acquiesced but both of us suspected we knew what the problem was. After two nights, Jet was getting ratty with being stuck at the vets!

As there was nothing we could do but wait we did the best we could to pass the day, filling our time with stocking up on some shopping and pottering around at home. I scanned a few pictures but neither of us could give anything our full attention. It was that sort of a day.

What made it more awkward was the vets were only offering an emergency service so their normal number wasn’t being answered. Essentially, we had to wait for them to ring us. Finally, late afternoon they did. We had a chat about Jet’s progress and demeanour and the vets agreed – it was time he came home!

The surgery is only a 15 minute drive away so I wasn’t long before we picked him up. He was totally placid and disinterested in the world when we did. The vet said he was like a different cat to the one the day before, when he’d been growling at them. But we knew this was because he’d been fed up!

When we got him home the ooor boy was rather comical. He was obviously still off his head on the painkillers he’d been given! He staggered and bumbled his way around the house like a drunk, but the first thing he did was make a bee-line for his litter tray, which seemed like a good sign! The vet had left a catheter in his front left leg (just in case) and it was both comical and sad to watch him trying to shake it off as he walked. Eventually, he settled on his heated mat and we managed to get some food and water into him. Despite rhe poor old boy being off his head he was still as affectionate as he’s always been and we were so glad to have him home. We took turns in keeping an eye on him whilst I worked in the office and Dawn cooked up another chicken Madras. Dee had liked the one I did the other night so much she decided to have a go herself and cook up a big batch to eat now with more for the freezer.

Whilst domestic life was improving now the band’s back together the UK political world continues to fall apart with the revelations that Johnson’s PR polecat – sorry, Special Advisor Dominic Cummings has shown his contempt for the Covid-19 lockdown by taking a few trips to Durham from London. I suspect this story is going to run for sometime as it looks like the journalists who broke it are letting it out but by bit, which is making the Tories flounder as they don’t really know what the full story is. Meanwhile, the Labour party who at long last have a Leader who knows what he’s doing are going to make the most of this shambles to expose what a useless and dishonest bunch we have in control. I think this from Twitter pretty much sums up how many people view the situation right now. 

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After the sacrifices millions have people have made over the past few months to keep themselves, their families and everyone else safe from Covid-19, to see the Government endorse ‘one rule for us, one rule for you’ is sticking in an awful lot of people’s throats – on every side of the political divide. I wonder what the next series of revelations and the Government’s response to them will reveal? 

 

 

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 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 locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…


Thank you!

 

Lockdown. Day 60 (Friday).

24 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Our cat, Jet, Weather

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And then the gales arrived…

This morning we awoke to the sound of high winds whipping though the trees outside and battering the house as they rampaged across the valley. It was impressive, but also rather disturbing as life’s not exactly normal at the moment so the last thing you need is to worry about storm damage!

The irony for me was that I was sitting in the garden the other day, looking at the Lupins, which are about to flower, and thinking “I wonder if I need to stake them yet as they do get battered in high winds”. My subconscious obviously knew more than my conscious mind!

Today was another that didn’t really catch fire as the both of us were still concerned about Jet (our cat) and how he was getting on at the vets. I know that the old adage ‘no news is good news’ is true, but that doesn’t make the lack of news any easier sometime. With so many vets in the area closed down due to Covid-19 the one’s that remain open are obviously having to deal with a vastly increased workload and I can understand the pressure they must be under, but it does make you anxious, not knowing when they’ll get chance to find time to ring us as we don’t want to be bugging them.

So, the morning passed with a meditation and an easy breakfast before we both knuckled down to try and do some work. I’ve only managed to get a handful of old slides scanned this week so I was anxious to try and pick up the pace a little and crack-on with finishing the album I’ve been scanning for a few weeks. I’d hoped to have had it finished by now!

As always when scanning pictures, the time flew. After sitting for a few hours I took a break by getting out for a stroll along our tree-lined road, which was a bit like taking your hands due to the gusting winds. There was debris everywhere as the trees had taken a real battering. There were so many leaves on the road it was like autumn, only this was a sea of green.

The wind didn’t drop all day, it just kept coming! I was glad that I had an excuse to stay indoors. I’ll bet it wasn’t much fun if you were on a ship somewhere as from what I saw on social media pretty much the whole country was talking a battering.

Whilst I was busy upstairs Dawn was pottering around keeping herself busy downstairs, although both of us were waiting for the phone to ring and get an update from the vets. Jet was due to have some teeth out but we knew the vets were under pressure due to lockdown and a reduction in vets in the area, so we’d no idea when (or even if) they’d be able to get him seen to. To say it made for a stressful day was an understatement!

It wasn’t until the evening that the vets rang. Jet had come through the opration and the anaesthetic but now only had two teeth left. We were both hugely relieved but the vets would be keeping him in another night to monitor his progress, so we wouldn’t get him home for another night at least.

Whilst we’d waited we did have one fun diversion – the weekly ‘Big 6’ on Zoom pub quiz. Dredging the memory banks for answers to arcane questions is certainly a good way to take your mind off things! Tracey, Holly, Tony, Fran and Aubrey, Olly, Ruth, Kath, Dawn and I pitted our wits against questions asked by Mel in her own inimitable style – and Lancashire dialect!

The rest of the evening was relaxed and hassle-free. After all, it’s not like we’ve got to get dressed up to go out! Instead after eating we did what so many people across the country are doing – retreated to bed and logged on to Netflix. Goodnight!

 

 

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 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 locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…
Thank you!

 

Lockdown. Day 55 (Sunday).

20 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Coronavirus, Flora and Fauna, Lockdown

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*My apologies, this blog was written several days after the event as I’m frantically trying to catch up with recording the lockdown*

It’s said the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We had a few of those today but they went out of the window almost as soon as the day broke! I’d intended to get some work done, scanning old slides, then catch-up on some DIY whilst Dawn had plans to carry on with her redecoration of the front room and the porch. The weather was ideal as it was warn but overcast.

In the end, none of that happened. I don’t know if it’s lockdown fatigue or ennui but the pair of us ended up sleeping late. Even when we got up the day never seemed to get into gear and before we knew it most of it had flown. In an effort to salvage something from the day we finally got our arses into gear and went for a walk around the valley. Despite the easing of lockdown restrictions we’re still not venturing far. Partially because we don’t want to get caught up in crowds and partially because – what’s the need when we live in such a scenic part of the country? We have some lovely views right on our own doorstep!

Our walk took us down to the valley floor and across the river Calder at Copley, below the Lloyds data centre where a new housing estate and road bridge has been built in the past 5 years. It’s not a place I’d want to live as it’s hemmed in by the river on one side and the canal on the other, with the risk of flooding that brings, but many people don’t seem bothered and the properties have all sold. Once across the river we passed under the railway lines and headed out into open country along Hollas Lane. Purely by accident we’d timed our trip perfectly with the weather as the clouds that had blocked the sun for most of the day finally broke, giving us a gorgeous spell of clear blue sky. Leaving Hollas Lane we followed footpaths across the fields which took us along a sunken, stone lined trail which is a perfect green tunnel.

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Breaking out into the sunlight on the other side we’d great views back across the valley to ‘our side’ and the height we’d gained gave us a commanding view of the Copley railway viaduct. It was so nice to be out that we stopped in field for 20 minutes just to admire the views and allow me to get a couple of pictures like this.

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A pair of Northern Class 195s cross the Copley viaduct with a Leeds – Manchester service. As you can see from the tree canopy, Spring has well and truly arrived in the Calder Valley!

It was such a peaceful spot I almost wished we’d have brought a picnic with us rather than just the Nakd bars which we munched on as we enjoyed the sunshine and the silence. The roads are still quiet around here, which allows for blissful moments like this.

Moving on uphill we crossed another couple of fields to reach North Dean Road, which is more of a track than a proper road as vehicle access is extremely limited. We followed it down through the woods to reach the new pedestrian bridge across the Calder to Copley, which replaces a older stone bridge that was washed away in the floods on Boxing Day 2015. On the way we passed masses of pungent wild Garlic which was in flower, carpeting the woods. Luckily I’d brought the camera with just one lens – a 105mm Micro, which is ideal for pictures like this.

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Once across the Calder we headed home through Copley village and re-crossed the canal and railway to head up towards Skircoat Green. On the way I couldn’t resist stopping to grab a shot of this Ceanothus bush which was a mass of blue flowers and industrious bees.

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There may not be very many opportunities to add to my archive of railway images, but I have to admit I’m enjoying the opportunity to shoot other stuff instead as I don’t normally have the time except when I’m travelling abroad.

We headed home through our local woodland (Scarr Woods) some of which you can see behind the train in the earlier picture. Despite their proximity to Halifax and the fact there’s so many properties scattered around their edges we hardly saw a soul. One or two couples like us and the odd family, but there was no danger of proximity or difficulties with social distancing.

Back at home we sat in the garden and soaked up the last of the evening sun whilst I enjoyed a beer and Dawn a glass of Tesco’s non-alcoholic fizz. It was the perfect end to our stroll and what had felt like a wasted day.

I did redeem myself later in the evening by spending an hour editing a few slide scans and setting up a batch for Monday but the both of us thought that the occasional day at less than full tilt was allowed, so we crawked into bed and had an early night, grateful for the fact that – if we want to – we can!

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, but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…

Thank you!

Rain stopped play…

28 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Food and drink, Musings, Railways, Travel

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Well, not just the rain, but it has been another wet and frustrating day. My cunning plan was to head over to the Wigan – Southport railway to get some shots of the new bi-mode Class 769 trains that are on test there to fill a gap in the library and also for a client.

I dutifully headed off in that direction this morning. The weather here in Yorkshire was less than ideal but I don’t have much time to spare at the moment as the diary for March is looking rather full.

The trip across the Pennines from Sowerby Bridge was uneventful. I was on a direct service from Leeds to Wigan Wallgate which was worked by one of Northern’s cascaded Class 158s. Once the staple of more express services, they’ve been displaced onto secondary duties that would once have been worked by Pacers. It was comfortable and not particularly busy until it called at Rochdale so I used my time wisely and got some work done. The lack of wifi and power sockets wasn’t an issue now I have my new ‘super duper’ Dell laptop so I managed to plough through and edit quite a backlog of pictures whilst keeping a wary eye on the weather which was worsening the further West I got.

Sod’s law being what it is, by the time I got to Wigan and checked the Class 769 workings on Real Time Trains it was obvious today’s runs had been cancelled. It’s always the luck of the draw with these things and the fact it was raining cats and dogs in Wigan (or ‘Wiggin’ as the local pronounce it) meant I wasn’t too disappointed. Instead, I admitted defeat to head back East and attempted to salvage the day by getting a couple of shots around Manchester Victoria, like this one which rather shows how much the railways around the city have changed in the past few years.

A pair of Hitachi Class 802s operated by Trans Pennine Express pass at Manchester Victoria. On the left 802215 works 9S12, the 1224 Liverpool Lime Street to Edinburgh. Yes, Manchester now has direct services to the Scottish capital – and from Victoria too! On the right 802209 was working the unfortunate 1P22, the 1047 Newcastle to Manchester Airport which was terminated at Victoria due to signal failure. It’s great to see the way Victoria has regained the intercity services that it lost decades ago – and with brand new state of the art trains providing them too!

Heading on East I managed to get home without getting drenched thanks to my trusty Siemens supplied umbrella and a new pair of walking boots that kept my feet above the many puddles I encountered on the way. This evening has been spent on different activities. Both Dawn and I love to cook and tonight the muse was upon me. Whilst Dee slaved away working from home I tried an Indian recipe I’ve never cooked before, Chettinad Chicken curry. It’s fiery due to the Kashmiri chilli powder and ground black peppercorns and aromatic due to the cumin, cinnamon and coriander seeds. Served with rice and a few pickles and chutneys it certainly brought some colour into an otherwise dreary day.

The weekend weather isn’t looking much better. In fact, it appears we’ve yet another storm on the way, so I doubt I’ll be getting out with the camera over the next few days although I might get a few more old slides from 1990 scanned – just to keep the momentum going. As chance would have it, the next ones to be done are from Bristol – a city that I’ll be back in on Monday as I’m at an ACoRP seminar on Monday – Tuesday. Hopefully I’ll have chance to get a couple of up to date shots as a comparison…

Rolling blog: If at first you don’t succeed…

17 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Manchester, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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08:15.

After yesterday’s abortive attempt to get to Manchester I’m having another crack at it this morning. I’m currently getting ready to head down to the station, hoping services are running more smoothly today, despite the gloominess and wetness of the weather. Let’s see what happens…

09:02.

I’ve walked down into soggy Sowerby Bridge to catch the train. The weather’s less than inviting and the “sunny periods” mentioned on the forecast have failed to put in an appearence, but at least the rain’s stopped for now. As I crossed the Calder I noticed the river levels shrunk. It’s still looking angry, but not livid!

My first train of the day is the 09:06 to Wigan Wallgate. My least favourite type of train’s turned up on it. The Class 150. This one’s an ex-GWR set that’s been refurbished to make it reasonably presentable, although it still has 3+2 seating.

09:30.

We’ve just crossed the Pennines into Lancashire where the weather’s just as grim as it is in Yorkshire! As we passed the site of the culvert I featured in yesterday’s blog I saw that it’s still blocked and flooding the track, with little sign the torrent has lessened any.

After calling at Littleborough our train’s rammed which is no bad thing as the extra bodies might generate some heat as it’s freezing on here!

15:00.

Sorry for my absence for the past few hours. I’ve been too busy taking pictures to blog! The weather’s been pretty mixed here in Manchester but at least it stayed dry. Now the day’s moving on we’ve even seen some of the sunshine we were promised. Most of my attention has been focussed on trying to fulfil a brief I’ve been given by RAIL magazine. Sadly, it’s not as easy as it once was due to the ever-changing nature of the railways, but I’ve given it my best shot(s) as it were. Time will tell if the pictures do what they’re imagining.

Whilst I was at Piccadilly I noticed the new East Midland Railway franchise seems to be rather short of serviceable regional trains. Whilst I was there a ‘double Dogbox’ and Class 158 passed through on a Liverpool Lime St – Norwich working, then this turned up – ‘double dogbox’ and a Class 156! This is only for the hardy, 75mph max and no air conditioning…

This was the 07:46 from Nottingham to Liverpool Lime St which was terminated at Manchester as it had no chance of keeping to time. It left Sheffield 44 mins late and was 63 minutes late by the time it got to Piccadilly.

Having got the pictures off to RAIL I’m now having a break in the warm and catching up with blogging before heading out again. I’ve lots of pictures to add to my Zenfolio website later and a bit of travelling to do yet today. Let’s see what happens next…

23:00.

Apologies for the way this blog got lost. It’s now late and I’ve been back at home for several hours, sorting out pictures from the day and also scanning yet another batch of old slides.

After sending pictures off to rail I hung around in Manchester for a couple of hours to capture another series of library shots along the Castlefield rail corridor. Here’s an example of just how congested it is.

On the left a Northern Class 195 is held at signals on the approach to Manchester Oxford Rd. In the background a TPE service is sat at Manchester Piccadilly, waiting for the Northern service to clear the section so that it can follow. Meanwhile, a Freightliner service from Trafford Park heads in the opposite direction.

My time in Manchester was interesting as it made me realise just how much the railways have changed in the past year because of the introduction of new trains. Both Northern and Trans-Pennine Express services have altered tremendously with new trains and new routes. The only Pacers I saw were operating services to New Mills in tandem with Class 150s, a situation that’s a far cry from how it was just a couple of years ago. Once all the new trains have entered service the railways around Manchester and Leeds are going to look very different. Not that the changes stop there. Next up is electrification and expansion of the railway from Huddersfield to York, which (hopefully) will make a big difference to the reliability of trans-pennine services.

Tomorrow I’m going to enjoy a day working from home as I’ve got a lot of pictures to edit, so expect to see some appear in a blog and the rest on my Zenfolio website. After today’s perambulations (my Fitbit tells me I’ve walked just over 14 miles today) I’m looking forward to a more relaxing day. For now, I’m going to bid you goodnight!

Rolling blog: cancel the Ark (for now)…

16 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Flooding, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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11:31.

Like the waters themselves, the concerns about flooding have receded. Despite last night’s atrocious weather the Calder didn’t burst its banks overnight. Today the rain has eased and storm Dennis didn’t produce much menace for us.

That said, South Wales has taken a pounding and Pontypridd has flooded.

Right now I’m on a train from Sowerby Bridge that’s heading to Hebden Bridge (where trains to Blackpool North are terminating due to planned engineering work) we’re running late and right now we’re at a stand just West of the Sowerby tunnel at the 27m 35 chain mark due to lineside flooding! Water has been running down the hillside and the driver’s got out to check to see that the ballast hasn’t been washed away, affecting the stability of the track. Having returned, she seems unsure. This may be a short trip!

11:47.

Our Driver and Conductor are now waiting for advice from Control on what to do next. In the meantime, we sit and wait…

11:54.

To add insult to injury a Class 195 has just passed us at speed in the opposite direction! There’s only 12 of us passengers aboard this 2 car Class 158. Presumably, most people have made the sensible decision to stay at home today. Good for them – not so good for the many businesses along the line that rely on travellers.

12:10.

Our Conductor has just informed us that Network Rail have a MOM (Mobile Operations Manager) on site inspecting the track, so we should know our fate soon…

12:30.

The MOM has requested extra staff as they’re going to dig a drainage ditch to divert the water from the track. In the meantime, we sit and wait. If only this was a Class 195 I was stuck on. I could have had wifi and got on with some work!

12:41.

We’re finally on the move, heading for Mytholmroyd…

13:07.

At last I’m on the way to Manchester! The train I was on was terminating at at Hebden Bridge before heading back to York. Following on behind it was a Manchester bound service. Nowadays, due to the December timetable change and deletion of stops Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd travellers are forced to change at Hebden more often.

15:00.

Well, that was an interesting couple of hours! After passing through Todmorden and seeing the lineside flooding I abandoned my intention of going to Manchester and bailed out of the train at Walsden – just in time to get caught in a hailstorm! For the best part of a couple of minutes it hammered down. For once, the line hadn’t flooded at this point. I managed to grab a couple of shots of Eastbound workings but everything heading West was cancelled so I decided to get some exercise and walk back to Todmorden to check out a couple of locations. The amount of homes along the road that had flood barriers across their front doors told the tale. The valley around Gauxholme is steep and narrow, which provides ample opportunities for flooding, especially as the river’s been hemmed in and constrained by centuries of human activity. I headed for a footbridge over the railway just West of the railway station where I’d spotted lineside flooding. It was quite a sight when I got there as you can see from this picture.

The culvert you can see here passes under the railway and empties out into the Rochdale canal which is 100m out of shot to the left. It’s not neglected. The steep approach off the hill to the left was relined just a couple of years ago and the parapet and railings were put in at the same time. But it’s been blocked by debris washing down off the hill and through the woods so water has spilled onto the tracks, washing away the ballast and breaching the formation to the right of the alignment just inside the fence. It’s also running along the left hand track, trying to find a way across.

Here’s a close-up of the culvert. I have to say, I’m not sure that was the best place to locate some equipment cabinets! The water from the blocked culvert is flooding past them.

Here’s a closer view of the damage the flood water has done to the trackbed. It’s actually washed away part of it and deposited a large amount of ballast and other material on the other side of the fence, where I’m standing. Nearby, homeowners have built makeshift dams to divert the water away from their homes and into the canal.
Water from the blocked culvert seeping through the trackbed. The potential for damage here is obvious as the weight of water can easily cause the formation to shift.

Our Victorian railways simply weren’t designed to withstand this weight of floodwater and rebuilding them to do so would be a horrendously expensive task. I hate to think how much it would cost (and the level of disruption it would cause) just to widen this one culvert.

Menaced by Dennis…

15 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Flooding, Musings, Railways, Travel

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Today’s been a weird day for several different reasons. It started badly when I logged on to Twitter this morning and found a message from a mutal FBPE (Follow Back Pro Europe) follower where they announced their intention to commit suicide on Valentine’s day. Alarm bells ringing I did a bit of checking and found that it’s almost certain that they went through with it. I’m still trying to process the awful news, especially in light of the information that they left behind. I’m not going to blog about it now as I need time to think about it – because I think their utterly tragic story is worth telling, but I don’t want to cause more harm than good by relating it. My only hope is that this poor tortured soul is finally at peace.

Meanwhile, we seem to have found ourselves menaced by the latest storm. This one, named ‘Dennis’ – arrives just a week after the floods in the Calder Valley that affected Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge. We seem to be back here again in a chain of events that used to be described as ‘once in a lifetime’.

The latest warning is that the River Calder will reach its height at 4am Sunday morning. People have been advised to get their flood defenses ready today, and hope…

The weather’s been pretty crap all day with a combination of high winds and torrential rain that’s running straight off already sodden ground. The pair of us had planned to get out for an hour despite the conditions but in the end circumstances and the climate beat us. I finally ventured as far as the local supermarket a couple of hours ago and got battered by the winds and near horizontal rain. At least on the way back the shopping provided a bit of ballast! Mind you, I also popped in to our ‘local’ for a swift pint and a change of scenery, which also helped. Now I’m back at home, determined to salvage something positive from a pretty negative day.

I’m currently keeping myself occupied by scanning an album of old rail pictures from the summer of 1990. Looking back through them it seems like a different age in so many ways. Not just because how much has changed on the railways, but also because of what I was doing that that stage in my life. In those days I was young, free and single – and in the process of saving up to travel the world. Just over a year later I would pack in my job, pay the rent on my shared flat in London for 12 months and book a single ticket to India. The railways, the UK and my life would look very different when I got back…

Here’s a couple of samples of the pictures I’ve been scanning today, just to show you how much things have changed in 30 years.

Where do I start on this picture? This was taken on the 20th July 1990, from the rear of a train heading South from Stirling in Scotland. You wouldn’t recognise this scene now. For a start, the days of being able to stick your head out of a train window to take a picture like this are gone. So are the old semaphore signals. The goods yard to the right of the picture’s been a car part for years and the view of the station is now dominated by a massive footbridge which crosses the picture from left to right. Oh, and the place has now disappeared under electrified wires as the Scottish Government has rolled out railway electrification North as far as Dunblane.

Here’s another Scottish shot that you wouldn’t recognise now…

On the same day in 1990 a ‘push-pull’ fitted Class 47 backs on to its train at Glasgow Queen Street before working a service to the North of Scotland. Nowadays the skyline beyond is dominated by a massive shopping centre, the Buchanan galleries, and the car-park which was built across the top of the railway to close in a lot of the approaches to the station. This engine (47706) soldiered on for several more years. In November 1990 it was transferred South of the border to Crewe where it became a parcels train locomotive. It lasted in that role until May 1995 when it was stored. A few months later, in August, it was cut up for scrap at Crewe works.

Whilst I’ve been scribbling this the rain has stopped and the wind’s abated. A sign of a positive change – or literally just a lull in the storm? Tomorrow could be interesting…

After the floods…

10 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Sowerby Bridge, Weather

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Despite some awful weather last night where the wind howled and the rain beat down, the waters of the River Calder subsided and the flooding abated. We’re not out of the woods yet as the forecast isn’t exactly brilliant, but Ciara, the storm that’s caused so much damage has blown over. Now there’s time for the poor sods who’ve been flooded to start picking up the pieces. Again.

I’d originally thought I might head over to Mytholmroyd to document the damage but I’ve been too busy to tear myself away from the computer long enough. I had a big batch of pictures to get finalised for one client, then deal with enquiries and picture requests from another, so I’ve spent most of the day huddled in the office cross-referencing picture databases. It’s not the most glamourous side of the job, but it has to be done.

Finally, after getting the pictures away to the client I went out for a stroll to stretch my legs and also clear my head. The wind may not have dropped, but the temperature certainly has. An arctic blast followed me most of the way, especially up on the promenade above our local woods. I’d have liked to have stayed out longer but as I gazed out across the valley I could see the next storm approaching, blocking out the view of the Calder Valley towards Mytholmroyd as it made its way Eastwards.

Uh, oh – it’s coming my way…

Thinking it was a snowstorm I decided to get home before it caught me. I almost made it before the hailstorm (for that’s what it was) nailed me a few hundred metres from home! Drying out at home I thought I’d venture out again once it had passed, but the bugger keeps coming back. Every time I poke my head outside I find fresh hailstones on the door mat!The weather across the North-West and Yorkshire’s looking pretty mixed tomorrow so I may end up having another day in the office. If the Government does finally pull it’s finger out and the speculation is correct, tomorrow will see some big announcements on investment in infrastructure, which *should* include the new HS2 rai line. That said, we’ve been here before, but I’ll be glad to have the time to sit, analyse and blog about the contents of any announcements and see how the predictions I made when the Oakervee review was announced last August have stood the test of time. You can read that blog here.

I suspect we’ll see a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from those opposed to HS2. Most of it will be pure social media froth from the reprogrammed pro-Brexit trolls, plus the dwindling bunch of real people who live on the route but who’ve spent the past 10 years pretending to themselves that they were some sort of coherent campaign that actually had any political clout. I think for some of them the decision will take some time to sink in as they’ve listened to little else than the voices in their own little echo-chamber for so long. I’ll be interested to see what the announcement does to the tiny protest groups that are on several sites on the route. Will the announcement make more of them realise the futility of what they’re doing? After all, it’s all very well thinking that the decision whether to go ahead with HS2 hasn’t been made so you might actually achieve something. But when it becomes obvious that’s not the case…

Either way, we’ll be moving on to a very different chapter as construction of HS2 ramps up. No doubt there’ll still be some hiccups. On a project this size it would be a miracle if there wasn’t. I’ll look forward to what’s said with interest.

Once the nights get a bit longer I expect to be busy documenting the construction of Phase 1 and some other UK rail projects too…