Category Archives: Musings

10th December picture of the day…

10 Sunday Dec 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Huddersfield, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

We’ve had a mixed weekend here at Bigland Towers. mainly due to the weather – as in Dawn’s been under it whilst the real stuff has been a real pain in the arse! Thankfully, the bug that Dee contracted has responded to antibiotics so the cough that’s been giving us both sleepless night is receding. I’ve not known Dawn be off work this long or laid so low for a very long time indeed. Now all that’s needed is for her to regain her stamina and strength.

That was tested yesterday as it was the annual Christmas Concert in Huddersfield town hall which features the Honley Male Voice choir which Dee’s father sings in. She was loathe to miss it so we had an easy morning before sallying forth. That wasn’t easy as our timing co-incided with the arrival of yet another bloody storm! This time it was Storm Elin which brought high winds and torrential rain – just what you need when you’re walking across town to a concert as you can forget using an umbrella unless you fancy doing a Mary Poppins impression.

Thankfully we made it to the town hall soggy but intact and spent the next two hours getting into the Christmas spirit in fabulous surroundings. The town hall boasts a wonderfully decorated 1200 seat concert hall which is dominated by the massive organ behind the stage. The choir were accompanied by one of the best brass bands in the country Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band as well as the young ladies of Rastrick High School Chamber Choir. It was a great afternoon full of festive cheer.

Afterwards we had a couple of drinks with some of the choir members in the old courthouse inside the town hall before heading home to be battered by the wind and rain once more. It really was a filthy night and I didn’t envy the guys and gals who would be working trackside overnight at Huddersfield station and surrounds as part of the Trans-Pennine route upgrade.

Having picked up a very rare takeaway on our way home (we reckon it’s only the fourth we’ve had since Covid kicked in) the pair of us hunkered down for the night to listen to the wind and rain battering the cottage.

Today’s been very much home focussed. The storm beat itself out overnight but the rain remained along with flood warnings and notice of the next storm on its way. We’re expecting ‘Fergus’ tonight, apparently. I’ve spent much of the day swapping between garden and office in between showers as I’ve been desperate to get the gardens tidied for the winter. That’s not easy in these conditions as you need to be a mountain goat at the best of times to access the terraces at the back of the cottage. When stones and steps are wet and covered in slime and leaves you tread carefully. Still, between us we got a lot done. Whilst I was occupied outside Dawn beavered away inside, so we feel like we’ve achieved something this weekend in preparation for a busy week from tomorrow.

Now Dawn’s on the road to recovery I’ll be on the road too – so expect a few blogs from ‘out and about’ later in the week. But first I’ve got to get an ailing laptop repaired (the fan’s are suffering from asthma) as well as sort out some camera kit – and finish my next RAIL article.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with a picture and a video from yesterday so you can see the opulence of the concert hall in Huddersfield and also enjoy the finale of the concert. See you tomorrow….

Huddersfield Town hall concert hall.

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

Has Rishi Sunak ever read ‘Alice in Wonderland’?

08 Friday Dec 2023

Posted by in Musings, Politics, Rishi Sunak

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

It’s a rhetorical question really as his policies on stuff like Rwanda make it painfully obvious he hasn’t.

Why?

Here’s an extract from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which could easily be subtitled ‘Rishi in Blunderland’. It’s where Alice is in conversation with the Queen of Hearts.

“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’

I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

There you have it. Sunak and the Tory party’s whole Rwanda policy summed up. They believe in impossible things – only Sunak spends far more than half-an-hour a day in doing so, his whole time as Prime Minister is based on fantasies.

Right now the Tories are trapped in the literary and literal past. A past where you could just make stuff up and pretend it’s real and everyone will believe it. Hence pretending that the Tories getting legislation through Parliament to say Rwanda is ‘safe’ means anything in the real world, or outside the UK.

There’s another author they’ve fallen foul of. Eric Blair – better known as George Orwell. Frankly, there are so many quotes from his novel ‘1984’ that are relevant for today, but the Tories Rwanda policy brings this one to mind.

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

So far, their policy has cost nearly £300m – without a single person being moved to Rwanda – unless you count three Home Sectaries. That’s money that could have been spent recruiting people (who will than pay tax) on processing people’s immigration claims in the UK and clearing the backlog that’s occurred because the Tories have weaponised immigration. but that doesn’t suit their political agenda. They’re using immigration as a dead cat to distract from their appalling record on the economy and much more.

We’re told to believe that Rwanda is a hill that Sunak is willing to die on – no matter how stupid that is. But that’s the Tory party at the fag-end of 2023. They’ve been driven mad by a succession of lies and liars going back to the Brexit referendum of 2016. That’s when the rot set in. Unicorn thinking has bedeviled them ever since.

It’s time for a change. The UK deserves better than this political shit-show and asset strippers.

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

6th December picture of the day…

06 Wednesday Dec 2023

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

It’s already midweek here at Bigland Towers but the days have been merging somewhat. Poor Dawn’s really been knocked by the virus she picked up so her nights (and mine) have been disrupted by coughing fits. Our local GPs surgery have been excellent, so Dee’s now on a course of antibiotics which will hopefully shift the infection. In the meantime I’ve been around to cook, clean and mop (metaphorical) fevered brows. The weather here in the Calder valley’s been cold and mostly miserable, although we did have a stunning winters day yesterday as the sunshine was wall to wall. I’d love to have got out but there’s too much to do at home right now. As well as being a good husband/nurse I’ve been busy sorting out pictures and preparing for my next series of articles for RAIL magazine – as well as researching pictures for and publishing yesterday’s blog on the Class 319 trains.

In between I’ve been watching the slow implosion of the Government as the Conservative party continues to rip itself apart over an impossible policy (Rwanda) and their obsession with immigration, as if it’s somehow going to save their skins politically.

Yesterday they announced an utterly mad and on the hoof idea to restrict immigration by raising the wages threshold for people wanting to bring their spouses to the UK. It would mean 75% of Britons being banned from doing so as they don’t earn enough money. The policy started to fall apart as soon as it was announced, like all knee-jerk ideas that ignored expert opinion, reality, facts and law.

Today the shitshow has reached new levels, or more accurately – plumbed new depths. Former Home Secretary Cruella (don’t you mean Suella? Ed) Braverman, surrounded by a coterie of Tory ultra-right wing MPs made a speech to the House of Commons denouncing the PM in which she said the quiet bit out loud, admitting that all this is about one thing and one thing only, keeping the Tories in power (and her as new Leader, obviously). As if it couldn’t get any worse, the Home Secretary James Cleverly announces a revised Rwanda policy that is so right-wing (throwing down a ‘I dare you’) challenge to the judiciary and international law even the Rwandans back away from it, saying they can’t be party to an agreement that doesn’t respect international law! Can you imagine? Finally, Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick – the man who insisted cartoons in detention centres to calm incarcerated children should be painted over ‘cos it made them too ”welcoming’ has resigned because all this wasn’t right-wing enough! To add the icing on the cake we’re now told right-wing Tories are submitting letters to the 1922 Committee to precipitate YET ANOTHER tory leadership election, which would lead to the 6th Tory PM since 2010!

Mad, utterly mad! But this is the state of the Tory party (and sadly, our Government) in 2023. We have a dysfunctional Goverment intent on keeping itself in power to continue picking at the carcass of the British economy and damn the consequences for ordinary people. They’ll be alright Jack. They’ll have their Government pensions and the rest od us can go swing as they reckon they’ll have done enough damage that Labour won’t be able to survive more than one term in office before they stage a return to suck more out of us. Jesus, what has the UK become? And yet, there’s still around 20% of voters who think this bunch are doing a good job and are worth re-electing. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…

Meanwhile, in the background, the Covid enquiry is playing out with that sack of custard Boris Johnson taking the stand and blustering, lying and evading all the way through.

So, what happens next? God knows. It’s like the introduction of the 1970s American spoof TV series ‘Soap’ which had the introduction “confused? You will be – after the next episode of – Soap!” Only ‘Soap’ was funny – and more plausible…

So, what picture am I going to leave you with today? I know. The Grim Reaper has been shopping early for Christmas, having taken several people this past couple of weeks, including politician Henry Kissinger, musician Denny Laine and former UK Transport Minister and Chancellor, Alistair Darling.

Darling was everything this Tory bunch shysters and chancers will never be. A serious politician who, on his death, no-one had a bad word to say about (even if they hadn’t agreed with him politically). Imagine if it had been Boris Johnson and not Alistair Darling as Chancellor during the 2008 world banking crisis? It wouldn’t just have been his wife, mistresses and the UK he’d have screwed….

I photographed Darling several times. This occasion was the National Rail Conference in March 2006.

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

3rd December picture(s) of the day…

03 Sunday Dec 2023

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

The pair of us have had a quiet day here at Bigland Towers due to the weather, as in Dawn’s under it – and the real stuff is delivering fog and snow!

Poor Dee’s still struggling with a virus (not Covid, just a run of the mill one) that’s left her feeling listless and fed up, so I’ve been on nursing/shopping/cooking duty and not ventured far throughout the day. That said, as the Calder Valley’s been hidden by fog all day there’s really been no point. Plus, I’ve plenty to keep me occupied with in-between supplying Beecham’s powders and food!

One thing I’ve discovered today is that Magpies love Yorkshire pudding! Maybe it’s the way Dawn makes them but there was one left in the fridge with a bit of veg which I was throwing out when I thought ‘I wonder if the birds will eat it’? So, I chopped everything up and left it in the garden. The pud’, roast potatoes and parsnip disappeared within an hour as Magpies, Blackbirds and Robins polished it off in short order.

This afternoon the snow returned earlier than forecast. I wasn’t convinced it was going to stick but stick it did, which made my evening walk rather interesting. Today’s pictures are from that stroll.

Savile Park looking very moody as I walked home after having a ‘swifty’ in our local, the Big 6. I love it when fresh snow sticks to trees.
Later, my walk home took me through Scarr Woods which look very eerie and very serene in this weather. We’re blessed with some great places to walk right on our doorstep. Sometimes you encounter deer in these woods, but I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if a Unicorn crossed my path in conditions like this.

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

2nd December picture of the day…

02 Saturday Dec 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I can’t quite believe that we’re in the final month of 2023 and the festive season is just a few weeks away. Where’s the year gone? Admittedly, part of me is impatient to see the back of 2023. It’s not been a vintage year and 2024 offers the possibility of getting rid of this corrupt, shambolic Government once and for all – before they do even more damage. Sunak’s had his chance. He had the opportunity to prove he wasn’t like Johnson. Problem is, he was more like Truss! The Tories are staring into the electoral abyss but all Sunak can do is listen to the wrong people whilst showing he doesn’t really give a damn about the UK or its future. It’s all an egotistical game to him. His levels of posturing and game playing are off the scale whilst he ignores the real issues that matter.

Political pondering aside the vast majority of my day has been spent wearing my (metaphorical) nurses uniform as Dawn’s once more fallen foul of the lurgi that’s bedeviled her for the past few weeks. So, today’s been a day where I’ve been occupied with shopping, cooking and being on-call to supply a stream of hot drinks, snacks and suchlike to Dee whilst she’s been in her sickbed. Mind you, it’s been a good day to be confined to barracks. The snow that arrived the other day hasn’t really gone anywhere due to the freezing temperatures. A day of sunshine has helped clear some of the pavements but many are still treacherous. More snow is on the way according to the forecast, so I’m glad I’ve spent time cooking and topping up the freezer with a variety of spicy delights – just in case.

Now, having kept myself busy with all manner of tasks it’s time to wind down with a glass of wine and select today’s picture. What to choose? How about this, from my brief visit to London earlier in the week.

The Caledonian sleeper sits at Euston station on a rainy Sunday night before beginning its journey to Scotland. This is 1S25, the 21:15 from London Euston. The train divides at Edinburgh where it splits into separate portions to Inverness and Fort William. The train’s hauled by a Class 92 locomotive. 46 were ordered by British Rail to haul heavy freight trains through the channel tunnel but were always sadly under-used, Many have now moved abroad to Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. A few, like this one, have been bought by GBRf to provide traction for the Caledonian Sleeper.

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

22nd November picture(s) of the day…

22 Wednesday Nov 2023

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

After yesterday’s adventures chasing trains today’s been a complete contrast and very much home-based. Our day started earlier than planned as the window company who were fitting some new windows to the cottage turned up at 08:00 instead of the 09:00 they’d told Dawn! Cue a mad scramble to get ready earlier, not so big a deal for me as I’d been up early, moving things out of the way of the workers, but women do take longer over their toilette! (You’ll get killed for that: Ed).

The chap who’d turned up to fit the windows was relaxed about the muddle and retreated to his van for another brew until we were ready. Not that the work started immediately. It turns out his family are from the same West Yorkshire village Dawn’s parents grew up in – Marsden. Not only that, but Dee’s mum knew his family and used to take one of his Uncles to school! So, as you can imagine, some reminiscing went on – especially when Dee’s mum rang and was put on speakerphone…

All our upstairs windows were being replaced, including the one in my office so I was exiled downstairs to share the living room with Dawn whilst Andrew and his oppo worked away in the bedroom, bathroom and office. Talk about a bad day to have new windows put in. Our run of crap weather continued with rain and drizzle hanging around for much of the day. Then, late morning, the gales arrived and stayed with us all day. Upstairs was like a wind-tunnel and downstairs wasn’t much better as the guys had to constantly traipse through the house. Conditions weren’t much fun for them either. Whilst I kept everyone topped up with tea, coffee and biscuits Dee decided that lunchtime meant it was egg and bacon teacakes* all round. Her culinary efforts in the kitchen were certainly appreciated by all. After all, none of us are Tories so we really were all in this together!

The guys finished around 16:00 which gave me time to do some clearing up whilst Dawn continued working, after which we swapped roles so I could get back into the office to do some of the stuff I couldn’t with just a laptop perched on the edge of a settee. I’m loving my new office window. The old three panel one’s been replaced by a single pane which is letting in a lot more light. It’s also obstruction free for when I want to take pictures of the birds hanging off the feeders or foraging on the plants and rocks on the terrace. There feels to be a noticeable drop in draughts too – although that could be wishful thinking at this point. Time will tell.

Right, time to call it a day and leave you with a picture rather than get into some spleen-venting over today’s latest Tory lies around the autumn statement. I’ve a fun day tomorrow so that can wait. Here’s another picture from yesterday’s travels.

The number of signalboxes on the UKs railways is dwindling at a steady rate. Slow modernisation of signalling systems which concentrates control in just a handful of Regional Operating Centres (ROCs) is sounding the death-knell of local boxes, especially the old mechanical ones. Only a handful survive, but one that does – despite the line having been electrified and resignalled in recent years is the old LMS box at St Helens Central. Admittedly, it’s changed a bit. Here’s two pictures to illustrate the difference. The first was taken yesterday, the second was taken 32 years ago in 1991.

The box seen on the 17th June 1991 when there were still active Civil Engineers sidings in the old goods yard behind the box. Nowadays the tracks are still there but overgrown by the trees you see in yesterday’s shot.

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

20th November picture of the day…

20 Monday Nov 2023

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

All change! Well, apart from the weather which has remained damp and miserable as ever! I was looking forward to a week where I could stretch my legs but events have somewhat conspired against me, but the reasons aren’t bad.

Having spent a few hours confined to the office this morning I decided to fly the coop and enjoy some scenery. After picking up some stiff from her Huddersfield office Dawn had arranged to meet her parents to check out the venue and arrangements for their diamond wedding anniversary, so I tagged along for the ride and to cast a photographer’s eye over the room. All went well, after which the two of returned to the homestead and grindstone – only to get a phone call from a firm we’ve commissioned to fit some new windows to the cottage. They’re ready and can go in on Wednesday – but Dee won’t be here – so that’s my day arranged! I must admit, I’m rather looking forward to my new office window as the increase of glass compared to frame will let a lot more light in and aid me getting pictures of the birds that are a regular feature on the feeder on the other side of the glass. Only I have to strip out stuff from several rooms before they arrive. Never mind – the results will be worth it and should make a difference to how warm the cottage is this winter, as well as the bills in keeping it that way.

All this aside, I’m hoping to sneak out for a few hours tomorrow. For once the forecast is good. I’ve a Zoom judging session but that should only last an hour in the morning and can be done elsewhere as long as I have a decent wifi connection. Let’s see what happens…

The reason I want to get out – apart from the fact the weather will be good and I’m fed up being cooped up – is that another old train fleet is about to disappear from the December 10th timetable change. Northern is dispensing of its fleet of ex-BR Class 319 electric trains. They’re old friends of mine as I remember them being introduced on ‘Thameslink’ service in London and the South-East back in 1987-88 when I was living in London. I was a regular user of the trains for decades and was surprised when they followed me back up North after they were displaced on Thameslink services by the new Class 700s in the mid 2010s. Now their times up and they’re off for scrap. Only 15 units remain with Northern. Based at Allerton in Liverpool, they mostly work services between Liverpool, Wigan, Preston and Blackpool North with the odd diagram taking them to Manchester.

So, today’s picture is one of those trains which has just been towed to Newport, South Wales for scrap this very day, having left Allerton depot (Liverpool) this morning on its final journey.

Wearing the old Northern electrics livery, 319375 is seen at Manchester Piccadilly on the 1st November 2016.

I’ll be getting together a picture blog of these units during their time in the North-West before they go. In the meantime, you can find various shots of them with the previous Northern franchise here and the current management contract operator here.

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

19th November picture of the day…

19 Sunday Nov 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Sri Lanka

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

God, what a miserable day it’s been here weather-wise in the Calder Valley. I don’t the rain’s stopped for more than a few minutes. The already saturated ground can’t hold anymore water, leaving to the roads turning into streams as the rain does its best to escape downhill to the river.

Thankfully, Dee’s making a recovery from her migraine so my nurses uniform consigned to the back of the wardrobe for a while, although the Chef’s hat will be getting quite a bit of wear this week as I take over the cooking once more in order to allow Dawn to play catch-up with work. I’m swapping between that many costumes at the moment I feel like Mr Benn!

The weather’s been doubly disappointing as I’d hoped to be able to do a lot of work in the gardens, getting them tidied up in preparation for the winter. As it was the best I could manage was an hour out at the back, getting soaked whilst trimming back the wall-mounted planters and slipping all over the shop on the sodden leaves festooning the cobbles. The leaves have now been swept up into a soggy pile waiting for a drier day when I can bag ’em up for a trip to the recycling centre so at least a portion of what I’d been intending was ticked off the list. Plus, for me, gardening is therapy. It gets you away from the trials and tribulations of the human world to something far simpler but at the same time very satisfying. Plus, plants don’t bitch or argue, judge you or otherwise waste their time. I like that…

Come late afternoon and with the rain increasing in tempo there was nothing left for it but to retreat indoors and back up to the office, to take refuge in picture editing. I’m not a fan of sitting in front of a TV vegetating, I need to feel I’ve achieved something each day. So, whilst Dawn’s pinched my chef’s hat to cook home-made apple crumble (the smells wafting up from the kitchen are mouth-watering) I’ve cleared the deck of edited pictures from last weeks conference and started on another project.

I’ve a folder full of scanned slides that are too scratched or otherwise damaged to be added to my Zenfolio picture website without a substantial amount of retouching and repair in Photoshop. Today’s picture is one of them. This sot was taken in Kandy, Sri Lanka in February 1992.

This is W2 Class No 711 preparing to leave with a passenger train for the Hill Railway. The W2 class were 1440hp B-B type diesel-hydraulic locomotives. Built by LEW Henningsdorf, East Germany, Numbered 703 to 716, 14 of them were built in 1969 with the prototype (numbered 729). following in 1972. None remain in service, having been withdrawn from the 1990s onwards due to the difficulty in getting spare parts. One (715) was rebuilt in 2015 with a Paxman V12 engine, but this too has been withdrawn.

If you want to see more images of Sri Lankan railways. Click on 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/

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

18th November picture of the day…

18 Saturday Nov 2023

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Not a day as I’d planned, admittedly. Poor Dawn went down with a migraine yesterday. It’s floored her so she’s spent the best part of 24 hours confined to bed. So, I’ve stayed home and put on my nurses and Chef’s uniforms. Not an image to conjure with – honestly!

There’s always plenty for me to do at home with a mix of work and household chores. Admittedly, I’m starting to chafe at the lack of exercise due to being restricted by events, including my elbow playing up, but c’est la vie. One thing I did manage to complete yesterday was judging the shortlist for the Community Rail Awards photographic competition. It was tough going as there were so many good photographs but I’ve whittled them down to a personal shortlist of 10. Next week myself and my fellow judge will hammer out the final shortlist. The 10 we agree on will then go on to a public vote next year. It’s always a pleasure to judge the competition as the pictures really are a great snapshot of the years varied activities around the community rail network. With all the crap that’s going on in the world right now they project a ray of hope.

The downside of being at home is that I have time to follow what’s going on in the UK political arena, which is an absolute shit-show when it comes to the Government who’ve completely lost any semblance of a plot. Yesterday I blogged about the latest Sunak con about potholes. Whilst I was doing that he was busy setting another – even bigger – trap for himself over Rwanda and the asinine slogan ‘stop the boats’, which he can’t. Instead of taking the Supreme Court ruling on the chin he’s blustered and pretended he’s going to pass legislation to ‘solve’ the problem. Apparently, with a wave of a legislative wand, Rwanda can become a ‘safe’ country and he can ignore the ECHR and international treaties. It’s utter bollocks of course. There simply isn’t time to get such legislation through both Houses of Parliament before he has to call the next general election and those international treaties (such as the Good Friday Agreement) are not going to go away and will be enforced by the international community. But Sunak has form for not thinking things through and for listening to the mad ideas of the swivel-eyed loons of Tufton St. Just look at his disastrous decision on HS2 which is also going to blow up in his face.

Honestly, how on earth has this country sunk so low?

Right, time to go. Tomorrow’s another day. Dawn’s starting to feel better so I’m off to spend some quality time together. I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is – oh, hang on – I’d not thought of one, shit! A quick trawl through the pictures that are on my laptop has found this. I run a ‘mystery stations’ competition on Twitter and this was a recent picture. Do you know where this station is? Some people did, but not many…

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

16th November picture of the day…

16 Thursday Nov 2023

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

After doing so much travelling this week today was very much a home day, catching up on picture editing and various other bits and bobs. The weather’s been awful once more – although for once we haven’t had any downpours or gales just dull weather where you can’t make out the other side of the valley. The news has been just as dull. The Government continues to implode no matter what stupid stunt Sunak dreams up – as the latest opinions polls show. We’re in the hands of a decaying Government that has no idea what to do other than fight culture wars but they’ll hang on for as long as they can to feather their nests. It’s depressing but there’s nothing anyone can do about it until an election’s called as this lot have no honour. I hate to think what state the UK will be in by the time the Tories are finally dragged (kicking and screaming) to the polls for voters to pass their verdict. I’m trying to be positive, but with so little positive news around that can be difficult.

Hopefully, I’ll be out and about again soon, as there’s plenty of changes on the rail network to report on if nothing else – especially in this neck of the woods where the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is ramping up. Plus, there’s the December timetable change which will see some trains disappear – like the Trans-Pennine Express Class 68s and Mk5 coaches. I hope to get a few more shots of them before they do. Today’s picture is of my last opportunity to see (and ride) behind members of the fleet. Here’s 68024 ‘Centaur’ at Manchester Piccadilly on the 7th November after arriving with 1U52, the 12:48 from Scarborough.

Place your bids please! Who wants a fleet of noisy locomotives and rakes of not the most well-built coaches? Only one careful owner – going spare from the 9th of December (if not sooner).

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