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Category Archives: Musings

No time for blogging…

17 Saturday Aug 2019

Posted by in Musings, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Today’s been our first day back in the disunited Kingdom after our time in Eire. Despite it being a Saturday I’ve had little time to relax (or blog) as there’s too much to do. Most of today’s been taken up editing hundreds of wedding pictures from last weekend as well, as trying to collate all the rail and travel pictures I snapped during our time in Ireland. This has kept me glued to a computer screen all day but at least I’ve broken the back of them now, which is just as well as I have to be in Derby tomorrow night in readiness for the launch of the new East Midlands Rail franchise first thing Monday morning – which means there’ll be some rolling blogs to come as well as yet another batch of photos to add to the queue for editing. At least I’ll have managed a couple of nights at  home this week…

This evening the tempo changes as Dawn and I are heading round to some friends for a meal and chance to catch-up with people after having been away, so expect me to be absent from the internet tonight!

In the meantime, here’s a taster of some of the Irish pictures that’ll appear on my Zenfolio website next week. First off is a view of Cork’s famous English Market

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Meanwhile, over to the East of the city centre, here’s a shot of the railway station, showing a Midleton service waiting to depart from platform 1 which is worked by one of the InterCity DMUs from Mitsui and TCC(Japan). 8 of them were supplied to IR in 1993. The Midleton route only reopened in the past 10 years and it’s been a fantastic success. In the adjacent siding stands one of Irish rail’s 34 strong Class 201 locomotives built by General Motors in 1994. These are used to push/pull the Mk4 coaches on the express workings to Dublin.

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I’ll add the rest of the Irish pictures just as soon as I can. You’ll be able to find the travel ones here and the railway ones here. Oh, I nearly forgot! I’ve also taken quite a few merchant shipping shots around Ireland, If they float your boat (so to speak) you can find them here!

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Easy Sunday.

04 Sunday Aug 2019

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There’s little blogging from me today, other than having time to reflect on the post I wrote about the execrable piece in the Spectator yesterday and add some more ammunition to it. Instead the pair of us have enjoyed a traditional Sunday day of rest. It won’t last of course, which is why it’s to be savoured. We had a brilliant time at Tony Allan’s barbecue yesterday. My Facebook friends will be able to see what I mean. Right now we’re busy preparing for the weeks ahead. I’m off in the morning as there’s two stations left to judge for the ACoRP awards, which entails staying in Norwich tomorrow night. After that I have to head home and get into a different gear as we’re off to Ireland for a while, so expect lots of different blogs over the next week, including several rolling blogs. In the meantime – goodnight!

When the lurgy strikes…

02 Friday Aug 2019

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Today was meant to be a fun day but it’s fallen hostage to several things. Originally, a group of us were meant to be having a very pleasant evening catching-up on a steamship on the Weaver Navigation near the Anderton Lift in Cheshire. Sadly, the weather put paid to that as the torrential rain that’s caused havoc on the transport network and threatened to burst the Toddbrook reservoir dam and devastate the village of Whaley Bridge has also flooded the Weaver Navigation, so the boat trip was off. Instead, a few of us rail folk were going to meet up in Manchester and Tamworth before staying in Warrington overnight as we’ve not had a proper catch-up for months.

However, for me, the dreaded Lurgy had other plans.

This morning I woke up with a temperature accompanied by general aches pains and lassitude that informed me I’d come down with a virus. I doubt it’s much more serious than a cold, but the last thing I wanted to do today was spread the bloody thing to friends. Instead, I’ve had a (rare) day in bed catching up on sleep and some work. This included loading some of the pictures taken over the last couple of days to my Zenfolio website. You can find them here. There was one positive bit of news that buoyed my spirits this morning. The Tories lost the Brecon and Radnor by-election, which has cut Johnson’s Parliamentary majority to one! Well done to all the remain parties for working together! I see the Labour vote collapsed by 12.5%. One would hope the comrades would now wake up and smell the coffee as they’re heading the same way as the Tories. However, I doubt it as ‘Magic Grandad’ is useless and the Corbynistas spend most of their time forming their wagons into a circle around him to hurl insults at anyone who challenges their suicidal tactics of supporting both him and Brexit. It seems beyond their wit to realise that it’s actually floating voters you need to win a general election and spending all your time abusing them because of their lack of ideological purity is a spectacularly dumb idea.

I’ve got a very busy schedule next week as I’m finishing the ACoRP awards judging, then heading off to Ireland for a week to attend a friends wedding as their photographer. Dawn and I are taking the car over via the Holyhead ferry in order to explore Ireland for a few days before and after the main event. Both of us are really looking forward to it as (for me at least) it’ll be chance to catch up with friends and a chance for the pair of us to explore the beauty of the Irish Republic. Thanks to the antics of Boris Johnson and his inept Cabinet it’s going to be an expensive time now that they’ve tanked the pound and it’s perilously close to parity with the Euro. I also feel sorry for the residents of Whaley Bridge too. Not only have they been evacuated from their homes as the nearby dam is a natural disaster waiting to happen, they’ve had to put up with an unnatural one as our disaster of a Prime Minister has graced them with his presence today. Haven’t they suffered enough?

Whilst I’ve manfully struggled on with Lemsips and Kleenex, Dawn’s been shopping in Leeds for a dress to wear for next weeks wedding. At least she’s not had to suffer me sneezing all over her! Tomorrow, if the aches and fever subside, we have a barbecue to attend which is being hosted by our friend Tony of Phoenix Brewery fame. You can tell I’m not feeling 100% as I even turned down going to the Big 6 fun quiz tonight. Instead I’ve settled for a quiet night in with a bottle of beer, some crispy duck and Dawn and I curled up together watching films. That said, after all the travelling I’ve been doing and the nights away, what’s not to like?

 

Papers and pictures everywhere!

30 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, West Yorkshire

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13:45.

I’m having another rare day at home trying to keep on top of admin’ whilst not going stir crazy. The day’s been productive so far with several things ticked off the list and with more to come, plus another tranche of pictures added to my Zenfolio website which you can find here. Right now, I’ve nipped out to do some shopping and get some exercise whilst spending a moment enjoying the view across the valley whilst the sun shines and the thunderstorms build up. We’ve had one brief crack of thunder earlier but the skies are certainly changing now. A phalanx of dark clouds is moving in from the East, whilst the higher, lighter cloud is in full retreat whilst the sun’s caught (high up) between the warring factions. As if acting as an out-runner, the wind’s sprung up to ruffle the trees in Scarr woods.

Looking West towards Sowerby Bridge and on to Manchester

Looking the other way and the thunderstorms are gathering…

Then the skies got darker, and darker and…

21:15.

We’ve had quite a storm! The thunder and lightning passed over pretty quickly, but they left behind a series of heavy showers in their wake which have passed through in a succession for the rest of the day. I’m quite glad I’ve not had to go out tonight and I’m holed up in the dry as it’s a filthy night. It’s given me the excuse to catch up on more paperwork and prepare for another day out on the rails judging the ACoRP awards tomorrow – although I’m not sure how we’ll fare weather-wise. We’ve five stations to visit across the North-West and Cumbria tomorrow, so I expect to get soaked at some point!  It’s going to be a busy week as this will be my only one at home, the rest of the week’s taken up with judging and travelling. Not that I’m complaining you understand, we’ve got some fantastic stations and friends groups to visit. Here’s a look at one station from yesterday as an example. This is Bingley on the electrified Aire valley line from Leeds through to Skipton. It was built by the Midland railway in 1892 to replace the original station further East and it’s a fine example of the work of Charles Trubshaw, one of the Midland’s architects.

DG329693. 333011. Bingley. 29.7.19.crop

A Northern Class 333 EMU calls at Bingley on it’s way back to Leeds. 

DG329705. Station frontage. Bingley. 29.7.19.crop

The main station buildings at street level. Sadly, the classic glazed MR canopies that graced the building were hit by a bus many years ago and removed as a consequence. Both shops/offices that you can see here are currently vacant and available for letting. 

Thankfully the weather was a lot better yesterday and the local station friends were keen to show us what they’d been up to and what their future plans were. I can only hope we get some more good weather like this over the next few days, although I’m not holding my breath! I’ll be doing a rolling blog throughout the day (judging permitting) but don’t expect to learn too much about what the varied groups we visit have been up to. That will be saved for the ACoRP awards later in the year!

Right now it’s time to call it a day and get all my kit cleaned and charged up ready for a busy few days. See you tomorrow.

 

Turn that bloody rain off!

29 Monday Jul 2019

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Christ on a bike! Earlier in the week we were basking in the highest temperatures the UK’s probably ever seen. Today we’re experiencing the levels of rain that make me want to dust off plans for an Ark!

The four of us have had a fantastic weekend in Liverpool. Saturday night at the Cavern Club was great, but today we did something very different and also very sobering after a night on the beer. We visited the Slavery Museum at Liverpool’s Albert Dock. I’d recommend it to anyone but if you’re white and think you’re hard done by, expect to learn some uncomfortable truths. The museum lays bar the true horror of the slave trade and Liverpool’s part in it. The full horror of this obnoxious trade and man’s inhumanity to man is laid bare. To be honest, it’s a lot to take in, so I’d recommend more than one visit.

Unfortunately, the weather in Liverpool was so wet we cut short the day to head back across the Pennines to West Yorkshire. In the event, it wasn’t any better back home. We ended up back in our local pub for a ‘a couple’ then were joined by other friends so that a couple became several – then it started chucking it down. So much do that for the first time we ordered a taxi to get us the short distance home.

Now, whilst Dawn’s digging the pair of us a very nice meal out of the freezer (home made Harissa Chicken) I’ve been busy checking emails as tomorrow I’m back on the road judging stations for the ACoRP awards. it’s ironic to think that last week Mark and I were bothered about the heat. This week it’s not suntan lotion we need to pack – it’s a canoe! We’ve ‘only’ got three (widely spread) stations to visit today, so expect another rolling blog describing the course of the day. Today’s been pretty easy, but here’s a few photo’s to illustrate it.

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Liverpool’s Gay Pride in full swing! 

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Wet but happy! The four of us on the way home.

The political chaos gathers momentum…

22 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Boris Johnson MP, Brexit, Democracy, Musings, Politics

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In a move that will surprise few, Alan Duncan MP has resigned from the Foreign Office. Having suffered the incompetence of Boris Johnson as Foreign Minister it’s clear he’s no intention of serving under him as Prime Minister!

To say this comes at an awkward time is an understatement. The FO still hasn’t recovered from the damage Johnson caused and already has one Minister suspended. Just what we need with the Iranian’s saber-rattling in the Gulf!

Of course Duncan is merely the first one out of the traps and at least he’s stayed in the party. Who’ll be next? Chancellor Philip Hammond has already announced he’ll resign on Wednesday if Johnson wins tomorrow. Plus, there’s newspaper reports that up to six Tory MPs are in discussions with the Liberal Democrats about joining the party.

This really could prove interesting as it would leave Johnson without any majority in Parliament and facing some politically savvy opposition from his own back-benches. Johnson’s not a clever politician. Devious and blustering, yes, but not clever. The cracks are already starting to show and he’s not even taken office yet! The chances of a serious split in the Tory party are becoming more likely, especially if Johnson surrounds himself with ideological Brexit headbangers in his Cabinet. You wouldn’t trust most of them to run a whelk stall, never mind a country.

If only we had an opposition party and Leader worth the name. At this rate, it looks like the Lib-Dems will assume that role. Since I wrote this it’s been announced that Jo Swinson MP has been voted in as the new Lib-Dem leader, making the Labour party the only one of the triumvirate (Labour, Tory & Lib-Dem) to never have elected a woman.

Sowerby sojourn.

20 Saturday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Food and drink, Musings, Sowerby Bridge, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Well, the apocalyptic weather forecasts of heavy rain were rather wide of the mark. Apart from a morning of drizzle, we’ve had a dry day. The skies are still threatening and from our bedroom window I’ve seen the odd shower across the valley but the wind’s so strong that nothing hangs around for very long. Because of this I’ve been able to take breaks from editing pictures and staring at screens to enjoy a couple of long walks through our local woods to get some exercise, burning off some calories before we go out for a meal with friends tonight.

Right now I’m taking a break on the promenade high above the valley to enjoy the views and watch the clouds roll by. I do enjoy coming up here because you can see for miles, as you can see from this picture looking down over Sowerby Bridge.

I can understand why the painter Ashley Jackson likes Yorkshire so much, the weather and the light’s constantly changing. Here’s the view nearby yesterday.

As I sit here now I can see sunlight and shadows constantly scudding across the fields, creating a myriad of patterns, most of which are gone in an instant.

It’s a glorious escape from the political insanity that’s engulfed us. But, like all escapes, it’s only temporary…

16:15.

I can’t believe it’s the same day! Right now I’m sunning myself in the front garden and getting a tan! The weather’s changed completely – as it so often does in this part of the world.

The wind’s still playing havoc with the plants, so I’ve had to repot a couple of the sunflowers to stop them blowing over, but it’s glorious to bask like a lizard for a little while before getting dressed up for dinner.

A wet Friday in West Yorkshire.

19 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by in Musings, Politics, Railways

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It’s been a good day to be stuck at home in the office, catching up on photo editing and paperwork as the weather’s been wet, wet, wet! On the bright side, it means I’ve not needed to water the garden, although the sunflowers have taken a bit of a battering and obviously need some bigger (heavier) pots.

Instead, I spent several hours getting a variety of pictures edited and uploaded to my Zenfolio website. If you follow this link you can find which galleries they’ve been added to. After that It was time to try and get on top of paperwork – a never ending task.

In between the showers I did manage prevent getting corns on my arse by venturing out for an afternoon constitutional, walking up through Scarr Woods and along the promenade in order to stretch my legs and get the blood pumping. That’s not hard around here as it doesn’t matter which direction you leave the house in – it ain’t flat!

Having got a load of work done I ended up spending a few hours working on our much overdue bathroom refurbishment. Talk about trying to keep lots of balls in the air. Finally, I nipped out to join some friends in our local pub to have a crack at the Friday quiz and – in the words of Hercule Poirot, exercise the ‘little grey cells’ suitably lubricated by a pint or two before returning home at a sensible time – hence me now penning this! Having a bit of time to spare I’ve updated yesterdays rolling blog with a few pictures of the stations we visited. As well as getting record shots to use in the judging I did have chance to grab a few more creative pictures, such as this one taken at Stoke-On-Trent station on Wednesday. I love playing around with shadows and light and this was an ideal opportunity as it’s such a big (and mostly blank), canvas

DG328841. Shadows and light. Stoke-On-Trent. 17.7.19.crop

Hopefully, over the next few weeks – and if the weather plays ball – I’ll be in a position to add a few more like this. I’ve certainly got a few in mind but the ACoRP judging schedule’s quite intense, and that’s without my other commissions to consider.

Tomorrow’s going to be another day where the weather forecast says “stay at home”, which we will be doing for most of it, although some of the gang from our local pub (the big 6) are on tour locally. We’re off to enjoy Thai tapas at an excellent restaurant in nearby West Vale called Café Thai.

No doubt I’ll be writing about the day as it unfolds, along with a blogging staple – food pictures! Oh, and at some point there’s going to be some serious spleen-venting as it’s looking increasingly likely we’re going to be electing a British version of Donald Trump. Well, when I say ‘we’, I meant that faction of Tory party members who’ve become part of a death cult. I can’t imagine that it will be long before Boris Johnson makes a complete balls-up of Brexit and Government and possibly (or probably) precipitates a general election. Not every member of the Tory party is a Brextremist, so expect a slew of resignations if Johnson does manage to become Prime Minister.

If only the Labour party would ditch ‘Magic Grandad’ and co…

 

 

 

Another weekend’s over.

14 Sunday Jul 2019

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After a couple of days at home normal service will be resumed in the morning as I’ll be up at Sparrowfart to head down to London once more. I’ve a commission from a client which will see me taking pictures at Upminster IECC, the signal box that controls a large chunk of the local Essex rail network. Next week’s going to be busy as I’m away Wednesday & Thursday on ACoRP awards judging, with a mere nine stations to visit across the East Midlands train network.

It’s all a contrast to the weekend as Dawn and I have had some quality time at home. Today’s been quite a relaxing one which allowed me to catch up with a few chores at home, indulge in a bit of blogging, get out for a walk and plan more of a forthcoming trip to Ireland. We even managed to fit in a visit to our local pub for a couple of pints in the beer garden. Well, when I say ‘we’ I mean me, as Dawn’s decided to give up alcohol as part of a 60 day challenge, so whilst I was enjoying some of Acorn breweries finest Dee was supping bottles of Becks Blue!

I do enjoy these weekends at home because they’re a relaxed contrast to much of my working weeks that can see me travelling from one end of the country to the other and I’m going to be doing plenty of that over the next couple of months!

So, expect a few rolling blogs this next week, starting early tomorrow morning, but for now – goodnight!

Thursday miscellany.

11 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by in Bigotry, Calder Valley, Hs2, Musings, Politics

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Today’s been another mixed day working from home with yet another early start. I ‘commuted’ from bedroom to office before 7am this morning in order to finish finding a whole series of pictures that would allow a client to advertise their wares. It took several hours to finish but I’m glad it’s done and dusted. The added bonus is that it threw up a couple of gaps in my picture library which I can plug later this month whilst doing other work.

Freed from that chore I had time to see that the campaign to keep the HS2 high speed railway in the public eye (especially in the North) has taken another step forward with the release of another report by the High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL). At the same time, Jim Steer of Greengauge 21 had a very good piece in the Yorkshire Post newspaper. This is all a marked contrast to a few years ago. Nowadays the North is very much behind Hs2, with Transport for the North TfN and many others constantly banging the drum for the project and also Northern Powerhouse Rail, which it will form part of.It puts the failed anti Hs2 campaign into perspective. Apart from some on the Tory right who’re still trying to get Hs2 cancelled there’s little evidence of a grassroots anti Hs2 campaign. StopHs2 are very much a joke nowadays with Joe Rukin reduced to making utterly pointless videos for Facebook of him outside the Tory leadership hustings in Carlisle and Nottingham as he’s not been allowed within a million miles of either candidate!Even the few remaining antis on Twitter aren’t up to much, apart from recycling tired and trite spin & the same fake facts they’ve been trotting out for a decade now. Mind you they are good for raising a chuckle every now and then. To say that some of the stuff they trot out on Facebook or Twitter is pure tinfoil hattery is an understatement! If they’re an echo chamber, then that chamber would have been located in Bedlam!

Oh, there has been another bit of good news in the media. The pint-sized fascist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who class himself ‘Tommy Robinson’ has been sent down for 9 months. In one of those great twists of irony that his mouth-breathing supporters will never get, he wore a T-shirt to court that bore the slogan “convicted of journalism”. Yaxley Lennon’s no more a journalist than the next thug in the street. He was jailed for contempt of court, something no real journalist would do as they understand the law. So, what did his supporters do when he was sent down? They attacked real journalists reporting outside Parliament – after trashing a long established pro-EU protest down the road. Now, this is why I say that parallels with the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s are all too real. There’s little doubt that ‘Tommeh’ supporters will to a man (and woman) also be Brexit supporters and the Brexit has made fascism fashionable again. It’s let the genie out of the bottle and it’s also poisoned the body politic – to the extent the Tory party Leadership contest is dominated by it. Each candidate has to swear an oath of loyalty to a belief in Brexit Unicorns, because that’s what the tiny bunch of elderly Tory members want to hear – and damn the consequences for the country and the economy. As each day passes we look more and more like an unstable banana republic – only without the benefits of bananas (curved or straight)!

At least Dawn and I will escape the madness (even if for a few hours) tonight as we’re off to the cinema to see the new ‘Spiderman’ film. If I’ve time I’ll let you know what we think. In the meantime, here’s a picture taken earlier when I managed to get out for a stroll.