Category Archives: Photography

21st July picture of the day…

21 Thursday Jul 2022

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

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It’s been a very different day here at Bigland Towers. I’ve spent the vast majority of it glued to my office as the past couple of days have been taken up with judging my last categories in the Community Rail awards and having a Zoom call with fellow judges to settle the shortlist for the picture competition. We’ve had a huge number of entries this year (and some excellent ones too) which has meant its been a long process. I’ve gone through 50 plus entries this week alone. It’s hard work but it’s also inspiring. Getting to learn about the amazing work some of the station friends, other groups and individuals are doing is a real privilege. The awards are in Manchester in October and looking through the shortlists I’m sure it going to be an amazing event.

To be honest, it’s been a good day to be stuck indoors. The weather has changed here in the Calder Valley. We’ve had low cloud with sporadic outbreaks of light but persistent rain all day. This has brought welcome relief to the valley’s plant life which was really beginning to suffer after such a long dry spell compounded by record temperatures over the last few days. Hopefully now we’ll see some of the lushness reappear as the place was really starting to looked singed around the edges.

Talking of being singed, have any of you been following the twists and turns of the Tory leadership contest? They’re absolutely bonkers! The MPs have plumped for Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss – a suicide ticket if ever there was one! I can only hope Truss wins as she’s so unutterably vacuous it won’t take her long to destroy what’s left of the party’s credibility – and apparently she’s the favourite amongst party members – which says a lot about how disconnected from reality the members are! Watching the two of them trying to out Thatcher Thatcher and place themselves as her heir might appeal to the batshit membership, but it ain’t going to go down well in the swathes of the country where Thatcher’s name is still spat out as an expletive. Areas that have never forgiven her for the decimation of traditional industries – like the old mining areas which formed the ‘red wall’ that switched to the Tories in 2019 and voted for Johnson. Frankly, the Tory party has lost its mind. But that’s what happens when it becomes infiltrated by UKIP and the far-right and picks candidates not for their brains but for their adherence to the new dogma of Brexit – and nothing else. Britain is about to be governed by either a millionaire (married to someone even richer than he is) who has no allegiance to the UK and who famously admitted in an interview he knows no working class people and turned up on a building site wearing £500 Prada loafers – or someone who can’t even be trusted to find her way out of the room she launched her election campaign in – despite only having entered the room 10 minutes before!

I really don’t know whether laugh or cry. God knows what our European neighbours make of this farce. The idea that we’re going to be governed by this clown-show for the next few years is unbelievable – but it’s real. Can you imagine the nonentities Truss will fill her Cabinet with, because the last thing she’ll want is to appoint anyone who can outshine her, which rules out anyone competent and capable of a coherent thought.

Anyway, this theater of the absurd will play out until September (God help us all) so I suspect I’ll be spleen-venting on a regular basis for the foreseeable as it’s the only way I’ll be able to cope…

Meanwhile here’s the picture of the day – which has nothing at all to do with politics – I promise! Here’s a picture from Bradford in September 2019, when we were enjoying the last days of the summer. I suspect we’ll be seeing many more scenes like this in the future.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

16th July picture of the day…

16 Saturday Jul 2022

Posted by in Calder Valley, Climate Change, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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As the country gears up (or not) for the predicted heatwave over the past few days we’ve had a ‘phoney war’ sort of day here in the Pennines. Temperatures have risen but we’ve had a reassuring breeze and thin cloud that’s kept the thermometers in check. Oh, the sun’s still been strong when it’s been out but few people have been reduced to staying out of the sun altogether.

The pair of us went walking down in to Sowerby Bridge earlier to pick up some shopping, get a few steps in and also enjoy the time out. The place was hardly packed but you could seen that pubs with beer gardens were certainly doing a steady trade as people made the most of the conditions. We didn’t linger long, just enough time for a swift drink before a walk along the canal and a climb through the woods to get home.

The forecast is that the heat will start hitting us tomorrow, but as we’re over 140 metres above sea level on the side of a Pennine valley we’re not going to cop for crazy temperatures the way folks to the East and West are predicted to – but we’ll see. I suspect much of tomorrow will be spent sat up on our terrace baking – or hiding indoors and getting some work done! I have to admit, I’m a sun worshipper. Having spent so much time in the tropics I’m more used to extremes than some. My concern is more what these extreme temperatures mean for the planet rather then my melanin. The next few days will tell. They’ll certainly cause some fun for out transport network including the railways as we’re not set up for this. Railway track is stressed to expand/contract within certain parameters. This weather will surpass those, which is why people are warned not to travel – although I suspect I will be doing so as part of my job – to record the effects.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is the view across the Calder Valley from above our house taken earlier 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/

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

Thank you!

15th July picture of the day…

15 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Climate Change, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics

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Apologies for the fact my blogging has become a bit scrappy of late. There’s been a number of reasons for that which include a lack of time and also inclination. Part of me wants to sit down and do some serious spleen-venting at the state of British politics and the whole shit-show that is the Tory party leadership contest where people are falling over themselves to appeal to the narrowest section of the British electorate – Tory party members, who’re mostly pale, male and stale – not to mention completely out of touch with the real world. Let’s face it, the days of a ‘one-nation’ Tory party are long gone. Johnson saw to that. Now they’ve morphed into UKIP. The contestants lining up for a shot at the job of PM have nothing to offer the country. They’re not interested in the troubles of the country, they’re only interested in what they have to say to get the votes of party members to get the top job and satisfy their own personal ambitions. Whoever wins, it will end badly, because none of them have any sense of the mess they’ve made of running the country these past 12 years – or how to dig us out of the mire they’ve sunk us in. Laughably, some of them talk of a ‘new start’, completely forgetting any new start isn’t them, it’s just swapping one liar for another. At some point my spleen will have to be vented before it does me damage, but right now I have other things to think about closer to home, which includes navigating my way through the economic shit-show these jokers have helped get us into.

Oh, and there’s still trying to enjoy life whilst I can. No, really!

Meanwhile, here in the Calder Valley the idea that we’re about to see record temperatures in the next few days seems rather far-fetched. The past few days have been noticeably cooler and windier than late, but I’m not letting that lull me into a false sense of security. We may escape the worst of the heatwave that’s coming up here in the Pennines but there’s no doubt that the climate’s changing – for the worse. Sadly, far too many people don’t seem to understand what this means for the future, it’s all seen as a bit of a joke, just another laugh about the weather. I suspect some people won’t be laughing come Wednesday…

We really do need to start waking up to the realities of climate change, but then I look at the way sections of the media downplay it – and then there’s one of the main contenders for the Tory leadership (Mordant) receiving funding from climate-change deniers and I start to wonder if the human race hasn’t had its day. We have the largest brain of any primate – yet so many of us refuse to use them! All I can say is that I’m glad I’m the age that I am and that I got to see so many beautiful places on planet Earth as I doubt my youngest nephews and nieces will have that privilege as those places will be unrecognisable.

Yep, you’ve guessed it – I’m in a pensive mood. I’ll not detain you any longer – it is Friday night after all. Instead, I’ll leave you with the picture of the day, which is of another far gentler primate to us – but one that’s increasingly under threat from its ‘brainer’ cousin. I took this picture of a mother Orang Utan with her baby in Sumatra in August 1998. Since then we’ve buggered up even more of the jungles they live in…

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/

Rolling blog. Valley escape…

13 Wednesday Jul 2022

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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07:45.

After a week where I’ve never left the Calder Valley I’ve broken free again to have an awayday taking pictures. A client has requested a bunch of pictures. Most (but not all) I can supply from my archives, but there’s one gap and another section where the pictures are too dated – so here I am – off to get what’s required and hopefully get a few other shots for another client in the can. Thankfully, Dawn’s made enough of a recovery from Covid that I don’t feel guilty for leaving her for the day. Thankfully, I remain free of that capricious little bug this time.

Right now I’m on the first leg of my journey aboard Northern’s 07:19 from Halifax to Leeds which is worked by a 3-car Class 195 – which is just as well as it’s a very busy train.

Today’s adventure begins…

We lost many passengers at Bradford Interchange as they headed into work but we gained even more for the next leg into Leeds.

I must admit I’m looking forward to my awayday. It’s been lovely having the time at home with the weather having been so glorious. I’m glad I wasn’t stuck trackside somewhere in full PPE but after a few days I do get itchy feet and a camera trigger-finger!

My first stop on this trip will be Derby in a few hours time. Feel free to pop back later to see what I get up to and how the day progresses…

08:35.

So far so good. At Leeds I had 10 minute connection time to catch Cross-Country’s 08:11 service down to Derby. This train’s worked by a pair of 4-car Class 220s and it’s also busy. There’s lots of laptops open in my coach – including mine. On the opposite table to me are three Geordie women bashing away on their keyboards or making business calls. I’m guessing they’re on their way to a business event or training course.

The 220s were busy when they arrived in Leeds and they filled up even more at Westgate despite some seats being vacated by Leeds -Wakefield travellers (an unlikely commuter flow I must admit).

17:00

Umm, where was I? Right now I’m heading back to Derby from Nottinghan to reprise my shots now the sun’s moved around. Arriving at Derby and making a recce of the site I realised that – whilst the archive shots I have are out of date they’re great to have as you can’t replicate them in 2022. Oh, and someone took years to build a walking great bridge on London Rd which is the reason my archive pictures are now precious.

18:45.

Where was I part 2! After stopping off at Derby to get the pictures I needed now the sun’s moved round I’m heading home. Right now I’m on an EMR service as far as Sheffield. I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to get out and about again, but what a contrast to last week in Germany. I’ll not ‘go-there’ right now as I’ll upset some people. Anyway. Today’s been a good day. I’ve fulfilled my missions and even had chance for a quick visit to a pub that has a gate straight onto the platform. 5 points if you know where this is?

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

11th July picture of the day..

11 Monday Jul 2022

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

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Apologies for absence these past several days but I’ve been playing catch-up after returning from Germany. That return’s coincided with Dawn falling ill with Covid. Thankfully she’s now starting to pull through although poor Dee has had it far worse than I did as she’s suffered from banging headaches and a loss of some tastebuds as well as the standard aches and pains. In a reversal of what happened last time I’m the one who’s avoided catching Covid. It really is the most capricious of diseases. The worrying thing is the amount of friends who’ve also contracted it recently. Anyone who thinks Covid’s gone away is living in a fool’s paradise.

Of course, this would co-incide with the the need to get on with my role as Judge for the annual Community Rail Awards as well as other work and a backlog of picture editing. After all, there’s only so much I can do whilst wearing a nurse’s uniform (stop sniggering at the back!).

My enforced sojourn at home has come at a great time as the weather here in the Calder Valley has been stunning. We’ve had a run of gorgeous hot sunny days that have meant working on our outdoor terrace has become de rigeour. Admittedly, the intensity of the sun’s meant I’ve had to head indoors to use the laptop, but then I’ve had a patient to cook for and keep an eye on…

Because of the weather I’ve been getting up early (Asia style) to get a lot of stuff done before the Mercury climbs. After that it’s a case of “mad dogs and Englishmen” as I’ve headed out in the midday sun to get some exercise. Part of me would like to have got out with the camera but to be honest, the intensity of the sun this time of year doesn’t make for the best pictures as the colour of the light is too blue and the light too harsh. Far better to head out in the morning or evening.

Hopefully, now that Dee’s on the mend and I’m catching up with stuff I’ll be able to get out and about again to tick off some projects from my ever lengthening list – but maybe not this week. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which gives you an idea of how conditions have been here in the Calder Valley. We live below this rather magnificent folly, which dominates the valley. Here’s the view from my walk back from Sowerby Bridge…

The Wainhouse Tower.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

7th July picture of the day…

07 Thursday Jul 2022

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

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I’ll bet that surprised a few of you! After today’s political events in the UK you’d expect me to be in full splenetic flow, eviscerating the shit-show that passes for Government and the lying bag of custard that’s meant to be our Prime Minister.

Don’t worry – it’s coming. I have the same view as many commentators about Johnson, the resignation and the Tories who’ve suddenly found a sense of morality and ethics (from God knows where) in order to turn on him in the hope they’ll save their seats or satisfy their own personal ambitions. But as the old saying goes – revenge is a dish best eaten cold. I’m saving that particular pleasure for tomorrow.

Instead, you’re going to be treated to another picture from my German trip. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to spend a few hours watching the world go by in Braunschweig and also to gather pictures of their rather unique tramway. Braunschweig trams use a unique 1,100mm gauge, whilst most networks use the standard 1,435mm (standard) gauge used on railways around the world. A few stations do have isolated pockets of dual-gauge track as at one time back in the late 2000s a tram-train network was proposed for Lower Saxony.

Braunschweig possesses some beautiful buildings that make a great backdrop in pictures – such as this one.

Here’s tram 1955 in front of the Residenzschloss which was the grand residence of local Dukes in the 18th – 20th centuries. Nowadays it’s a museum. Tram 1955 is one of the later Tramino vehicles ordered for the network which runs AEG/LHB GT6Strams from 1995, Alstom NGT8D’s from 2007, Solaris Tramino GT8S from 2014 and Stadler Tramino IIs from 2019. Braunschweiger Verkehrs-GmbH ordered seven Tramino II trams from a joint venture of Stadler Pankow and Solaris to complement the 18 Traminos they bought in 2014.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

1st July picture of the day…

01 Friday Jul 2022

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

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Christ on a bike – are we really into July already? Where the hell has the year gone? I’ve so much to fit in yet half of 2022 is already history! I’ve been remiss with blogging recently because of trying to catch up with the past (such as slide scanning) and also planning for the future – but expect a few rolling blogs over the next week. After the fantastic Nile Rodgers and Chic concert the other week a band of us are off to see Paloma Faith at the same venue tomorrow.

On Sunday I’ll be heading South as I’m flying out to Hannover from Heathrow on Monday morning as part of a Siemens press trip. There’ll be plenty to write about between then and when I get back to the UK on Tuesday – and there’s still the journey back to Yorkshire. Expect some fun!

In the interim, I’m hoping to be able to edit some of the old slides that I’ve been scanning – such as this one, which I took in Calcutta (now Kolkata) India in February 1998. I first went to Calcutta in 1992 and I fell in love with it straight away. It’s Marmite, you love it or hate it and many Westerners simply can’t cope with it, but I find it a fascinating city.

Kolkata has two Indian lasts. It’s the last place you’ll find rickshaws like this, pulled by human muscle-power – and it’s the last place in India where you’ll find trams (but that’s another story).

Many Westerners are reluctant to use these rickshaws as they see it as demeaning. The problem with that attitude is that it doesn’t help these guys earn a living and keep their families. It’s something I learned having spent a long time travelling in India. These people can’t afford your guilt. When I’m there I’d use them, not haggle too hard and then tip generously afterwards – and thank the Gods that by a pure accident of birth I’m not in their situation.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

27th June picture of the day…

27 Monday Jun 2022

Posted by in India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Today’s been another mixed bag here at Bigland Towers and one enlivened by having a four-legged friend for company again – even if this canine companion was only on loan for 24 hours!

Dawn was up bright and early as she decided it was her turn to take ‘Bernie’ out for a walk. The pair of them padded off long before breakfast and ahead of the rain clouds that threatened to put a damper on the day.

Absolved of such duties I stayed at home and brewed to coffee, ready for their return. I’d various work jobs on my ‘to do’ list as well as household chores so the day’s pretty much flown by. We bid goodbye to ‘Bernie’ this afternoon as her owner came to collect her. Shame – I could have got used to taking her for a walk via our local pub but that would only have got me into trouble! Still, I managed to get out for a stroll (sans dog, and pub) when the weather brightened up as I had some shopping to do in Sowerby Bridge as well as drop the latest old slide sales into the post.

The brightening evening weather gave me chance to sit and relax in the sunshine on our terrace and top up my Vitamin D before returning to the office in order to relaunch my slide scanning project. I never did manage to finish this during Covid and the reopening of the world’s meant that the final few 1000 pictures have had to take a backseat to other (paying) jobs. Now it’s a question of fitting in scanning around other things, but I wanted to get a load prepped ready to be able to fill in an hour or so if the weather turns.

Another things I’ve relaunched now that my monthly eBay quota is about to renew is selling off original rail slides that are duplicates of ones I’ve already scanned. Expect many hundreds to appear in July, but in the meantime here’s 130 to choose from.

OK, it’s getting late so onto today’s picture, which is one of the latest batch of old slides I’m scanning. This was taken in Chennai, Tamil Nadu India in February 1998. Lynn and I had taken the bus into Channai (Madras as was) for a day, swapping the beach at lovely Mahabalipuram for the frenetic pace of the city. Whilst we were waiting for the bust to depart on the return this group of street-children clambered aboard to hustle. Kids being kids, it wasn’t long before they broke off to play games!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Rail strike – the aftermath….

22 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in London, Photography, Rail Live 2022, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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08:15.

I had a lovely evening yesterday as I was invited along to supper along with my old friend to meet some of the people whom he’d been to school with in Ireland. This impromptu alfresco meal was unexpected by very enjoyable and took me back to the days when Lynn and I would host such events in the garden of our home in Crouch End.

A late night wasn’t much of a problem as there was no need to be up at silly o’ clock because of the aftermath of the rail strikes. The tube didn’t start running until 08:00 and trains until after 07:30. The best way for me to start my trek to ‘Rail Live’ was to catch the 07:49 to Reading, avoiding central London entirely. Seeing Clapham Junction so quiet at 07:00 during the week was really strange. There would have been more services running during the pandemic! Still, I’m now on my way West, looking forward to todays events on what promises to be a scorcher weather-wise…

08:45.

The further West I head the more the railway wakes up. We’ve just left Bracknell where the station’s teeming with passengers heading for London. In contrast, my train, which was packed when it left Clapham, gets emptier and emptier! But then when this pair of 5-car Class 458s turn around at Reading it’ll be scooping up folk heading for the capital. I wonder how busy Reading station will be?

10:00.

My visit to Reading station was brief but I’m always impressed by the scale of the transformation. It’s unrecognisable as the place I first got to know in the 1970s. It’s grown in both stature and services and the facilities are a vast improvement on what they used to be. It shows what can be achieved with the right levels of investment.

Now I’m on one of GWRs Class 800s. Having sped across Brunel’s ‘billiard table’ along the Thames valley and called at Oxford we’re heading into the Cotswolds and my next stop – Honeybourne…

17:45.

Apologies for the gap in the blog but it’s been a very busy and a very sociable day. As soon as I stepped off the train at Honeybourne I started bumping into people I knew. This continued after getting off the shuttle train and entering the ‘Rail Live’ site. Often I couldn’t get more than 100 metres before meeting someone I knew – which was lovely after all that time in lockdown. Oh, add in the fact the on-site phone signal wasn’t the best and that were so many stands to visit, things to photograph and folk to chat to I gave up.

I’ll post some pictures later as right now I’m making my way back North, which is proving to be ‘intersting’. I left ‘Rail Live in plenty of time as I’d no idea how train services might pan out in practice. GWR from Honeybourne to Worcestershire Parkway was fine and on time. However, my connection was an Arriva Cross Country service from Cardiff to Nottingham as far as Birminham where I’d have 15 mins to Interchange. Great in theory until you see your trains left Cardiff I mins late and it’s dropping not gaining time.

It arrived 10 down which wasn’t too stressful as my interchange was cross-platform. Well, in the timetable anyway. But right now we’re wheezing our way in fits and starts up the Lickey incline.

1750.

We passed Barnt Green at the top of the Lickey 17 mins late, so it looks like I’ll be waving goodbye to my connection. I wouldn’t normally be too bothered if it wasn’t for the fact tomorrow’s a strike day…

19:45.

Ever been happy that a trains late? I was. Not because my internal service was as it knackered any hope of a cross-platform Interchange. But the fact my following train was 5 down allowed me to make my connection despite an escalator scramble! I’m currently sat on a Cross-Country service heading for Edinburgh, which means I can get home to Yorkshire at least! The journey’s been lovely, despite the train being busy. I managed to blag a table seat after Derby which has given me a panoramic view of a gorgeous evening.

23:00.

OK, I’m home and it’s time to end today’s blog. I’ve a busy few days ahead of me and lots of pictures to edit. I’ll leave you with a taster from ‘Rail Live’. Here’s a selection of the new CAF built ‘civity’ trains for the West Midlands in store before before they enter service sometime in 2022.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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

Thank you!

Rolling blog. West Yorkshire yomp…

16 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, West Yorkshire

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09:30.

After days away doing other things it’s time for my regular visit to Milnesbridge over in the Calder valley which involves my usual mixture of public transport and long walks. The weather’s glorious today so I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully there’ll be no train delays today so that I won’t have to keep up the daft pace that I did last time. Let’s see…

11:00.

Another fun day on the railway! After a pleasent downhill stroll all the way to Sowerby Bridge I had plenty of time to catch some sun before catching the 10:22 to Leeds which was taking me to Mirfield for my connection to Huddersfield. Then things started going Pete Tong. A quick check of Realtime Trains showed me that my connection was cancelled. As it’s an hourly service and Mirfield’s hardly the most exciting place to kick your heels in I syayed on the train as far as Dewsbury which has more trains. Sure enough, I was rescued by the fact a TPE to Liverpool was running 30 mins late! To add to the fun it was made of of a single 3-car Class 185 which was absolutely rammed!

11:35.

I’m now waiting for my onward connection at a very quiet Huddersfield station. There’s sudden burst of activity as trains arrive and depart but in-between it’s deserted. You could be forgiven for thinking the rail strikes have already begun!

3 TPE 185s at Huddersfield, including mine. A few minutes later the station was deserted, even the stabling sidings are empty.

Still, there’s worse places to kill time in than a grade 1 listed building! Plus, the sun is beating down and doing its best to chew through my suntan lotion whilst it tops up my vitamin D levels…

12:08.

Everything’s going to plan – time for an amble along the Huddersfield narrow canal from Slaithwaite to Milnsbridge…

12:15.

I hope no-one’s trying to go East from Slaithwaite?

12:55.

That wasn’t bad. It took me 50 mins without breaking into a sweat and gaving time to observe the life in the canal. Flotillas of Tadpoles and Squadrons of fish, both managing to avoid eath other and no-one becoming lunch. A pair of Herons preening in a field. Lovely! Now it’s time to go off-grid for a while…

17:00.

Ever had one of those days? After my appointment in Milnsbridge and because it was such a beautiful day I decided to retrace my steps along the canal but at a pace where I could take pictures. It was a lovely walk (pics later) and I arrived with plenty of time to catch my train back to Huddersfield – and my onward connection. Thanks to the Dept of Transport inspired timetable cuts Huddersfield – Halifax has been reduced to 2-hourly. To say this is a pain in the arse is an understatement but it did give me the excuse to visit the excellent Kings Head pub on the station so I could kill 50 mins whilst waiting for the 16:35.

The best pub on the station (yes, there’s two!). The Kings Head.

Then the curse of Pete Tong struck again. Just a few mins before the train was due to leave the Conductor announced it was cancelled due to a door fault. Bugger! Plan B? Get a local TPE service to Mirfield to connect with a Grand Central service from London. But wait – the GC is shown as running 35 late already, meaning I wouldn’t arrive in Halifax until 18:16 at the earliest.

So we’re now on plan C and my least favourite from an environmental perspective. Dawn’s driving over to collect me and we’ll go via the supermarket on the way home. This is what’s so frustrating about the Trasury inspired timetable cuts. They’re forcing people onto roads by making rail unusable! Despite the Government’s weasel words over climate change and net-zero – this is the reality. And all for what? How much money’s actually saved by slashing the service by half? Madness. Contrast this with what they’ve spent on dodgy PPE contracts to their mates, “track and trace”, or flights to Rwanda – but no Tory MPs election prospects have been harmed by these cuts…

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