Category Archives: Photography

Rolling blog. Trains, travel – and HS2…

03 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by in Hs2, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:15.

I’m back in the road (or rather, rails) again for the next few days as I’m heading South to check out work on building our new high-speed railway, HS2. It’s been an unconscionably early start as I’ve a lot of ground to cover before I end up in Banbury this evening where I’ve a hotel booked for the night before taking part in a morning media visit to a nearby HS2 site, but more of that tomorrow. Feel free to keep popping back to see where and what I get up to today…

Right now I’m on the 06:00 train from Halifax to Leeds to begin my journey South to London. This morning’s walk to the station was one of the quietest I’ve known for some time, despite it being a lovely morning – although the amount of broken branches lying on the roads suggests we had anything but a calm night. Even the dog walkers seemed to have taken the day off as the only people I passed were a handful of people cocooned in their metal boxes as they drove to/from work.

The 06:00’s not normally a busy train but this mornings loadings are looking good, especially now that it’s left Bradford Interchange. It’s between 25-30% full, mostly with early shift workers.

07:30.

My journey to Leeds was quick and easy as was my transfer to LNER’s 07:00 to London. The service originates at Bradford Forster Square and reverses at Leeds before calling at Wakefield Westgate, then running non-stop to London Kings Cross. It consists of two 5-car Class 801/1 ‘Azuma’ units which are normally busy with a mix of business travellers and families who’ve secured cheap tickets for a day out in London. Today’s no exception. The beauty of this service is that it’s times to arrive at Kings Cross at 08:59, which is ideal if you’ve an early meeting in London. Despite all the fuss made in some quarters about ‘Zoom’ meetings it’s obvious that a lot of business people still want face-to-face meetings.

08:40.

My trip South has been (so far) hassle-free. The change in the seasons is made obvious by the amount of hay bales in the fields we’ve flashed past as farmers are busy bringing in the harvest. Something else that’s noticeable is how dry the land looks the further I get towards London. We’ve had many days of rain up in the Pennines which has left the landscape lookin very lush, which is a marked contrast to the scorched landscape of Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The weather’s clouded up ‘darn sarf’ but there’s no sign of rain…

As we’re within spitting distance of London I’m making sure all by gadgets and gizmos are charged up using the multitude of available sockets on the train. One gadget I don’t have to worry about anymore is my Fitbit. I’ve talked about how the new Charge 5 has an excerable battery life. It it went for 48 hours without needing recharging it was a miracle. Well, recently Fitbit did a software update which appears to have cured the problem. I’ve not charged the thing since (3-4 days ago) and I’ve still got 48% left. I’m going to see how long it lasts before I need to plug it in again.

09:45.

I’ve been in London less than an hour. My inbound service from Leeds was 3 minutes early – as it often is. Say what you like about the Azumas but they can’t half shift! At King’s Cross an earlier East Coast racehorse was waiting for me. 91127 in its revised BR livery with an LNER twist…

Oh, I say…

Staying long enough to grab a picture I scuttled off to Marylebone via a quiet Metropolitan line. It may be one of the capital’s smallest mainline termini but it’s buzzing nowadays. A far cry from BR days when it was dead outside of rush-hours. Now there’s trains departing every few minutes and a constant stream of passe gers using its expanded services to the likes of Oxford and Bicester shopping village (a favourite of foreign tourists).

I caught the 09:44 to Gerrards Cross worked by this old ‘Thames Turbo’.

12:00.

Phew! The weather may be cloudy but it’s certainly warm down here. I’m currently in Denham having a look at sites associated with what will be one of the most visible and iconic structures on HS2, the Colne Valley viaduct which will stretch for 3.5km. The viaduct will cross a series of lakes (former quarries) which makes construction interesting as haul roads have to be built across the lakes to the site of each pier to enable construction vehicles to get to from the sites. I’ll add pictures later. I did visit one contentious site. According to local anti HS2 activist Sarah Green the Hs2 haul road is blocking the grand Union canal as the engineers are “incompetent” and build the road too low. There’s only one problem with her claim. It’s a complete fabrication. Here’s where HS2 viaduct will cross the Grand Union canal. The canal isn’t blocked by any haul road – because there isn’t one. Green knows the truth because she only lives a few minutes away along the canal. She lied.

14:45.

Double phew! Having spent time exploring the route of the Colne Valley viaduct I wandered up to the Northern end which is where construction has been launched from. The massive South Hyde site contains two temporary factories. One names the tunnel segments for the Chiltern tunnels pushing North whilst the other makes the viaduct sections heading South. So meet ‘Dominique’, an expat from Hong Kong who’s now at work building the Colne Valley viaduct.

Here’s more up close and personal…

16:30.

Oops! I stopped off to get some pictures and a spot of lunch but soon regretted it as my next Banbury bound train turned out to be an absolutely rammed 2 car set working to Birmingham. 2 cars all the way to Brum, seriously? Yes, sadly so…

The vestibule I’m stood in at the front of the train contains me, a pram, a woman with a suitcase and a chap looking after 2 bikes as his partner’s found a seat. No-one’s complaining, even though the bikes are blocking off the front compartment and have to be juggled every time we stop.

21:30.

Time to bring today’s rolling blog to a close. I’ve had a long day and walking 15 miles with a fully laden camera bag has certainly given me a bit of a workout. When I arrived in Banbury the first thing I did was make a beeline for my hotel which was on the opposite side of town and and enjoy a nice warm shower! Suitably refreshed I went for a wander around the town which I’ve not visited for over 20 years. I was quite a depressing experience. Banbury should be a thriving market town in an affluent part of the country but the reality is rather different. I was amazed at the numbers of street homeless and vagrants panhandling around the town centre. There’s some lovely buildings here, but many of the shops are derelict. When you see that even ‘Burger King’ has closed its doors you can start to appreciate the problem. On the plus side, there’s some excellent Eastern European supermarkets – and quite upmarket ones at that. I’d be interested to know what the demographic is around here as they’re obviously catering for someone, and the Slavic languages are often heard in the street. In contrast, the vagrants are nearly all white English. Maybe I need to do some digging as it’s not what I expected. Still, I have a great room in a family run B&B and tomorrow I’ll be meeting up with various friends and colleagues to be given a tour of the HS2 cut and cover green tunnel at Chipping Warden, so expect another rolling blog tomorrow as I’ll be checking out a few other HS2 construction sites as I make my way back up North. But, for now – 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/

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

Thank you!

The end of the BR built era beckons. The Scotrail Class 320s.

02 Tuesday Aug 2022

Posted by in British Railways (BR), Class 320, Glasgow, Photography, Railways, Scotland, The end of the line, Uncategorized

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*Warning – blog under construction. This warning will be removed when I’ve added all the details and pictures*

Whilst the sun is rapidly setting on the careers of the old BR built Mk3 coach derivatives South of the Border it still shines in Scotland – for now…

The Class 321 Electric train series is finally being retired in England but the Scottish version of the ‘Dusty Bins’ (The ‘McBins’ maybe?) are not only at full strength, they’ve been complemented by reformed Class 321/4 transfers from the South.

History

Built at York Holgate works in 1990 the Class 320 is a 3-car version of the Class 321s built for London and South-East services. 22 of the trains were ordered and numbered 320301-322. Unlike their sisters, the 320s were originally built without toilets and with a maximum speed of 75mph rather than 90mph due to the closeness of station on the lines they were designed to operate on. They were ordered to help replace the older 75mph Class 303s from Pressed Steel Co which were built between 1959-61. Originally they operated North Clyde services from Glasgow to Balloch, Helensburgh and Milngavie. Their speed was raised to 90mph in 2010 by fitting the yaw dampers that were standard on the rest of the 321 fleet. This allowed them to operate in multiple with the Class 318s and also extended their sphere of operation to include the Argyle line underneath Glasgow Central and later the Cathcart lines from the mainline station above. Nowadays they can be found on many different routes North and South of the Clyde, including services to Wemyss Bay.

The units have been refurbished twice. Firstly between 2002-04 when they received an internal refresh including new seats covers and a revised version of the revised SPT carmine and cream livery which they’d first gained from 1997 onwards.

(To be continued)…

On the 8th December 2016 class leader 320301 sporting Saltire livery arrives at Dalmuir with a service heading for Glasgow.
The previous day, 320302 calls at Glasgow Central low level with a service to Milgavie.
3 years previously, on the 14th June 2013. 320303 pulls into Charing Cross on the low level line via Glasgow Queen St.
Here’s 320304 arriving at Newton to the East of Glasgow on the 29th March 2012 with a service to Motherwell.
320305 sits at platform 6 at Glasgow Central on the 4th October 2018.
It’s the 29th March 2012 and 320306 is arriving at Partick station on the North bank of the Clyde, an interchange with the famous ‘clockwork orange’ as the Glasgow circular subway is known to many. The station had only recently been rebuilt and extended.
320307 threads its way through the complex switches and crossing that form the approaches to Glasgow Central station on the 10th November 2021.
Platform 6 at Glasgow Central once more, this time on the 4th October 2018, when 320308 rests between duties.
320309 sporting the revised SPT carmine and cream livery with all cream doors seen at Dumbarton Central on the 13th June 2013.
Glasgow Central again but this time platform 10 where 320310 and a sister unit sit in the sunshine on the17th July 2018.
It’s the end of the line at Milngavie on the 8th April 2009 where 320311 keeps company with a fellow Mk3 based unit in the shape of Class 318254. These units had been refurbished and had their corridor connections removed. Ironically, Scotland is also the last bastion of the Class 317 type fleets as the last ones in English service were withdrawn earlier this year.
It’s the 9th of November 2021 an the distinctive and ornate lattice roof supports give away the location of this picture of 320312 working to Wemyss Bay. It’s Paisley Gilmour St on the South side of the Clyde.
320313 arrives at Dumbarton Central with a service from Glasgow on the 13th June 2013.

320314 with the swoosh on the front of its carmine and cream livery calls at Dalmuir on the 21st March 2001.

320315 with a sister unit in tow calls at Motherwell on the 29th March 2012.
The traincrew change ends on 320316 which has terminated at Dumbarton Central, ready to work back into Glasgow and beyond on the 8th December 2016.
Passengers board 320318 at Partick on the 29th March 2012.
320319 waits at Glasgow Low Level station on the 7th December 2016 with a service to Larkhall.
320320 pulls into Exhibition Centre station on the North Bank of the Clyde on the 8th December 2016.
Carmine and cream liveried 320321 wearing the First Group logo on its front end sits inside Glasgow’s Shield Road depot where the class was based on the 8th April 2009.
Last of the class 320322 sporting Carmine and Cream livery and First group logos sits in the bay platforms at Springburn on the 16th August 2012.

To be continued…

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 August picture of the day…

01 Monday Aug 2022

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

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Another month has flown by and now we’re already into the eighth month of the year, where the hell’s the time going? After yesterday’s little excursion I’ve been been busy at home editing the pictures to get out to the client whilst sticking the rest on my Zenfolio picture website. You can find which galleries they’re in by following this link. To be honest, I was glad of the home time as I’d so many things to catch up on or prepare for the week ahead. Plus, whilst the weather still feels warm the day gradually deteriorated, leaving us with yet another wet evening with worse to come tomorrow. Hardly great photographic conditions, so if the rain Gods want to do their stuff now and leave me in peace from Wednesday whilst I’m working on HS2 sites I’ll be more than happy!

One of the many projects I want to get done this month is stick many more old slides and items of railway memorabilia onto eBay. I’ve already got several hundred old transparencies listed and I re-advertised over 350 unsold pictures this evening. You can find what’s on sale (prices start from £1.99) by following this link. I’ll be adding new pictures by the weekend.

Right, it’s a short blog from me tonight as I’ve another early start as both Dawn and I have a long day ahead. I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is from yet another project that remains uncompleted – scanning all my old slides! Although this particular picture dates from August 1997 is topical for me as we’re in the process of arranging a week-long holiday on the North Norfolk coast in September. Dawn’s never visited the area and I’ve not been back for over 20 years, so we’re both looking forward to it. Here’s the old windmill at Cley next the Sea.

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

Rolling blog. A photographic interlude…

31 Sunday Jul 2022

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

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No rest for the wicked! It may be Sunday but I’ve a little job to do that involves trying to get a suitable cover picture for a magazine. This means that after a lazy Sunday morning at home I’m now heading to Leeds for a few hours. This could be a challenge as the weather’s variable to say the least. We had a lot of heavy rain overnight. The aftermath is Yorkshire’s blanketed by low grey cloud and a procession of showers. Still, I enjoy a challenge! On the bright side (if you’ll pardon the pun) I won’t have to worry about heavy shadows or being on the wrong side of the sun!

The train I’m using to get to Leeds is a late running service from Blackpool North to York that needed to rendesvous with an ambulence (for some unspecified reason) earlier in its journey. The 3-car 195 is packed with a variety of holidaymakers and day trippers leavened with a few determined shoppers but I’ve managed to find a tip-up seat in a vestibule and relax for a whole.

The train became less packed after calling at Bradford Interchange as a number of suitcase wielders bid us goodbye. I’m assuming they’re on their way home from fleshpots of Blackpool – although looking at some of them I suspect a lot of time was spent in pubs and chip-shops! I’m now sharing a table, which is an improvement as I can set up the laptop and catch up on some work.

16:00.

I’ve seen a lot more sunshine at Leeds than I expected! This choose my first photographic position for me, leaving me shooting pictures of trains approaching from the East along the narrow station throat to head straight into the range of my long lens – like this…

I managed to capture a variety of train types and companies but with it being a Sunday my quarry was on the sparse side! After an hour of changing light conditions I’ve swapped ends to add to the picture mix. I was hoping we might have had a rain shower just to wet the ground. Backlit shots after rain can look very dramatic – almost monochrome.

Whilst the trains are on the sparse side passenger numbers remain bouyant. I’m about to relocate to Bradford and this was the view as I walked to my train.

17:25.

Well my brief interlude in Bradford was a bit of a bust! It’s high summer and the ballast looks more like a lawn rather than a well-maintained trackbed. I had similar problems at Leeds but this was worse. Plus, it being Sunday, the trains I was hoping to shoot are sparse. I may have to nip out for a bit tomorrow as compensation. I’ll decode after I’ve edited today’s image haul. Right now I’m heading home on this wee beastie. You really don’t want to see a solitary 2-car on York – Blackpool’s, especially of a weekend, but there you go…

17:45.

I’m back in Halifax, the weather’s improving with the promise of a lovely evening so I’ve stopped for a ‘swifty’ in the Meandering Bear before the walk home…

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!

30th July picture(s) of the day…

30 Saturday Jul 2022

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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And what a convivial day it’s been! We started off by driving over to Huddersfield to have brunch with Dawn’s parents at the excellent Hinchcliffe’s farm shop in their ‘Rusty Bull’ cafe/restaurant. It’s always a treat to have someone else cooking for us – especially of a weekend. We weren’t disappointed either. The menu’s changed since our last visit. The full English still features and that was my choice as it’s something we’d rarely cook at home. Dawn plumped for one of the new dishes, Shakshouka. This was comprised of Chorizo, Smoked Bacon, Baby Spinach, Sweet Peppers and Poached Eggs, served with Sourdough Toast.

We had a lovely meal and time together which was only slightly spoiled by the fact a lone Wasp managed to sting me on my neck! The little barsteward prompted a detour on the way home so that I could pick up some anti-histamines from a chemist. Years ago I had a bad allergic reaction to a sting from some critter so I wasn’t taking any chances, especially as it stung me so close to my throat. I didn’t fancy a tracheotomy if things went pear-shaped! As it was the tablets worked a treat.

On the way home we called in at another favourite, the Bolster Moor farm shop where we stocked up on various cuts of meat that’ll keep us going for quite some time and allow Dawn to produce some of her amazing dishes – like her fabulous gluten-free lasagne as well as home-made chicken-liver pate. We also bought a couple of different bags from their range of flours for our neighbour as a ‘thank you’. Susan bakes the most delicious bread (purely as a hobby) which she passes on to us. Her delightful range of fresh home-made loaves mean we hardly ever have to buy bread.

Once back at home Dawn rolled up her sleeves and started cooking whilst I sloped off to our nearest pub (The Wainhouse Tavern) for a few games of pool with some friends. I don’t go every week, only when I’m around. Rediscovering old skills (I used to play in a pool team back in my distant youth) is great fun and makes a pleasant change from just propping up a bar.

I stayed for a couple of pints and several games before returning home to muck in cleaning up the kitchen where Dee was cooking up a storm. As well as the gorgeous smell of the Lasagne ragu the kitchen was full of the aroma of our meal for tonight – Nasi Goreng, the signature dish of Indonesia, which we’ll be eating soon after I’ve finished scribbling this!

Tomorrow will be less relaxing. I’ve been tasked with getting the cover picture of a magazine which means a trip to Leeds/Bradford in the hope I can get a suitable picture, so expect a rolling blog from my trip. In the meantime, here’s a selection of pictures from today’s outings.

Hincliffe’s full English with added black pudding…
A selection of local bitters in the Wainhouse Tavern.
Winning! Or not….
A snack before supper. Sat at my desk with one of Bolster Moor’s award-winning pork pies.

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!

29th July picture of the day…

29 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Calder Valley, Hs2, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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I’ve had another mixed-bag sort of day here at Bigland Towers. It’s been one that’s never really taken off as the weather’s been so unpredictable. The heatwave of the other week seems like a false memory now as we’ve had so many wet days since. I’d been toying with having a day out but the forecast put the mockers on that as I soon realised I’d be wasting my time as I’d plenty of things to clear the decks with at home that will free me up for some adventures next week. One of the days achievements has been to tidy-up my recent picture-taking and get stuff I hadn’t catalogued onto my Zenfolio picture website. You can find what I’ve added (and where) by following this link. There’s still some more pictures to add but they should be cleared over the weekend.

Another exercise was trying to find the details of the court case results that saw some anti HS2 protesters jailed earlier this week. I’ve managed to update yesterday’s blog with the results but finding and linking to the original court papers is difficult – especially on a Friday! I’ll get there in the end as they’ll eventually be published in full. In the meantime I’ve had to spend a lot of time chasing details through informed people.

Right, it’s time to get into the weekend spirit so I’ll leave you with today’s picture which was taken in our garden this morning. Most days recently I’ve looked out of our living room window to notice the raindrops beading on the Iris’ outside. I kept thinking what a good picture it would make. Finally I got around to taking it.

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 July picture of the day…

27 Wednesday Jul 2022

Posted by in Community rail, Cumbria, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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We’ve had a busy day here at Bigland Towers due to two events. Dawn had to go into the Community Rail Network offices in Huddersfield bright and early whilst I was engaged in my last Zoom judging panel for the Community Rail Awards. The law of Sod being what it is, my internet started playing up shortly before I was due to join the meeting. Luckily, there was a plan B. I have a large data allowance on my mobile phone contract so I tethered it to my laptop and used it as a surrogate internet connection for a few hours whilst myself and my esteemed colleagues (all with a wealth of experience) judged our final three categories totaling over 50 entries . What was reassuring was the the fact that during our individual initial sifting and marking we’d all come to an independent (and unwitting) consensus on who the winners were. 2nd and 3rd place took some more discussions but an agreement wasn’t too difficult – despite the fact there were some excellent entries and the overall standards were so high. I’ll say no more other than that there are some very worthy winners and the awards ceremony in Manchester later in October will be a brilliant and inspiring event and celebration of the best the world of community railways has to offer.

Now my judging duties are over for another year I can concentrate on other things. I’m looking forward to be able to get out and about again as there’s so many things to see and do – although today wasn’t going to be one of those days due to the latest rail strike which meant there were no trains at all running through the Calder Valley, which would have rather cramped my style! Anyway, there’s another week and another month coming up on Monday which will see me stretching my legs on a number of different projects. But not tomorrow – as the weather’s meant to be crap again! I’ve been sending pictures from the heatwave to several different magazines today. They seem like an age ago due to the fact we’ve had constant rain since – it’s almost like it was a dream. Hopefully the summer will return soon.

On that note I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is an archive ‘trains and the landscape’ picture taken at Arnside on the edge of the Lake District in November 2021.

CAF built Class 195 number 195132 crosses the viaduct at Arnside whilst working 1C54, the 1228 Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness on the 4th November 2021.

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!

25th July picture of the day….

25 Monday Jul 2022

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

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I can’t quite believe the contrast in the weather up here in the Pennines. This time last week we were basking in a heatwave which saw the UK being scorched by record temperatures. Even the Calder valley made it up to 37 degrees. Now? It’s been raining most of the day (making that 6 days in a row) with the temperature never rising above the mid-teens. Bizarre…

I’m not knocking it as I’m going to be stuck at home for a few more days yet as I’ve loads of paperwork, picture editing and prepping to do. It would be nice to get out for a walk without getting wet but the forecast for much of the rest of the week is more of the same – bar Wednesday which just happens to coincide with the next rail strike. That means no trains through the Calder valley so I doubt I’ll be going anywhere sadly. I know other parts of the UK would be very jealous of our rainfall as they’re still experiencing a drought, so I’m not going to complain. I took a stroll through our local woods earlier. They looked very lush and far less stressed than they did this time last week. It was a pleasure to be wandering through them as they’re such a peaceful and beautiful part of where we live.

There’s no long blog form me tonight and I certainly won’t be commenting on the latest Tory Leadership debate as I haven’t watched it. I’d rather stick forks in my eyes to be honest. We’ll learn nothing. Besides we already know neither of them are fit for high office – much less the highest elected office in the land. Whatever the result, we’re doomed to mediocrity and incompetence until the next General Election. Oh, joy…

Instead, I’m going to leave you with the picture of the day which is from my woodland walk earlier today. Welcome to Scarr woods!

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!

24th July picture of the day…

24 Sunday Jul 2022

Posted by in Brexit, Greece, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics, Travel

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My usual apologies for the lack of blogging recently but Dawn and I have been busy with other more mundane domestic issues (like a boiler playing up) as well as juggling the work/life balance and some social activities too. Not that I’m complaining, I’ve actually enjoyed the break although I’ve now got a backlog of spleen-venting stuff I want to blog about as well as some railway subjects.

Blogging’s not the only thing I’ve been neglecting. My exercise regime has gone to pot this week too – but that’s mainly been down to the weather. The week began with record temperatures but ended with several days of persistent rain – today being a case in point. That said, we’ve been in desperate need of a downpour or two as the last few months have been terribly dry so I’m not going to object. Besides, being more housebound has allowed the pair of us to plan trips for the future and fill out the diaries. Today we booked a long overdue holiday. Unlike me, poor Dawn’s not left this septic isle since a group of us went to Bruge, Belgium in October 2019. Today, Dee researched and booked us a fortnight in Rhodes for the beginning of October which will be much needed after the end of a very hectic couple of months. In the meantime, I’ve a couple of trips to Germany planned plus a week travelling around Britain for my bi-annual tour for RAIL magazine – as well as several press visits to various locations (including HS2 sites). Oh, and then we’re into the awards ceremony season. We’ll be at both the National Rail Awards and then our very own Community Rail Awards. So you can see why I’m not too bothered about having had (for me) a quiet week!

Another amusement whilst I’ve been home-based has been watching Brexiters performing every mental gymnastic under the sun to pretend the shit-show at the port of Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkstone has absolutely *nothing* to do with Brexit – which is a fabulous success according to them. Well actually, they don’t even try and claim that anymore. All they’re doing now is blaming everyone else (the French, ‘remoaners’ for not ‘believing’ in Brexit – as if believing in Unicorns make them real – and anyone else they can pass the buck to) rather than accepting responsibility for the mess of their own creation.

Have you ever heard of ‘led by donkeys’? They’re a group who’ve done some stunning videos that excoriate the Tory Government, Boris Johnson and the Brexit fundamentalists. Their latest one is from the queues into Dover and it’s a stunner, You can view it here. Hung by their own words….

Tomorrow we start a new week and I’m determined to get back into my stride (and travels) although the week will began as it ended – at home. I expect to get back into my blogging stride too. In the meantime, here’s an end of week picture of the day. This is from a previous visit to Greece, a country I used to spend a lot of time in but where I’ve not been back to since 2009. Here’s the town of Hora on the island of Naxos, seen at sunset on the 28th September 2001.

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/

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Thank you!

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!