Welcome to my first (but very definitely not the last) blog of 2023. New Years day was a quiet one here at Bigland Towers, although we popped out for drinks with friends ‘early doors’ on New Years eve we were back at home well before the year rolled on and had a quiet night counting down to midnight. Just the two of us, plus ‘Bernie’, a miniature cockapoo dog that we’re looking after for friends whilst they’re away on holiday.
New year’s day was in very much the same vein although Dawn couldn’t keep herself out of the kitchen despite having spent much of Christmas down in Surrey cooking for her family. I can’t complain as Dee prepared a fantastic Flemish beef stew and roast vegetables which made a fantastically tasty start to the year. In the meantime, I’ve begun to plan my Far-Eastern adventure in earnest which has involved a lot of research into seeing what’s changed since I was last out there in 2017. Well, Covid’s had a huge impact obviously and some places still have restrictions that we (perhaps foolishly) gave up on in 2021, but it’s the logistics of travel that have changed too as (for example) Malaysia’s redeveloped a lot of its rail network and Thailand is following suit. A few days before I arrive in Bangkok their massive new multi-level station at Bang Sue (now renamed Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal) will start receiving long-distance rail services instead of the old Hualamphong station. The full changeover isn’t expected to happen for several years but first services will run on the 19th February after a delay of several years.
Researching the changes meant I spent a lot of time digging through archive photos on my Zenfolio website only to realise that some pictures are missing. This is due to the fact I’d originally used the free hosting site ‘Photopic’. Sadly, the people who bought photopic off its creator were financial and business incompetents who pulled the plug on it in 2010. These idiots had no idea what a rich historical resource that contained millions of pictures from 10s of 1000s of worldwide contributors they were trashing. Many people lost entire collections. I didn’t as I only used it as a shop window. I’d kept the originals on hard-drives, but it took me several years to migrate my old pictures to my new Zenfolio website. Unfortunately, when I first went digital in 2004 I made a cardinal error. Rather than keeping one archive I divided it up into different folders (railways, travel etc.) which made it much harder to keep track of individual pictures. Some folders got filed away and never saw the light of day for years. In 2010 I learned from my mistake and kept a yearly folder containing everything I’d taken that year – no matter what the subject.
I found one ‘lost’ folder today which contains some of those missing pictures. They’re from Malaysia in 2009 and one of them is today’s picture as it reflects the changes I’ll be seeing in that country’s rail transport. The only thing in this picture that I believe still exists today are the two coaches.
Here’s the ‘international train’ that ran between Butterworth in Malaysia and Bangkok in Thailand. This view was taken at Butterworth (the station for Penang Island) on the 9th February 2009. The two sleeper coaches belong to the State Railways of Thailand whilst the engine is Malaysian. Well – sort of! It was one of 39 ex-Indian Railways Class YDM4s that were leased to KTMB for many years to cover a motive power shortage. Surplus to requirements in their home country due to the conversion of the meter-gauge network to broad gauge some pitched up here.
The coaches would be hauled by the KTMB loco from Butterworth to the border station of Padang Besar where there would be a customs check)and a loco change. An SRT loco would then take the coaches and passengers forward to Hat Yai where they’d be attached to the rear of an overnight sleeper train to Bangkok which would arrive in the Thai Capital the next morning. It was a fantastic (and cheap) way to travel between the two countries as well as a superb way to enjoy the scenery.
Nowadays you get an electric train from Butterworth to Padange Besar. After a wait you catch an SRT day train to Hat Yai where you join a sleeper service to the capital. I’ll be doing this trip in February so I’ll key you know what it’s like now.
If you want to see more of my old pictures of Malaysian railways check out these galleries.
One thing I’ve promised myself is that whilst I’m away these next few months I’ll rationalise these galleries by country and separate out the railways, travel and other transport images. It’s one of those classic ‘when I get around to it’ jobs that never seem to happen! In the meantime, expect a lot of new pictures and blogs from that neck of the woods over the next couple of months – starting very soon…
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/
I’m sitting here at the keyboard trying to work out how to make sense of such a tumultuous year without disappearing into repetitious rambling so I’m going to use a few headings to help – although there’s bound to be a few crossovers in the subjects. Let’s face it, it’s been one hell of a year, both in the UK and wider world, so it’s no surprise the the Collins dictionary word of the year 2022 is “permacrisis” – it sums up the situation perfectly. Having seen the back of Donald Trump and with Covid looking like it was burning itself out with no more nasty mutations the year started with some hope, but that was soon dashed.
Politics
On 24th February Russia invaded the Ukraine. ‘Special military operation’ (as the Russians called it) my arse, this was a full scale attempt to annex to country. It’s led to the largest refugee situation in Europe since world war two (both Ukrainian, and Russians who’ve fled their own country), along with the most destructive and devastating war since 1939. It’s also looking likely to lead to the collapse of Russia as it’s clear the war was a disastrous miscalculation of the part of Vladimir Putin. The pressures on the Russian economy due to sanctions plus the increasing lawlessness within the country as conscripts return from the war, disillusioned (and often with smuggled weapons) and the increasing isolation of the country are threads that are unwinding the fabric of the nation. It’s hardly surprising. Ordinary Russians are being kept tin the dark by their Government, but the scale of the Russian losses in men and equipment estimated by the Ukrainians (and others like the Oryx website) are staggering.
The knock-on effects across Europe and the UK have been huge. The British economy, already reeling from Covid, Brexit and 12 years of increasingly chaotic mismanagement by the Tories was then hit by massive increases in energy costs. In short. It’s a shit-storm and sadly, there’s no sign of it getting better in 2023. The Tories have run out of ideas (other than feathering their own nests) but they seem to have an endless supply of hopeless and hapless Prime Ministers. You may have thought serial liar Boris Johnson and his ‘oven ready’ Brexit deal was bad but after a painfully long election process Liz Truss said ‘hold my beer’ and managed to crash the UK economy and make the UK an international laughing-stock in just 49 days – the shortest tenure any British Prime Minister. Then there was the death of the Queen, which paralyzed the UK at the same time. Cards on the table (to quote right-wing Twitter trolls) – I’m not a monarchist, although having met many (including the late Queen and her husband) of them I have no problem with the people, just the institution. Most Brits have no idea how that institution has an impact on their daily lives as all they see is the pomp and circumstance – or read about the bitching that goes on in the UK press about them as a useful diversion from the real world. The Romans had ‘bread and circuses’, we have the spectator sport of Harry and Meghan vs the Palace as part of the extension of the right-wingers ‘war on woke’. It fills the news media to keep you distracted and stops you looking at the bigger picture.
Unabashed after their ousting of Boris Johnson – then Liz Truss, the Tory party then turned to an also ran – Rishi Sunak, a multi-millionaire who’s so out of touch his PR stunt serving food to homeless people went so spectacularly wrong a team of comedy writers would have dismissed it as too far-fetched. ‘Do you work in business’? Oh, FFS! With this bunch unashamedly clinging onto power for as long as they possibly can (2024) the new year looks to hold little cheer. It’s clear Rishi Sunak is a weak leader, but then his party is ungovernable. It’s riven by factions and dominated by swivel-eyed loons inside and outside the cabinet. Privately (and not so privately) many of them realise that they next election is lost, the question now is how much damage they’ll do before they’re turfed out when the votes are cast. There’s a lot of nest-feathering going on at the expense of ordinary people and I doubt the extent of the corruption will be revealed until (and unless) the next government hold some enquiries. The current situation goes to prove the old adage that oppositions don’t win elections, Governments lose them. Labour under Keir Starmer have vanquished the ghost of Jeremy Corbyn, the man who gifted the Tories such a huge majority in 2019 (cue howls of outrage, bluster and selective statistics from Corbynistas) but that’s all they’ve done. People will vote for them out purely for the fact they’re the only way to oust the Tories – not because they feel inspired by them. Starmer’s strategy to pretend he can make Brexit work may be seen as clever politicking, but it doesn’t make him look honest – and we desperately need a return to honest politics after so many years of lies and deceit. In the meantime, Brexit will continue to unravel. It’s painfully obvious that it’s a turd that can’t be polished but Brexit is like a religion to some, it’s an article of faith and they’ll cling onto it. But faith can’t make fiction fact and the economic harm its doing to the UK will continue to manifest itself no matter how deep its adherent stick their heads in the sand. Now people can travel again it’s not hard to see the disparity when you cross the channel. The EU hasn’t collapsed as predicted, supermarket shelves are full and despite the energy crisis caused by the war, living standards (and wages) are higher. Not only that but other countries are still clamouring to join the EU. In fact on January 1st Croatia adopted the Euro as its currency and also joined Schengen (the free travel area). It’s easy to see just how isolationist and out of step the UK is. Europe’s going forward and we’re going backwards.
Railways
It’s been another torrid time on the UK rail network. Just as the system seemed to be recovering from Covid and passenger numbers growing far quicker than many pessimists predicted we’ve had a series of debilitating strikes with central government and the unions at loggerheads. Whilst regional governments in Scotland and Wales are willing to compromise and find a way forward through pay agreements, central government ain’t. They see it as a trial of strength and a way of shoring up their collapsing vote (have you seen the opinion polls recently?) by playing hardball to pander to their hardcore. We’ve had the worst Transport Minister for decades (Grant Shapps) followed by a revolving door. In the meantime, the Treasury (as always) are dictating terms via the DfT and there’s no sign of any political coherence – much less a strategic plan that will last longer than the next Ministerial appointment. It’s a depressing time when there’s so many real issues needing serious answers – and a long term plan (hello ‘climate change’ anybody? That you despair. On the bright side, Crossrail – sorry the Elizabeth line – opened on the 24th May and proved to be a massive success, as many of us knew it would be. The expression ‘build it and they will come’ is appropriate for so many UK rail projects – and sod the useless and BCR (Benefit Cost Ratio) calculations which so often prove to be that conservative they’re useless. A fag-packet would be embarrassed to have them scrawled on its back.
London’s East End never used to look like this! This is the new Crossrail interchange station at Whitechapel. Once the territory of ‘Jack the Ripper’. Murder it ain’t!
The dumb thing? The future of the railways should be a no-brainer due to the need to get modal shift from road/air to rail to tackle climate change. But then you have the problem of competing political ideologies and the fact the Tories are underpinned by so many crazies from the libertarian far-right who’re doing their best to pretend it’s not real. Thankfully, they’ve not managed to stop the majority of building High-Speed 2. Forget the Nimbys and protesters, they never had nay political clout, it was people close to Boris ‘two-faced’ Johnson who’ve done the most damage to the project by paring away at it without any credible replacement, timetable or plan. The bright side? The next Labour government (because that’s what we’ll have) have committed to building HS2 in full. What will drag on is the interminable and utterly pointless political arguments over privatisation vs nationalisation which is a distraction from actually making the railways work for everyone. ‘Great British Railways’ is now dead. The reorganisation’s stalled, but we have no idea what will replace it. Instead we have the classic British ‘buggers muddle’ with the railways caught between a rock (the Treasury) and a hard place (The Dept of Transport), made worse by a Government that has no idea what it’s doing, other than trying to cling on to power. Here in West Yorkshire we do have some things to look forward to as at least the Trans-Pennine route upgrade is going ahead, although that’s still a mixed picture. We know what it will look like East of Huddersfield as far as Dewsbury where work’s already started, but we’ve no real idea how it will look Westwards, or how this supposed new line from Liverpool that’s (somehow) going to end in the village of Marsden will happen – if it ever does as there’ll be another election before work even starts!
Travel
I’ve been fortunate to have several breaks from the Septic Isle in 2022, Most of which have involved working (and meeting friends) in Germany which gives a completely different perspective from this bizarre up it’s own arse island nation many people choose to be marooned on. Then the pair of us had a a fortnight in Greece, which showed us another side. Funny how Rhodes – despite it being an island – didn’t suffer the supermarket shortages and empty shelves that have become a matter of routine in the UK – and that includes from imported goods. Once could almost imagine being in a customs union and single-market had advantages! Now, in the new year I’m preparing to take a break from Britain for a couple of months and catch up with old friends and happenings in South-East Asia. No doubt the contrasts to the UK will be very interesting, expecially as I’ll be starting in Singapore, the island state that some Tories touted as their aspiration for the Brexit Britain, with London becoming Singapore on Thames. It was all bollocks of course.
2023. Things to look forward to…
I’d love to be able to say ‘a general election’ but that’s extremely unlikely! Instead I’m looking forward to a Russian defeat and Ukrainian victory this year. I’m hopeful that there might be some economic cheer too but with this lot in charge I’d suggest that will be more down to luck and the actions of others than the Government. I’m also looking forward to seeing High Speed 2 construction proceeding apace. The project passed some impressive milestones in 2022, the anti HS2 rebellion collapsed as their camps were swept away and the few remaining occupants scattered to the four winds. I’ll be visiting as many locations as I can in 2023 to report on progress.
In the meantime, let me wish you all a peaceful and optimistic New Year and all the best for 2023.
Thanks for popping by and reading some of the 264 blogs I published in 2022. This site had 72,006 views from 115 nations last year plus several donations towards helping me cover the (not inconsiderable) costs of running my blog. Thank you one and all! And finally, a big thank you (and love) to Dawn, my wife, for putting up with me disappearing many an evening to pen one of these blogs. Thanks Babe!
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/
‘Tis only a short blog from me tonight as the wanderer has returned. After spending Christmas with her parents and brother plus his two teenage children Dawn has returned to God’s own country (as I’m reliably informed Yorkshire has to be called). I’ve been in a flurry of activity in anticipation, finishing of various DIY projects on the cottage, then giving the place a good clean and tidy-up to make the place seem as welcoming as possible and the homecoming relaxing. So, tonight I’m on cokking and everything else duty.
Fortunately, we’ve had an incredibly mild day, so I could fling open the windows and give the cottage a good airing to banish the smell of fresh paint and other fumes. Well, until this afternoon, when the weather everted to type and the rain returned. Thankfully, as we live high up on the side of the Calder Valley we get advance warning – as this picture taken from our bedroom window this afternoon shows.
Rain sweeps in from the West up the Calder valley and envelops Sowerby Bridge
Once the rain departed the gales arrived, making it a very blustery afternoon indeed – as I found out when I ventured to the shops to stock up on some post festive season provisions. At least the extra weight added a bit of ballast, which was sorely needed when I crested the hill at Spring Edge.
Back home I had time in between chores to admire the local birdlife which is thoroughly enjoying the Oats and cooked rice I’ve been leaving out for them. Today’s visitors included Magpies, Doves, Thrushes, Blackbirds and this feathered staple of Christmas cards.
Seen from my office window at the back of the house (with the aid of a 400mm lens), a Robin perches on our wall before scoffing more of the oats and rice I’ve been leaving out. Birds seem to love them and it’s a damn sight cheaper than commercial birdfeed.
Right, time to go. See you tomorrow…
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/
I’ve had another ‘Groundhog day’ here at Bigland Towers, mainly because the weather seems to be stuck on ‘rinse and repeat’! I woke up early this morning in order to carry on with various DIY bits but the weather was so gloomy and wet the day took many hours to catch up with me. Venturing out with the camera seems pointless when the visibility’s so bad, the rain so persistent and the wind so gusting. Instead, I’ve stayed home in the warm and dry to tick a few more jobs off the list of stuff that needs doing around the cottage. That said, there’s several outdoor jobs on the list but they’re going to have to wait. I’m not climbing ladders to clear out gutters in this! I had a much less windswept time wielding paintbrushes and replacing the flush on the toilet instead. Not exactly the rock and roll lifestyle but hey – I’m going travelling for a couple of months!
I dis have one moment of angst before setting off for my daily constitutional (fully suited and booted in full waterproofs, of course) when it came to sticking a second load of washing in the machine ready for when I got back. For some reason I couldn’t get the damn thing to work. A small, friendly door symbol kept flashing but I hadn’t a clue what it meant. I couldn’t find the manual for said machine so, after much muttering and swearing I went online and download a copy from the Bosch website (thank God for the internet). Several pages and many more minutes later I identified the problem. Earlier on I’d accidentally applied the bloody child lock – not a feature I’ve ever had to bother with, so I had no idea such a device existed!
Now I’m winding down for the day, sitting in the office and finishing off a few more slide scans whilst the smell of fresh paint permeates the cottage. Outside the wind is howling and the rain’s battering the front windows but as I don’t have to go anywhere I don’t care. Plus, I have wine…
Right, on to the picture of the day. I’ve chosen another from the series of new slide scans which were shot at Varanasi, India in 1998. This one I’ve titled ‘when east meets west’.
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/
Apologies for my absence these past couple of days, but Hey – it’s Christmas and I’ve given myself a couple of evenings off. Besides, you probably wouldn’t want to read post pub blogs and I wasn’t keen to write ’em!
Christmas day was a quiet one here at Bigland Towers due to the fact I was on my ‘Jack Jones’ as Dawn is down in Surrey with her family whilst I’m at home catching up on some DIY and various bits before I bugger off to Asia in January. The rail strikes put paid to any ideas that I might have had about days away but then so has the weather which has been extremely wet here in West Yorkshire. So even if I’d the wherewithal to get anywhere all that would’ve happened is I’d have got soaked. It was bad enough walking to and from the pub!
I wasn’t entirely ‘billy no mates’ on Christmas day as my local (The Big 6) was open between 12-3pm to provide sanctuary and a stress-free environment to Xmas refugees. No family arguments, no hyperactive children, just a few adults enjoying respite care! That feeling of normality (well, apart from the rash of Xmas jumpers of course ) was welcome and it was lovely to catch up with a few people before returning home to the paintbrushes.
Boxing day was not dissimilar as I popped back to the Big 6 in the evening for a ‘swifty’ after a day of DIY and also scanning some old slides. I’ve been very remiss on that front over the past few months. My good intention to have all my old slides scanned by the end of the year has gone out of the window as I’ve still several thousand to get through. Realistically, I’m not going to get them finished before 2024, but at least I’ve made small dent in them today. Otherwise it was a question of sitting and watching paint dry (no, really!).
Tomorrow’s meant to be yet another crap day weather-wise, but I’ve plenty to do indoors before Dawn gets back. Right now, I’ll leave you with pictures from the past few days.
Showers and rainbows across the Calder Valley on my stroll to the pub. Beer and convivial company in the Big 6 on Christmas dayHere’s one of today’s slide scans. Here’s the ghats on the river Ganges at Varanasi, on of the holy Hindu sites seen from out boat on the river at dawn one morning in February 1998. It really is a special place but sometimes difficult for Westerners to get to grips with as religion is part of everyday life (and death) here in a way it hasn’t been in much of Europe for a very long time.
It’s been a quiet Christmas Eve here at Bigland Towers. Dawn departed yesterday, heading down to Surrey with her folks to meet up with her Brother and his family for the annual Platt family get-together. This year I’ve stayed behind in order to do some work to the cottage before I head off to Asia so part of today’s been spent filling and sanding the back door in readiness for painting, a job that’ll keep me occupied tomorrow. It’s not your traditional Xmas I know, but I’ve never really been that big on such things. For many years I was either in Asia over the festive season or donning orange PPE to work on various Christmas holiday blockades for Network Rail. At least this holiday I’m allowed to have a drink!
I did take some time off to enjoy the sunny weather and stroll into Halifax for a mooch around. I have to admit the place is growing on me. I never really spent much time in the town when I first moved up here from London, but the town’s changed since those days. It’s become quite a vibrant place due to the fantastic restoration of the Piece Hall, along with the amount of micro-pubs that have opened. There’s still a good range of shops too, unlike nearby Huddersfield which feels very much in decline. Plus, there’s some wonderful architecture around town, making it an attractive place to explore. I keep meaning to have a day out with the camera to capture some of the details but never seem to get around to it. Today I left the camera bag at home, which made it really feel like a holiday!
I wasn’t the only one in the holiday spirit as the town centre was really busy with many of the pubs, bars and cafes doing a good business, which was good to see. I popped into the lovely Victorian craft beer cafe for a pint and spot of people-watching before walking back for a quiet night at home and chance to catch up on paperwork and chores before breaking out the Christmas cheese stash and opening a bottle of good red wine, which I intend to enjoy with a movie.
So, whatever you’re doing dear reader, let me wish you all the best for the festive season.
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/
A short blog from me today, mainly because I’ve not been up to anything existing and I can’t be bothered trying to dress up the mundane with wordplay!
The weather’s been as gloomy as a post-brexit economic forecast – but I won’t go there tonight, honest! I’ve not been able to see the valley tops all day and tonight the weather’s closed in even more. I went out to do some shopping in the late afternoon and by the time I climbed up the valley side from Sowerby Bridge I was in the cloud line where the visibility would have been akin to one of the old London ‘pea-souper’ fogs. I half expected to see ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ come strolling towards me out of the murk to recite his iconic “Evening all”.
With the weather as it is I suffered a severe disinclination to venture anywhere else and enjoyed the rest of the evening at home on cooking duty, rustling up a new batch of Thai Green curry for tonight’s meal (and the freezer) whilst Dawn’s out making the final preparations for heading South for Christmas, taking her folks (and a friends dog) to Surrey for the annual family bash. This year I’m staying behind as I’ve work I want to do to the cottage before I fly out to Asia for a few months in the New Year.
Tempting as it was to post another food picture, I’ve decided you can have too much of a good thing. Instead, here’s a picture from the Hindi festival of Thaipusam. I *should* be back in Malaysia for this as this year it’s on February 5th. I last experienced it in 2009. It’s been banned in India due to the nature of sacrifice/penance people put themselves through, but it’s still a big event elsewhere. If you’re of a squeamish nature – look away now…
Four hours after leaving the temple in Little India, this pilgrim (who has pulled a chariot attached to his body by hooks) arrives at the The Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple. And yes, that ARE a real metal rods all the way through his cheeks and his tongue. (you should have seen the hooks in his back, but that’s another picture)..
If you want to see more pictures from Thaipusam, just follow this link.
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/
Today’s been another ‘confined to barracks’ day. Well, if you count the barracks as being a radius of a mile from home! Admittedly, much of the day’s been spent catching up on picture editing and paperwork, but I did have a stroll into Halifax to do some shopping for various DIY supplies I need for some of the projects I’ve planned for the Christmas period whilst I have the house to myself.
Halifax was busy with other folks shopping too but most of them were after stuff with a far more festive feel than the goods I was interested in. However, I did pop into the Sainsbury’s supermarket as they’re the sole stockists of a very nice low alcohol beer (an IPA) which I wanted to stock up on. The place was jam-packed with people shopping as if they were stocking up ahead of the Zombie Apocalypse! Clearly, some people either have a decent disposable income, or their credit cards are taking a beating…
The centre of town was equally busy, except for the empty shops of course – and the wonderful Victorian Halifax borough market, where a number of stalls had already shut up shop even though it was only mid-afternoon. But the one I was interested in was still trading – and had a queue – Thai Corner, where you can buy a wonderous Northern Thai/Laoation noodle dish called Kow Soi, something you rarely find on Thai restaurant menus. It’s a rich curry soup topped off with fried noodles and it’s delicious!
Having struck the final item off my shopping list I walked home under sunny skies to carry out one last chore before retreating to the office. I’ve been keeping our feathered friends fed and watered over the winter and gained a lot of pleasure from watching their activities outside the office window. I’ve discovered on food that’s very popular with some of the larger birds like Thrushes, Blackbirds and Magpies – oats. We’d been given a large bag of organic oats but found they were hopeless for making porage in the microwave, unlike ordinary oats. They take a bloody age and just don’t work right. I didn’t want to bin them, so the other week I tried putting them out for the birds and found that they (if you’ll pardon the pun) almost flew off the shed roof! So, when I got home I added another pile, along with some old cooked rice, peanuts and a few seeds. I see it as karmic payback for the decimation of the local bird population our old cat (Jet) carried out in his younger days – when nothing was too big for him to tackle and drag in through the catflap. We still miss him – even if the local wildlife has breathed a sigh of relief!
So, today’s picture is of a bowl of vegetarian Kow Soi I ate in Chiang Mai, Thailand when I visited in February 2011.
Bon appetit!
You can find many more pictures from that particular trip to Thailand (both rail and travel images) in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.
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/
The weather really can’t seem to make its mind up at the moment. After enduring a freeing cold and snowy one this week has done a volte face with the mercury here in the Calder valley hitting 12 degrees, double the average for this time of year. The heat brought rain and strong winds with and also saw off the black ice that’s plagued us the past few days. It’s been so nice we had many of the windows open to give the cottage an airing – until the rain arrived!
Weather apart the pair of us have spent the day working from home. I’ve been having a tidy-up and clear-out whilst simultaneously prepping more old railway memorabilia to put up for sale on eBay. The present sale ends in under 24 hours, so you’ve still time to bid for what’s on offer by following this link. I’ll be adding more later this week and running a couple more sales before the end of the year.
Tomorrow I’m back on the rails as I’m heading over to Southport to meet up with some of my family during a flying visit. I’m looking forward to getting to travel by train again – and hope to get a few library shots on the way, so expect a rolling blog tomorrow as I sample the Xmas build-up on a network that will be shutting down all too soon, to the inconvenience of many. My Christmas party season’s been canned due to the strikes so tomorrow’s little jaunt will be a bit of light relief before I become trapped back in the Calder valley over the Xmas break. I’m not complaining as I’ve a huge amount of things to keep me occupied and the cottage is well-stocked with comestibles – and several bottles of decent red wine!
Right, time to go. I’ll leave you with this image as picture of the day which is from Southport, taken in October 2012 and showing two of the things it’s most famous for. The pier and the sea (which, according to the old jokes) never seems to come in!
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/
It’s been a miserable day weather-wise here at Bigland Towers. Whilst having a lazy Sunday is no bad thing there’s been little incentive to venture far. Whilst the snows have (mostly) been washed away as the temperature has crept far enough up the scale to allow perpetual rain, conditions underfoot have been bloody awful. Earlier this afternoon I decided to head out this afternoon to pick up some foodstuffs, plus salt – in order to stop our front steps turning into a trip hazard. Heading up the cobbled hill behind the house made me realise just how hazardous conditions were – despite the rain. Black ice was everywhere, so climbing the hill then descending the other side was ‘interesting’ to say the least. I didn’t pass many other folk on foot – just a couple of hardy dog-walkers. All of us swapped tips about which bits of road or pavement to avoid. En-route I passed a couple of people learning to drive. I couldn’t work out if this was good training or utter madness!
Having made it to the shops safely I decided to take the long way home that avoided the cobbled hill. I had to traverse some local woods instead but figured conditions underfoot would be less treacherous. It was a wise decision. Plus, I managed to avoid some of the Yorkshire stone pavements. They may look pretty but give me tarmac any day as the stone turns into skating rinks at the first sign of moisture – never mind ice. Looking at conditions I suspect the Royal Calderdale A&E department will be working at full tilt tonight.
Now I’m back in the warm. Dawn’s busy wrapping presents to take with her down to the family Christmas in Surrey whilst I’ve been ordering DIY supplies on the internet as I’ll be using the Xmas interregnum to do work to the cottage whilst I’m the only occupant. I’m glad ordering was so easy as earlier today I downloaded Windows 11 to update my computer. Installing a new Operating System’s always an anxious time but it went without a hitch. Well, as far as I can tell anyway. Unlike previous OS changes all my major programmes and plug-ins work and the only worry I have is learning how to navigate through the new buttons. Time will tell…
The weather is due to be crap again tomorrow, so it looks like another day in the office for me but Tuesday should see me venturing over to Southport to catch up with my family before Christmas (in-between rail strikes). Right now, I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which is a look over the Calder Valley after slipping and sliding up that bloody hill! Thanks to the Yorkshire weather you never know what you’re going to see (mainly because a lot of the time you can see bugger-all). Today, it lived up to the old adage. It’s grim up North…
Play the brass band music of your choice…
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 