Category Archives: Musings

27th June picture of the day…

27 Monday Jun 2022

Posted by in India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Today’s been another mixed bag here at Bigland Towers and one enlivened by having a four-legged friend for company again – even if this canine companion was only on loan for 24 hours!

Dawn was up bright and early as she decided it was her turn to take ‘Bernie’ out for a walk. The pair of them padded off long before breakfast and ahead of the rain clouds that threatened to put a damper on the day.

Absolved of such duties I stayed at home and brewed to coffee, ready for their return. I’d various work jobs on my ‘to do’ list as well as household chores so the day’s pretty much flown by. We bid goodbye to ‘Bernie’ this afternoon as her owner came to collect her. Shame – I could have got used to taking her for a walk via our local pub but that would only have got me into trouble! Still, I managed to get out for a stroll (sans dog, and pub) when the weather brightened up as I had some shopping to do in Sowerby Bridge as well as drop the latest old slide sales into the post.

The brightening evening weather gave me chance to sit and relax in the sunshine on our terrace and top up my Vitamin D before returning to the office in order to relaunch my slide scanning project. I never did manage to finish this during Covid and the reopening of the world’s meant that the final few 1000 pictures have had to take a backseat to other (paying) jobs. Now it’s a question of fitting in scanning around other things, but I wanted to get a load prepped ready to be able to fill in an hour or so if the weather turns.

Another things I’ve relaunched now that my monthly eBay quota is about to renew is selling off original rail slides that are duplicates of ones I’ve already scanned. Expect many hundreds to appear in July, but in the meantime here’s 130 to choose from.

OK, it’s getting late so onto today’s picture, which is one of the latest batch of old slides I’m scanning. This was taken in Chennai, Tamil Nadu India in February 1998. Lynn and I had taken the bus into Channai (Madras as was) for a day, swapping the beach at lovely Mahabalipuram for the frenetic pace of the city. Whilst we were waiting for the bust to depart on the return this group of street-children clambered aboard to hustle. Kids being kids, it wasn’t long before they broke off to play games!

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

26th June picture of the day…

26 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

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It’s been a ‘dolly mixture’ sort of day today due to a combination of factors. As it’s officially the day of rest both of us decided our day wouldn’t be starting at first light and enjoyed the fact we had no commitments until the afternoon – so we relaxed until late morning with coffee and various aspects of the world-wide web to catch up on all manner of things.

The indifferent weather was another good reason for not rushing. Whilst the mercury is certainly teasing the upper end of thermometers clouds were doing their best to make the day unpredictable. My relief was that the cementing of some stone steps I completed yesterday could be uncovered and left to cure as no rain was on its way. The simple pleasures in life, eh?

This afternoon we popped around to help a friend who’s got the mammoth task of clearing out another dearly departed friend’s house. It took us a couple of hours just to examine the stuff they’d hoarded. It’s sad in so many ways. You spend a lot of your life amassing collections of all sorts of stuff and then, when you die, it’s up to others to decide what to do with it. I’m glad that I’ve shaken off the collecting bug and now my life’s about downsizing rather than cluttering. As they say – you can’t take it with you – either when you’re travelling, or to the afterlife…

Afterwards we headed over to other friends as tonight we’re dog-sitting. It’s something we’d never have been able to do whilst we had our revered and ancient moggie (Jet) as he couldn’t tolerate other cats. A dog? There would have been hell to pay! But now we can, and ‘Bernie’, our friends cockapoo is getting used to our home for the night. She’s a lovely dog who seems quite relaxed about being with us for the for awhile. I took her out for a walk earlier which she loved as there’s so many unusual smells around here due to the combination of woodland and wildlife that surround us. I even took her to our local (dog friendly) pub which raised a few eyebrows as people aren’t used to me having a canine in tow. She was an instant hit!

Now we’re back at home, winding down ready for another busy week. So, for today’s picture, allow me to introduce you to ‘Bernie’…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

22nd May picture of the day…

22 Sunday May 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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After our brief visit to Surrey the pair of us are now back in West Yorkshire – although that’s for just one night for me. We left Tilford this morning to drive back North. With it being Sunday the roads were pretty quiet all the way until we hit the M1 motorway which proved to be a real pain in the arse. Almost as soon as we hit it after coming off the A43 we hit traffic and then a tailback caused by an accident North of Watford Gap services. We also left the good weather behind which was a double blow. Something else that was left behind was motorists common-sense. The way some folk were driving was atrocious – hence us passing a second accident further North. At least we made it home without getting caught up in anything more than traffic.

Roll on being back on rails – which will be tomorrow for me. It’s the start of Community Rail Week and I’ll be covering a couple of the events, starting with an event in Bradford and Bingley tomorrow. After that I’ll be heading down South again in a different role(s) as Crossrail opens to the public on Tuesday which promises to be a really exciting day. That done I’ll be back up North as it’s Dawn’s birthday, but then I’ve go to hot-foot it down to Kent for another Community Rail Week event on Thursday. Hopefully – unless things change -as they often do, I’ll be home on Friday.

So, there’s lots of rolling blogs and pictures to come. For now I’ll end with a picture from today’s travels and why I much prefer rail to road.

This was the front vehicle in a shunt consisting of half a dozen cars on the M1 North of Watford Gap services today.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

21st May picture of the day…

21 Saturday May 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Surrey

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After yesterdays travels today’s been a quiet one so there’s only a short blog from me. I’ve been in Tilford most of the day, enjoying the weather and chance to feel the sun on my skin again. I have done some work, all yesterday’s pictures are edited and awaiting their captions so they’ll appear on my Zenfolio website soon. In the afternoon Dee and I popped into Guildford to pick up some bits which is always enjoyable as it’s a fine little town with a variety of independent shops and more upmarket chains than you’ll find in our neck of the woods. Needless to say, with the weather being so good the town was packed.

We only stayed for a couple of hours then returned to Tilford where I went for an evening wander and dropped by the local pub to watch the cricket. It’s a quintessentially English scene, sat outside the pub with the locals watching the local team playing on the green opposite. So, here’s today’s picture (with a bonus).

Cricket on the green outside the Barley Mow in Tilford.

Tomorrow we return to Yorkshire, but only for a while for me. I’ve got a hectic week that’ll see me traversing the country once more on various assignments. Watch out for a few rolling blogs…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

18th May picture of the day…

18 Wednesday May 2022

Posted by in Berlin, Germany, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Today’s been a catching-up sort of day but also a long one. The pair of us were up early, Dee because she had work stuff to sort out on-site rather from home and me because I’d lots of picture editing to plough through whilst I still had the time – because tomorrow the pair of us head South to Surrey for a few days.

Whilst the day’s been busy the sunny weather did tempt me to venture out for more than my daily constitutional, so much so I’ve nearly 10 miles under my belt today as I wandered down into Sowerby Bridge to pick up some shopping then meandered back along the canal and tarried in the local woods before hitting home. The Calder Valley looks glorious this time of year and the views should be savoured. Much as I miss Asia, days like this are a form of recompense. Sitting outside the house in the sunshine whilst sorting out paperwork certainly beats being holed-up in a claustrophobic office.

However, tomorrow’s all-change. I’ve my regular appointment over in Milnsbridge tomorrow which will see me out and about. Afterwards the pair of us will be travelling to Surrey for a few days whilst Dee fills in for her brother to be there for her nephew and niece whilst he’s away. I’m coming along too to offer support and because I’ve things I can do in that neck of the woods. Have camera (and laptop) – will travel! Expect a few rolling (and not so rolling) blogs whilst we’re away – and many more the week after as I’m going to be doing a lot of travelling.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which is one from our recent trip to Berlin, Germany and that encapsulates the country’s torrid history in the 20th Century.

In the foreground is the ‘Topography of Terror‘, a museum documenting the systemic atrocities carried out by the Nazi regime before and during World War 2. The museum is on the site of the former Gestapo HQ where so much of the terror was organised from. In the background bordering Niederkirchnerstraße is a large chunk of the former Berlin wall. It’s not an easy place to visit. There’s something spine-chilling about the way the Nazis turned the extermination of millions of people into a bureaucratic exercise, as if it was a normal inventory, not a mass slaughter.

The fact the site is bounded by one of the largest fragments of the Berlin wall that still exists in the centre of the city adds another dimension.

I have to admit, I love Berlin as a city, even if its history can sometimes be uncomfortable. It’s shaken that past off now, although reunification still causes echo’s and ripples. I’m looking forward to going back later this year for business rather than pleasure – although visiting the city’s always a pleasure!

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

15th May picture of the day…

15 Sunday May 2022

Posted by in Halifax, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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After a busy week we’ve had a quiet weekend here at Bigland Towers. Catching up on sleep was important as next week’s going to be another active and varied one – as will be the next few. Saturday’s weather was glorious with lots of sunshine and balmy temperatures, so the pair of us decided to walk into Halifax and visit the Piece Hall where a friend was exhibiting some of her charcoal artwork as part of a charity fundraising sale. The building and its internal square was packed with people enjoying the weather, bars and shops. It’s such a special place that it’s sometimes hard to remember that you’re actually in West Yorkshire and not somewhere in Italy.

Today the weather’s not been as generous although the threatened rain never materialised. Not that it mattered as we didn’t venture outside until late afternoon when we enjoyed a long stroll around the local area in order to get in some exercise. Halifax possesses some fascination old buildings, many of which have been repurposed over the years, so a wander invariably ends up in a game of ‘guess the house’s original purpose’.

Now we’re back at home and relaxing for the evening. Dawn’s cooking roasted vegetables with lamb rolls and I’m catching up on a spot of picture editing, trying to clear the backlog of pictures I’ve taken over the past few days. OK, it’s not exactly the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle, but it suits us! Although talking rock and roll (and the Piece Hall, we’ll be back there twice over the next few weeks to see Nile Rogers and Chic, then Paloma Faith.

I’ll leave you now with today’s picture, which was taken at the Piece Hall yesterday, just so you can see what I mean about the building…

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

Rolling blog. Wandering…

05 Thursday May 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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09:30.

It’s Thursday so it’s time for my weekly visit to the ‘other’ valley (the Colne) and Milnesbridge. I’m taking a modified route this week but it still involves walking, trains and canals. I’ll be blogging through the day as I travel, so feel free to pop in and see what I get up to….

10:30.

Having walked down into Sowerby Bridge instead of through to Halifax I’m on my first train of the day, Northern’s 10:22 to Leeds which will carry me as far as Dewsbury. This turned out to be a wise choice as the onboard Passenger Information System (PIS) screen shows onward connections and I noticed the Grand Central service I used last week is cancelled. That would have really screwed me up! Instead I’m on a quiet 3-car Class 195 and stress-free as I’ve time in the bank.

Today’s a good day for a wander. The Mercury is creeping up and the sun is shining through high broken clouds so I’m glad I’ve brought the camera. Plus, it’s interesting to observe early progress on the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU). There’s nothing major to see yet but preperations are much in evidence. Many new safe access to trackside walkways have been installed, existing work compounds enlarged with many new ones being built. Vegetation clearance has been carried out over the past few years (with more needed).

11:00.

My visit to Dewsbury was brief – around 10 minutes. I had just enough time to grab some shots of this attractive and well-maintained station before moving on. As well as being good-looking the station boasts a good little cafe and the excellent West Riding refreshment rooms with its great range of real ales.

My next train was a six-car TPE service fromRedcar to Manchester Airport. Unlike the Northern train it was rammed. A situation exacerbated by the number of students here at Dewsbury who were travelling to college in Huddersfield. Being wedged in a TPE vestibule felt like the old days had returned!

11:30.

Like the students, I decamped at Huddersfield. Running earlier than last week I had plenty of time to buy a delicious bacon roll and coffee at the cafe and get some pictures before my next train.

A few weeks ago this area between the tracks at the East end of Huddersfield was a mass of Buddleia. Now it’s all been cleared, reopening photo opportunities that disappeared several years ago.

12:55.

Everything came together. My train arrived in Slaithwaite on time and the walk along the Huddersfield narrow canal was even easier this week as a lot more of the towpath has been resurfaced. I made it in under 50 minutes. Here’s a view from my journey.

OK, back later…

16:15.

I’m back!

Meeting over I had a mooch around Milnsbridge for an hour and checked out a photo location I’ve not visited before on the road bridge high above the railway to the west of the viaduct and next to the old goods yard. Here’s the view looking West towards Slaithwaite

It won’t look like this in a few years time! Here’s looking in the opposite direction as 802208 comes off the viaduct and passes the site of Milnesbridge goods yard which is now an industrial estate.

Right now I’m back at Huddersfield waiting for the 16:35 to Halifax and basking in the sun as I do so. There appears to be quite a few traincrew issues today with several services (Northern to Sheffield and TPE to Redcar) cancelled with staff shortages being given as the reason. At least my train’s turned up in the shape of a refurbished ex-West Yorkshire PTE Class 158.

22:00.

I’n now home and putting this rolling blog to bed as I’ve got to pack. Why? Because tomorrow our little gang (the 5 from the 6) are off to Berlin for a few days. It’s mine and Dawn’s first trip outside the UK since the pandemic, so we’re really looking forward to it. The next week or so will see me doing a lot of travelling and touring as well as attending a trade fair back in the UK, so expect lots more blogs to come – starting tomorrow when our merry band make our way to Germany via Manchester Airport…

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

2nd May picture of the day…

02 Monday May 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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We’ve had another low-key day here at Bigland Towers. It’s a bank holiday Monday so (of course) the weather’s been dull and wet! Not that it mattered as we spent most of our time pottering around indoors, catching up on a few chores but generally taking it easy. Well, isn’t that what bank holidays are for?

Later in the day we did sally forth to brave the drizzle and walked down to Sowerby Bridge which was surprisingly quiet, but then many restaurants were closed as the bank holiday coincided with the end of Ramadan and the Eid festival. Still, we enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs and watch ‘newbies’ cautiously navigating their first locks on canal narrowboats they’d hired from local operator Shire Cruises. We stayed long enough to have a couple of drinks in less than packed local pubs before strolling back along the canal, where we kept an eye out for this season’s ducklings. We passed a couple of broods en-route and it’s fascinating to see how different in size the little beggars are when there’s literally only a few days between the hatchings. These little balls of down certainly grow up fast. Heading back uphill from the canal we traversed our local woods which are ablaze with carpets of Bluebells, making it a lovely time of the year for a woodland walk.

So, here’s today’s picture – from said woods…

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

1st May picture of the day…

01 Sunday May 2022

Posted by in India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Well, that’s another month ticked off on the calendar, we’re now in May although the weather belies that fact. It’s bleedin’ chilly up here in the Pennines. The days may be getting longer but the temperatures aren’t keeping up with the spirit of the seasons. Today’s drab conditions meant that neither Dawn or I have been particularly active, instead we’ve spent most of the day recharging our batteries and pottering around at home, sorting out bits and bobs for the future and our impending trip to Berlin.

Late in the day we did slip into another gear, Dee headed for the kitchen to prepare us a gorgeous evening meal (lamb and lots of veg) whilst I made it outside for a semblance of exercise by walking for an hour but failing miserably to hit my daily targets. Ho hum! Still, it’s a bank holiday weekend, so I’m not going to beat myself up too much – at least it’s not all been spent in a pub! Plus, tomorrow’s another day…

What I have managed to do to redeem myself is get more old railway slides sorted ready for sale on eBay. You can find out what’s on offer by following this link. Right now there’s over 500 diverse slides that include rail images from the UK, Malaysia, India and Ireland – with hundreds more to add. The next batch will feature some historic shots – one of which is today’s picture of the day.

Back in 1991 I visited India which still had hundreds of steam locomotives working on both the broad gauge and metre gauge networks. They weren’t in isolated areas either. Steam could still be found in the capital, New Delhi. I managed to blag my way around the steam shed at Old Delhi railway station. The dilapidated state of the she was reminiscent of pictures of the end of British steam back in 1968. So, watch out for this slide being offered for sale tomorrow. Here’s one of the majestic WP Class broad-gauge 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ locomotives seen on the 17th October 1991.

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

25th April picture of the day…

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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I’ve had a few days off blogging to concentrate on more family orientated activities over the weekend and also to spend time ploughing through 100s of old slides that are surplus to requirements and have now ended up on eBay. Like the scanning and editing of their luckier cousins it’s a long, laborious process getting them prepared for sale but by the end of today I’ve added over 500 UK, Indian, Irish and Sri Lankan railway pictures to my account. You can find them here. Prices start from £1.99 but each image is in an auction as many go for a lot more – so place your bids now. The first sale ends in a couple of days with each tranche being made available for 5-7 days before the sales close. I’ve still several hundred more slides to add which I’ll be doing over the next week or so. There’s also other railway memorabilia (badges, notebooks, branded merchandise, old TOC souvenirs etc) to add which I’ll do as time allows.

However, tomorrow I’m having a day away from the scene. The weather’s been rather mixed of late. There’s been a fair bit of sun but the wind has taken the shine off it (so to speak) leaving the temperature feeling decidedly chilly. The forecast’s not much better tomorrow but an old friend will be gracing West Yorkshire with his presence so I’ve arranged to meet up with Richard Clinnick, late of RAIL and the International Railway Journal who’s taken over as editor of Inside Track magazine, one of the stable of magazines published under the Rail Business Daily flag which I’m also lucky enough to write for. No doubt my day out will include a rolling blog and a few pictures from within ‘God’s own country’ as I’ll be journeying to and from Sheffield for our rendezvous.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is of rather a railway bywater nowadays, although at one time this was the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway’s main line from Liverpool to Manchester. Engineered to the gradients you’d expect of a main line it boasts some substantial structures, but now it ends at a set of bufferstops at Kirkby in Merseyside where the line from Wigan ends. You have to change trains and catch a Merseyrail electric train to get to Liverpool nowadays. I took this shot on my day out last week. It’s from Rainford, which was once a busy junction. Nowadays it’s the end of the double-track line from Wigan but it still possesses a signalbox and semaphore signals as trains need to collect the single-line token to proceed West. Miraculously, it still carries freight to/from a waste terminal near Knowsley where ‘binliner’ trains remove containerised trash to landfill at Wilton in Teeside.

150143 working a Kirkby to Blackburn service passes 66187 hauling empty ‘binliner’ containers from Wilton to Knowsley whilst being protected by traditional semaphore signals – an increasingly rare sight on UK railways.

I’ve a 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!