2024 has started the way 2023 ended. Wetly! Although to be fair the downpours have mostly been confined to this evening. As I type this I can hear the rain bouncing off the cobbles at the back of the cottage. Thankfully, I paid attention to the forecast and got out for a long walk around the area and into Halifax earlier this afternoon. Everywhere was so quiet it was reminiscent of the Covid lockdowns. Most shops and businesses had taken the day off, only a handful of pubs and a few fast food outlets were open. Trains were running and from what I could see were very busy but I’ve no idea where people were going to.
Dawn had popped over to see her parents in Huddersfield so I had the cottage to myself this evening. Having completed all my self-set New Year targets and not fancying an evening stuck in front of the TV I decided to dig out my slide scanner and make some headway with clearing the final backlog of old slides I’ve never got around to scanning. The project’s got stalled of late but I had an email from a chap who seen some of my pictures from my old days in London, working as a Housing Officer in Tower Hamlets. He was fascinated to discover pictures I’d taken of the demolition and rebuilding of the old Lefevre estate in Bow, and asked if I had any more. I had, they were in another album stuck in the queue, so this evening I’ve scanned a few dozen. It’s rather ironic, as I discovered that the first batch were taken almost 30 years ago, in September 1994! You can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio website, but here’s a couple of samples.
Demolishing the disused multi-storey car park at the back of the Lefevre Estate. Part of this had been built on the site of the old North London Railway station of Old Ford. You can find pictures of it in this page of the ‘Disused stations’ website. The page also contains photos of what the area looks like now. Contractors have arrived to start demolishing ‘H block’ on the Lefevere estate, probably in September 1994. None of the blocks on the estate had names. Only letters.
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So, here we are. The penultimate day of 2023. Not that you’d know if you didn’t possess a calendar as it’s been exactly the same as almost every day in December here in the Calder valley. Gloomy and wet. At this rate you’ll easily be able to tell someone from the Calder valley. They’ll be the ones with the webbed fingers! Right now it’s a miracle if we go more than a couple of hours without rain. We really have had an awful December that’s followed on from an equally wet November.
With the weather being so crap there was nothing else for me to do but concentrate on home life, so the day’s mostly been spent working and cooking. Yesterday I made a spicy vegetable hotpot with dumplings in the slow cooker. I’ve never made dumplings before but the whole recipe seemed to suit the season and I enjoyed something different. Today’s effort was designed t use up some of the Xmas veg we’ve got left – so Carrot and Parsnip soup it was. Admittedly, I may have overdone the Chili flakes for people with a more sensitive palette – but for us they give the warm glow you need this time of year. Besides, some of it’s to stock up the freezer and I’m sure it’ll be idea if we have a cold spell – although there’s little sign of that at the moment. I’m not a great one for New Year’s resolutions but I do have a few things planned and one is to spend more time in January cooking different dishes (mostly vegetarian) – which should keep me out of trouble and give Dawn a break.
I’m really hoping the weather does a volte face in January otherwise I’m going to have to cast my photographic net further afield, which will be a bit of a bugger in some ways as I have two articles lined up either side of the Pennines. That said, there’s a decaying national rail network to report on – and some interesting stuff on High Speed 2 on the bit Rishi Sunak hasn’t made a mess off (but more of that in my end of year review).
Right now it’s time to switch off for the evening and indulge in some escapism. I’m not a great watcher of TV. In fact, I can’t think of any programmes I watch on a regular basis apart from (when they’re on) ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Have I Got News For you’ and ‘The Last Leg’. The oxymoron that’s ‘Reality’ TV leaves me cold, so if I want to indulge I’m more likely to find a film or series on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Right now we’ve been enjoying the Amazon Prime series ‘Reacher’ which is based on the character invented by the author Lee Child. The books often turn up in travel libraries in homestays and hotels across Asia, which is where I first encountered them. The Amazon series isn’t bad, so that’s tonight’s TV sorted.
All that’s left now is the picture of the day – which comes from sunnier climes as I’m in desperate need of some sunshine and photographs are the only way I’m going to get it! Here’s Tangalle beach in Sri Lanka on this very same day 20 years ago when I was there with friends. How time flies – and if only I could…
Funny how fate works. We spent the Christmas season of both 2002 and 2003 on Sri Lankan beaches, as we often used to get away that time of year. If it wasn’t Sri Lanka it would be India, or elsewhere. The one year we decided to say in the UK for Christmas as we’d travel plans for later was 2004. And what happened here, then? The Tsunami…
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With it being the festive season and my priorities lying elsewhere I’ve taken a break from blogging these past few days. Besides, who wants to read about Turkey and other Christmas treats? Admittedly, once the family stuff was over I’d hoped Dawn and I may have got out and about, enjoying country walks or even a little trip out, but the weather has been that wet and with constant storms the only sensible thing to do has been to stay at home. I can’t believe just how much rain we’ve had these past couple of weeks. The ground’s so saturated that any new rainfall runs straight off. Add in the gale-force winds and we’ve really taken a battering. Tonight, just before I started writing this we had the most amazing thunderstorm. It really threw me as I wasn’t expecting it and wondered what the hell it was at first. I don’t recall this time of year being the season for thunderstorms but whilst the weather’s been wet and windy it’s also been unseasonably mild, which may have had an impact. I’ll be interested in seeing the Met office monthly summary for December as I suspect we’ll have broken a few records.
Right now I can’t see myself escaping the Calder Valley until the New Year, but as that’s just around the corner I’m not too bothered. I’m not going to be sad to see the back of 2023. The year started well with me having two months away in SE-Asia but on the political and economic front it’s been a bit of a ‘mare.
I’m not going to get diverted into a review of the year. That’s to come. In the meantime, I hope you’ve all enjoyed your own festive activities. Right now I’ll leave you with today’s picture and bid you goodnight. I did nip out to get some shopping yesterday evening – although I had to don a full set of waterproofs to do it as the rain was pelting down. On the way back it cleared just long enough to get this shot of our local landmark all lit up for the evening.
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It’s Christmas eve here at Bigland Towers but there’s no chance of it being a white one. Temperatures are currently in double figures and the rain’s incessant. I’ve spent nearly all day at home trying to plug divert some of the waterfalls that have become a feature of the cottage porch. I need a few dry days to be able to effect external repairs but dry days are as rare as rocking-horse shit at the moment so all I can do is try and divert and catch the leaks.
Apart from impromptu DIY most of the day’s been taken up with preparing for Xmas. Whilst Dee’s been over to her parents to see how they are I’ve been wrapping prezzies and cleaning the cottage. Now we’re having a quiet night in. Dee’s immersed herself in cooking, whilst I’m on-hand to do the washing up and being there as needed for peeling duties. Needless to say, the smells that are wafting up the stairs are exquisite!
With all this going in it’s a short blog from me. I just want to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas and hope you all have a peaceful and relaxing day. These are anxious and difficult times for so many people in the world right now, so spare a thought (and a donation to charity if you can) for the folks who won’t be enjoying tomorrow – for whatever reason.
I’d originally planned to head over to my old home town of Southport but an early morning email and the appalling weather made me change my plans. I’ve been arranging to get the asthmatic cooling fans in my laptop replaced by a very helpful guy in nearby Brighouse who runs Smile Computers but it’s been difficult to make our dairies sync. Today they did so I hastily re-arranged things. Dawn was a trouper as usual and rejigged her diary so she could drive me over there – with the added bonus of us having more time together. Plus, I can arrange to go to Southport another time when more of my family are around.
Having dropped off the laptop the pair of us went exploring. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, I’ve been keen to check-out the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work in the Mirfield – Ravensthorpe corridor which is one of the most important areas. So, here’s a couple of pictures from Ravensthorpe which shows what’s happened in the past few months. If you want to see how this corridor will look in the future, this Network Rail video recreation will show you.
Here’s looking towards Ravensthorpe station (which is going to move behind the camera) and the junction between the line to Dewsbury on the left and Healy Mills on the right. This was the view in April.
Here’s how it looks today with all the lineside (and more) vegetation cleared.
The area to the right of the footbridge will be the site of the flyover where two extra fast line tracks are added heading left towards Dewsbury. The existing Up/Down lines will be separated to accommodate the new lines whilst the whole formation towards Dewsbury will be moved to the right as a new 4-track bridge over the Calder will need to be built, then the original bridge and formation will be abandoned. That means the road bridge I’m standing on to take this picture will disappear – along with almost everything else in the picture.
Here’s looking the other way from the bridge at what will be the site of the new Ravensthorpe station to the right, whilst the fast lines will be to the left. It’s early days yet so the most noticeable change is the way the lineside has been denuded of vegetation.
Here’s the same location (Thornton LNw Junction) but looking from the opposite side of the bridge. The flyover carrying the fast tracks will be built to the left of the existing tracks whilst the site behind with the yellow plant will be the new car-park and entrance to Ravensthorpe station which will be accessed by a footbridge cutting right across the centre of the picture.
As we had a few hours to kill, and despite the crap weather we headed back via Mirfield, which is also going to see some changes. Here’s the view East from the Huddersfield bound platform which was only built in recent years. This will be swept away as four tracks will be reinstated at this point with the fast lines being where I’m standing now.
Here’s looking the other way (West) from the end of the platform at the original Mirfield station and island platform which will be heavily rebuilt.
The weather worsened after taking these pics (no, really!) so we headed home to pick up some last bits fr Christmas shopping before getting a call from Chis at Smile Computers to say he’d repaired my laptop – and a very good job he’s done of it too as it also had some damage due to overheating (that’s probably what you get for prolonged use of a European designed machine out in SE-Asia in conditions that aren’t always what they’re ‘speced for). Chris was very helpful, informative and a pleasure to deal with, and his prices are very competitive. So, if you ever need computer repairs in this neck of the woods…
Now we’re back at home, relaxing before a busy day tomorrow. Dee’s going to be the hostess with the mostess, pre-preparing food for Xmas whilst I’ve got an interesting day ahead trying to plug leaks in our cottage porch that have come to light because of all the heavy rain and winds we’ve had these past few weeks. Once the festering season’s over I’ll be back on the rails as I’ve quite a few adventures to look forward to and a fair bit of the country to cover. But for now, happy Christmas!
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Well, that’s it. We’ve hit the shortest day of the year – the winter solstice – although with the latest storm (Pia) having hit I can’t imagine many faux Druids were standing around Stonehenge this morning to greet the dawn! Storm Pia arrived here in the Pennines yesterday evening and never went away. I’m sitting in my office scribbling this whilst listening to the wind rattling the bins and anything else that’s not nailed down outside. The gusts kept waking the pair of us up during the night and when we opened the curtains this morning I half expected to see a scene of carnage outside as we have a copse of trees opposite the cottage. As it was, the local woodland ha proved remarkably resilient. Mind, you, that may be because the most vulnerable trees have already been taken out over the past couple of years as it certainly feels like storms are more frequent. Add gales to sodden ground and it doesn’t take much to bring down trees.
Thankfully, none affected us which was just as well as this afternoon was spent supermarket shopping in Huddersfield and Halifax in order to pick up the goodies needed for our ‘plan B’ Xmas dinner – as well as get shopping for John and Norah who’re confined to barracks right now. To be fair, the supermarkets weren’t as awful as we both suspected they’d be. The carnage was in the carparks, which were chokka and the haunt of people with vehicles that are far too big that they don’t know how to drive, after all, this is the era of the ‘WankPanzer’.
Having survived the road trip to the Colne valley and dropped off Dee’s folks shopping we made our way home to buy our own amidst another rain-storm. Now, with our bank accounts a lot lighter but with shopping bags bulging we’re having a quiet evening at home in the warm and dry. Tomorrow’s another day…
I didn’t even bother taking the camera with me today as the weather was so appalling so today’s picture is from the archives. I mentioned Stonehenge earlier. I used to know it well as I for many years I attended the Stonehenge free festival back in the 1980s-90s when we’d be allowed into (and onto) the stones. Those days are long gone, but here’s how the mighty sarsen stones looked on a visit in the summer of 1999. But not a Druid or hippy in sight…
Talking of Stonehenge, this open letter from archeologists which was published today regarding the campaign to stop a road tunnel being built near the site is well worth a read as it adds valuable context.
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As you were! Today’s seen a sudden change to our Christmas plans. Tomorrow, Dawn and I plus Dee’s parents were meant to be heading down to Surrey for Christmas to join with my brother-in-law, his children and partner for a Platt family Christmas. Remember that I blogged about Norah (my MiL) having a fall the other day? Well, the fall and having a virus has knocked her back a bit. That much so today she decided she wanted to stay at home rather than make the trip South. Unusual, but understandable. And, as Norah’s the matriarch of the Platt family, who are we to go against her wishes? So, this morning our plans changed. Now John and Norah will be having Christmas at home whilst Dawn and I stay up in West Yorkshire to be the support network and arrange a Christmas day dinner at their home in Huddersfield. Thankfully, the excellent Bolster Moor farm shop still has supplies available so I’ve reserved us a Turkey crown and a Duck – otherwise it might have been pork pie and mushy peas on Xmas day!
Organising plan B has taken up a fair bit of the day as there’s lots to re-arrange. There’s some opportunities too as we’ve now two days where we won’t be sat in a car to-ing and fro-ing during the festive season. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with ’em yet, but…
As a consequence, tonight’s a short blog from me as the pair of us need to spend time working out a new Christmas agenda. I’ll leave you with a picture of Tilford and the quintessentially English pub (The Barley Mow) we won’t now be visiting – although I wouldn’t expect anyone to be playing cricket then as this picture was taken in May! Normally we enjoy a Boxing Day walk through the local countryside and end up here afterwards!
If I find the time over the next couple of day’s expect some spleen-venting over the latest Government lies and idiotic messaging that show just how much they’re taking people for fools. Here’s a taster from one of the ads they’ve been putting out on Twitter.
‘Network North’ London…
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It’s been another mixed-fortunes sort of day here at Bigland Towers. Unlike yesterday where I didn’t even set foot outside the door this morning I walked into Halifax in order to get the frames for my glasses changed. The old new ones had worn very rapidly, so Specsavers agreed to exchange them for new ones which (hopefully) wear a little better. Whilst I was in town I took the opportunity to have a wander around, enjoy the atmosphere and indulge in a spot of Xmas shopping. Nowadays Halifax has a far nicer feel to it than nearby Huddersfield. Partly due to the town’s new-found status as a tourist attraction thanks to TV programmes like ‘Gentlemen Jack and ‘Last Tango in Halifax – and of course the fabulous Piece Hall. That said, there’s still a lot of the old working-class Halifax left in the form of the towns denizens. One thing that struck me was the amount of smokers (admittedly, mostly elderly) sucking on fags as they wandered between shops. That’s something that was very different to my recent trips back to London. Sure, you have smokers there too but many are tourists – and the population’s numbered in several millions, not less than 100,000 the way Halifax is!
Having swapped my frames and found some presents by chance I called into the old market to pick up a rare treat. There’s a Thai cafe in the old market hall that sells the Northern Thai dish called Kow Soi. You rarely see it on Thai restaurant menus and it’s one of my favourites, so I couldn’t resist. Having walked back home I’ve spent the rest of the day sorting out various strands of work as well as updating old and publishing new blogs. I’ve a few more backdated scribbles in the pipeline once I can dig out the archive pictures but I suspect they’ll have to wait until the new year.
This evening’s been spent gritting my teeth to resist shouting at the TV following Rishi Sunak’s latest appalling performance in front of a House of Commons Committee. Sunak’s billed by his supporters as a ‘details man’. Yet, when questioned he has the attention span of a Goldfish (‘I can’t recollect’) or he just makes stuff up, then falls apart and blusters when questioned by someone with a bit of nous and persistence. He’s shifty and evasive, whilst acting like he’s the CEO of UK PLC and how dare anyone question his authority? He was hung out to dry several times, including over HS2, the rail union RMT tweeted this which hits the nail squarely on the head.
Sunak then on the make the outrageous claim that the bit of HS2 he hasn’t cancelled ‘triples’ capacity on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) which is a blatant lie – especially as Sunak’s done his best to make sure HS2 doesn’t get to Euston! There’s not one iota of factual evidence anywhere to substantiate that claim, but that’s classic Sunak. Say something that isn’t true then claim it was your ‘recollection’ (or not, if you’re denying something) – and the truth and facts be damned.
On the bright side, tonight there was more signs that the country is getting sick of these shysters. Whilst the media’s been concentrating on Miriam Cates, the latest right-wing Tory MP likely to fall foul of Parliamentary Standards, one of the other 7 Tory MPs under investigation has been booted out through a recall petition. Peter Bone, another rabid Brexiter and all-round bad egg had been suspended from Parliament for some weeks. 13.5% of his constituents signed the recall petition (the threshold is 10%) so he’s out and a by-election will be held in the New Year.
Right, time to go, so here’s today’s picture, which is of the Thai cafe in Halifax market. With prices like this for such delicious food and great portion sizes, why would you say no?
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This article originally appeared in RAIL magazine back in October 2023.
Built as a single track line by the Wycombe Railway and opened in 1879, the line between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury has always been a bit of a Cinderella line. Its only claim to fame was the fact it was the last place in the UK to run BR built Class 121 ‘bubble cars’ which were finally retired in May 2017, having been introduced to the line by Chiltern railways in 2003. However, thanks to the arrival of Phase 1 of High Speed 2, this sleepy backwater’s currently having a makeover. HS2 will pass under the existing line to the West of Aylesbury. To do so the EKFB Alliance and Network rail have closed the line from August 19th until the 30th October. The closure has allowed a culvert close to Aylesbury to be rebuilt and a new 1.8km long embankment and bridge to be constructed to replace the 1879 formation. To future-proof the line the new bridge can carry two tracks and the linespeed has been raised from 40 to 90mph. Unlike other bridges on or over HS2, this bridge has been built by sinking four 2.4m diameter piled piers to a depth of 57 meters, making them the biggest piers on HS2. Each pier took between 36-48 hours to pour. Atop the piers sits a 100m long double-track width steel bridge which was built in 30m sections in the North-East before being transported South and assembled on site. To complete the work Network Rail has used 3000 sleepers and 14,000 tonnes of fresh ballast on the new alignment. A high-output track laying machine installed the rails over a single weekend.
When I visited on September 25th 2023 Colas Rail had begun tamping the new track ready for the lines reopening. Once tamping is complete 200 tonnes of check-rails will be installed on the bridge to mitigate against the chance of any possible derailment on the bridge affecting HS2 services. Meanwhile EKFB had begun excavating the clay underneath the bridge to form the HS2 cutting which is exposing the top 8 meters of the piers. This bridge is unique amongst HS2 bridges in that it was constructed at ground level and then the ground’s being dug out from underneath it.
The new bridge on the Aylesbury-Princes Risborough line with excavators beginning to dig out the route of HS2. This view’s looking South towards LondonBeginning to excavate around the bridge piers.The first few meters of a pier’s exposed.
The excavation work’s being done in stages from the North to the South due to the proximity of the old railway formation which still carries fibre-optic signalling cables and has the disconnected track still in situ which will be recovered at a later date. On the South of the old formation EKFB are building the piers and deck of a road bridge over HS2 as passive provision for the South-East Aylesbury Link Road (SEALR) whilst another road bridge over HS2’s being built further to the North-West as part of another link road scheme.
The new bridge with track in situ looking towards Aylesbury.Check rails waiting to be installed on the bridge after the line’s been tamped and levelled. In the foreground is the old railway line. Behind it in the light coloured troughing are the signalling cables which have been lifted and protected whilst work goes on. Looking South from the new railway bridge along the trace of HS2 towards London.The Colas tamper waits to begin work. In the foreground is one of the new culverts which improve drainage on the Aylesbury-Princes Risborough line. This photo gives a better impression of the length of the new bridge over HS2.
Future work to the line will see the half-barrier level crossing at Marsh Lane near Little Kimble upgraded and replaced with full-width barriers (which will allow linespeed improvements) and resignalling.
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Apologies for the lack of blogging recently but the end of last week was rather convivial, with some unexpected consequences. Dawn and I had planned to stay at her parents over in Huddersfield on Friday night as we were spending Saturday enjoying a festive meal with some of the past and present Honley Male Voice choir members as a guest of Tony, and old friend of John and Norah (my in-laws). A lovely meal was rounded off by the choir members carol-singing outside Tony’s neighbours. All was well until be got back to find Norah had fallen outside the house and badly gashed her right hand as well as scraping her arm. Sadly, 83 year old don’t bounce very well, so there was nothing for it but a trip to Huddersfield A&E department to get the would cleaned and possibly stitched. A&E is hardly the place you want to spend a Saturday evening but thankfully (although they were short-staffed) we were there early enough to miss the pubs chucking out rush. The lack of information was frustrating, but everyone sang the praises of the staff who looked after Norah. By the time we left there was no way Dawn and I were heading home, so a 2nd night at the in-laws was arranged in order for us to be there on Sunday morning if we were needed. Norah had been a real trooper on the Saturday but was obviously suffering more by Sunday as she had a restless night. I’ve told Norah that I’m buying her a ‘onesie’ lined with bubble-wrap for Xmas and it’s to be worn at all times when she’s out with us - from now on!
Dee and I returned home that afternoon and I started to pick up the threads of work but my heart wasn’t in it and I made a trip to my local pub and ended up having one to many beers with the boys. Not my most sensible decision…
So, today’s been a busy day where the only time I’ve moved out of the office is to go to the loo or the kitchen! Mind you, the weather’s defaulted back to ‘miserable’, so I’ve hardly missed anything. Most of the morning it felt like living in the twilight zone! Still, I’ve managed to get a fair bit done including sorting out a many old photos that were held in queue for editing. Today’s picture is one of them. It was taken 19 years ago, on the 24th November 2004 when we were busy building High Speed 1 and the new domestic stations at St Pancras as in those days we had a Government with a sense of ambition and purpose.
This is what was known then as the Thameslink box. Now it’s the site of St Pancras International’s Thameslink station. The brick tunnel in the middle is the original Thameslink tunnel under St Pancras. This view is looking South towards the Euston Rd with part of the framework for the new St Pancras station West side buildings just visible above the box.
If you want to see many more pictures of High Speed 1 being built, 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/
Paul Bigland 