We’ve had an absolutely glorious day here in the Calder valley as we’ve seen blue skies and warmer temperatures all day. It really does feel like Spring has arrived. Just getting out to feel the sun on my skin again (no need for winter woolies) has been wonderful. Almost overnight blossom has started to appear on trees near us, whilst the birdsong has reached a crescendo as our feathered friends realise it’ll soon be time to find a mate – and they’re on it!
What’s been less inspiring has been human activity and Trump’s ‘operation divert from the Epstein files’, AKA the undeclared war on Iran. This reached a new low today when an American submarine sank an Iranian military ship off the coast of Sri Lanka. Why? Other than the fact they could, because they had a submarine in the area? The 1,500 tonne ‘Dena’ was no threat to anyone. It had been taking part in joint exercises with the Indian and other navies 3000km away from Iran. Over 100 sailors have died. I hold no candle for the theocrats of Iran, but this seems like a completely unwarranted attack that not only demeans the US but also paints a big target on US ships not in a war zone as it sets a precedent. There’s something else that’s uncomfortable too. The US submarine – despite being in absolutely no danger from anyone – failed to assist survivors. Even German U-boat captains during world war 2 were known to help survivors of the ships that they sunk (despite the risks). This does not look good on America, but I’ve no doubt their apologists will be out in full flow.
I can’t help thinking that Trump and his acolytes are taking the USA in a very dark direction. Far from being the ‘beacon of democracy’ they now look no better than some of the countries they criticise. America’s gone from the world’s policeman to the world’s bully. I also note that the Americans don’t call this a war, it’s akin to a ‘special military operation’. Now, where have we heard that before, and who from? That SVO’s going as well as can be expected too…
We live in dark times. Well, apart from spring appearing here in the UK, obviously. So, on that brighter note, I leave you with a picture I took just down the road earlier today.
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Thanks to the orange fool in the White House mine and everybody else’s weekend turned out to be rather different than planned. After weeks of military build-up, with fleets of aircraft crossing the pond from the US to Britain and the Middle-East, Trump finally decides to bomb Iran, along with his mate from Israel.
Needless to say, this has turned into a mess from day 1, not least because none of the protagonists seem to have a plan. Having killed Iran’s Supreme Leader (no loss) and many of the Iranian leadership there’s no sign that Trump knows what to do now, what the strategic aims are – or how long the war will last. Mind you, the Iranians don’t seem to have much of a clue either – other than to hurl missiles and drones around the Middle-East, hitting mostly civilian targets across the Gulf. Talk about how to make friends and influence people. Meanwhile, Russia – who’re meant to be Iran’s firm ally – send nothing but ‘thoughts and prayers’. Mind you, the hardware they sold previously wasn’t much cop. The missile systems bought at great cost to defend Tehran have proved to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard (just as they have been in defending Russian targets from Ukraine). The US and Israel are now reported to ‘control the skies’ above Tehran which is going to be causing some consternation amongst the surviving Mullahs and military. Even more embarrassing is the fact the Kuwaiti’s have proved to be better at shooting down American aircraft than the Iranians, apparently the score currently stands at 3-0.
Thankfully, our Prime Minister has stepped back from Trump’s coat-tails, learned the lessons from the 2003 Gulf War and taken the pragmatic decision to only allow UK airbases to be used by the US to knock out Iranian missile systems in order to defend British citizens and interests. Common-sense prevails.
Whilst this war is anything but something to laugh about, I couldn’t help but crack a wry smile at the antics of the UK tax-exiles in Dubai who (after slagging the UK odd as being ‘unsafe’) are suddenly expecting UK taxpayers to save their necks. That wonderful German word ‘Schadenfreude’ springs to mind. I can’t help thinking of the brave Ukrainians, who’ve endured their cities being attacked night after night, looking at these Dubai immigrants having hysteria and thinking ‘you think a couple of drones is bad’?
An unfortunate consequence of all this is that any plans I have to head out to SE Asia with any of the Middle-Eastern airlines are currently on hold until we see how all this pans out. In some ways, the timing couldn’t be better as I’ve just had a renewal notice for our annual travel insurance. Talk about making your eyes water! It’s gone up from £117 to £390. They’ve not got back to me yet when I emailed them to say ‘WTF’? but I’m assuming that it’s because I’ve now crossed over into old-fartdom by hitting 66.
So, bugger that, I’m going to be shopping around. But now I have the time to do so…
I’ll be working from home for the next few days as I’ve a lot of admin to sort out. Hopefully, I’ll have chance to get out now and then as the weather’s really looking to be improving as spring certainly feels to be in the air, which brings me to today’s picture which was taken in Halifax on Saturday. Have a crocus. In fact, have lots of them!
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After the past couple of days travels I’ve been have a home-based one, which is not bad thing as the weather’s resorted to type apart from one important difference. It hasn’t rained at all today. Oh, the weather forecast has threatened us with a ‘yellow’ warning of snow, but that’s failed to materialise – again. What has happened is temperatures have dropped and the wind’s sprung up, which has made walking ‘fun’. I hadn’t planned to go out today but whilst I was away a parcel arrived. I’d ordered a new charger for my laptop only to find what was delivered was very different to what was promised. It looked great in the pictures. A USB-c charger with decent cables. What I got was a less than A1 product with a series of interchangeable head – and not one was USB-c! Bugger! So, I had to wander down to the Post Office in Sowerby Bridge to send the damned thing back. Still, it meant I hit my daily step count.
The rest of the day’s been spent in the warm, editing yet more pictures from the ever-expanding repertoire. I’d still not got on top of all the London shots. Now I have Derby, walking in the snow and a trip to Southport in the queue. Thankfully, I’ve managed to clear the bulk of them and should have the rest dealt with before the weekend.
The pictures are in far too many different galleries to post links to, but if you follow this link to the recent section on my Zenfolio site you’ll be able to see where they’ve been placed. Once they’re all done I’ll be able to update yesterday’s blog with some more of the history of Burscough and something I only noticed yesterday – although I must have walked past it dozens of times.
The forecast for tomorrow is for more rain and snow so I’ll probably end up having another day at home if that’s the case. I have to be here on Friday as Dawn’s out for the day but we’ve a chap coming round to fix a leak on our boiler. The ‘rock and roll lifestyle’ eh? That said, I’ve plenty to keep occupied with even if I can’t get out – including planning a few new adventures…
In the meantime, here’s today picture. I feel for farmers right now. My recent travels up and down the country have shown just how much land is flooded. Trying to get crops into such sodden ground must be nigh on impossible. Then there’s crops already planted which are drowning – and there’s no end in sight. Here’s how some fields looked like around Burscough yesterday.
A former ‘Thameslink’ Class 319 converted to bi-more 769424 passes waterlogged fields at Hoscar, just outside Burscough yesterday. This is a scene repeated up and down the country right now and is bound to have an effect on food prices later in the year. Not to mention farmer’s livelihoods.
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Today’s been a quiet one here at Bigland Towers for several reasons. I’m still trying to wade my way through editing the hundreds of pictures taken on my recent travels. Plus, the weather’s been crap – but no change there then. Mind you, I say that, but tomorrow we’re forecast to have a whole day of sunshine. Just the one of course, after that we’re back to the rainy conditions that – if you were biblically minded – might have made you consider building an Ark. Well, if you had the space…
For once the constant rain’s been alternating with snow flurries. They’ve achieved sweet FA around here as we’re not high enough up, but when I gaze out across the valley I can see a decent dusting at the higher tops and beyond towards the moors around Marsden. As tomorrow’s Saturday (not to mention Valentine’s day) we’re hoping to make the best of the conditions and get out for a walk somewhere and the idea of fresh snow and blue skies is rather appealing, so watch this space.
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which was taken in London last Saturday in similar conditions. Rain can be a real aid to photography because of the lighting conditions. Here’s a shot I took of the trackwork at London’s Victoria station where images are almost monochrome well, if it wasn’t for the train in the background, but I think that adds to the effect.
I’ve still lots of pictures to add to my Zenfolio picture website and there’s far too many galleries that have been updated to post individual links, but if you want to browse this ‘recent’ section link you can find what’s been added – and where.
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/
This will be a short blog tonight. Mostly to say sorry for my long absence which has been due to a number of factors. the muse has not been upon me and the recent political ructions in the UK and via Epstein island have left me speechless – unless you fancy a blog full of expletives! No doubt my spleen will need to be vented soon, but right now’s not the time.
Another thing that’s been getting me down has been the persistent dull and dreary weather here in ‘God’s own country’. Quite why God would bless his own country with such execrable weather for the past month is a mystery, but that’s Gods for you, apparently. Today started no different as the Calder valley was so full of fog that if I didn’t know it existed I’d have questioned a belief in it (sorry, God). But, being stir-crazy I decided to head out with the idea of showing how difficult it is for train drivers to see signals in these conditions. God had other ideas. As soon as I arrived at the valley floor the fog lifted, leaving me with no option but to persue it through the valley and across the Pennines into Greater Manchester, where conditions were very different.
I won’t go into too much detail but I ended up in Littleborough where I managed to get some useful pictures along the line where a major flood mitigation project is underway. Then I took a detour to Rochdale to change trains in order to head back East. Which brings me to today’s picture, which is of a tram desperately trying to give a train a run for its money as they both head East with the Pennines in the distance.
Tomorrow I’ll be pottering around locally, but on Friday I head back down to London for a couple of days as I’m at a photo awards event on Friday evening. Remember I mentioned that I’d been a judge for the Avanti West Coast photographic competition? Well, Friday’s when the winners are given their prizes at an event at the National Portrait Gallery. I’m staying overnight with the intention of doing some exploring on Saturday, so expect a couple of rolling blogs.
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A new week begins back here at Bigland Towers. We returned from the Todmorden annexe yesterday, not that it made much difference to the weather, which remained dank and dismal throughout and looks like it’ll stay that way for the foreseeable, which is a bit of a bugger to say the least. The lack of blue skies and sunshine is starting to weigh on the both of us. Oppressive, low clouds and semi-twilight don’t make for great mood-enhancers. Oh, for clear skies and warmer climes…
There’s one consolation, which is having access to all our normal home facilities for both work and pleasure. Dawn’s been slaving away in her upstairs office whilst I’ve been making the most of working in the living room and having access to all my hard-drives and records. One thing that’s allowed me to do is add a shedload of new stuff to my eBay account. There’s new railway memorabilia and souvenirs but also a selection of old pop/rock concert badges from the 1970s onwards. So, if you fancy an old Black Sabbath 1978 tour badge, Led Zeppelin at Knwbworth in 1979 (and many others) take a look here.
Whilst working I’ve been keeping one eye on the latest political psychodramas as they unfold. Sometimes I think the British media and much of the commentariat have completely lost the plot – hence the storm in a teacup about the Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, not being allowed to stand in a by-election in Manchester. Labour (quite sensibly) have decided that as Burnham’s only half-way through his term of office letting him stand and having not one but two elections is a waste of energy and money. Needless to say, this is far too simple for some members of the 4th estate, who’re making it out as a referendum on Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. But lets get something clear. Even IF Burnham had been allowed to stand, and even IF he became an MP, there’s a very long process before any leadership challenge. Plus, Burnham’s been here before – and lost in 2015.
Of course, the media love all the speculation as it fills column inches. But let’s be clear about something else. Even IF Labour lose the by-election in Gorton and Denton, their current working majority is 168 – and there’s no general election until 2029. Plus, we’ve no idea who the Labour candidate will be as one hasn’t been chosen yet, so calling it as a loss is premature to say the least.
Meanwhile, across the floor at the Reform home for aged and useless Tories, they have another recruit in the shape of Cruella – sorry – Suella Braverman, another former Minister in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet. That means Reform now have Boris Johnson’s old Chancellor (Zahawi) – communities secretary (Jenrick) – culture sec (Dorries) – attorney general (Braverman) – political sec (Kruger) – skills minister (Jenkyns) – Northern powerhouse minister (Berry) – health minister (Caulfield) – parliamentary private sec (Nici) – assistant whip (Holloway) and Scottish minister (Offord).
If that’s not mad enough, Reform have Liz Truss’s Party chairman, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Home Secretary and Minister for Health! Talk about putting the band back together!
You can see why Reform have dropped their ‘vote for change’ slogan, can’t you? Oh, they’ve also acquired the human chimp, Gullis. What a bunch of all-stars! There’s also the supreme irony of children of immigrants joining a party that would have refused their parents entry to the UK, and I’m not entirely sure the influx of ethnic faces like Braverman and Zahawi is going to sit easy with some Reform voters, who’ve struggled as it is with Zia Yusuf and Laila Cunningham. This could get interesting…
What’s also going to be entertaining to watch over this year is the way all these competing egos deal with the fact that Reform is less of a political party and more of a dictatorship with one supreme leader – Farage, with whom all the power rests. As we’ve seen many times in the past, Farage makes short work of anyone who gets too uppity and thinks they’re as important as the Dear Leader – just as Rupert Lowe for a start!
Oddly, whilst the media pick over (in forensic detail) any mistake or supposed mistake Labour make, Farage seems to be teflon coated. No-one’s asking where the near £1m came from for his girlfriend to buy the house in Clacton, nor is their any real interest in the £360,000 of earnings Farage ‘forgot’ to declare to Parliament in his register of members interests. And there’s very little interest in the murky connections and finances of donations to Reform from the Iranian billionaire who paid for Farage’s little jolly to Davos. But, if You’re Angela Rayner or Rachel Reeves, the media are like terriers, always snapping at your heels…
Phew! What a year – and it’s only January! I’ll be glad when it’s Spring and I can start to think of getting away for a while! In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. There’s no sunshine in the UK, so I’ve dug into the archives to bring you some. Here, have a beach!
Tangalle beach. Sri Lanka.
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Another working week begins, but this one’s different due to our change of location. In truth, today wasn’t that different for Dawn as she had to head back to Halifax and work from our real home for various reasons. For once Dee had a real commute rather than just wandering across the landing for the bedroom to the office!
I stayed behind in the Todmorden ‘annexe’ to look after our feline charge, although to be fair to Luna, she doesn’t take much looking after. Being a young female cat (just a big kitten, really) she’s very independent, doesn’t crave much attention and spends most of her time outside. My main task is to keep here fed and ensure she doesn’t get up to mischief in the house.
As the weather here is so closed in, with very low clouds and mist, I wasn’t going to be venturing far anyway. Plus, most of Todmorden’s closed on a Monday, which adds to a general feeling of isolation. Undeterred, I went for a wander to at least try and get a few photos, despite the murk, and check out a few new photographic possibilities – just in case the weather does pick up. I also wanted to get a shot of the only scheduled freight service via the Copy Pit line to Burnley which is a limestone train from Shap in Cumbria to Drax power and the return empties. The loaded train only runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but the empties are scheduled to run Monday to Friday.
Long gone are the days when there would be banking engines based at Todmorden to assist heavy coal trains up the line to Burnley. The engines vanished at the end of steam traction in the late 1960s and the coal trains a couple of decades later. Until recently there was a regular oil train between Lindsay oil refinery in Lincolnshire to Preston docks, but that finished last year. Now, there’s just the stone train. So, I thought I’d try and get a picture for posterity. Only the bloody thing was cancelled! Still, I did manage a few other shots, as you’ll see here…
The classic view of Tod over the rooftops, with two trains passing on the viaduct. As you can see, the weather was less than ideal…Taken at the same location, a Headbolt Lane (Kirkby) to Blackburn service crosses Stansfield Hall Jn on the Todmorden curve which was only reopened in May 2015. Before then a short spur had been retained as a siding for banking engines, but it hadn’t been used for decades. Nearby is Hall Royd Jn where the line to/from Burnley (on the left) joins the Calder valley line. Here’s a DB Cargo Class 66 working an empty Tees Yard to Knowsley (Merseyside) empty ‘binliner’. It’s Monday, so the shops are (mostly) shut, including this cafe in the lovely former Co-op building. ‘Tod’ does have its bohemian elements, hence this book repository fixed to a telegraph pole on one of the backstreets. Having climbed the hill behind the town I found this gap in the trees for a more elevated view of the viaduct. Now, if the weather would only clear…
As the clouds closed in I returned to our temporary home to warm up and make the place cosy for when Dawn got back. I think Luna appreciated my efforts too!
Tomorrow’s weather isn’t expected to be any better than today, but I’m going to have another crack at that stone train…
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Today’s been an enforced lazy Sunday. That wasn’t my plan, but the weather decreed otherwise as it’s been absolutely crap all day. Most of the time we’ve been closed in under low cloud and mist that’s chopped off the tops of the valley. Then there’s been the rain. There was no chance of getting any serious walking in and taking the camera out would’ve been pointless
So, a lazy morning was in order, keeping our feline charge happy. Luna was very comfortable curling up on the bed with us whilst we enjoyed a caffeine fix. Like us, she wasn’t as comfortable with the weather and spent much of the morning zooming around the house like a cat demented!
Luna before she hit her catnip stash…
We did manage to get out later in the day by driving back to Halifax to pick up more clothing and bits we’ll need for our stay here in Todmorden. Bad as the weather was here, it was worse back home where we were literally in cloud level.
Now the weekend’s winding down. On our way back we stopped off for a drink in our new ‘local’ (the Alehouse) which was its usual relaxed and friendly self – although I still can’t get used to hearing so many Lancashire accents and intonations. Britain’s a fascinating place in that respect. Dialect and accents can change in a very short distance, even in this day and age where TV has had such an impact in introducing homogenised language and Americanisation’s.
The highlight of the day’s been scoffing steaks that the people we’re cat-sitting for were kind enough to leave for us. We’re certainly not starving here as last night we enjoyed some fantastic fish dishes at a local Thai restaurant called the Three Wise Monkeys.
Chu Chee Pla. Seabass in a gorgeous sauce. One of the best I’ve had outside Thailand.Seabass with chili and tamarind.
Tomorrow we’ll be back to the grindstone. Sadly, the weather forecast is looking like the entire week is going to be fairly grim, although I’m still hoping I’ll be able to get out in the surrounding hills for one day at least. If not, I may have to venture further afield. Let’s see…
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Welcome to the first day of our Todmorden sojourn whilst we become surrogate humans to ‘Luna’, our friends young cat. I’ll post a picture of Luna when she finally sits still long enough for me to get one. That may take some time as she’s a young thing – little more than a kitten – although you wouldn’t think that from her size! She’s also just getting used to me being in her space.
Cute…
Dawn went off to do other things this morning, so I caught the train over to Todmorden in order to be ready for feeding time, after which I ventured into town to explore. ‘Tod’ as it’s known to locals isn’t unfamiliar to me. I’ve spent plenty of time here in the past, but that’s always been in transit. Being based here’s a little different.
The town has a curious vibe as it’s an odd mix. There’s the bohemian/old hippy element that’s a spin-off from nearby Hebden Bridge then there’s an undertow of old far-right racism and ‘flag-shagging’. Years ago, when far-right British National Party (BNP) membership list was leaked by an insider Todmorden had an unhealthy number of names attached.
Despite that, the town does have a lot to offer. It has a great market – both indoor and outdoor. Whilst the outdoor offerings change depending on the day, the indoor market has its regulars. There’s few tat stalls, instead it’s a mix of cafes, butchers, sweetshops and grocers. Just how a market should be.
The indoor market.
Tod’s at the junction of two valleys and two rivers. Just outside the market where the two join I spotted this Heron waiting patiently to catch its next meal…
Like many towns, Tod’s changed. A lot of old pubs have closed in recent years which is a shame, but then the place had plenty of them.
Another one bites the dust…
Some have been replaced by micro-pubs based in former shops, which appear to be doing rather well. I visited two, both of which had different characters. The first was the Alehouse on the Burnley Rd, a short walk from the town centre. It has both indoor and outdoor seating. There’s a good range of real ales (although other inebriants are available) and the staff are both friendly and helpful. It feels very much a local pub that’s a meeting point for the community, although strangers like me are made to feel welcome. What I found interesting was the range of accents. Todmorden’s part of West Yorkshire, but it’s borderline Lancashire (in the past its moved counties) and only a few miles from Burnley, so there was a real mix of Lancashire and Yorkshire accents on offer from the folk frequenting the place. Oh, and dogs. It’s a very dog friendly pub – not that the dogs are always friendly with each other!
Moving on into the centre to look for possible places to eat I stumbled across another micro-pub, ‘The Beer Necessities’ which is set back on a cobbled Water Street. This is another long and narrow converted shop on two levels, with a disabled toilet on the lower of the two. The clientele seemed to cover a greater age spectrum than the Alehouse, but that could just be its proximity to the town centre. The atmosphere was really good and its certainly a place I’d visit again.
To be continued…
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After walking over 15 miles up hill and down dale (not to mention up and down a bloody big viaduct) yesterday I’ve been taking it easy on the exercise front. Mind you, I’ve had plenty to do at home, so that’s no bad thing! Much of my day’s been spent editing all the images from yesterday to supply to the magazines that have requested them – along with detailed captions for one. Having prioritised the HS2 shots there’s still many other pictures remaining to caption and add to my Zenfolio website. Hopefully most will be done tomorrow. In the meantime, you can find a far bigger selection of HS2 Curzon St shots here.
I need to get the decks cleared of work tomorrow because Bigland Towers is moving! Not for long you understand, we’re relocating to Todmorden to cat-sit for a week whilst friends are off on holiday.
We’ll both be flitting between the two locations but we’re excited about having feline company again as it’s now 4 years since we lost ‘Jet’, our venerable moggie. In between being a cat servant I’m looking forward to having time to explore photographic opportunities around Todmorden without having to commute from home. Plus, I’ll get to update images like today’s picture which was taken way back in 2013.
Seen over over the rooftops, one of the old ‘Calder valley’ Class 155s crosses the wonky viaduct which bisects the centre of Todmorden on the 28th August 2013. Nowadays these units are based in Hull and rarely make it even as far West as Halifax.
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 