• About

Paul Bigland

~ Blogging on transport, travel & whatever takes my fancy.

Paul Bigland

Category Archives: Huddersfield

Hooray! – it’s jab day…

11 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by Paul Bigland in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Musings, West Yorkshire

Well, the first one anyway. I was invited to apply via NHS letter so immediately followed the website link to book my appointments. Oddly, I wasn’t offered anywhere in the Halifax area – only Huddersfield or Bradford. Plumping for Huddersfield I had the choice between the John Smith stadium or Boots the chemist in the centre of town. Choosing Boots as I could walk there seemed like a sensible choice to that’s where I booked.

So, this morning Dawn and I drove in as Dee had arranged to do some work at the Community Rail Network office at the station, which left me with a short walk into town. I decided to make the most of it by combining my visit with a wander around the centre to get some exercise before the jab just in case I was laid low afterwards. To be honest, my perambulations were rather depressing. I’d not been into central Huddersfield for several months so I’d forgotten just how many vacant shops there are. Whilst the Council have clearly got plans for the place they’re facing an uphill struggle to attract businesses. The world’s changed with the triumvirate of online-shopping, Brexit and Covid coming together to create a perfect storm for the traditional high-street. I’ve no idea what sort of businesses will want to take on many of these premises with their expensive overheads, but I wish the Council well in trying. I could see another problem on my travels, I don’t know what Huddersfield’s demographic is nowadays, but I lot of the people I saw out and about were what could best be described as ‘economically inactive’ – a trend I’d noticed before Covid reduced numbers on the ground to a shadow of their former selves…

It gave me something to think about as I headed to the large Boots the Chemist in King St which used to be a busy pedestrian street – only now the pedestrians are mostly missing. The vaccination centre had been set up on Boots’ first floor, where one side had been partitioned off. They were very efficient. You queued to give your details to a chap who had the air of Captain Peacock from the 70s sitcom ‘Are you being served’? He had the same ex-military manner, clipped tones plus a lack of a local twang that made him easy to understand. Once you’d answered all the questions correctly and you go the green light he ushered you behind the screens to a socially-distanced waiting area where single seats had been laid out with precision. I was waiting a matter of minutes before I was escorted to one of the two groups of staff who were administering the injections. I had a young Asian couple. Whilst she double-checked I had no medical conditions he prepared he AstraZeneca vaccine and within minutes it was all over. I was given a vaccine leaflet to read and told to sit in the exit area for five minutes (to double check I wasn’t going to keel over) – and that was that. Done.

Wandering back to the CRN office I picked up my back and left Dawn busy working as I’d decided to get the train back to Halifax. I mean, having your Covid jab must count as an essential journey, surely? Plus, it was my chance to take my first train trip of the year! The station was pretty deserted. It’s hard to believe that (pre Covid) 4.7 million people passed through its doors every year. A Manchester-bound Trans-Pennine service arrived just as I did and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people detrained, but even so, this was nothing like the numbers we used to see. But then – what’s there to travel for? Everything’s closed!

I grabbed a few record shots for the library whilst I was there before joining the 11.35 Huddersfield – Bradford Interchange shuttle service which was worked by what’s now one of the oldest diesel trains in the fleet – the BR built Class 150s.

These old girls have always been my least favourite of the old BR diesel fleets, but right now I was happy to see one! 150222 waits to work the 11.35 Huddersfield to Bradford Interchange hourly shuttle service.

In a sign of the times only two of us occupied the front car of the two-car train when departed, weaving its way across the viaducts above the town to head to Halifax. By this time my left arm was starting to throb but as I’d been told that having a reaction to the vaccine is a positive sign your immune system’s working I wasn’t worried. Instead I relaxed and enjoyed the sights and sounds of something that used to be so commonplace, but that now had become special – a trip on a train.

All too soon we arrived in Halifax – at a time that coincided with a hailstorm, but I was fully kitted out in waterproofs as I’d taken no chances before leaving home. Knowing that there was a real possibility I’d feel like death warmed-up later I elected to walk home and get my daily step quota in before I did. I really enjoyed it because after being stuck at home for so long there was a new-found novelty to treading old boards as it were…

I may have pushed myself just a little bit too far, because when I did get home I soon felt like death – only sans warmed-up! I’ve not sallied forth since. Instead I’ve spent the day shivering and aching in front of a computer, but I really don’t mind! These side-effects are positive and short-lived, unlike the severest side-effect of catching Covid!

Tomorrow the sun could shine or the wind may blow – it matters not to me – I’ve lots to do at home, so expect my ‘picture of the day’ feature to return then as I’ve a lot of new scans to choose from. Right now, I’m off to bed….

Is it too early to miss lockdown?

25 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Huddersfield, India, Musings, Photography

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Huddersfield, India, Musings, Photography

I ask as for the past couple of days much of the country has basked in temperatures that have made it the hottest of the year so far but also seem to have an inverse proportion to the levels of stupidity on display. Yes, I know the Government has pretty much killed-off lockdown, but that’s not meant to happen until the 4th July, not the first sunny day since the announcement. This blog may end up as a cathartic rant but I don’t apologise for that. Sometimes you’ve just got to get these things off your chest. And it’s my blog – so I will!

The day started so well, It’s Thursday, so Dawn and I ventured out to Huddersfield on our ‘Red Cross’ mission to go shopping for Dee’s parents. We also picked up stuff for ourselves. Today we had to visit a wholesale fishmongers. As the sun was cracking the flags we didn’t want to leave our purchases in the car to slowly cook so Dawns dad met us with a cool bag to take our purchases straight back to their place whilst we did the rest of the shopping. The staff at Sail were excellent and the whole process was hassle free – until ‘Flash Harry’ turned up in his expensively restored vintage car and ignored every bit of social-distancing etiquette – which started to set the tone for the day. Looking at his age, gammon complexion and physique my first thought was “Well, it’s your funeral”…

Once our fish exchange was done Dee and I headed into town and popped into the CRN offices for the weekly check-up. The weather was too good to keep me inside but the time was too short to do much so I only grabbed one rail picture. Well, at least it’s a contrast to the vintage stuff I’ve been scanning recently!

DG342332crop

195022 and 195020 come out of Huddersfield carriage sidings to head West across the Pennines.

Whilst Dawn did what she needed to do at the office I wandered through the town to see how things had changed since last week. In fact, very little – apart from the weather, which had dragged a few more people out. Not that it had done much for people’s ability to follow simple instructions for the common good…

DG342337copy

It’s OK, I’m wearing a mask, no guidance applies to me…

I won’t bore you with the minutiae of shopping at Sainsbury’s but what was lovely was being able to spend a bit of time with John and Norah in their garden at a respectful distance. The sun was an absolute bonus!

We couldn’t stay long as we both had to get home to catch up on work. I was lucky as a lot of what I needed to do could be done outside so I ended up basking like a lizard whilst researching. Poor Dawn was trapped inside! Whilst I was doing so I made the mistake of catching up on the news and saw the scenes of absolute fcukwittery from the beaches of Bournemouth and beauty spots elsewhere that makes me despair about this country. We’re not even out of lockdown, we’re nowhere near free of Covid-19 but as soon as the sun comes out some people simply don’t care about the consequences to themselves, or others.

Britain is incredibly fortunate. We have probably the richest language on the planet. It’s the language of Shakespeare, Chaucer – and so many others. There are 220,000 words in the Oxford Dictionary, we have the ability to express ourselves in innumerable ways yet so many people can’t even grasp the fundamentals of the language – or if they do, don’t understand they apply to them. Stuff like ‘one way’…’don’t litter’ – the list (seemingly) is endless – and don’t even get me started on those who thought they knew what they were voting for when they voted for Brexit! Try asking some of them four years down the line what it is they think they’ve ‘won’ and watch the brows furrow. It’s the same now with Covid, the relaxation of lockdown – and sunshine.  What bit of all this don’t you understand?  Me and mine will stay safe and we’ll try and ride out the economic consequences that these muppets don’t even think about, much less comprehend. Many (many) years ago, when I was travelling, I hooked up with a Swedish girl. As we spent more time together I noticed that she kept a diary in English. Being curious, I asked her why? Her reply was that she could be so much more descriptive in English due to the breadth of the language compared to her native Swedish. I’ve never forgotten that. Then I see so many people for whom English is their native tongue, yet they struggle to master and make themselves understood in the basics. As for their inability to grasp simple concepts -like ‘one way only’ – I despair.

Ok, rant over, now it’s time for…

Picture of the day

In 2010-11 I took some time off from the UK to travel across Asia. Because of India deciding to kick-off about visas due to recent terrorist incidents it got ‘interesting’ to say the least. When I managed to get back into the country after a sojourn in Thailand and Malaysia I headed over to the Gujarat to explore. On the way back to Baroda from a day trip I ended up in a crowded commuter service. It wasn’t a problem as I wasn’t a stranger to these conditions and I stuck up conversations with those around me. So much so I ended up taking lots of pictures and lent my camera to the chap opposite to take mine. Here it is…

DG77491. Me on crowded train. Gujarat. India. 26.3.11crop

My Gob’s open because I was trying to explain what to do before he pressed the shutter. Ho hum…

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, where was I?….

23 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Food, Huddersfield, India, Musings, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Food, Huddersfield, Musings, Travel

Excuse my absence this past few days but I’ve had little time for blogging now a semblence of normality is returning as lockdown gradually crumbles. This has co-incided with having articles to research and write, as well as advanced preparation for judging this years Community Rail Network (formerly ACoRP) awards – although I can’t go into any details on that (for now at least). Something had to give, so I decided it would have to be blogging, which is a shame as there’s plenty to write about – but now scribbling for money takes priority!

The weather’s really improved too – which allowed us to get out for ‘Fathers Day’ with Dawn’s parents (both mine passed away many years ago) by going for a walk together somewhere I’d not been to before. Blackmoorfoot reservoir is just to the West of  Huddersfield and it’s an easy but pleasant walk in the country with lovely views across the Colne valley. Due to the recent rains the reservoir water levels weren’t as low as I’d expected, but full it ain’t, as you can see from the picture.

resev

Talking of pictures, I picked up some more old albums from storage at Dawn’s folks and they’ve now joined the queue for scanning when time permits. Here’s a sample, which is from an album of railway images taken in 1994-95, when Intercity expresses on the West Coast Main line looked like this…

04161. 86228. Crewe. 21.08.1994crop

Class 86228 named ‘Vulcan Heritage’ stands at Crewe with a Southbound express formed of Mk 2D coaches bound for Euston on the 21st August 1994. This locomotive passed on the Virgin trains when they took over at privatisation in 1997 and it survived in traffic until 2003. In 2013 it was exported to Bulgaria, where it remains in service today. You can find the rest of the pictures from the album (as they’re scanned) in this gallery. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out and about more in the next couple of weeks and start updating my website with more recent images.

This leads me on to….

Picture of the day.

This is taken from another old travel album that’s in the queue for scanning, which contains a varied selection of shots from Europe and Asia. This one mixes three of my main interests. Railways, food and travel!

T9833. Vendor cooking pooris at the railway station. Ahmedabad. Gujarat. India. 21.02.2000crop

On the 21st February 2000 a young man working on a stall at Ahmedabad station in the Gujarat, Western India, fries Poori, the delicious Indian puffy fried bread made from unleavened whole-wheat flour. I love Pooris for breakfast, along with a curry sauce and the sort of coconut chutney you find served in Southern India. I’d been on holiday in the country but had extended my stay to head up to the Gujarat from Goa in search of India’s last mainline steam locomotives, which operated from (no, don’t laugh) Wankaner Junction! Sadly, I arrived just two weeks after the last engine had its fire dropped for good – but that’s another story – and picture…

 

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!

(Not) the lockdown blog…

19 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Musings, Shrewsbury, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Musings, Shrewsbury, Travel

Yesterday was the first day the pair of us ventured away from home since the end of lockdown and the rule change that allowed many shops to reopen. Thursday is our weekly outing to Huddersfield to collect shopping for Dawn’s parents, so I was curious to see how the town centre would have changed since last week. The roads were certainly busier. The amount of traffic seemed not far from pre-lockdown levels.

The weather was appalling, with grey skies and constant rain, which played to our advantage as our first port of call was Sainsbury’s – which was sans queues despite the car park being busy. We managed to get around in pretty quick time despite the fact not as many checkouts were open as normal.

Our next stop was Dawn’s offices at the railway station. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of extra footfall and St George’s Square was still empty, so whilst Dee sorted out paperwork and checked on the building I went for a walk into town. The first difference I noticed was on John William St where trees in pots had been moved into the road and barriers run between them to create wider pavements to allow for social distancing. Pedestrianised Market Place was marked out with a new one way-system with bright yellow markings. Sadly, many people were ignoring them. Despite 3 months of lockdown and massive media coverage of the virus and its dangers, some people still can’t follow simple rules set up for everyone’s safety.

DG342294. Covid direction arrows. Huddersfield. 18.6.2020.crop

How difficult is this to understand?

I sometimes despair at people’s exceptionalism and what it says about the lack of a cohesive society in the UK.

As you can see from the picture, the streets weren’t exactly teeming with people, but they were noticeably busier than they’ve been at any time since lockdown began. I noticed a variety of shops had reopened. There were jewellers, clothes shops, more food outlets like Greggs and even a good old-fashioned hardware store!

DG342300crop

Wandering back through town I saw that the large Kingsgate shopping centre was holding people at the doors to limit the number of people inside at any one time. It was the only place I really noticed a queue, but that could have been down to the weather as normally the banks always have folks waiting.

Another place that had reopened was the old Huddersfield Open Market. A variety of stalls were back in business selling cloth and household goods as well as fruit and veg, pies and pastries. Like many places. a one-way system was in place and the floor was clearly marked out into 2 metre sections.

DG342301crop

On a less serious note, I also came across two new units of measurement for social distancing…

Yorkshire Terriers.

DG342292crop…and Huddersfield station cats!

DG342309. Station cats Covid measurements. Huddersfield. 18.6.2020crop

Full credit to Kirklees council for finding a fun (and local) way of getting the message across to people. At least you’ve tried!

As the weather was so lousy we didn’t hang around any longer than necessary. After leaving the shopping we Dawn’s folks we high-tailed it back to Halifax and home to catch up on some work and stay dry. Nevertheless, it was an interesting day out (for me at least). I’ll be curious to see how many more shops have re-opened by next week.

Right, time to move on to the…

Picture of the day.

This shot was taken in the Loggerheads pub in Shrewsbury, Shropshire on the 4th May 2003 when we’d been away for the weekend with friends, walking on the Long Mynd. You can tell it’s an old picture by a feature on the tables that are long-gone. Ashtrays!

T15483. Local musicians gather to play in the old Loggerheads pub. Shrewsbury. Shropshire. England. 04.05.2003crop

It’s a classic old boozer that hosted music nights, where local people would turn up and play together. Whilst we were there I asked if the musicians would mind if I took a few pictures and they were happy to let me. Notice the old boy with the bushy beard, glasses and flat cap in the left corner? At first I thought he was a chap who’d just got trapped in the corner after the minstrels arrived, but later on, he doffed his cap and started singing (in quite a powerful voice) some old folk songs. It was a lovely evening and very different to my London life at the time. I must admit, I’ve a soft spot for Shrewsbury. It possesses some cracking pubs and it’s home to an enormous variety of old buildings. It’s one of the best preserved of our old cities and the place is well worth a visit as it contains 660 listed buildings. Here’s more details from the towns official website.

 

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-ish. Day 73 (Thursday)

05 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Coronavirus, Down memory lane, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Coronavirus, Down memory lane, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

Our most diverse day of the week began slightly later than planned as neither of us got a great night’s sleep due to the moggie being on the bed –  as is usual nowadays. He’s slowly recovering from his illness but knows how to play his cards right. We don’t have the heart to kick him off the bed now and he knows it!

Getting up later meant that we took our time getting ready for our weekly mercy-mission and caretaking call over to Huddersfield but then we weren’t in any real rush. It’s not like we’ve got tickets to the Theatre or anything…

The trip out of the Calder valley was easy, although the roads do seem to get busier each time. Even so – it’s still anything but normal. I get the distinct impression that if people can stay at home – they will – with the obvious exception of a few Covidiots, of course. As usual, our first port of call was Sainsbury’s where the pair of us split to do different shops. There was hardly any queue and the place seemed pretty quiet. I’m assuming the weather had kept some folks at home. Afterwards we called in at Dawn’s work, the watertower at Huddersfield station. Whilst Dee sorted out some stuff I went for a mooch around town, just to see how things were developing as see if there were any photos to be had. Things seemed little changed since last week. No more shops were open, the queues were still outside the banks and the local street drunks were still doing what drunks do – shouting and arguing with each other.

I did grab a couple of record shots by the station but nothing remarkable. The skies were leaden with heavy clouds that threatened rain but never actually delivered. The one difference I dis note was that now Northern have ditched all their Pacer trains the Huddersfield – Sheffield service was worked by a former top-link 90mph, air-conditioned Class 158. Oh, the luxury!

DG342285crop

Heading up to Dawn’s folks we dropped off their shopping and hung around just long enough for Dee to sort out their Netflix access which they’d not been able to use since my account was hacked some weeks ago. This meant Dawn had to go into the house, whilst I stayed in the car. Funny old world, isn’t it? Some people have aspirations and hack bank accounts or global companies, others Netflix accounts!

Our drive home was across country on roads that still weren’t very busy – which was great. Bak at the ranch the pair of us settled into our usual work routine and just ploughed on with stuff. I was keen to get as many old slides done as possible as earlier in the day I’d been in discussions with RAIL magazine about some articles. I’ve now been commssioned to write two very different pieces which will appearing the next couple of months – which is going to keep me busy as both require the same levels of research as the East London line article published last month. Not that I’m complaining. It keeps me occupied, I learn something – and it pays a few bills.

This means that scanning old slides will be taking a bit of a backseat once the current album from 1999’s done (hopefully by the end of the week). Here’s a sample from the latest batch as I’m about to turn the millennium from 1999 to 2000…

07385. 142037. 14.35.Liverpool Lime St - Wigan North Western. Prescot. 08.12.1999crop

It’s the 8th December 1999 and 142037 is arriving at Prescot on Merseyside whilst working the . 14.35 Liverpool Lime St – Wigan North Western. The low winter sunlight (coupled with Fuji Velvia slide film) adds some warmth to the picture and makes the place look quite attractive – which is no mean feat as the area was notorious for vandal attacks on the railways! Times have changed and this stretch of railway was electrified in 2014-15.

In the evening I indulged in a spot of cooking as therapy as I’d finally managed to buy some Risotto rice today. It’s been as rare as rocking-horse shit during lockdown and we’d used up the last of our supplies the other week, but I managed to grab three boxes today and celebrated by using one to make a seafood risotto which contained a lovely mix of home-grown herbs that included Tarragon. It’s a new recipe on me but I have to say it was delicious!

thumbnail_20200604_212513

 

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 66 (Thursday).

28 Thursday May 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Musings, Railways

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

Right folks, I’ve moved ahead a few days due to the pressure of juggling life and writing a daily blog. Yes, I know we’re all meant to have more time on our hands due to the Covid-19 lockdown but sometimes the reality is anything but, because simple mundane activities take up so much more time! So, today I’m leaping right up to the present to describe the day and give myself time to live in the moment rather than play catch-up. Not that I won’t catch-up, but I’ve got tomorrow to do that as we’re going nowhere!

In contrast, today was a busy day as it’s Thursday – so it’s ‘escape from the valley’ day to head over to Huddersfield and the delights of the Colne rather than the Calder Valley. There couldn’t have been a better day to do it either as today’s been the hottest day of the year so far. The drive into Huddersfield was on roads that are the busiest we’ve seen since lockdown, which is slowly unravelling. That’s partially planned but I get the distinct impression there’s a Dominic Cummings “what’s sauce for the goose” element to it too. People are getting restive after two months and the antics of the Government are providing the perfect excuse.

To Tykes credit there weren’t that many overt signs of it in Huddersfield itself. Our weekly shop at Sainsbury’s (where we pick up a lot of Dawn’s parents shopping) was little changed. The queues weren’t bad and the trolley ballet inside was well choreographed but more shelves were empty, especially the booze section which suggests there’s going to be people making more of the outdoors and the glorious weather – as long as it’s not in crowds…

As usual after shopping we pitched up at the railway station to pop into Dawn’s work. The area was marginally more busy and I noticed a handful more folk on the trains that passed, but the station was obviously gearing up for more people as new signs had appeared to regulate flows in and out in order to respect social distancing.

Whilst Dawn was busy in the office I went for a wander around Huddersfield town centre to get a feel for how things are and also grab a few pictures. The main shopping areas are still pretty much deserted which is hardly surprising as nothing’s open. What was sad to see was how many shops look likely never to reopen. Very few showed signs of stirring even though it’s been announced small businesses will be allowed to reopen soon (ish). The only places that had any life were the banks. Several had large queues outside them. I’ve mentioned this before but in this age of internet banking I’m still amazed by how many people have the need to still visit a bank branch. I’m sure there’s some interesting statistics and research that will explain why. The only other folks who were out in any numbers were the town’s derelicts and drunks although maybe I’m only noticing them more because their normal refuge (Wetherspoons) is closed! One thing that I did observe was that more and more people are wearing facemasks, which is no bad thing. Here’s how quiet Huddersfield appeared today.

DG342264crop

A Trans-Pennine Express service arrives into Huddersfield from Leeds across surprisingly deserted John William St.

thumbnail_20200528_131310

New Street in the centre of Huddersfield looking desolate and deserted. Shops were suffering before Covid broke out. I wonder how many will never reopen?

thumbnail_20200528_131722

Queuing outside the Barclays bank at Market Cross in the centre of Huddersfield.

Once Dawn had finished we drove up to her parents to drop off their shopping and chat over the garden gate. We’re lucky as we get to stand in the gorgeous sunshine. They draw the short straw as they stand in the shadow of the house although I doubt John minds as he saw more than enough sun when he did his National Service in the RAF in Cyprus. Suntan lotion was unheard of then and he’s had to be careful ever since…

We didn’t stay long as we had to get home. The drive across country was glorious in this weather but once again we noticed the volumes of traffic had picked up. Back home the pair of us had a couple of hours to try and get some work done before our next chore. Dawn was busy at her computer whilst I managed to swap my time between working upstairs in my backroom office and also out in the garden. I’m a sun lover still and I wasn’t going to waste such glorious weather, so I continued to edit down slide albums full of travel pictures whilst sitting outside. The album I filleted dated from 2000 and contained a mixture of personal, travel and social issues pictures I’d taken, mostly with the Lonely Planet and Photofusion picture libraries in mind which is where many of them ended up. Now I’ve got them back. Of course, nearly 20 years later there’s a huge amount of duplicates whilst others are now either irrelevant or superseded, so I managed to whittle the album down by half – which will make life a lot easier when it comes to the scanning process.

Time flew and in no time our appointment with the vet loomed. Jet (our cat) was due a check-up, which was just as well as he’s started sneezing and getting a build-up of matter in one eye. We suspected it was to do with him being ‘in the wars’ recently, but we wanted to make sure. The vets was extremely busy with people sitting in their cars whilst the vest too’d and fro’d with their pets. We were there for nearly an hour before we could take the boy back home with no major health worries. I’ve not complaints about the service (anything but), it’s just the fact so much of our time is eaten up by what were ordinary activities before Covid, now they take so long you just wonder where the hell the day goes. I do find it frustrating sometimes as it’s hard to feel you’ve achieved much. It’s one of the reasons blogging’s had to take a bit of a backseat.

By the time we got home via another supermarket call we were already late for Dawn joining in on a Platt family ‘Zoom’ call. I dipped in and out as I had to water a garden that had spent all day baking in the sun. It’s looking lovely right now (even passing joggers compliment me on it) so the last thing I want is for the plants to get stressed. Mind you, it’s also good exercise – and therapeutic!

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to having a day at home and cracking on. Hopefully, with a sense of moving forward at the end of it rather than just shuffling along in queues as a substitute. Watch this space…

 

 

 

 

Lockdown. Day 59 (Thursday).

22 Friday May 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Coronavirus, Food and drink, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Musings, Railways

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Coronavirus, Food and drink, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Musings

Remind me never to complain about our moggie jumping on the bed ever again…

We both missed the boy this morning as he’s still in the vets. As a consequence our plans to get up early didn’t materalise. It wasn’t a ‘duvet day’ by any means but we hit the ground ambling rather than running as we waited for a morning call from the vet to let us know how Jet was. When the call came, it was (mostly) good news. He’d had a comfortable night and the pain relief was working. His potassium levels has risen and he was less dehydrated, but he was struggling to eat because of the pain from one of his back molars, which really needed to come out. The vet didn’t want to risk that until he’d regained some strengh, as there was a real risk we’d lose him under the anesthetic, so we were facing another day without him. Needless to say, this took the shine off the day.

Luckily, we had plenty to keep us occupied as Thursday’s shopping day and our weekly trip out of the valley to visit Huddersfield. We headed out not long before 10 and immdiately noticed the roads were the busiest we’ve seen them since lockdown began, driving into central Hyddersfield from the M62 motorway junction at Ainley Top was like a pre-lockdown day as traffic was that heavy.

Our first port of call was the big Sainsbury’s supermarket which was also much busier than last week so we had to queue for about 10 minutes, not that we minded. The weather was warm and sunny, although their was a persistent breeze that really kept the temperature down low enough that you still needed a fleece.

Once inside the pair of us breezed around with our respective trollies Dawn shopping for her parents and I for the two of us. It social-distancing ballet was harder to choreograph this time due to an increase in people. Family groups had been allowed in which was a real pain in the arse as they spead out and take up so much room. Kids being kids – they’re also unpredictable! Even so, it’s a lot more pleasant than the melee you normally get before a bank holiday.

Shopping done we headed over to the water tower at Huddersfield station that’s the base for Dawn’s organisation –  Community Rail Network (or ACoRP as it was until the recent rebranding). Dee needed to spend some time in the office collecting paperwork and sorting out some bits so I had time to get a few shots around the station area. There’s still few rail passengers about and you could dump a herd of elephants in the deserted car park! The bus stand in the square outside was equally deserted. I watched a Trans-Pennine Express a 5-car Class 802 pull out of the station on its way to Leeds and counted just 4 passengers aboard. This is despite the ramping up of rail services since last week. Here’s a sample of what was around.

DG342226crop

The 0Z68 Crewe Gresty Bridge to York Siemens loco move with 68029, 68028 and 68032 leading pass through sunny Huddersfield.

Having done what was needed the pair of us drove up to Dawn’s folks and dropped off their bags of shopping, staying just long enough for a chat in the sunhine before heading home as we both had work to do (and a vet to hear from). As we crossed over the M62 motorway I was surprised to see just how quiet it was compared to the local roads. There were very few cars or vans, most of the traffic was articulated lorries.

Back at home we stowed away our shopping then phoned the vets, who said Jet had gone for an x-ray, so they’d ring us back later when they knew the results, which left us feeling a bit uneasy. Dawn knuckled down to some work whilst I sat in the garden and caught up wit reading some technical publications I’d picked up from the CRN office earlier. To say the Covid-19 picture’s still confused for the rail and bus industry would be putting it mildly. Then again, is any aspect of the UK’s policy clear? The statistics on testing and deaths can’t be relied on, the ‘roadmap’ for the future exit from lockdown seems to be held upside down and we have an absentee Prime Minister and a Cabinet that makes the Keystone Cops look like the SAS. Meanwhile, scenes of traffic jams at our national parks and beaches show that relying on the “common sense” of the great British public is pinning your faith on an oxymoron. What could possibly go wrong? If only we could go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over…

After ploughing through my ‘light’ reading the sun was sufficiently over the yard arm for me to break open a bottle of beer. We still hadn’t heard from the vets, which was worrying so we rang them again. A very apologetic nurse explained there’d been confusion earlier as they had TWO black cats called Jet in today. It wasn’t our Jet that had gone for an x-ray. Later the vet rang us and we got the full low down. Jet is staying in for another night so that they can stabilise him ready for his tooth extraction which (hopefully) should happen tomorrow. There’s still a risk with the anesthetic as he’s struggling to eat, so doesn’t have his strength up – but what can we do – other than go ahead and hope all will be right in the end? Hopefully, we’ll have him home soon…

Jet

Jet in better days, just where he likes to be – on the bed!

As a distraction technique I decided to do some cooking this evening and rustled up a chicken Madras from one of the ‘Hairy Bikers’ recipes. It’s a quick fix but very tasty. We ate it with chapattis as a change from rice. Dawn even said she preferred it to the recipie she uses. Within a short time I went from this;

thumbnail_20200521_202208

To this…

thumbnail_20200521_204958

I continued the therapy with a Gin and Tonic to wash the curry down with! Hopefully, tomorrow – we’ll have good news about the boy. The place just isn’t the same without him…

 

 

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 52 (Thursday).

16 Saturday May 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

Thursday’s the highlight of our week in some ways as it’s the day we escape the Calder Valley routine and sally forth. Well, as far as the next valley anyway! It’s the day we venture over to Huddersfield to do John and Norah (Dawns parents) shopping. Both of us were curious as to what we might find as this was our first trip since the lifting of some of the lockdown restrictions.

The pair of us were up early in order to get everything done as Dee needed to be home for yet another Zoom meeting (love ’em or loathe ’em) so we were heading over to Huddersfield in what would normally be considered the ‘rush-hour’. Only it wasn’t. Yes, there’s certainly more cars on the road than there have been in recent weeks, but the days of being stuck in a queue of traffic up the by-pass to Ainly Top are unlikely to return for a while. It was the same with the run from the M62 junction into Huddersfield. Busier, but not busy.

In fact, we were really surprised when we arrived at our first port of call, which was Sainsbury’s supermarket. The past few weeks on a Thursday the queue’s been massive. Today it was tiny and the car-park much emptier than usual. It only took a few minutes before we were ushered inside. As usual, we’d split up to do different shops. Dawn to do her parents whilst I did ours. To be honest, apart from coffee and alcohol (my bad) there wasn’t much we needed, although I did pick up some of their veggie specialities in the form of Tempeh and Tofu to be used in a stir-fry.

Shopping done in double-quick time we headed over to the station so that Dawn could pop into work for a while to check on the place and access stuff she can’t at home. The weather was gorgeous so I took the time to grab a couple of rail shots such as this one.

DG342127crop

One of Trans-Pennine Express new Class 802 units (802208) arrives at Huddersfield whilst working 1F58, the 0834 Scarborough to Liverpool Lime Street arrives at platform 4 which is unusual in itself as Westbound TPE service always used to use platform 1 as 4 was used by terminating trains from both East and West.

I didn’t have time to venture far from the station. Even so, I saw a couple of things that caught my eye nearby. The sign of the new normal. One pavement is closed off by roadworks in order to allow appropriate social distancing so that workers can stay safe.

Whilst I was taking this shot I noticed a ‘to do’ the other end of the roadworks so went to investigate – and found this…

With the fact our roads have been so blissfully quiet accidents have been rare, and half this road is closed because of the roadworks in the previous sign, so you do have to wonder…That said, it’s quite possible that some drivers have become lazy and inattentive for the very reason that there’s less traffic out there.

As soon as Dawn had finished we headed over to her parents to drop their shopping off and have a chat. Considering the fact they’re both pretty much confined to barracks because of their age (apart from getting out for a walk) they’re bearing up well. The pair of them are both pragmatic and phlegmatic – and incredibly appreciative of the fact we do their shopping for them. I really feel for the members of their generation who we see in the shops who obviously don’t have anyone to do this stuff on their behalf. OK, one or two whom you see are just sheer bloody-minded and don’t understand the risks, but others are obviously fearful but have no other choice. This is not the ‘blitz’ – this is a far more insidious killer, which makes the government’s advice all the more stupid. How can you be ‘alert’ to some thing you can neither see, smell, touch, hear or taste?

Having done our duty we drove back home in time for Dawn to join in her online meetings whilst I disappeared upstairs to scan yet more old slides. At the moment the process is even more of a pain in the butt than normal as I’ve hot a vein of old Kodak slides that were sent back from their lab in cardboard mounts. They’re a sod to break out and still keep the slides dust-free for remounting so there’s lots of muttering under the breath going on whilst I did it.

I won’t miss this job!

Come late afternoon we did manage to get out for our usual stroll and keep the exercise going, although this won’t be a vintage week for me as I’m already behind all last weeks targets. Trying to juggle work and exercise sometimes means a ball’s dropped. I’ll just have to pick it up and run with it next week…

Winter hills…

15 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Food and drink, Huddersfield, Musings, West Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Food and drink, Huddersfield, Music, Musings, West Yorkshire

We’ve had a chilly weekend in West Yorkshire, very much four seasons in one day sort of weather where there’s bright sunshine one minute, then you’re getting pelted with hailstones before being soaked by heavy rain.

Yesterday afternoon we went to see my Father-in-Law perform with the Honley Male voice choir at Huddersfield Town hall. They were supported by the excellent Carlton Frickley Colliery Band and also a local female choir from nearby Rastrick. It was a lovely, joyous event in a stunning setting. Here’s a shot from the end of the event when everyone was in the festive spirit, including the audience who were joining hands and swaying along to the songs!

Afterwards Dawn treated me to a belated birthday present, an excellent meal at Café Thai in West Vale, where we had the tapas menu in their upstairs restaurant. Thai food lends itself to the tapas format extremely well. We ordered three dishes each, which was plenty as the portion sizes are generous. Among the dishes we ordered was this, Pla Goong. Grilled prawns with a salad of red onions, coriander and garlic, along with a typically Thai spicy dressing that was the perfect fiery accompaniment.

We also sampled duck in a red curry sauce, steamed mussels with Thai Basil and a marinated Tofu dish, ‘Pad Char’ – none of which could be faulted.

Today’s been much more a home-based event. This is the view we woke up to from our bedroom window this morning, with the first snow of the season on the high hills and dark skies threatening more…

Rolling blog: double trouble.

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in ACoRP, Huddersfield, Rolling blogs

≈ Leave a comment

15:15.

You’re being ‘treated’ to two blogs today as the first one was something important that needed to be said and circulated. This one’s the more usual whimsey and musings as I’ve escaped from Bigland Towers for a few hours to join ‘Team ACoRP’ for a pre-Xmas drink in Huddersfield.

The one thing about being a solo freelancer is that Xmas office parties are a bit crap! So, it’s very pleasent when you’re invited to join other friends or colleagues that you’ve worked with over the year.

Right now I’m en-route on a day when the weather has changed completely. Yesterday we had clear skies and glorious winter sunshine, today we’ve got stormclouds and gales, with gusting winds really blowing me around as I walked from home to Halifax station. I almost wished I’d brought the full camera bag to use as ballast as I’m reduced to the Nikon D5 and a single 50mm lens today.

22:51

What a lovely evening! OK, it was a bit frustrating on the rail front with the awful weather and the fact the only new TPE train that graced Huddersfield whilst I was there was unbranded.

The late running (surprise, surprise) 9M12, the 1403 Newcastle to
Liverpool Lime Street worked by 802219 was a mere 9 mins late at Huddersfield, which is almost unremarkable for TPE.

Afterwards I adjourned to the ‘Kings Head’, one of the two pubs on the station, where I met up with the ACoRP team. Some of the group had had ‘Secret Santa’ presents (others had donated the money to charity instead) so we had a happy couple of hours playing table games over a beer (or two).

A MENSA approved brain-teaser. Reconstruct a cube out of wooden shapes…
It’s Jenga, only with little plastic chairs…
← Older posts

Recent Posts

  • Back to blogging…
  • Into the valley…
  • 14th April picture of the day…
  • 13th April picture of the day…
  • The truth about Jones’ Hill woods and Roald Dahl that you won’t hear from anti HS2 protesters…

Recent Comments

robertday154 on Into the valley…
Paul Bigland on Lockdown. Day 59 (Thursda…
Stephen Brown on Lockdown. Day 59 (Thursda…
James on The truth about Jones’ H…
CJ on The truth about Jones’ H…

Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • June 2013

Categories

  • 'Green' madness
  • 'Think Tanks'
  • 144e
  • 2005 London bombing
  • 2017 General election
  • 3 peaks by rail
  • 3 Peaks by ral
  • 51M
  • 7/7
  • Abandoned railways
  • Abu Dhabi
  • ACoRP
  • Adam Smith Institute
  • Adrian Quine
  • Advertising
  • Air Travel
  • Aircraft
  • Airports
  • Airshows
  • Allan Cook
  • Amsterdam
  • Andrea Leadsom MP
  • Andrew Gilligan
  • Andrew Haylen
  • Andy Burnham MP
  • Anti Hs2 mob
  • AONBs
  • Arambol
  • Architecture
  • Australia
  • Bali
  • Bangkok
  • Bank holidays
  • Barrow Hill
  • Belgium
  • Bigotry
  • Birmingham
  • Blue passports
  • Boris Johnson MP
  • Brexit
  • Brighouse
  • Brighton
  • British Railways
  • Calder Valley
  • Canals
  • Carillion
  • Censorship
  • Charities
  • Cheryl Gillan MP
  • Cheshire
  • China
  • Chris Packham
  • Claire Perry MP
  • Class 313
  • Class 314s
  • Class 455
  • Class 507
  • Class 508
  • Class 60s
  • Class 91
  • Communications
  • Community
  • Community rail
  • Corbynwatch
  • Coronavirus
  • CP5
  • Crap journalism
  • Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week
  • Crazy kippers
  • Crewe Hub
  • Cuba
  • Customs
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cycle India
  • Cycling
  • Dawn
  • Democracy
  • Desiro City
  • Diary
  • Dispatches
  • Donald Trump
  • Doomed
  • Down memory lane
  • East Midlands Railway franchise
  • East Midlands Trains
  • Easter fairy stories
  • ECML
  • Economic illiteracy
  • Economics
  • election2015
  • Engineering
  • Environment
  • Eurostar
  • Euston
  • Extinction Rebellion
  • Fake News
  • Festivals
  • Flooding
  • Flora and Fauna
  • Food
  • Food and drink
  • Foot in mouth
  • Gardening
  • GBRf
  • General election
  • General election 2019
  • Georgetown
  • Germany
  • Glossop
  • GNGE
  • GNRP
  • Goa
  • Grand Central trains
  • Great Western Railway
  • Greater Anglia franchise
  • Green madness
  • Green Party
  • Gt Missenden
  • GTR
  • Guido Fawkes
  • GWML
  • GWR franchise
  • Gwyll Jones
  • Halifax
  • Harvil Rd Hs2 protest
  • Harz railway
  • Heathrow 3rd runway
  • High Speed 1
  • High Speed UK
  • History
  • Hitachi
  • Hong Kong
  • House of Lords
  • HS North
  • Hs2
  • Hs2 Bow Group
  • Hs2 petitions
  • Hs2 to Crewe
  • Hs2aa
  • HS2Rebellion
  • HSUK
  • Huddersfield
  • Humour
  • Hurricane Ophelia
  • I love my job
  • Imperial College London
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Infrarail
  • Innotrans
  • Internet
  • Ireland
  • Islamophobia
  • Jacob Rees Mogg
  • Jeremy Corbyn
  • Jeremy Corbyn MP
  • Jo Johnson MP
  • Joe Rukin
  • John McDonnell MP
  • Johnathan Bartley
  • Journalism
  • Labour election
  • Lancashire
  • Laos
  • Law and order
  • Lazy journalism
  • Leicestershire
  • Liam Halligan
  • libel
  • Lilian Greenwood MP
  • Liverpool
  • LNER
  • Local elections
  • Local elections 2018
  • Lockdown
  • London
  • Lord Berkeley
  • LRT
  • M62 motorway
  • Major Projects Authority
  • Malaysia
  • Manchester
  • Manchester Airport
  • Manchester Victoria
  • MAPA
  • Mark Keir
  • Martin Tett
  • Melton Mowbray
  • Memory Lane
  • Merseyside
  • Michael Dugher MP
  • Michael Fabricant MP
  • Mid Cheshire against Hs2
  • Miscellany
  • Modern Railways
  • Monorails
  • Musings
  • Mytholmroyd
  • Natalie Bennett
  • National Rail Awards
  • National Trust
  • Nepal
  • Network Rail
  • Never a dull life
  • New Economics Foundation
  • New trains
  • New Year
  • New York
  • New Zealand
  • NHS
  • Nigel Farage
  • Norland scarecrow festival
  • Northern Powerhouse
  • Northern Rail
  • Nostalgia
  • Nottingham
  • Obituaries
  • Old Oak Common
  • ORR
  • Our cat, Jet
  • Pacers
  • Paris terror attack
  • Parliament
  • Pasenger Growth
  • Patrick McLouglin MP
  • Penny Gaines
  • Peter Jones
  • Peterborough
  • Photography
  • Photojournalism
  • Picture of the day
  • Poetry
  • Politics
  • Porterbrook
  • PR nightmares
  • Protest
  • Pubs
  • rail ale
  • Rail electrification
  • Rail fares
  • Rail Investment
  • RAIL magazine
  • Rail Moderinsation
  • Rail PR
  • Railfreight
  • Railstaff awards
  • Railtex
  • Railway Benefit Fund (RBF)
  • Railways
  • Rant
  • Religion
  • RFEM
  • Richard Wellings
  • Ride India
  • Road accidents
  • Rolling blogs
  • ROSCOs
  • Royal Mail
  • Royal Wedding 2018
  • RSPB
  • Rugby Observer
  • Rushbearing
  • SAIP
  • Scores on the doors
  • Scotland
  • Scotrail
  • Sheffield
  • Shrewsbury
  • Siemens
  • Signalling
  • Silly season
  • Simon Heffer
  • Singapore
  • Sleeper trains
  • Snail mail
  • Social media
  • South West Trains
  • Southport
  • Sowerby Bridge
  • Spectator magazine
  • Sri Lanka
  • St Pancras station
  • Stafford
  • Stamford
  • Station buffets
  • StopHs2
  • Surrey
  • Talgo
  • Teresa May
  • Terrorism
  • Tesla
  • Thailand
  • Thameslink
  • The 'Beast from the East'
  • The BBC
  • The Big 6
  • The Daily Express
  • The fog
  • The Grauniad
  • The Great Central railway
  • The Green Party
  • The Independent
  • The Moorcock Inn
  • The Railway Children
  • The Rodelblitz
  • The USA
  • The Woodland Trust
  • Tilford
  • Torquay
  • Tourism
  • TPE
  • Traffic congestion
  • Trams
  • Trans-Pennine electrification
  • Transport
  • Transport for Wales (TfW)
  • Travel
  • Twilight years
  • Twitter
  • Twitter (and how not to use it)
  • UK
  • UK steel industry
  • UKIP
  • Uncategorized
  • Vandalism
  • Victoria Prentis MP
  • Virgin Trains
  • Virgin West Coast
  • Wales
  • Walking
  • WCML
  • Weather
  • West Yorkshire
  • Worcester
  • Work
  • World War 1
  • World War Two
  • Yorkshire
  • YorkshireStopHs2

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×