Hmm, it’s been a wet start to the week here in the Calder valley and hardly a brilliant start to July – especially after hot weather we had in June. I see that the Met Office have declared June the warmest on record, which is hardly surprising. I was watching the daily forecasts (not from the Met Office) which showed average temperatures being broken day after day. Of course, this news has brought out the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging climate change deniers out in force on social media. Their best conspiracy theory has been that it’s only the hottest because the Met Office have fiddled previous years figures to make it look that way. Proof (if ever it were needed) that they’re not the sharpest tools in the box – and neither are the people who fall for them.
Still, after the heavy and persistent rain we had this morning I was rather pleased to see the sun this afternoon – even if the high-winds that have battered us for several days took the edge off the temperatures. Both Dee and I have been busy working from home today but we did manage to get out for a rare joint walk, which was lovely. The local woods are bursting with life at the moment. So much so that some of the footpaths are becoming obstacle courses due to all the brambles and nettles. I’ll not complain too much as I may be able to pick a good crop of Blackberries again and Dee’s threatening to have a go at harvesting Bilberries – something that are alien to me. Still, with Dawn being such a fantastic cook – if she wants to rustle up a few Bilberry pies I’m not going to complain. Maybe we can do a trade with my sister Anne for some of her home-grown and made Gooseberry pies…
The weather’s looking pretty crap for the rest of the week but I’ve things to do tomorrow so I’ll be out and about in some form whatever happens. With luck I may be able to get a blog from the day. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day, which reflects how the weather and the seasons can change the landscape around here. This is the very first picture I took from our bedroom window when I moved here from London in January 2010.
Looking across to Norland from our home on the 3rd January 2010. We have had snow in June here in the Pennines – but not like this! Ironically, with global warming making weather patterns more unpredictable, we may have more scenes like this – but not in July – unless we’ve completely screwed the planet!
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It’s another working week back here at Bigland Towers. The holiday and the weekend flew by all too quickly. Now my focus is centred on work, although parts of the holiday were very much the proverbial busman’s. Sunday was in similar vein as I waded through pictures I needed to get out to clients or just place on my website. It wasn’t too much of a problem as the pair of us had no great plans for the day. The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms so there was little point in planning a great outdoors adventure. In the end the predictions were false. Oh, we had some moody skies- but no pyrotechnics – much to our joint disappointment. What we did gate late in the day was some very heavy showers, which saved me the job of watering the gardens so I’m not going to complain! In the evening the pair of us sat down to watch the finale of the Glastonbury festival with the appearance of Elton John, who was excellent. It certainly took me back a bit. I’ve not been to Glastonbury since 2000 and the last time I saw Elton John live was in 1975!
Today’s been another day where I’ve spent much of my time glued to a computer screen. I needed to finish penning my net article for RAIL which is about the ‘3 peaks by rail’ marathon from the other week. You’ll be able to read all about it in RAIL 987 which will hit the newsagents on the 12th July. Tomorrow my work moves online as I’ll be taking part in an online seminar for Community Rail Network as part of my role as one of the CRN awards judges. Hopefully, on Wednesday (weather permitting) I’ll be out and about looking at the latest work on the trans-pennine route upgrade (TRU) before I’m back to online work on Thursday.
In the meantime, expect more blogs to appear as I’m free to write about other stuff just as ‘me’. O, and there’s plenty of pictures to look at too. You’ll find recent railway images from the Anglia network here, travel images here and social issues photography here. There’s more to come when I’ve finished editing other categories later in the week.
I’ll end with the picture of the day which comes from last weeks outings. I found these old wooden-bodied railway coaches just down the road from where we were staying. These were once a common sight around the country from the early part of the last century as railway companies sold off old vehicles to be used for a variety of uses, from chicken coops to holiday homes. Few remain, which is why I was surprised to find these two still in use as part of someone’s home.
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And relax! I’ve has a busy morning working ‘cross-border’ for the new Community Rail Partnership (CRP) in the Calder valley – which meant two separate gigs – one at Rochdale and another at Halifax. The idea was to launch the new CRP and the excellent route guide that it’s published which details the attractions and amenities along the line.
The first gig took place at the restored Rochdale station subway where a disused area has been converted into a community garden with some solid (very solid!) wooden planters and seats. It’s a great space that could be used for all sorts of events in the future. There’s also some fabulous artwork from a local artist that hides some of the more bare areas opposite. I’ll post more pictures later but here’s a few phone pics for now.
The event was well attended and a great success. The line guide was given out to passers-by along with some tasty cupcakes.
After a couple of hours we moved on by train across the Pennines to Halifax. We didn’t have a garden but we did have a rock band! Students from Calderdale college came along to belt out some number outside the station building whilst yet more cupcakes and route guides were distributed.
Job over earlier than expected (hence the title of this blog) I’m now on my way south again, this time heading for Surrey for a weekend with Dawn (who drove down yesterday) to house-sit with her, niece and nephew whilst her brother’s away. The weather in the Pennines was warm but the degrees move up for every few dozen miles I move South. We’ve just left Peterborough and I can feel the heat of the sun through the window.
18:35.
I’ve covered some ground! I’m now on my way from Woking to Farnham after crossing London care of Thameslink and with photographic stops at London Bridge and Waterloo East (pics later). The weather here in the South is certainly a lot warmer than ‘oop North’ and I feel distinctly over-dressed wearing brogues and Chinos – even though I’ve ditched the shirt for a singlet. I’m looking forward to sunning myself in the garden for an hour or so – or perhaps a quick pint outside the local pub…
One random observation from today is this is the second train I’ve been on today where the guard has been both female and foreign! The young lady on my Northern service to Leeds was of American origin whilst (judging by her voice over the PA) the conductor on this South-Western Railway train is French. It’s lovely to see/hear the railways becoming more diverse.
21:45.
And finally…
I’m now ensconced in Tilford and semi-relaxing as I begin the process of editing todays pictures si I’m going to bring this blog to an end with a trio of images from the capital.
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/
Yet another day when (thanks to the glorious sunshine) it’s been anything but grim up North! T’was even cracking the flags in Manchester!
My day started pottering around at Bigland Towers before catching the train from Sowerby Bridge to nearby Mytholmroyd station to join in the Community Rail week fun with our old friends Geoff and Sue Mitchell, some of the other members of the station group plus visitors from the Calder valley Community Rail Partnership, Transport for Greater Manchester, Network Rail and others who came along to enjoy a guided walk from Mytholmroyd to nearby Hebden Bridge.
The event was meant to kick off with tours of the restored station building, but that nearly didn’t happen due to one of those black comedy moments that we can laugh about now, but at the time could have been far less funny. Since the building’s been restored it’s always been assumed there was no water supply. Today that turned out to be untrue, as when some protective coverings were being moved a pipe was exposed which then blew its plastic coupling to release a high pressure jet of water across the ground floor. Poor Geoff and Sue and another of their colleagues got absolutely drenched trying to reattach the pipe to stem the deluge, but if you’ve ever tried such a maneuver you’ll know it’s next to impossible. In the end, all we could do was open a drain in the floor, dam and divert the flow into it and wait for the water company to come and access the stopcock buried in the pavement outside. Thank God it was a bright sunny day and not January!
The irony? The door in the picture is equipped with flood protection – but only from the river outside…
Still, it provided some amusement for the visitors, who were still able to have a look around the upstairs of the old building. Tours over, everyone assembled for short welcome speech from Geoff before Sue (who’d dried out somewhat) led the walkers off on their exploration of the valley. Poor Geoff was left behind to dry off in the sun and wait for the water company!
“Can anyone hear running water”? The gang gathered outside the station building in Mytholmroyd before setting off for Hebden Bridge.
Having done all I could to help, and taken pictures of the event I headed off into Manchester for the rest of the afternoon to do some shopping and grab a few pictures. In many ways I’m still a city boy at heart, so it was lovely to be able to spend an afternoon exploring and people-watching, as well as stocking up on bits I needed that are hard to get elsewhere. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the weather, the city was very busy with many people taking advantages of the centre’s open spaces to relax or work outside.
Manchester’s old Midland Hotel basks in the sunshine.
Now I’m back at home ready for a day with a very different focus tomorrow. It’s someone’s birthday…
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/
Another short blog from me as today’s not been the most exciting of times unless you count dodging heavy rainstorms, potting cuttings for the garden and slaving over a hot keyboard in order to get a load of pictures edited! To be fair, the rainstorms were fun – as long as you weren’t caught out in the open by one. The forecast had threatened us with thunder but that never materialised which was a shame as I love a good thinderstorm. What was very much in evidence was the thunderous looking skies. Dark clouds forming a band low in the skies that contrasted magnificently with their lighter, wispier counterparts which were occasionally illuminated by the sun. All of this was played out whilst I had a grandstand view from the bedroom window. I do love the skies up here in the Pennines, they’re constantly changing to provide a stunning backdrop. Well, on the days they’re not doing their best to hide the valley – obviously!
Having successfully edited another tranche of pictures ready for captioning and with the weather having changed from showers to sunshine I made a break for freedom and a long walk through our local woods – Scarr and Long wood. Both are looking stunning at the moment as they’re covered in Bluebells. Long wood has the added attraction of wild Garlic flowering which adds another contrasting colour to that of the bluebells. The round trip is a lovely walk and good exercise as the woods cling to the side of the valley so are anything but flat.
Now it’s time to knock-off for the night and catch up with the ‘other half’ who’s still on holiday and been out for a long lunch with friends. So, I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from today’s perambulations.
Bluebells and wild Garlic in Long woodA mass of Bluebells adjacent to Scarr wood.
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The sun doth shine so I’ve escaped the office and the Calder Valley to have one of my regular looks at progress on the Trans-Pennine route upgrade. Right now I’m on a Northern service heading into Manchester from Sowerby Bridge in order to access the route from the West and begin my examinations there before heading through the Colne valley back into West Yorkshire.
I’m not the only one making the most of the weather. This off peak 2-car Class 158 is busy with day-trippers doing the same.
I’ll be updating this blog throughout the day so feel free to keep popping back to see what I get up to…
158860 arrives at Sowerby Bridge en-route to Wigan Wallgate.
12:20.
Due to disruption and late running with services via Victoria I’m taking the ‘scenic route’ via Salford Crescent where I picked up a very busy Northern Class 331 electric to get me to Manchester Piccadilly where I’ll connect with a Newcastle bound TPE service to Stalybridge. Here it is, worked by 802213.
12:45.
I’m now on the late-running 12:33 which still has plenty of free seats at this point in its journey. It won’t be like this once it gets to Huddersfield.
I don’t envy the passengers joining the nearby Transport for Wales service to Cardiff Central. They’ve got this 75mph ‘delight’ in store today…
13:30.
On the move again! The trip to Stalybridge via Guide Bridge was interesting as it allowed me to glimpse the work done on the curve between the two. The chord’s now full of TTLs (two-track cantilevers) waiting to be fitted out and the wires added. The irony? This section of track was originally electrified as part of the 1500v DC Woodhead line scheme from the 1950s and some of the original lighweight masts survive – although not for much longer.
Things hadn’t changed majorly at Stalybridge despite bank holiday works. No new TTLs or portals had appeared but the structures that did were being fitted out with downpipes and registration arms.
I didn’t hang around. Now I’m on a local TPE service to Huddersfield. Thus section of the route shows no descernable progress other than vegetation clearance and a few concrete hardstandings installed for future worksites or lineside cabinet locations. Don’t even ask about the new line from Liverpool to Marsden which exists only in the imagination..
13:50.
My stop at Huddersfield was brief in the extreme. 5 mins to change trains and grab a quick picture. Huddersfield stations about to undergo major changes as part of the TRU, so savour views like this whilst you can.
The grade 1 listed Huddersfield station will be seeing a major rebuild with the two small bay platforms behind the camera abolished and two new through platforms provided instead.
14:50.
At my next stop (Dewsbury) train times went pear-shaped again as my connecting service is 20m plus late. Oh, well. Time for a swift half in the station’s West Riding refreshment rooms. Choices, choices…
16:45.
I’m now heading home from Batley after an interesting interlude looking at the TPU work and also reminiscing about the town which is hardly a place I can say I know well but it seems to keep cropping up in my memories and mentions.
The work to install the footbridge and abolish the foot crossing is well advanced. Most of the earthworks are complete and sections of the footbridge have arrived on site. On a Facebook forum one of the signallers working the box has said it will close on June 23rd. Here’s a look at work today.
The location of the footbridge is made clear by the abutment wall next to the rails.The wider view from Lady Anne crossing looking towards Batley. The two people in PPE in the left foreground are standing on what will be a tarmac’d ramp from the footbridge down to the site of the level crossing out of shot to the left. Sections of the footbridge have already arrived on site. They can be seen in this picture sat on the back of a pair of HGV trailers. A TPU compound has been established adjacent to Batley station on the site of the old GNR platforms and yard. It extends beyond the industrial unit to the left. You can see one of the new tilting, ladderless signals that are being installed in the cess to the right of the picture.
21:55.
I’m now back at home and winding up today’s blog after an interesting day out. Walking back into Batley I noticed that that the pub next to the station had reopened. Located in the basement of one of the lovely old Victorian buildings that line the exit to the station, the Cellar Bar closed suddenly in December 2022 after six and a half years but reopened under new management at the end of January this year. It’s well worth a visit as it has a selection of hand-pump real ales as well as the usual lagers, wines and spirits.
Having had a swift half I made my direct train back to Sowerby Bridge with minutes to spare. After picking up some shopping en-route I’ve had a leisurely evening being a good husband and cooking for us both whilst Dawn’s been out to visit her hairdresser! Tonight’s meal was made up from these ingredients. To use the catchphrase of a discredited Australian artist – ‘can you tell what it is yet’?
I won’t keep you in suspense. These are the ingredients of a hearty chorizo and Cannelloni bean stew.
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/
There’s only a short blog from me today for two reasons. One is that’s it’s not been the most eventful of days and the other is that with everything that’s going on in the country politically and economically I’m in danger of letting my spleen vent – and if that happened I’d be here for several hours! So, I’ll sum it up in three words and then move on.
What. A. Shitshow.
My only hope is that the local elections this week might provide some insight into the direction the country may be taking. Hopefully it will be a positive one, but I see an awful lot of ingrained deference and forelock tugging around which makes me wonder if a significant percentage of the electorate rather enjoy misery and being kept in their place. Either way, I’ll be in Turkey from Friday so somewhat removed from politics, pomp and circumstance.
On a brighter note, the in-laws popped round for coffee this morning which gave me chance to show-off the work I’d been doing outside as Norah is also a keen gardener and appreciated my efforts. Dawn had to shoot out to a work appointment so it was my turn to rustle up the brandy coffees! The three of us had a pleasant time joking and chatting before it was time for them to head back to the Colne valley and me to get back to work. One task that kept me busy was adding more old railway slides for sale via my eBay account which you can find here.
My only other achievement today was getting over 16,000 steps (7.5mls) in whilst not getting rained on! This led to today’s picture which was taken in our local woods. They’re looking stunning right now as the Bluebells are taking over.
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/
As weekends go, this one’s not got off to a bad start – mainly because we were under no pressure to do anything or get anywhere (that comes next week). Instead, Dawn managed to get her full compliment of Z’s whilst I wasn’t far behind. My Fitbit is telling me how virtuous I am, which is nice…
Once we’d imbibed sufficient quantities of caffeine to kickstart the day we both got motoring. Whilst the weather forecast hadn’t been promising I could see the opposite side of the valley (always a good sign) I I decided to blitz the back terraces to the house. Working over multi-levels and up and down steps certainly keeps one fit. as does deciding to improve the quality of the soil in the flower bed opposite the kitchen window by digging it out and sieving all the stones – by hand. The flowers will thank me. My back didn’t! As if this wasn’t masochism enough I also broke up more of an old stone sink I stripped out of the former outside toilet. Yep, this cottage is old enough to have one of those! I’ve gradually been getting rid by turning the thing into gravel but now spring is here I want to get shut of all of it. Luckily, there’s an unadopted road near us that’s so potholed it looks like a Ukrainian battlefield, so I’m killing two birds with one stone (or should that be sink) and helping fill in their craters. Whilst I squatted on the cobbles at the back of the house breaking rocks my mind drifted back to my travels. The process reminded me of my old visits to India, observing road repairs, which was quite a shocking experience the first time I saw it. You’d find whole families working on road contracts, living in shanties on the side on the side of the road they were improving. Dad and Grandfather would be turning boulders into rocks. Mum and Grandmother would be turning rocks into smaller rocks and the kids would be turning said rocks into gravel – all for a few Rupees a day in the blazing heat. At least I only have one sink to break up – and it wasn’t to earn a living..
Having improved the soils and removed a few kilos of gravel I planted the Mimulus I bought in Ossett yesterday. Apparently, they’re an old Victorian garden favourite – which seems appropriate considering the amount of graft I’ve undertaken just to get the bloody things in! Still, joking aside, I really enjoy gardening. The weather stayed clement and I got a lot done – as did Dawn – just indoors. Hopefully, the weather will play ball again tomorrow so that I can finish ‘nuking’ all the weeds on the top terrace. One of our neighbours struggles to get up to her terrace nowadays so I’m fire-fighting living next to a jungle as stuff spreads like mad.
Now, having done my ‘great escape’ impression and surreptitiously dumped a load of hardcore in few potholes (thankfully I didn’t have to do it down my trouser legs) I’m relaxing at home. Dee’s preparing supper (lamb kebabs with salad), after which it’s time to relax. All that remains is to select the picture of the day. Sans rubble I called in for a ‘swifty’ at our local pub – the ‘Big 6’ so tonight – here’s a drink on me!
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/
We’ve had another mixed day here at Bigland Towers. Considering we’re nearly at the end of April and coasting towards summer the weather feels more like autumn up here in the Pennines. Today we’ve been treated to watery cloud, dull light and temperatures that rarely made it above 10 degrees, although the wind chill made it feel several degrees cooler than that. I’m glad the pair of us were working from home as wandering with the camera wouldn’t have been much fun compared to earlier in the week.
The tow of us have spent most of the day slaving away over hot computers (grateful for the heat source) although we did make it out for an afternoon constitutional through our local woods as part of a perambulatory shopping trip, thus killing two birds with one stone as we saved using the car and got healthier!
On returning home and with me having acclimatised to the cold I decided to spend a couple of hours cleaning up the back garden in the optimistic hope that spring will finally show its face, although (admittedly) many of the seedlings I spent repotting are already convinced that’s the case and are putting on healthy growth spurts. Now I’m praying they’re hardy enough to survive we’ve already had one morning frost this week. Oh, for some sunny days when I can work in the garden in a T-shirt rather then dressing like I’m on a polar expedition! I’m trying to grow more plants from seed and look at reducing what I buy from garden centres and other stores as prices are getting silly. I bought some Sweet Williams 1-2 years ago as part of a deal at B&Q. Then they were 3 trays for £7. This year the same deal cost £10 which is almost a 43% increase. If only I could put my fees up by the same amount! Another plan is to divide up some of the plants I have which are getting too big (Lupins, Hostas, Iris’ etc) and do some bartering to get the new plants I want instead of paying nursery prices. Plus, I’m going to ensure I collect as many seeds as I can from other plants to build up my own seed seed bank. Not only will it save me money, it’ll keep me out of trouble!
Now, back indoors, I’m spending some time updating my eBay account to add a few more old slides for sale. If you’re interested in old rail images from the UK, India and Ireland (starting at as little as £1.99) you’ll be able to find them here after 20:00 this evening.
Now, what to choose for the picture of the day? The camera’s remained in its case these past few days, so here’s something from the archive which brings back memories of sunnier times here in the UK. Here’s looking down on the lovely beach at Slapton Sands in Devon on the 5th August 1994…
You can view – or even buy copies) of my UK travel images such as this one from my Zenfolio website. Here’s a direct link to the UK gallery. With almost 3000 pictures to choose from – taken all around the UK – there’s something for everyone…
Tomorrow we’ll be out and about so I’m hoping for better weather and the chance to add a few more shots to the gallery.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today’s been an odd start to the week. I was full of determination to hit the ground running after a lovely weekend and the day started well as I hit all my targets for exercise, then spent several hours working in the office getting paperwork and pictures organised. I even managed to tear Dawn away from her computer so that the two of us could go for a walk together. Then, all of a sudden my batteries drained, leaving me completely out of energy. It happens to me maybe once or twice a year and I’m assuming it’s down to doing too much whilst running on a nearly empty stomach (although I’d have thought a gut full of porridge would have kept me going). Poor Dee was quite concerned as it’s never happened when we’ve been together before.
As a supermarket shop was part of the plan I had a short sit-down whilst Dee stocked up on various bits which included cereal bars – one of which I soon scoffed in order to give me the boost I needed to get home. It seemed to work although it was a couple of hours before I felt energised enough to get my last couple of thousand steps in to hit my daily target.
Now I’m having a relaxing evening at home. Dawn’s been fabulous and sorted out jacket potatoes with tuna, mayo and a side-salad whilst I’ve been ‘busy’ watching the Public Accounts Committee hearing on the debacle of the HS2 station at Euston which has been ‘paused’ for a couple of years whilst the Govt and DfT work out what to do. I’ll blog at greater length about this when the transcript is published. I took copious notes but there’s nothing like having it verbatim.
My take from the hearing is that this really is just a pause and HS2 will make it to Euston. The railway’s an expensive white elephant without Euston as Old Oak Common simply doesn’t have the capacity to be the London terminus. Mark Thurston made it clear that whilst contractors are being stood down, the contracts haven’t been ended, there’s merely an agreement to pause them. Plus, some work at Euston (to the tune of £200-220m) will continue until the autumn as the TfL substation, skills centre and Euston station facilities block will be completed whilst the station site is made secure. So, in theory, the ‘pause’ could be as little as 18 months – if people can come up with a viable new station design in that time, although the depressing thing seems to be the focus on cost, rather than anything else – like what we need the station to actually do.
Interestingly, what wasn’t mentioned at all was Bernadette Kelly’s claim at the Transport Select Ctte hearing that opening Euston later was the plan all along.
Right, onto the picture of the day and another sign that spring is here – seen in our local woods earlier…
Hopefully my batteries will be recharged by the morrow as I’ve lots I want to do this week…
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 