It’s been another varied day here at Bigland Towers – well, apart from the weather – which has stayed uniformly awful, leaving the valley sodden and the skies leaden. Not that it impacted on my morning as a lot of it was spent on a Community Rail Network webinar where myself and many of my fellow awards judges were available to discuss next years awards and how people who wanted to compete could maximise the impact of their entries. It was a very good session with lots of people taking part, which is always good to see. Having direct access to the judges and being able to hear from them first hand on what makes a good application is something few organisations do.
Webinar over and with the rain having abated I walked into Halifax to pick up my new glasses. I must admit, I was rather excited, mainly because I’ve deviated from the style I’ve worn for some time. I’m finding the new, rounder glasses really good as my upward field of vision’s improved. I’m looking forward to trying them out with the camera – oh, and playing pool at one of our local sessions. I’d found my old-style glasses restricted my vision on long-shots so I’m curious to see if these new ‘bins’ help. Those of a certain age and interest may remember the 1980s snooker player Dennis Taylor who had glasses made especially so they sat high on this face to allow him to see the far ends of snooker tables. I’ve nothing that extreme (thank God!) but the principle’s the same. Of course, if they do help that’s the end of that excuse for a lousy shot!
My foray into Halifax also allowed me to get my full complement of exercise steps in today, a feat the recent weather’s make very difficult some days – unless one wants to resemble a drowned rat. Hopefully, I may be able to sally forth with the camera tomorrow when the weather improves and begin to tick off some of the locations requested by a client. I have a choice – East or West. At the moment to forecast is suggesting West may be the better option and camera capers always end up with me clocking up the footfall miles.
For now, I’ll leave you with today’s picture. I don’t often post pictures of yours truly, but today’s an exception. Here’s the new look which will be complete just as soon as I’ve had a haircut!
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And so another week begins here at Bigland Towers. In the interests of sanity I’ve decided to hold off on any political polemic for now as I want to start the week in a positive frame of mind. There’s certainly plenty to look forward to – large and small – although the weather’s done it’s best to put a damper on things to start! Forget heatwaves and record temperatures in other parts of the world. Here in the Pennines we’ve had several days of wet weather, including today when we were treated to some torrential rain this morning. Of course, this tends to encourage the climate changer deniers who’re incapable of getting through their thick heads the difference between climate and weather. And don’t even ask about trends such as average temperatures or rainfall levels- their eyes will glaze over. Anyone with half a brain can sense for themselves that our climate is not what it was. The problem is – too few people seem to want to do anything about it if it means changing their lifestyles.
Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to get into a polemic! The weather’s looking iffy around here for a few more days, which is a shame as I’ve a long list of photographs I need to take. Still, tomorrow I’m picking up my new glasses which I’m rather looking forward to as I’m changing from the style I’ve worn for more years than I care to remember. You’ll see the results tomorrow.
As the weather was hardly a photographers dream I’ve been busy at home sorting out more eBay sales. pictures for clients and swearing at a filing disaster. I was digging through recent archives stored on hard-drives when I discovered that a computer glitch meant that I have 780 recent pictures which all have the same picture number and caption! Oh, how I laughed! Thankfully, the images loaded onto my Zenfolio website are correct. Plus, I file captioned pictures as JPEGs and backup files as RAW on different hard-drives. So, I can combine both file types to see what the correct number should be. Then it’s just a time-consuming pain in the arse to rename all the pictures as they’re not consecutively numbered. That job can wait…
This evening I tore myself away from work to indulge in a spot of cooking therapy. It’s something I really enjoy doing and it takes the pressure off Dawn who’s up to her ears in work at the moment. Tonight we went for an old staple – Chana Masala. It’s a classic North Indian Vegetarian dish that’s easy to make (if you have all the spices) is tasty – and not too time consuming. So, today’s pictures are mostly of food – except for one…
When cooking I like to have all my ingredients prepared in advance… Nearly there. There’s only the chickpeas and some of their water left to add once the tomatoes have reduced. The smell of the melange of spices is divine.
Apart from cooking – and shopping (we hit out local Indian supermarket earlier to stock up on some goodies) I did manage to enjoy a short therapeutic walk in our local woods when the deluge was over and the sun blessed the evening, lighting up my walk. Here’s Long Wood as it was earlier.
As if my culinary efforts weren’t enough Dawn also decided to indulge in some cooking therapy this evening and produced one of her divine gluten-free Bakewell tarts. There’s a meeting at the Community Rail Network offices in Huddersfield tomorrow to do with the rebuilding of the station, so Dee decided to take in something rather special and personal instead of a few packets of biscuits…
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There’s a short blog from me today as I’m girding my loins for a much delayed spleen-vent – and it’s going to be a long one. I’ve done my best to avoid political blogging recently due to requests from some of my nearest and dearest, but due to the absolute shit-show that passes for a Government right now I can’t hold back any longer. And why would I? We all need to face facts and deal with the economic car-crash the Tories are performing in front of our faces before the next election.
OK, I’ll keep my powder dry until tomorrow. Instead, I’ll talk about fluffy stuff – like the weather – although it’s been anything but fluffy here in the Calder Valley. Having prepared food earlier (a Goan pork vindaloo) I nipped out for a long walk to clear my head and enjoy being part of nature. The weather’s producing some wonderful storms at the moment and I love sitting on the Albert Promenade on the edge of Halifax to watch the weather across the Calder Valley. There’s something very calming about watching (and waiting) for the weather to head your way when you know what to expect. Today’s picture shows you what I was expecting – but that I managed to swerve…
Why do I think of a certain Kate Bush song when I look at vistas like this?
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Today’s the only decent weather window that’s forecast for several days so I’m out and about updating some library pictures as well as images for a client. I’d two options but on one route the trains I was interested weren’t running, so – Windermere it is! Looking through the archives I’ve realised the last time I was there was June 2018 when services looked rather different to today.
My trip began at Sowerby Bridge where I caught a train to nearby Hebden Bridge to connect with the York – Blackpool North service that I’m on now.
My 2nd train of the day…
This was running 15 late on arrival but the performance of these Class 195s has allowed it to claw back a few minutes. Even so, I’ll miss my intended connection at Preston. On the bright side, there’s another train from Preston to Oxenholme a few minutes later that I should be able to catch. We’ll see…
10:35.
Bugger! We’ve just left Accrington where dozens of folks (many with prams) were waiting to join the train. This has delayed us further pushing us to 19 mins behind time, making my alternative Preston connection almost impossible. Now, what’s plan C?…
11:10.
Things are looking up! Our driver made the most of the 195s performance and slack timetabling to recover some time. When we joined the main line at Preston we worked parallel to Preston with an Avanti Pendolino but the damn thing was no good to me as it was heading to Blackpool too! We arrived in adjacent platforms (1&2), then I noticed it was 10:57. A TPE service to Edinburgh was due to leave at 10:59 and it hadn’t yet arrived. A mad dash across the footbridge to platform 3 allowed me to watch 397010 pull in – saving me from kicking my heels in Preston for an hour.
Saved…
Needless to say, this 5 car’s packed so I’m reduced to standing in a vestibule but it’s hardly a hardship for such a short journey. Only a few years ago this service was worked by 3-car trains. Now, even a 5-car’s ‘cosy’. I hate to think what it’ll be like in a few years time with the passenger passenger growth expected on this route.
14:30.
Sorry for the gap but I’ve been busy taking pictures and finding locations – not always successfully – as trees and bushes have a nasty habit of growing and blocking views!
I enjoyed being back at Oxenholme. Train services have changed a bit. TPE have their new trains on Anglo-Scottish services. Northern’s have changed too. Gone are the old BR units like the single-car Class 153s, now services are worked by 3-car Class 195s. The Windermere branch is no longer just a shuttle either. Instead there’s 6-car trains running to/from Manchester Airport at certain times of the day, although this presented me with a problem. They’re far too long to fit into scenic shots of the landscape! Thankfully, the 6-car I took out and back to Kendal buggered off to Manchester to be replaced by a 3-car, which just fits into the picture I have planned outside of Staveley. Now all I have to do is pray the clouds play ball. In the meantime, here’s a couple of shots I’ve taken so far.
Nowadays there’s a rather nice little food hall in the old Goods yard at Oxenholme right outside the station. There’s a cracking range of pies and sandwiches as well as outdoor seating where you can wait for your train.Having come up from Manchester this pair of 195s (195119 and 120) did a shuttle then (thankfully) headed South again.
17:30.
Job done – and the sun played ball, which is a minor miracle in this game. Now I’m making my way back South – although I may have deviated from the plan slightly…
No prizes for guessing that this isn’t actually the Windermere branch, but can you work out where I was?
19:00.
Just another day on the railway…
Back at Lancaster I noticed that my next Trans-Pennine Express train to Manchester Airport was shown as terminating at Preston. Not a problem for me as that’s where I was changing anyway. I’d factored in having an hour at the station to take some shots before getting the 18:44 Blackpool – York back to Halifax. When I got to Preston it was clear that all was not well. Lots of Blackpool services were running late or being cancelled. The 18:44 was shown as OK – right up to 10 mins before it was due when (within the space of a few minutes) it went from on-time to ‘delayed’, then cancelled. Rather than hang around for another hour I’ve caught a Blackpool Manchester Airport train via Bolton, figuring that I’ll take my chances in Manchester as there’s a more frequent service. It seems the chaos is being caused by an earlier fatality at Lostock near Bolton. An awful thing for all concerned.
19:40.
And relax! My diversion via Salford Crescent has worked well. Following a few minutes behind us was a Wigan Wallgate to Leeds service which will deposit me back at Sowerby Bridge just 20 mins later than my intended train from Preston. I’m now relaxing on a Northern Class 158 knowing I’m going to be home at a reasonable time after what’s been a busy and eventful day. Despite the difficulties the trips been profitable from a picture perspective, which is what it was all about. Mind you, I did enjoy rediscovering the Windermere line. With such lovely scenery and pretty villages (and the odd country pub), what’s not to like?
22:10.
I’m home and relaxing after a long day and over 10 miles walked. But I’ll leave you with a couple more pictures from the day…
Having arrived from Manchester earlier in the day, 195125 worked a couple of shuttle services along the Windermere branch before heading South once more. Now you can see why I didn’t want a six-car!Here’s the same unit later in the cycle, calling at Staveley en-route to Windermere.
On another note, spot the slight technical difficulty with this sign at Staveley…
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After yesterday’s photographic excursion to Manchester where I met up with an old friend for a few drinks I’ve had a quiet day here at Bigland Towers. The weather’s hardly been conducive to getting out as we’re back in the cycle of low cloud and persistent showers. There was plenty of rain yesterday but that was made bearable by some dramatic skies and pools of sunshine that made for interesting photographic opportunities. Hassard, being London-based, had never ventured out to Glossop before so I took him out on the old Woodhead railway with the intention have having a wander and couple of pints before heading back. Fat chance! Just before we arrived we found out that the next two trains were cancelled, leaving us 10 mins to have a swifty in the Star Inn across the road from the station before catching the same train on its return from Hadfield. Talk about a flying visit!
Today we’ve had gloomy weather which hid the valley from view for much of the day so I’ve been happy to be desk-bound, edit all of yesterdays pictures and get on with other work – including adding yet more rail memorabilia to my eBay account. Here’s a sample – one of the goodies that Alstom/Virgin trains produced to celebrate 100 years of Oxley depot in Wolverhampton. You can find yesterday’s picture selection by following this link to the ‘recent‘ page on my Zenfolio website.
I’ll leave you with an example of yesterday’s pictures which illustrates what I mean about Manchester’s moody skies.
Dark skies over Manchester Piccadilly were leavened by short bursts of sunshine, like in this scene of two of Northern’s new CAF built units approaching the station. On the left is a Class 195, the diesel version whilst on the right a pair of electric-powered Class 331s arrive from the Airport.
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Another week and another change in the weather…Today’s been spent confined to barracks as the sunshine we enjoyed on our walk yesterday has deserted us completely – as have the decent temperatures. Instead, the pair of us have spent the day hunkered down as home at our respective computers bashing out work.
I shouldn’t complain. Things need to be done and at least I’ve not had to spend lots of time watering the garden. Plus, at least I’m clearing the decks for later in the week when I get get out and about again. On thing that did take some time today was getting more old slides and other railway memorabilia on eBay. The sites improved its processes in recent years but it still takes a while to load up individual items. One auction sale ended today so I was keen to get new slides and other items ready for the next one. You can find the latest batch of pictures, clothing and mugs here – with more to be added soon.
All this office-bound activity means there’s a short blog from me tonight – and it’s also a speculation free area that makes no reference to the absolute bin-fire that social media has been today other than to say that libel Lawyers are going to be having a very busy, productive (and profitable) time over the next few weeks…
Right, we’re off to watch a film and indulge in some escapism. Catch you all tomorrow!
Oh, Today’s picture? I’ll leave you with this one. My article on last month’s ‘3 peaks by rail’ charity challenge is in the lates edition of RAIL magazine which hits the newsagents on Wednesday when you can pick up a copy and read the full story of the trip.
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/
Following yesterday’s less than athletic day this morning we decided to make the most of Sunday by walking from Sowerby Bridge to Hebden Bridge along the Rochdale canal – a walk we’ve not done together for ages. I packed us a *teacake lunch to take with us and we set off in gorgeous weather but in the knowledge thunderstorms were predicted for later in the day.
It was a lovely walk but the bizarre thing was that we didn’t see a single boat movement along the entire stretch of the canal. There were a few hired narrowboats around that were making their way back to the base at Sowerby Bridge, but there wasn’t a single boat that wasn’t moored up. The only action the canal saw (apart from one family in a canoe) was on the towpath which was busy with walkers and cyclists. Oh, and a bat. We couldn’t believe it when we first spotted the little critter on a stretch of the canal surrounded by woodland. But there it was – bold as brass – in the middle of the afternoon, circling and pirouetting over small section of canal as it chased and caught insects for lunch. I’ve seen Fruit Bats in Asia out during the day, but I’ve never seen British bats feeding like this. I couldn’t get any decent pictures, but I did manage to capture this video on my phone. Not easy!
Having stopped to eat a sandwich and watch the world go by at one of the locks East of Mytholmroyd we wer fortified enough to continue the walk into Hebden which was busy but not oppressively so. We explored some of the shops and main street before stopping to buy a drink at the White Swan pub then sit outside on the banks of the Hebden Beck to indulge in a spot of people watching.
Time flew. Before we knew it the weather had turned and the sky had darkened as the Thunderstorms predicted earlier headed our way. We’d already walked a fair distance so rather then getting soaked retracing our steps we decided to catch the train back to Sowerby Bridge and walk home from there. It was a good move as we managed to get ahead of the weather front and make it most of the way home without getting soaked. Well, on the outside anyway. We did make a minor detour into the Wainhouse Tavern where a group of friends were playing pool. I joined in for a few games whilst Dee provided the supportive audience!
Now the pair of us are back at home and it’s time to end the day – and week – in relaxation mode. But first I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the day. See you all tomorrow…
The canal can be quite spooky at times, especially when you come across abandoned mills and places like this at Luddendon foot.Not a bad place to sit whilst you eat your sandwiches…Hebden Bridge…
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After yesterday’s travels I’ve not moved far today – not that the weather’s encouraged me to do so. As I type this I can head the sounds of thunder in the background, although it’s mere bluster at the moment as we’ve had little rain today. That said, it has been warm. The Mercury’s hit the low 20s today which has made for a sticky time thanks to the lack of wind. It’s a shame, I rather enjoy a good thunderstorm and they’re great to play around with the camera in. Well, as long as there’s waterproofing!
Today’s planned walk went out of the window for various reasons, so I’ve spent the day catching up on picture editing and preparing more stuff for sale on eBay. All yesterdays pictures are now on my Zenfolio website in various galleries. There’s too many to past links to, but if you follow this link to the ‘recent’ section you can see which ones have had pictures added to them. The next tranche of eBay sales ends on Monday, so if you want to put in bids on stuff like this, you’d better hurry.
The weather’s meant to improve tomorrow so maybe a walk will be had. If not, expect more stuff to be uploaded to eBay! In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which shows you how the weather looks in the Calder Valley right now…
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/
Having spent the week working from home I’ve decided to make the most of the sunshine and get out and about with the camera. I’ve a whole list of places to visit and things to do, but today I’ve decided to head over to parts of the West Coast Main Line and the Midlands to update the library and also add pictures for a client’s list.
I’m currently on Northern’s 09:22 from Sowerby Bridge to Chester which I’m taking as far as Warrington Bank Quay. Formed of a 2-car Class 195 it’s been a busy little train all the way through the Calder valley as far as Manchester Victoria where many punters departed, only to be replaced by a smaller number of travellers heading West. The extra space has allowed me to set up my ‘mobile office’ in a free table bay and start this blog.
Right now we’re threading our way through the ever-growing skyline of Manchester and Salford. It’s such a contrast to the city I remember as a teenager in the 1970s, when the city seemed to be in permanent decline. How times change! Now, even long-derelict areas like the old canal basin at Middlewood locks adjacent to the railway line in Salford are being covered in new 8-storey apartment blocks.
10:55.
The rest of my trip to Warrington was relaxed and uneventful. On arrival at Bank Quay I only had time to grab a quick shot of my train before my onward connection arrived at the adjacent platform in the shape of 11 car Pendolino 390118.
Off one, onto another…
Whilst I’m not a great fan of the new seats on the refurbished Pendolino seats but I do like the positioning of the airline seat power sockets and table arrangement.
11:30.
Ah, the fun of Crewe! I arrived on plenty of time to catch my onward connection and even had time to grab a few shots of trains under the skeletal canopies that ‘cover’ the stations Southern bays. The shadows their rusted ribs cast are quite atmospheric. I was here at a busy moment with trains aplenty. Pendolinos kept arriving from North and South whilst a Transport for Wales Class 67 loco-hauled set added to the atmosphere – and noise!
“The train not arriving at platform 7″…Appearing to have been freshly painted in TfW livery but not yet rebranded 67008 leaves Crewe for Shrewsbury and Cardiff.
I was here to catch the 11:13 London Northwestern service South. Well, me and a couple of hundred other people huudled on platform 7 waiting its arrival as it was late. Just to keep us active it was announced the set would roll into platform 4, which led to sheep-like scenes as everyone had to traipse over the footbridge to get there!
Today’s train was short-formed of a single Class 350/2 which looked like ot could be ‘cosy’ so I sprinted to the front car. Most folk couldn’t be bothered and crammed in the rear cars so whilst this coach is busy I’ve plenty of space – but no table, USB or power sockets as these sets aren’t fitted with such luxuries.
11:55.
All was well until we arrived at Stafford where dozens of people were waiting. I was quickly surrounded by a bevy of well-dressed and spoken women heading for a day out. Well, it’s better than the old days of catching trains back North from Euston on a Friday evening. The ‘sweaty socks and spirit levels’ express as a female friend described the Liverpool train!
15:10.
The past few hours have been fun as I’ve been exploring lines I rarely use as well as (very) old haunts. The group of ladies I shared a coach with turned out to be a bridal froup heading to London via the slow train. I left them behind at Rugeley Trent Valley station South of Stafford. It’s a useful photographic location as the reverse curves here show off the Pendolinos tilting prowess to good effect. It’s also the junction for the line through Cannock to Walsall, Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Having been electrified in recent years the line’s now graced with a 30 minute service, so I couldn’t resist a spin to visit a station I’ve never been to before – Rugeley Town. It’s a modest station in a modest town. Staying long enough to get some pictures you’ll see later I headed on to Walsall…
I remember Walsall. Well, sort of. I lodged here in 1977 in the far-off days of Labour Exchanges, when the government would actually pay for you to look for work. I’d been training as an apprentice Locksmith up in Southport but lost the job. The Labour exchange gave me a rail travel warrant, arranged accommodation for me in Walsall and arranged a series of interviews for me in nearby Willenhall – the centre of the UK lock trade, where all the big companies (Yale, Chubb etc) wrre based. I stayed for a week, then decided this was’t for me. So, getting off the train as Walsall today I couldn’t resist a quick look around the station and town centre. I didn’t recognise or remember a damn thing! Well, it was over 40 years ago and I’ve been to a lot of places since!
The first building I saw outside the station. Great top floors – shame about the awful shopfront.My carriage awaits. Going from Walsall to Wolverhampton the long way round via Birmingham New St.
21:30.
I’m now back at home having travelled into Birmingham via Bescot, past the HS2 station work at Curzon St, then on to Stafford for a quick break before catching a packed Cross-Country Voyager back to Manchester. Leaving the station I bumped into Ian Brown, former MD of London Rail under Transport for London. The two of us discussed various railway woes as we walked across to Piccadilly Gardens where we went out separate ways. Him to his brothers and me to Victoria to catch the train back to West Yorkshire.
I’ll fill in some of the gaps in this blog tomorrow. Right now I’m going to add a few more pictures as a taster.
A pair of the new Class 730s (730040 and 730004) on test between Crewe and Nuneaton, seen at Rugeley Trent Valley. 390112 begins to accelerate after being brought to a halt at Rugeley Trent Valley by a signal check. The joy of a Cross-Country Voyager on a Friday afternoon…
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/
Hmm, it’s been a wet start to the week here in the Calder valley and hardly a brilliant start to July – especially after hot weather we had in June. I see that the Met Office have declared June the warmest on record, which is hardly surprising. I was watching the daily forecasts (not from the Met Office) which showed average temperatures being broken day after day. Of course, this news has brought out the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging climate change deniers out in force on social media. Their best conspiracy theory has been that it’s only the hottest because the Met Office have fiddled previous years figures to make it look that way. Proof (if ever it were needed) that they’re not the sharpest tools in the box – and neither are the people who fall for them.
Still, after the heavy and persistent rain we had this morning I was rather pleased to see the sun this afternoon – even if the high-winds that have battered us for several days took the edge off the temperatures. Both Dee and I have been busy working from home today but we did manage to get out for a rare joint walk, which was lovely. The local woods are bursting with life at the moment. So much so that some of the footpaths are becoming obstacle courses due to all the brambles and nettles. I’ll not complain too much as I may be able to pick a good crop of Blackberries again and Dee’s threatening to have a go at harvesting Bilberries – something that are alien to me. Still, with Dawn being such a fantastic cook – if she wants to rustle up a few Bilberry pies I’m not going to complain. Maybe we can do a trade with my sister Anne for some of her home-grown and made Gooseberry pies…
The weather’s looking pretty crap for the rest of the week but I’ve things to do tomorrow so I’ll be out and about in some form whatever happens. With luck I may be able to get a blog from the day. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day, which reflects how the weather and the seasons can change the landscape around here. This is the very first picture I took from our bedroom window when I moved here from London in January 2010.
Looking across to Norland from our home on the 3rd January 2010. We have had snow in June here in the Pennines – but not like this! Ironically, with global warming making weather patterns more unpredictable, we may have more scenes like this – but not in July – unless we’ve completely screwed the planet!
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 