Category Archives: India

29th October picture of the day…

29 Thursday Oct 2020

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Apologies for the absence of a picture or my usual ramblings yesterday but I was otherwise engaged and simply ran out of time! I’ve been pretty much desk-bound this week as the weather’s so bloody awful. We’ve had lots of torrential rain and gusty winds, so my exercise regime’s gone to pot too. Apart from my birthday it’s been a funny old week. Maybe it’s the ‘Covid blues’ but I’ve really struggled to build up much enthusiasm for anything over the past few days. Perhaps that’s due to the uncertainties and the feeling that life’s on hold at the moment as we all stare a new lockdown (in whatever form it takes) in the face. I’m trying to keep on top of work and be productive but there are occasions when my motivation needs jump-starting. If only hibernation was an option for us humans. Or perhaps I could take a leaf out of Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy’s Hotblack Desiato and spend a year dead for tax reasons…

Hopefully my mood and motivation will recover in the next few days when it finally stops bloody raining and I can escape these four walls!

To be fair, the pair of us did last night in order to spend some time with friends. Being law-abiding souls, the ‘6 from the 6’ as we call ourselves met up in a friends garden, where he’d been busy having an enclosure built that could protect us from the elements whilst allowing social distancing. It worked a treat although it was sorely tested by the awful weather. Even so, it was lovely to be able to spend a few hours together laughing and joking. Who knows when we’ll be able to do it again?

Ironically, as I’ve been typing this, I’ve just heard the news that West Yorkshire moves into Tier 3 from Midnight on Sunday, so that answers that question. Oh, deep, deep joy. It’s going to be a long winter…

Right, on that happy news it’s time for a picture of the day. Today’s choice is something different. Back in 2000-2001 I was travelling in India. Lynn and I had visited friends in Goa for Xmas and New Year, after which Lynn flew back to the UK and I stayed on to visit the Gujarat in Northen India to get travel pictures. I also hoped to find the last Indian steam locomotives operating on the national network. Broad Gauge steam had already disappeared, but there was a last outpost of metre gauge steam operating out of the evocatively named Wankaner Junction! I arrived there at the beginning of February 2000 but I was weeks late. The last locomotives has run at the end of January. However, Wankaner locomotive depot was still littered with engines. Their fires had been dropped and the place left deserted with the last locomotives and the remains of others that had been cannibalised over the years to keep them running. Here’s a picture I took inside the shed early on the morning of February 13th 2000.

YG Class 2-8-2’s No’s 3318 (left) 3437 & 3360 (nearest the camera) illuminated by the sunrise inside Wankaner Junction shed.

You can find more shots from the series, along with many other Indian rail pictures in this gallery. I was sad to have missed them but thankful that I’d seen Indian steam in action several years before in 1985-86 and 1991-92. What a different world it seems now!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

26th October picture of the day…

26 Monday Oct 2020

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Sorry there was no picture yesterday, I was too busy with other stuff and having some quality time with my wife, so I thought you could go one day without one.

The pair of us had various things planned today but the weather forecast was less than accurate. What was meant to be a mostly sunny day turned into a mostly wet one – so plans changed. The fact the new washing machine was arriving today cramped our style too, leaving me stuck in the house all day. Said white goods is now safely installed but it wasn’t without problems as the young chaps who did it hadn’t connected the water pipe properly, which caused a bit of a drama until I sorted it out. I’m not going to criticise them. It’s an easy mistake to make and they’re working against the clock as they’re self-employed. As the old expression goes – all’s well that ends well…

So, whilst the wind howled and the rain blew, I stayed indoors and sorted out yet another tranche of old rail slides and assorted memoribila to add to eBay before writing more of Part 3 of my travels for RAIL magazine. The latest batch of old slides contains some historical items like this from Dover, when we still had a cross-channel train ferry as the tunnel was yet to open. Here’s a look at the picture without having to click on the link.

The day was a Brexiters fantasy. “Fog in the channel – Europe cut off”…

Whilst keeping busy in the office I’ve kept one eye on the car-crash that passes for the anti HS2 (High Speed 2 railway) campaign. They’re not having a good time. In fact, things go from worse to worse. They really should stay away from courts! The other day Joe Rukin made an expensive mess, today 14 protestors have by ignoring a High Court Injunction! I’ll publish the court ruling when it’s available, but here’s what Mark Keir (one of the 14) put on Facebook earlier today.

Poor Keir! An ‘undemocratic use of law’? Riiigghhtt. He never was that au fait with either institution – which you think you’ve above at your peril. When you ‘Clash’ with the law, there’s only going to be one winner…

OK, let’s move on to the picture of the day. Now, where shall we go today? Ah, I know – one of my favourite places. India. I took this picture in November 1997 at Enakulam Junction in Kerala.

Lynn and I were on our way South after spending a couple of months in Goa at the start of our 18 month trip around the world. Our train had pulled in opposite this long-distance express. In this neck of the woods some trains took 48 hours from point to point. I once did Trivandrum (as the capital of Kerala was called then) to Calcutta, which took that long. Now, when you’re on a train that long in India it gets dusty, and sweaty. These passengers took the opportunity to bail out of their train at the station where it had a layover and utilise the water pipes normally used for topping up the trains toilets and kitchen car for an impromptu shower – and why not? This is why I’ve always loved India – there’s always something to see and photograph. In fact, this picture was used in one of the UK newspapers when I used to do travel photography for a living. It was the Times I think. For me it encapsulates a different world and one I have fond memories of. My, did the pair of us have a ball for that 18 months!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

22nd October picture of the day…

22 Thursday Oct 2020

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Another one of those days where nothing quite seems to go right…

After the saga of the fridge repair that didn’t happen today we’ve had another domestic farce. Our washing machine had packed up and the new one was being delivered this afternoon, so I was ‘confined to barracks’ for most of the day as the delivery slot wasn’t exactly tight. To be fair, they turned up PDQ and rang me to say they were on their way, so I had chance to clear the kitchen. If only things had been that simple. As soon as they started disconnecting the old machine they hit a problem. There was a historic leak on one of the water pipes connecting to the washing machine, so it was job stopped! Now, I can sort of understand – the last thing they want to be involved in is an insurance claim for flooding, but a more mature and experienced sort of person might have said ‘it’ll be reet’ (as they say in this neck of the woods) and cracked on.

Instead, I waved them and our new machine goodbye (whilst muttering imprecations under my breath) before clearing out the sink to sort out the leak. Half an hour, a bucketful of swear words – and a skinned finger or two later and the problem was solved. To be fair to the guys – they’d spotted something I hadn’t. The colour-coded stopcocks which indicated hot and cold pipes were the wrong way round! I didn’t do any of the old alterations to this house, but I’d like to shake whoever did warmly – by the throat! So many DIY jobs I’ve taken on since have turned into a nightmare as I have to correct old bodges, and whatever you do, don’t ever get Dawn started on the honesty and propriety of the person she bought the place off or we’ll be here all day!

This means we’re now without a washing machine until Monday. OK, first world problems I know – and we have Dee’s parents as backup, so it’s hardly the end of the world, it’s merely one of those little niggles that interrupt your day. Which brings me on to my picture of the day. First world problems? We just don’t know we’re born…

I took this picture in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India on the 20th March 2018. Imagine your mother/grandmother working carrying bricks on a building site for a few rupees a day (every day), then having to wash the family’s clothes in a local river – or as someone once said – trying to break stones with wet washing – anyone who’s ever travelled in India will know exactly what I mean.

Now, what was that I was saying about a broken washing machine?

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

12th October picture of the day…

12 Monday Oct 2020

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As the old Meatloaf song goes – ‘two out of three ain’t bad’ – and today part two of my round Britain trilogy was submitted, ready to go to be sub-edited. As I’ve got a bit of breathing space before the first part’s published I’m going to have a short break to catch up on other things and even have chance to get away for a couple of days. Thankfully, the latest Covid restrictions won’t cause me any problems as I’ll be heading South, away from the worst affected areas. All I need now is for the weather Gods to play ball, and right now the forecast is looking promising. I’m looking forward to having new travel adventures to blog about as I’m really starting to feel the ‘Covid blues’ again – especially as the nights are drawing in and I’ll be restricted in what I can do. It may be cosy in my office but the walls start to close in on you after a while…

Talking of walls gives me a useful link into the picture of the day…

I took this picture in October 1993 at the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Lynn and I were staying here for a night after a 5-day camel trekking safari in the Thar desert. On the horizon you can see the clifftop walls of Jodhpur fort which dominates the city below. What magical places these were!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

11th October picture of the day…

11 Sunday Oct 2020

Posted by in India, Picture of the day, Ride India, The Railway Children, Travel

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Hmm, what to choose as a picture of the day? Something to match my present mood? Thunderous or gloomy skies would fit the bill there. Maybe something to match my opinion of the current Government? I’m not sure I have any circus pictures…

Nah, I’ll pluck one at random as I nearly always do.

Today was another of those days where it lived down to expectations, for a variety of reasons. When the bright spots are you actually hit your step target and managed to get loads more stuff listed on eBay you realise this isn’t exactly the jet-setting, rock and roll lifestyle.

Not that there’s much chance of either at the moment as the Government are expected to list more Covid restrictions. Sadly, I’m trapped in a neck of the woods where cases continue to rise, so I’m not being optimistic. A visit to a local supermarket today made me realise just how many people think masks are actually hammocks to support their double-chins! So, right now I feel a bit like a prisoner of events – only there’s not much chance of me building a glider in the roof – Colditz style! Hopefully, once whatever’s announced is announced I can start planning some things with a little more certainty. In the meantime – there’s writing to be done, pictures to be edited and decades of collected ephemera to be sifted and either junked, recycled or stored.

Oh, a picture of the day – I’ve plumped for this as it’s reminded me of a better times. In March 2018 I joined a group of other people – mostly from the rail industry – for a cycle ride to raise money for the charity the Railway Children . We covered 270 miles across Rajasthan in India in a few days in March – not exactly the coolest time of the year. It was a brilliant event with some excellent people. It was also tough, but boy, was it a positive experience. Needless to say, as well as cycling and raising money from sponsorship I offered my services as a photographer and donated the pictures. Here’s one. We visited one of the railways stations that the RC have a presence on and met a group of the homeless children they work with. Sometimes pictures happen because all the circumstances come together to make is so – and you spot the moment. This was one such picture.

I’ve been donating my services to the Railway Children ever since 2017. Sadly, this year we couldn’t run another big UK event – ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ due to Covid. But, hopefully, next year we’ll be back – and do it twice to make up!

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

30th September picture of the day…

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

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Tomorrow we enter October, the month when the clocks go back. I’ve an idea – how about we put them back all the way to 2016? Before Brexit, before all the shit’s that’s happened since, and waaaay before anyone had even considered Covid. OK, I know it’s not going to happen. An hour is all we’ll get tops – but I can dream, can’t I?

Fatigue with the 21st century is setting in already as it’s not exactly got off to a brilliant start and I’m not going to be here for the long-haul, so it’s time to think about what I do with the rest of it.

I the meantime, I’m continuing to sort through all the baggage of my life. Here’s something I came across earlier, which harks back to a simpler age. You wouldn’t have Google tracking an ID card like this – and the only time I carried a mobile phone was when I was on call for work. It was one of those weird things with a carbon-fibre ariel but still seemed like cutting-edge tech at the time. It would be another 6-7 years before I got a mobile phone of my own as by then I’d swapped careeer and turned freelance photographer so needed one. Oh, and trust me, even then, the NUJ press card was a damned sight more sophisticated than this effort!

OK, meanwhile, here’s the picture of the day, which is somewhere that could literally be centuries away. This is sunrise over the city of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India, taken in November 1991 when I was on the start of a solo trip around Asia. The view of the fort town was taken from the window of the old building I was staying in. Imagine opening your bedroom window and seeing a view like this?

I spent several days here before booking a 5 day camel safari out into the Thar desert, which is another story (when I get chance to scan the pictures). The people I travelled with were a real multi-national bunch and we had a ball. Sleeping out in the desert in a bed of camel blankets whilst watching for shooting stars was an amazing experience.

I did meet one young German girl back in Jaisalmer for whom the dice really didn’t fall as well on one of these trips. She was the only other person with 6 Israelies. I admired the way she dealt with the situation. Seasoned travellers will know what I mean…

I hope you enjoy these pictures of the day, for me it’s funny how they trigger so many memories and stories.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

28th September picture of the day…

28 Monday Sep 2020

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Another manic Monday where the hours available were too few to fit in all the tasks at hand…

Despite that, I have had a productive day, even if a chunk of it seemed to revolve around eBay! I had a lot of orders to fulfil this morning, posting pictures and other railway memoribilia countrywide. Plus, I’ve now loaded another 60 plus old slides for sale, with as many again to follow on Wednesday – which should keep me busy when bids close on Sunday! The money’s certainly coming in useful and filling a budgetary gap. Here’s a sample of today’s listings.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313236729179

I’d hoped that the Covid situation would have started easing now and the tap on work pipe-line would have started to open, but the spike in Covid cases has kiboshed that. Thankfully, I still have several writing jobs to keep me occupied…

I did manage to take a break from staring at a computers screen in order to get some exercise, pick up some shopping and post packages. My timing was excellent as the skies cleared whilst I was out and I had a perfect window for a break on the rocks over looking the Calder Valley, where I could soak up some sun (and vitamin D) whilst answering a few emails. Within an hour of me getting home the weather had turned deathly dull, leaving the day unrecogniseable and giving me no excuse but to knuckle down to some work – not that there’s much else to do at the moment because of the new Covid restrictions!

OK, it’s time for the picture of the day, which combines two loves. Travel and railways. I took it on the 14th December 2010. This is the magnificent railway station in Lucknow, Northern India. It’s a city I’d always wanted to visit but this was my first time. I was travelling through Asia for several months and was trying to arrange an interview with the head of the Delhi Metro Corporation for the International Railway Journal. Then India clamped down on visas because of terrorism and it all got very complicated!

A superb example of what became known as Indo-Saracenic architecture. Lucknow Charbagh station. It was designed by J. H. Hornimen and opened in 1923. Its architecture is a blend of Rajput, Awadhi and Mughal styles.

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

20th September picture of the day…

20 Sunday Sep 2020

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I’m back in the back-room of Bigland Towers after a very convivial few hours in our local pub where we’ve spent only the second time since lockdown bumping into old friends. What was so lovely was how the laughter flowed, and laughter is something that’s in rather short supply right now for several reasons – Covid being just one of them…

I’ve missed those opportunities for banter over the past few months. Yes, lockdown and its aftermath has been great for getting some things done, but it’s been shocking for socialising and face to face interaction and the ability to bounce ideas and humour of people.

I’ve made the most of it as it’s looking like the legion of muppets who think social-distancing is for other people are about to take us back into even tighter restrictions. Frustrating isn’t the word for it.

So, I’m brought onto the picture of the day, which was taken in the Paharganj in Delhi, India in 2003. The motorised ‘school run’ is very much a first world problem and one we really need to get a grip of. Kids being ferried to/from school in cars is a nightmare in so many ways. It benefits no-one. In India it’s rather different. Here’s a bunch of ‘posh’ kids being ferried home in the back of a cycle-rickshaw. Kids being kids – as soon as they saw me they started playing up for the camera!

I love street photography in India. You never know what you’re going to encounter and most people are only too happy to pose for a 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 freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

29th August picture of the day…

29 Saturday Aug 2020

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It’s been another miserable day weather-wise here in the Pennines. You can tell it’s a bank-holiday weekend! What a contrast to the early days of lockdown when we had the levels of sunshine that made things bearable. Now the weather seems as fed-up and jaded as the rest of us. Despite the holiday we’re not going to be doing anything exciting. Instead we’ll be staying at home and cracking on with work and jobs around the house that’ll stand us in good stead when all this is over – although we will get out for a ramble at some point.

Today’s picture’s a complete contrast to the mundanities of life here in the UK, although the image is of someone preparing for another day at the office as it were…

This shot was taken on the ghats on the river Ganges, Varanasi. India in March 1998. It’s dawn and a priest is preparing his stall for another day of handing out blessings to the faithful who’ll be flocking to the river shortly. It’s quite a magical place to sit and people watch. There’s really nothing like it here in Europe and for Westerners who’re unused to life on the sub-continent it can be quite a culture-shock, especially if they visit the ghats where bodies are cremated before the ashes are scattered in the Ganges.

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27th August picture of the day…

27 Thursday Aug 2020

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Thursday’s been another fun-packed day here in the Pennines. OK. I lied, the weather’s been changeable at best and most of my day has been spent glued to a computer screen as I head for the home straight when it comes to scanning my old railway pictures. After nearly 30 years there’s only a couple of hundred left to do now. God, I am going to be soooo glad to see this job finished!

Not that the picture of the day will have anything to do with railways. At the moment my feet are that itchy they almost feel on fire, so here’s a picture of something rather different. It was taken at Hampi, India in December 1997. This magnificent building was actually a stables for elephants.

I pity the poor sod who had the job of mucking these out…

I’m really looking forward to getting back on the road again after the Covid crisis and heading back to this neck of the woods. Life has become far too mundane here in the UK and I need some colour, magic and the splashes of inspired insanity only Asia can provide!

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Thank you!