Sorry for the lack of blogging recently but life has got in the way and my attention’s had to go into far more important things. You might find things are a bit intermittent until Thursday when I join the Railway Children’s annual ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ event as their photographer. Then I’ll try do some rolling blogging and give a flavour of what a fantastic (if ever so slightly crazy) the three day event it is. In the meantime what I will do is post a daily picture so you at least have something to look at!
Today’s pictures a little different. Our front garden is in full bloom at the moment which means its (literally) a hive of activity as it’s full of all sorts of different types of bees. Whilst sitting outside having an evening beer I decided to put my micro lens on the camera and photograph some of the little critters. It ain’t easy – they don’t hang around for long. One day I’ll take this as a serious project, but here’s what I managed to capture in-between sips!
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/
After all my travels over the last week I’ve spent the past few days based nowhere but home, which has been a pleasant change as I needed time to relax and catch up on editing and collating all the pictures I’ve taken over the past month which runs into several thousand images. I’ve now uploaded the vast majority of the edited ones onto my Zenfolio website. If you follow this link it’ll show you which galleries they’ve been added to. Several have already made it into magazines, including the cover of RAIL magazine and the first edition of Inside Track mag to be produced under the Editorship of an old friend and former RAIL colleague – Richard Clinnick.
Of course, my time hasn’t all been work and no play. Dawn and I both met up with a former Community Rail Network friend for drinks yesterday in the excellent Sportsman pub in Huddersfield where we were joined by several other CRN stalwarts for a very convivial evening over a few beers.
Today’s been far quieter as the pair of us have been slaving away at home – although I did manage to nip out for a long walk down to Sowerby Bridge to pick up a bit of shopping and enjoy the sunshine. Tomorrow we’re back on the social circuit as we’ll be joining many other community rail folks at a Queen’s Jubilee soiree held by the friends of Mytholmroyd station.
Now it’s June and I’ve a new free sales quota I’ve relaunched selling off original old rail slides on eBay. There’s over 500 from the UK, India and Ireland to choose from with bids starting at £1.99. You can find what’s for sale by following this link.
OK, it’s picture of the day time – and I’ve loads of new ones to choose from. The question is – what should it be? How about this one of the restored Folkstone harbour railway station which has become a stylish tourist location with lots of bars and cafes?
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 wasn’t expecting to be staying in Sheffield last night. But, there’s one last photographic opportunity for Community Rail week that seemed daft not to fit in – especially as it’s at such a scenic location Edale in the Hope valley. A group of Network Rail staff are joining the station friends to give the station a heavier spruce-up. Many hands make light work and all that.
So now I find myself sat on a 2-car Northern Class 156 ready to depart Sheffield and trundle up the valley.
Raring to go…
Job done, I’ll be heading home to Halifax for the weekend and a time to edit the plethora of pictures that I’ve taken over the past few days.
08:45.
It’s a lovely morning to be heading for Hope, there’s high cloud around and a fair bit of wind too, but plenty of sunshine. The train’s already busy with a mixture of students, walkers and cyclists heading to college or for a day out.
08:45.
Heading West I’ve noted a substantial amount of work being done around Bamford station by Network Rail contractors. They appear to be putting in a haul road on the North side of the line, although I’ve no idea why. I’m assuming its to do with the capacity improvements planned for the route.
12:45.
That was in interesting interlude. Edale station’s a lovely little place that’s seen a lot of inhancement work recently. All the station fencing has been renewed (paid for from car-parking charges) whilst the station friends have added new planters, artwork, running-in boards and old pictures of the station. This has been added to with Ukrainian flags and bunting.
On time, the volunteers from Network Rail, Transport for Gtr Manchester and the local station friends arrived and set about tackling various jobs such as litter-picking and tree-trimming in the old goods yard whilst others had a big clear-up of the tree-lined station footpaths which were in need of a good clear-up.
The group getting a safety brief before beginning work.13
13:45.
Having photographed what the groups were getting up to I took my leave after a couple of hours and headed back to Sheffield to finally head home. The 2-car Northern service had room but the 8-car Arriva Cross-Country train I caught back to Leeds was full and standing. I shared a vestibule with a group of off-duty S Yorks police officers off to York for a stag do. Leeds station was just as busy as the train. There’s a lot of people dragging around big suitcases right now!…
Well, for a day anyway! I’ve woken up to be greeting by a fabulously sunny day here in Folkstone, a town I’ve been pleasantly surprised by. I’ve stayed in the Ship Inn overlooking the harbour. It’s a quiet little pub and my room is lovely. Here’s the view.
I’m preparing to head out for the day and explore a little before I’m due to begin work in Ashford later this morning at another Community Rail Network event celebrating Rail Week. I’ll blog about what I get up to…
10:30.
It’s not often that I’m pleasantly surprised by a town in the UK nowadays but I have to admit Folkestone is the place. It’s reinvented itself in recent years and a damned fine job they’ve done of it too. The Ferry port is long gone but the harbour and the harbour railway and pier have been transformed into an excellent tourist spot. I’ll add a load of pictures later and blog about it in detail but the town (unlike its cousin Dover, which is a shithole) is really attractive with a bohemian vibe due to artworks and quirky shops and bars.
Looking back on the tiwn from the harbour breakwater.
14:30.
Well, that was a stressful few hours. Firstly problems on the rails meant I thought I was going to be late getting to Ashford. As it was I made my train with just 3 minutes to spare rather than the relaxed 25 mins I was expecting. Then I got a text from a nag saying “could you get those Crossrail pics to us – only we’re on press today”? So, with no notice I managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat (after some wifi false starts) and get them over. As if that wasn’t enough I gad to go straight to work photographing students from Ashford college getting lessons in all aspects of the railways (safety, ticketing etc) on a round trip on the train to Maidstone East. That was actually good fun. The students were lovely and watching their delight in being let loose on making announcements over the station PA at Maidstone was priceless.
Now I’m taking a minute to get my brath back before getting some library pictures before beginning the trek back North…
17:10.
This visit to Kent is coming to an end. Whilst I was here I decided to nip over to Dover to get a few pictures as my records show I’ve not been there since 2011. Not a lot’s changed around the station to be fair and what little of the place I’ve seen hasn’t changed my opinion of the town. Whilst I was there I did have time for a quick pint and enjoyed the last rays of the sunshine outside The Priory, the pub opposite the station which is where I stayed all those years ago. It’s one of those rare beasts – a pub which still hosts live music.
Now I’m on one of SET’s high-speed services back to London to head back to Yorkshire. I’ve a fast mobile office back to the capital with plug-sockets and wifi – what more do I need? (A bar and restaurant car? Ed)…
17:33.
My mobile office is now speeding along High-Speed 1 to London. A railway that exposes all the anti High-Speed 2 environmental scaremongering as just that. It’s 15 years since this line opened to passengers and the scars from building it have long healed. I really must come back and spend a couple of days taking pictures along the route as the last ones I took were for a client and I’m not allowed to use them.
17:45.
I’m curious. On both my trips on SET ‘Javelins’ the Train Manager has announced which toilets are working, so by implication – this is a problem. This set (like all class 395s) has two toilets, a fully accessible one and a cubicle. The access one seems to have conked out. Is this a common issue?
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m up and about ready to head out and make my way across London to meet up with an old friend and colleague as today’s the day that Crossrail’s central section finally opens to the public. Keep tuning in to see what I get up to…
17:30.
Humbles apologies – that was a crap “rolling” blog! The problem was that I was non-stop all the time I was in London. Crossrail’s opening was a huge story and the media were out in force. I met up with Richard Clinnick at Liverpool St. As the press leanch with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wasn’t until 09:30 we decided to take a trip to explore Farringdon – one of the stations we’d not had chance to look around before.
Like all Crossrail stations it’s impressive. What I hadn’t expected was how many ordinary commuters had switched lines already today – it was packed. Of course there was also thousands of visitors who’d just come along for the ride. These included rail and architecture enthusiasts as well as ordinary people who just wanted to try out this amazing new railway under central London.
Farringdon at the level of the Thameslink platforms.
The pair of us made it to Woolwich station where the official press event was going to be in plenty of time – which was just as well as it was packed. If you’d dropped a bomb on it you could have wiped out 3/4 of the rail press and a goodly chunk of national media and agency snappers too!
It turned into a bit of a media scrum at one point but to Sadiq’s credit he was in no rush and got round almost all the outlets who wanted to interview him. No government Minister was there apart from Baroness Vere. As she sits in the Lords I’m assuming she was seen as ‘safe’. Today was very much Sadiq’s – even if some journo’s threw him curve balls with questions about ‘partygate’ – which eventually elicited the wrath of Kahn about what had gone on in No 10!
Sadiq in the media scrum at Woolwich.
After the circus was over I headed off to visit some more of the stations. Stations that are no longer just the preserve of folk in PPE. I managed Abbey Mills and Custom House before meeting up for a quick drink with a Singaporean friend who’s over in the UK for break. That break turned lucky with Crossrail opening whilst he’s here.
I left London just after 15:00 and spent the whole trip to Leeds editing the pictures I’d taken. I’ll get some on the blog later. Right now I’m perched in the luggage rack of a Northern Class 158 heading for Halifax. I’ve noticed what seems like another upturn in passenger numbers – especially during ‘rush-hours’. I’ll be interested to see if this appears in the next set of Government figures on rail usage…
21:15.
I’m now back at home where I’ve chance to edit some of the selection of pictures I’ve taken today for your delectation.
Looking down from the main concourse at Farringdon. Underneath me are the Thameslink platforms whilst the entrance to the Elizabeth line is straight on from the stairs. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan doing one of his many media interviews this morning. I hope his staff had throat lozenges to hand!
A class 345 enters Abbey Wood station. With a 5 minute interval timetable the service is literally ‘one out – one in’ The concourse and gate line at Abbey Wood station. A service to Abbey Wood calls at Custom House. Whitechapel. This walkway is built over the tracks of the East London Line,Whitechapel. The gate line and main entrance.
You’ll be able to find the full selection of today’s pictures on my Zenfolio site in the next few days. I’m signing off for tonight as I’ve a busy few days ahead. I’m back on the rails tomorrow afternoon as I’ll be heading for the Kent coast. This time I’ll make sure the blog does roll!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m preparing to head off to the opening of Community Rail week which is kicking off with events in Bradford and Bingley. This year the message will be centred on increasing confidence and encouraging people to travel by train with the simple call to action, ‘Give the Train a Try’. You can find out what’s happening where and when by following this link.
Afterwards I’ll be heading down South as I’m staying in the London area tonight ready for the opening of Crossrail tomorrow where I have another assignment.
Feel free to keep popping back to see how my day goes…
09:08.
The journey begins. I’m off to Bradford for our first event of the day. Taking me there is a Northern 2-car Class 195. Unsurprisingly, it’s busy!
09:45.
I’ve strolled across from Bradford Interchange to Forster Sq to await the arrival of the rest of the Community Rail Network team. It’s a walk I always enjoy as ‘Bratfud’ (as the locals pronounce it) has some fantastic buildings. I keep promising myself that I’ll have a day out in the city taking the camera for a wander to photograph some of the delights the city holds. I passed this small slice of history on the way.
Sadly, the modern versions of the city’s stations are hardly architectural gems and are vastly reduced in area and stature.
15:30.
I’m back! It’s been a very hectic few hours so I’ve not had time to blog at all as the day job’s taken precedence. We all rendezvoused at Forster Square where CRN staff were joined by colleagues from Northern Rail and other organisations as well as the women from East meets West. The idea behind this group is to bring women together from different communities by using the train. The women selected have very little or no rail confidence so travelling by train with Community Rail Partnership officers and community group leads inspires them to take further trips – alone, with friends and with their own families. The group enables the women to have different experiences which they can access locally by train. Some of the women are single mums and are from isolated backgrounds so the project has really helped raise their self-esteem and provide them with a sense of community. They were all very excited to be taking part in the the event. Before we left we were joined by Rail Minister Wendy Morton, who is the MP for Aldridge-Brownhills. Needless to say, I was kept fully occupied taking pictures on the train and at Bigley station where the Minister met other Community Rail Officers and the local station friends. It was all extremely informal. To her credit the Minister was open and approachable to all, not surrounded by SPADs or ‘minders’.
Afterwards we we took part in a walk from the station to the top of the famous Bingley five-flight locks on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, guided by staff from the Canal and River Trust. Walking backwards along a canal bank whilst taking pictures of dignitaries isn’t my favourite job as there’s always the worry that you’ll end up either going arse over tit or in the cabal, but I managed it without accident!
At the top of the lock we took over the small cafe for a lunch of tea and sandwiches before retracing our steps to the station and disappearing off in different directions. I headed into Leeds and found a quiet corner of the Leeds Tap to download and edit some pictures before sending a batch out to the various PR and Media people on my lists. Now I’m sat on LNER’s 15:15 service to London which has become a mobile editing suite as I sort out a bigger picture selection. Meanwhile, here’s a few for your delectation.
Rail Minister Wendy Morton (seated, left) talks to some of the women from East meets West on the train to Bingley from Bradford. Standing is Karen Bennett. Karen iscommunity rail education officer atCommunity Rail Lancashire, and a CRN Board member.
Everyone poses for a group photograph at Bingley station with some of the excellent work of the station friends on display behind.
The Bingley station friends having a laugh and a giggle with the Minister.
Gerald Townson Chairman atLeeds-Lancaster-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership gave a presentation to the Rail Minister on the work CRP’s are doing to encourage rail travel, supported by Community Rail Officers Brian Howarth and Catherine Huddleston.
17:25.
We’re now approaching London after an easy (albeit slightly late) run from Leeds. The weather’s picked up too. It looks like there’s a nice sunny evening in the offing. I’m not going to be staying long in the centre but there is one place Im going to stop at on my way through Euston…
23:00
It’s time to call it a day folks. As I was staying in the Watford area I hooked up with a local friend whom I met when I was spending a lot of time down here working for Network Rail on the 2014-15 Watford blockades. Alan Harte is a fellow railway person, cat lover and beer aficionado – so it would have been rude not to meet up for a couple of jars.
Right now I’m back at my accommodation, repowering all my devices and editing pictures ready for another busy day tomorrow as Crossrail finally opens. Watch this space…
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/
After our brief visit to Surrey the pair of us are now back in West Yorkshire – although that’s for just one night for me. We left Tilford this morning to drive back North. With it being Sunday the roads were pretty quiet all the way until we hit the M1 motorway which proved to be a real pain in the arse. Almost as soon as we hit it after coming off the A43 we hit traffic and then a tailback caused by an accident North of Watford Gap services. We also left the good weather behind which was a double blow. Something else that was left behind was motorists common-sense. The way some folk were driving was atrocious – hence us passing a second accident further North. At least we made it home without getting caught up in anything more than traffic.
Roll on being back on rails – which will be tomorrow for me. It’s the start of Community Rail Week and I’ll be covering a couple of the events, starting with an event in Bradford and Bingley tomorrow. After that I’ll be heading down South again in a different role(s) as Crossrail opens to the public on Tuesday which promises to be a really exciting day. That done I’ll be back up North as it’s Dawn’s birthday, but then I’ve go to hot-foot it down to Kent for another Community Rail Week event on Thursday. Hopefully – unless things change -as they often do, I’ll be home on Friday.
So, there’s lots of rolling blogs and pictures to come. For now I’ll end with a picture from today’s travels and why I much prefer rail to road.
This was the front vehicle in a shunt consisting of half a dozen cars on the M1 North of Watford Gap services today.
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/
After yesterdays travels today’s been a quiet one so there’s only a short blog from me. I’ve been in Tilford most of the day, enjoying the weather and chance to feel the sun on my skin again. I have done some work, all yesterday’s pictures are edited and awaiting their captions so they’ll appear on my Zenfolio website soon. In the afternoon Dee and I popped into Guildford to pick up some bits which is always enjoyable as it’s a fine little town with a variety of independent shops and more upmarket chains than you’ll find in our neck of the woods. Needless to say, with the weather being so good the town was packed.
We only stayed for a couple of hours then returned to Tilford where I went for an evening wander and dropped by the local pub to watch the cricket. It’s a quintessentially English scene, sat outside the pub with the locals watching the local team playing on the green opposite. So, here’s today’s picture (with a bonus).
Cricket on the green outside the Barley Mow in Tilford.
Tomorrow we return to Yorkshire, but only for a while for me. I’ve got a hectic week that’ll see me traversing the country once more on various assignments. Watch out for a few rolling blogs…
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/
Bloody typical! We’ve had glorious sunshine these past few days whilst I’ve been at home, but today – when I’ve a day out the weather is the South is grey, wet and miserable! I’d planned to be out and about taking pictures for a client but the scenic pictures they want are incompatible with the conditions. So, I find myself on a busy 4-car Class 450 working the 08:50 from Farnham to Waterloo whilst I rejig my plans. I’m heading into the capital, then heading East where the weather’s meant to be clearing from. A vague plan is forming in my mind but we’ll see…
Feel free to keep popping back to see where I go and what I get up to.
10:45.
The trip into London was fine – even if the weather wasn’t. The service was short-formed but the rush was over by the time the train was running. I’d have made an earlier on if it wasn’t for the fact Dawn was dropping her nephew off at school first and Farnham was chocked with traffic, ironic when some people insist that we don’t need to improve public transport and build railways like HS2 because everyone’s supposedly still working from home!
Once in London I dashed to Waterloo East and caught a train to London Bridge where I was going to buy some breakfast but the queue at the Greggs was so long I gave it up as a bad job.
Waterloo’s concourse post rush-hour is still busy.
Right now I’m on a quite SouthEastern service heading out to a place I haven’t visited for years – Abbey Wood, which is about to develop a new life from next week when it become a Crossrail terminus. I’m sorry, but I really can’t get into calling Crossrail the Elizabeth Line. Sorry your Maj, but it’s part of the national network, it’s not a glorified tube line. Besides, I suspect if any name does stick it’ll be the ‘Lizzy Line’ which is far less cumbersome!
Passing through old haunts in SE London I’m stuck by how much has changed in the 12 years since I moved away. There’s new building everywhere. What a far cry from when I moved to London back in 1986 when the city was still in decline and the population was steadily shrinking. In those days the reputation of some of the areas I’m passing through was rough to say the least. In Bermondsey it was said even the rottweilers walked around in twos!
11:10.
There’s still something slightly surreal about suddenly seeing overhead wires appearing outside the train window – and then the twin tracks of Crossrail emerging from their tunnels to run parallel all the way into a rebuilt Abbey Wood station. Crossrail Class 345s were much in evidence running the shadow service in preperation for next week’s public opening.
I didn’t hang around at Abbey Wood as the weather’s still crap. Instead I decided to do some recce’s for other pictures as I’ve spent very little time along this line in recent years.
13:30.
I’m currently taking a break in rainy Rochester after travelling as far East as Gillingham where I stopped off to grab a sandwich. I’ve known the town since 1990 when I often used to pop over from London of a weekend to photograph the variety of traction that would be stabled here then. All that’s long gone. The town looked pretty run down then. It’s fortunes haven’t improved. I braved the torrential rain and flooded main street (blocked drains on both sides) to find a Greggs. It was a depressing experience. Shops are boarded up and empty and the dereliction has spread to the population. Just 15 minutes walking down the High St let me see there’s an awful lot of deprivation and health problems here. People who believe the hypes that Kent is the ‘garden of England’ have never visited Chatham and Gillingham! I doidn’t hand around after I’d grabbed a couple of pictures. I made my way along a platform flooding due to leaks from the station canopies and headed back to Rochester which has gained a brand-new station since I stopped here last.
Gillingham. It’s grim down South too…
The new 3 platform station at Rochester opened in 2015 and replaced the old cramped one which was further East. It’s been part of a scheme to redevelop the nearby dockland area which was cut off from the town by the railway. Progress has been slow but steady with new housing springing up alongside the railways and the East end of the huge site.
I must admit to liking Rochester. It’s a place with history (hence its castle) literary links (Charles Dickens) and an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants and pubs. It’s also less right-wing than much of the Medway (which is very Brexity), as this artwork by the museum attests to…
I have to agree. And it’s not done the Medway town any favours at all…
21:15.
Apologies for the ‘slight’ intermission but I’ve been non-stop for the past few hours as I made my wat back to Surrey – which is where I’m typing this from. As I left Rochester the weather really began to change making the trip much more enjoyable. I really enjoyed being back along this line, seeing the changes that have – and are – happening. It’s all a far cry from when I first explored the region back in the 1980s!
My first stop was at Gravesend, a station that’s been rebuilt in past years but still retains its Victorian buildings to complement the modern infrastructure such as it’s large cycle hub. Always on the lookout for an elevated view I found a nearby multi-story car park that afforded me this view.
Here’s the other side of the station. My pervious vantage point can be seen in the background.
Moving in once more my next port of call was Dartford – yet another place that’s changed dramatically since I first got to know it 30 odd years ago. The vintage slam door trains are long gone. Even the more recent BR built stuff has been elbowed aside by cascaded Siemens trains like this.
But, the biggest change was when I returned to Abbey Wood, the terminus of Crossrail South of the Thames. 30 years ago I’d never have imagined this far-flung corner of South-East London would have not one, but two cross-London connections. The first to arrive was Thameslink and services between Rainham and Luton, allowing to people to traverse the centre of the capital without changing trains. Now Crossrail’s arrived to add East-West to North South. As a consequence, house prices in Abbey Wood have gone through the roof and the skyline’s following suite – as this picture taken earlier demonstrates.
The changing face of South-East London. A Crossrail train arrives at Abbey Wood with the rising skyline beyond.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today is starting from home but it will end in Surrey this evening. Right now my journey is starting at Sowerby Bridge station as I wait for the 10:22 service towards Leeds via Brighouse on a roundabout route to get to my first port of call. Huddersfield…
10:24.
A 3-car Class 195s arrived to carry me Westwards to Dewsbury where I’ll double back on myself before hitting Huddersfield. It’s a quiet train today.
My walk to the station wasn’t blessed with the wall to wall sunshine we had yesterday and the temperatures not hitting the same heights, even so, it’s a good day for walking and getting used to how my new Fitbit Charge 5 works. My old Charge 4 model developed a not uncommon fault where blank lines appear across the screen as the LCD fails, making it almost unreadable. In contrast (if you’ll pardon the pun) the Charge 5 has a much brighter and easier to read colour display.
Listed at £170 I bought mine from Amazon for £114, the same price Curry’s are selling them for. My initial reaction is it’s a far superior product but I hope they’ve ironed out the LCD problems. This is my fourth fitness tracker. I’ve found them really useful in improving my health. Well, in some aspects anyway. I’m glad they don’t count units of alcohol! They appeal to us number-crunchers as have a library of helpful and not useful statistics. For example, last week I won my “you’ve now clocked up the equivalent distance of walking from the North to South pole” badge!
11:00.
I’m now waiting for a late running TPE here at Dewsbury having arrived on this..
The TPE service is running 8 down which puts it behind the local stopper to Huddersfield which I expect it to overtake at Mirfield.
11:10.
The local arrived first and as I’m in no rush I decided yo catch it! We’re now trundling along under grey skies towards Mirfield.
11:18.
Sure enough we were held at Heaton Lodge junction West of Mirfield to allow the express to flash past. When this section to Huddersfield is returned to four-tracks as part of the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) such conflicts will be removed, making timekeeping much easier.
11:58.
Bugger! Another late-running TPE express is stopping my Huddersfield – Slaithwaite stopper from leaving. We’re already 7 down and the damned thing’s only just left. That means my walk along the canalside to Milnsbridge is going to turn into a dash as I’m up against arriving in time for my appointment…
We’ve just left Huddersfield at the time we should have arrived at Slaithwaite. Oh, joy! To cap it all, despite the weather forecast saying it’ll be dry and even sunny today the weather in the Colne valley clearly didn’t get the memo!
12:10.
The dash begins…
12:55.
I’ve impressed myself! I’ve made it with 6 minutes to spare. The sun’s come out too – although I’m glad it was gllomy whilst I was walking as that was some pace. I’m going off grid now – catch you in an hour or so.
17:10.
That was a long hour I admit! We’re currently taking a break at Watford Gap services on the M1. Dawn’s driving down to Tilford and I’m riding shotgun. The weather was beautiful as we traversed Yorkshire on our way to the motorway but it’s slowly deteriorated en-route on what’s been a busy motorway.
22:10.
And relax! We’re now ensconced in Tilford, Surrey after a drive that traversed motorways, major A roads like the A34 and even crossed the site of HS2 at Brackley – where work’s really come on in the past few months. I’m hoping we can take a detour on the way home just to check out progress.
Tomorrow Dawn’s on school run duties for her nephew whilst her brother’s away. Her niece is revising for her exams so’s (mostly) housebound apart from lunchtime when the two of them are going to have lunch together in Farnham. Me? I’m having a day out on the rail network although I haven’t decided exactly where I’m going yet. I’ll be doing that research after I’ve signed off here. But, I’ll be blogging throughout the days as I travel…
Until then, goodnight!
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 