Four days in and Covid is still giving me grief. Whilst I don’t feel quite as crap as I did and managed to get a half-decent nights sleep the aches are still with me. Mind you, lying in bed all day doesn’t feel like it’s helping, but Nurse Dawn is insistent that’s where I should stay and I’m not going to argue with her as she’s probably right. I remember that I pushed myself too soon the first time I had Covid, which led to me tiring very quickly, so I’m not going to make that mistake again (even If I was allowed to). It is frustrating as we’ve had wall to wall sunshine today, although temperatures haven’t exactly matched. It’s still chilly up here in the Pennines although we’re promised warmer weather soon.
I’ve kept myself occupied dealing with paperwork and other admin tasks in order to feel like I’m achieving something. The rest of the time has been spent watching Netflix or watching the world going mad on social media. I can’t help thinking that if – say – 20 years ago you’d pitched what’s going on in the White House as a film script it would’ve been dismissed out of hand as too far-fetched and unrealistic. Now, nothing that Tangoed fool in Washington does surprises me. He’s clearly the best President that rubles can buy.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to rise from my sickbed tomorrow (if Nurses’ permission is granted) and start to potter around the house again. Just getting back in the office will be a welcome change of scenery. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is one of a bunch of archive pictures from 2018 I’ve rooted out to add to my Zenfolio website when time permits. It shows an aspect of the railways which is little changed in over 175 years.
The Signaller at Rainford Junction on the Kirby-Wigan line collects the single-line token from the Driver of a Wigan bound train. Kept in leather bags on the end of a metal loop these tokens are the authority to proceed for a train to travel over the single-track line from Rainford to Kirby. This form of train control is known as Absolute Block, only allowing one train onto a section of track at a time. There are fewer and fewer locations where you can see this happen due to signalboxes being abolished with token equipment being relocated to anonymous metal cabinets on station platforms which are opened by the train Driver, who uses a telephone to contact the nearest signalbox (which may be many miles away) in order to get the token released. Here’s an example. This is at Battersby in North Yorkshire.
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I’d forgotten just how shit having Covid is. I had a lousy nights sleep as the aches meant I just couldn’t get comfortable and settle. Trying to toss and turn whilst groaning silently in order not to disturb Dawn was an effort in itself. By the time it came to wake up I was knackered so ended up having a lie in, having guzzled Lemsip and swallowed Ibuprofen in order to feel vaguely normal. This has meant today’s been another one where I’ve confined myself to bed.
I have managed to get some things done, mostly research for future projects. Apart from that it’s been another frustrating day. I’m hoping the aches will ease tomorrow as I’m fed up of being bedridden. I want to be able to potter around the house but I remember from the first time I contracted Covid that it’s unwise to push oneself too quickly.
Sadly, being bedridden with access to the internet has meant I’ve spent far too much time paying attention to the implosion of democracy in the USA. Trump has been in office for less that two months but he and his fellow kleptocrats are making huge strides in turning the ‘land of the free’ into a dictatorship. God knows what that country will look like in six months time.
Today’s picture is to take my mind off all that crap. Much as I enjoy exploring cities sometime later this year I’ll need beach time and the opportunity to listen to the timeless sound of the sea breaking on a beach, as it has done for millions of years, well before our distant amphibian ancestors crawled out of the primordial oceans to start fucking the planet up. The question is – where? Maybe somewhere palm-fringed with golden sands like this?
One of the beaches at Tangalle on the South-Eastern coast of Sri Lanka, seen on the 30th December 2003. I left only footprints and took only pictures…
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By the end of last night I wasn’t feeling at my best. I was under the impression that I was coming down with a cold as I was aching and sneezing, the usual symptoms. This morning after a restless night’s sleep I felt like shit so stayed in bed as I also had the shivers. Dawn, fearing it was more than just a cold picked up a Covid test whilst she was out shopping. Within a minute of me completing the test two very strong lines showed up on the indicator, meaning I’ve contracted Covid for the 3rd time, which is going to screw my plans for the next few days. With the incubation period being between 1-14 days (with an average of 3-5) I could have contracted the ‘rona’ at either of the two events I’ve attended recently – or even somewhere else. Who knows? All I can do now is rest and hope it passes quickly. Still, now I have time to catch up on some reading. And maybe blogging too…
For now I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is of a type of establishment I won’t be visiting for a while until I’m no longer infectious (and feeling better). Here’s the Norfolk Arms pub in Marple Bridge, Greater Manchester.
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After the fun and games of last week this weekend’s been one of consolidation as I’d a huge tranche of awards pictures to edit and get out to Community Rail Network. This kept me busy all day but by the end of it the job was done, freeing me up to edit the library images I’d taken whilst I was in Newcastle. You can find them in these galleries;
Having been away for a few days I hadn’t been following politics as I normally do. Being home gave me chance to catch up on the latest madness on both sides of the Atlantic. I was pleased to see that in the UK different factions of the Reform party (well, PLC really) are still knocking chunks out of each other! Of course, there’s only going to be one winner out of all this, Nigel Farage, as he effectively owns Reform. However, how this warfare will affect their voting base and attractiveness to floating voters is open to question. We’ll find that out in May.
Meanwhile, across the pond, Donald Trump continues to tear America apart, trashing the country’s reputation abroad whilst damaging its economy at home. The man is utterly without shame. No lie is too outrageous to tell, and no act too stupid. His latest wheeze is to close down ‘Voice of America’ along with Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia. These radio channels have been an extension of US soft power across the globe for 75 years providing an alternative source of news to former communist countries as well as theocracies like Iran and dictatorships in Asia like Myanmar. Vladimir Putin must be laughing his head off! As some commentators have noted, if Trump WAS a Russian asset, what would he be doing differently to what he’s doing now?
It seems that even some of Trump and Musk’s supporters are starting to feel uneasy at the shitshow that’s unfurling. The pain the pair are causing is starting to ripple across the states and the ones that voted for Trump as some of the least capable of weathering the storm. I find it hard to imagine the US is going to put up with four more years of this. Time will tell.
In the meantime, life continues here at Bigland Towers as the pair of us prepare for a new week ahead. I’m hoping to get out with the camera later in the week as the weather forecast is predicting sunshine. I’m not sure where I’ll go just yet but I’ve time to plan…
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is another one from Newcastle. I do love a good clock – and this one has added lustre!
The 93-year-old timepiece on the corner of Westgate Road and Clayton Street has towered above shoppers since 1932. The clock was one of two commissioned by Northern Goldsmiths in 1932 outside its branches in the centre of Newcastle. Both clocks were finished in 24-carat gold leaf and adorned with a statue of Venus with outstretched arms to symbolise progress.
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Another week beckons. It’s not quite been the start I’d planned but nevertheless it’s been reasonably productive. All the pictures I took on Sunday have been edited, captioned and are now on my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to find out which galleries they’ve been added to.
A frustrating part of the day was that the weather was far better than had been predicted, with several hours of clear skies and sunshine. The snow and rain that was predicted last week has disappeared off the charts, not that it really matters as I’ve too many things to sort out before heading off to the Community Rail awards on Wednesday. Hopefully I can have another productive day tomorrow, ensuring the decks are cleared as the awards will be a busy few days.
As usual when I’m working from home I’ve been keeping an eye on the political news, which has provided some moments of schadenfreude. The Reform party continue to disintegrate as the war of words between their main characters escalates and becomes more bitter. This saga is going to run and run! There’s only going to be one winner (Farage) but that could prove to be a costly win. It’s clear that Farage isn’t openly racist enough for some Reform supporters, who’re rallying behind Rupert Lowe as he talks their language. The potential for a party split looms large…
Meanwhile, across the Pond, Elon Musk is having a bit of a ‘mare. Twitter (or X as he insists we call it) has had several outages today which he’s blaming on attacks by hackers. Of course, the fact he’s sacked many staff and is running the platform on a shoe-string won’t have helped! To add to his woes, Tesla’s share price is losing ground fast. Oh, and he’s managed to alienate both Poland and US senator Mark Kelly with widely publicised insults. The irony of an unelected South-African calling Kelly, an American war-veteran and ex-astronaut a ‘traitor’ has not been lost on people – even on Americans, who normally struggle with irony!
I can’t help wondering what mess Trump and Musk are going to create next…
Right, it’s time for me to go. I’ll leave you with a picture to brighten the evening up with. Here’s a view of the Victoria tower atop Castle Hill just outside Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, that I took last Saturday.
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Today’s my last one where I’m stuck behind a desk all day – at least for a while. The weather’s deteriorated and we’ve had a few showers here in the Pennines but the temperature has still be way into double figures, which has been nice. Not that it’s made much difference to me but it’s always good to crack open the office window, get some fresh air and hear the birdsong outside.
I’ve finally caught up with all my picture editing. All the various SE Asia shots are now on my Zenfolio site, along with all the recent pictures from the UK and 90% of the Norway images. Here’s a link to the ‘recent’ section of my website where you can browse what’s been updated. I’ve just a few more Norway shots to caption before I can write a blog about what Siemens and Norwegian railways are up to when it comes to resignalling the entire country over the next few decades. It’s a fascinating project.
Tomorrow we’re off to Manchester for the awards I talked about yesterday, then home again later on Sunday. Right now I’ve no idea what I’ll be doing for the first part of next week as the weather forecast is predicting rain and snow! On Wednesday the pair of us will be heading to Newcastle (on Tyne) to prepare for Thursday’s Community Rail Awards. The city’s predicted to be slightly warmer, but just as wet! Ho hum…
Of course, whilst I’ve been trapped at home I’ve kept one eye on the political madness that’s enveloping the world – and the latest chapter. Trump is still as mad as a box of frogs, but it’s what’s happening in the UK today that’s made me reach for the popcorn! Reform, the PLC (majority shareholder N Farage) that masquerades as a political party is having a bit of a ‘mare.
Splits have been appearing for sometime as Elon Musk has suggested that the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’ isn’t fit to lead the party he formed (don’t you mean the company he owns? Ed) and endorsed the millionaire and racist Rupert Lowe instead. Lowe is one of the 5 MPs have and makes £1000s a week from Twitter by shit-posting inflammatory stuff about the colour of people’s skin – and Islamophobia. As a consequence, he has a hardcore following of Reform ‘members’ (as they like to pretend). Unsurprisingly – and predictably, as he has past form for this at UKIP, the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’ doesn’t take kindly to his gravy-train being threatened, so has shot back by getting the party chair and ‘whip’ – 30p Lee Anderson to release this little missive.
OK, I have to admit I had to laugh out loud at the hypocrisy of the last paragraph! Apparently, lying, race-baiting and Islamophobia area perfectly acceptable activities in Reform, but bullying female staff isn’t. Oh, hang on, wasn’t one of their MPs jailed for assaulting his girlfriend in the past? Apparently, that’s OK too, so James McMurdock remains a Reform MP. It seems the only thing that gets you into trouble in Reform is challenging the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’. Lowe denies all the accusations, so this saga is set to run and run. Fuel to the fire is already being added by Lowe’s supporters. I wonder if ‘Space Karen’ Musk will get involved again?
Reform are already feeling the pressure due to their support for the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This is just adding more pressure on them, along with their poor showing in local elections. 9 seats were up for grabs on Thursday and Reform failed to win a single one. In fact, out of the 218 seats that have become vacant since the last general election Reform have only won 12. Hardly the ‘Tsunami’ that ’30p Lee’ Anderson keeps boasting of.
Who will win? There’s only one possible outcome. The majority shareholder will win. Reform are a PLC, not a genuine political party. The mugs persuaded to cough up £25 for ‘membership’ are about to find out the reality of what that buys them. Nothing. The money is trousered by Farage. It’s impossible for Farage to be deposed. As the majority shareholder he owns Reform!
Still, I’ll invest in some popcorn, as this saga is going to run and run. There’s nothing like a bit of right-wing political infighting. It rivals blood sports! Meanwhile, not all is well in the White House either….
Now it’s time to knock off and leave you with a picture to brighten your day, which comes from…Bali. I posted a picture of an unknown bird the other week. Thanks to readers it was identified as a female olive-backed Sunbird. That allowed me to ID this one as the male olive-backed sunbird.
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Today’s been another day working from home – which has been rather frustrating as the weather’s been superb. Wall to wall sunshine and rising temperatures that would have been ideal for getting out with the camera. Problem is – I’ve too much to do. Much of today’s been spent editing the pictures I captured yesterday and dealing with emails. One of which has changed our weekend plans completely. An old friend has invited the pair of us to be his company’s guest at the Confederation of Passenger Transport Awards in Manchester on Saturday. How could we refuse? Not only will it be great to catch up with Richard, it’ll also be an opportunity to meet up with other friends and colleagues before our own Community Rail Awards in Newcastle next week – which is completely sold out – and the biggest one we’ve ever had. As I’d planned to be working this weekend you can see why being stuck at home today’s worked out. The word serendipity springs to mind.
Of course, whilst I’ve been busy picture editing I’ve had another screen open which has kept me up to date with the latest madness coming out of the White House. If – 30 years ago – you’d pitched this as a script to a film company, they’d have tossed you out the door as it was too far-fetched. Now, every day delivers idiocy that makes you realise America has fallen to Putin. I’d love to know what ‘Kompromat’ the Russian Dictator has on Trump, but it must be weapons-grade. It’s fascinating (and horrifying) to see some US politicians asking what else could Trump do if he wasn’t a Russian asset? (very little: Ed). What’s been good to see is the way America’s neighbours either side of the border have called Trumps bluff over tariff’s, resulting in a reverse-ferret. But the damage is done. The farce gets worse, as now it’s reported that Trump is reining in (unelected) Elon Musk, telling him that he has no power to sack government employees. This is turning into the mother of all shit-shows!
Meanwhile, Europe has seen which way the wind’s blowing and uniting – and re-arming. Billions of Euros are being committed to Europe and Ukraine’s defense. It’s ironic really. Trump isn’t making America ‘great’ again, he’s actually sidelining it as untrustworthy and not someone to buy weapons from. The double irony? Putin’s done exactly the same. Much as I hate the idea of £bns spent on weapons, I can see the logic from a European perspective. The political world really could be changing on its axis and I’m not entirely sure the dictators in the Kremlin and White House understand what they’ve done.
OK, enough of politics. The shit-show is going to be around for some time yet. In the meantime, here’s another picture from today’s editing marathon.
This is the Bradley viaduct in …Bradley, just to the East of Deighton and on the edge of Huddersfield. It’s an impressive, 15 arch structure that bridges the River Colne and the Huddersfield wide canal. It had a very short life as a railway. It was constructed by the Midland Railway in 1910 as part of a line from Mirfield they intended to build to Bradford to compete with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. The line never made it further than Newton in Huddersfield, which became a goods depot. The extension was killed when the L&Y gave the Midland running powers over their route. It was made redundant in 1937. By then the Midland and L&Y had been amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) which built a new connection from the former L&Y route at Red Doles Jn nearer Huddersfield, rendering this section of line redundant after just 27 years. Today it’s part of a cycleway and footpath.
I’ll be working at home again tomorrow, so expect Wednesday’s blog to be expanded now I’ve all the pictures edited.
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There’s not much of a blog from me today as nearly the whole day’s been spent glued to a computer screen as I try and complete a photo editing marathon. I’ve broken the back of it now, having edited and filed 80% of the pictures I’ve taken so far this year, which cover five countries (if you include the UK). I did get diverted into an archive search too, which took up some time, but I’m pleased with what I’ve got done as one more day should leave me free to get on with other projects.
There’s far too many galleries that have been updated to add individual links on my Zenfolio website, but if you click on this link it’ll take you to the ‘recent’ section, which shows you (by date) all the galleries that have had pictures added to them.
The weather’s not been up to much here in the Pennines so it’s hardly been an ideal day to be going out with the camera. It’s made looking at pictures of sultry climates and the streetlife they enable rather frustrating! Still, there’s no doubt that spring’s is in the air here in the UK. The days are noticeably longer compared to when I left for Asia and our garden is on the cusp of breaking into life – which is a bit of a bugger as I’ve not had chance to move things around beforehand. Ah well, there’s still time…
Whilst I’ve been editing and captioning a lot of pictures there’s one thing I’ve struggled with. Ships? Easy. Planes? No problem. Trains? Simple. But, our feathered friends? I haven’t got a clue! So, today’s picture is of one of the critters I’m struggling to identify. Can anyone help? I saw this beautiful creature feeding off the plants around our swimming pool in Bali.
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 can’t quite believe we’re at the end February and on the cusp of March. Admittedly February is a bit od a woossy month as it doesn’t hang around for long – and it’s not a leap year – but even so. Today my times mostly been taken up by editing hundreds of pictures to get them onto my Zenfolio website. You can find the latest batch from Norway here. I’ve still a lot of stuff from the Siemens press event to sort out, then there’s all the stuff from Asia. I’m going to be busy or some time.
That said, I did take a break this afternoon in order to indulge in another passion. Cooking. I’ve not made anything for ages due to being away. This afternoon I made up for that by preparing a chicken bhuna.
The food was cooked early so that I could nip up to my local pub (the Big 6) in order to meet up with friends and do the Friday quiz. That was a very pleasant interlude until someone mentioned the televised car-crash in the White House. I had to have a look – and it was horrific. President Zelensky of Ukraine was ambushed and humiliated by Trump and his arrogant arsehole of a Vice-President (JD Vance) in front of the cameras, which carried the news around the world. Imagine, Trump – the ‘leader’ of the free world – who dodged the Vietnam war draft by getting a Doctor to sign him off with ‘bone spurs’ trying to lecture Zelensky, a man who refused to leave Kyiv when the Russians were at the gates of the city?
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin must be laughing his socks off. It’s the most shameful thing I’ve ever seen – but I can’t say I’m surprised by either Trump or Vance. What it does show is that the USA has been captured by apologists for dictators and can’t be relied on as a bastion of democracy or the free world. Europe (and the isolated UK – thanks to Brexit) needs to get its shit together. Oh, and we need to see the UKs Russia apologists (yes, you Farage and Reform) for what they really are.
I’m going to have to go right now as otherwise I’ll be spitting venom. The world’s entered a very uncertain phase. So, I’ll leave you with something less contentious. Food and beer…
It’s Friday, so as well as some excellent real ales there’s free pork pie available on the bar at the Big 6
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/
My first full day back in the UK has been rather busy, although this morning was the opposite through catching up on my sleep whilst adjusting to a very different time zone. Thankfully, the day produced some sunshine which lifted the spirits after yesterday’s wall to wall gloom.
I did manage to some of the morning editing pictures from my travels. Right now I’ve been concentrating on railway images from Jakarta, which you can find here. Once those are finished I’ll be moving on to other images from Indonesia then gradually retracing my footsteps through Malaysia and Thailand – although that may take a while as there’s more travels in the offing.
This afternoon we had an appointment with Dawn’s parents in order to celebrate Norah’s 84th birthday. Dawn drove over to Huddersfield to pick them up and take the four of us to a pub restaurant I’ve not visited before in its new incarnation, the Dunkirk in Denby Dale.
We had a lovely afternoon with some excellent food off a menu that offered far more than standard pub grub. Oh, they also have 8 different real ales in the bar, which was a bonus! The food was both delicious and well presented. John and I had Ox cheek whilst the ladies had the fish and chips.
None of us had much room for dessert but we did see one thing on the menu which intrigued us which was the rice pudding brulé served with home-made jam.
We ended up ordering one to share between us all. As it was a generous portion that was more than enough to give us a taste of an original dessert which was both unusual and very tasty. Whilst the others stuck to ginger beer my meal was washed down with some well kept pints of Abbeydale Deception, a NZ pale of 4.1% strength.
Now the pair of us are back at Bigland Towers having an evening to ourselves. I’ve managed to get a few more pictures edited, so all in all, it’s been a very good day. Tomorrow’s going to be more home-based as we’ve both got things to sort out, although hopefully we’ll get out for a walk although the weather forecast isn’t looking optimistic. If it’s as wet as is threatened I may just end up editing more pictures and pack ready for my return to Manchester Airport on Monday…
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 