Today’s been a lot less fraught. No ailing moggie to worry about for a start. Instead the little bugger seems to have made a speedy recovery and spent most of the day either curled up asleep on our bed or mewing for food, attention – or both. Jet’s such a lovely old boy that we can hardly be upset with him. Instead we just cherish the time we have with together.
The weather here in the Calder Valley’s certainly taken a turn. Although the forecast was for rain for much of the day we’ve had very little, merely the odd shower and a few claps of thunder out of some spectacularly threatening skies. Most of the really dark stuff has passed us by – which has allowed me to get in my daily perambulations without getting soaked. I’ve even managed a spot of gardening – cutting back the brambles on the terrace at the back of the house where they’ve made another bid for world domination. I’m sat up on the terrace now, beer in hand, gazing out across the Calder Valley, watching the next phalanx of stormclouds march towards us. It’s looking like this weather’s with us for the rest of the week now which is a shame in one way, but the gardens and woods would certainly benefit from the rain. Either way, I’ve got plenty to occupy myself with, so a few days climate-induced “house arrest” isn’t a problem.
The rest of the day’s not been unproductive. As well as sorting out paperwork I’ve enjoyed a pleasent few hours in the office, lining up some projects for the future now the country’s opening up again, as well as getting more old slides scanned. Right now I’m on an album of really random stuff that never got fully catalogued or filed, so there’s a melange of pictures taken between 1989 – 2003. Travel shots from the USA and Asia or images from my days working in social housing – even pictures of old friends – and of course old shots of Lynn. There’s such a mix of memories in these albums. I’m looking forward to having them all done so that I have digitised access to them in order to do something with them – even if it is just to jog some friends memories on Facebook, saying “remember this”?
This brings me on to the picture of the day which is one of today’s new scans. I took this shot of the old Three Mills complex at Bromley-by-Bow in East London on the 15th February 1990. In those days I lived just down the road on Bromley High St so this place was in walking distance and one day the winter sunshine was perfect for pictures. Built on the River Lea, Three Mills is the world’s largest tidal mill.
The grade 1 listed buildings have a long and fascinating history dating back to the 12th Century. In their time the mills have seen a multitude of uses, from milling flour to grinding grain for alcohol then distilling and bottling it or making gunpowder and used as warehouses right up to their present use for educational projects and as conference spaces. It’s a fascinating survivor of a world long-gone in this part of East London.
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Today wasn’t the one I was expecting or hoped for. Oh, it started well enough in that the weather best the forecast, so we had far better temperatures than predicted and a heck of a lot more sunshine, but our lovely Moggie decided to throw a spanner in the works with a health scare. You have to remember he’s just a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday, so we’re always thinking in the backs of our minds that today could be the day we end up saying goodbye. This morning he developed a twitch which seemed to be a problem with his right ear. It affected his balance and the poor bugger practiced walking round in circles so (of course) we became concerned. We booked him in for his 6-month check-up tomorrow and decided to keep an eye on him but his behavior got worse, so Dawn decided it was a trip to the emergency vet…
They were packed, so it took a while to wangle an appointment but we managed it. Only, when we got there, the little bugger decided to be awkward. He’s a lovely disposition, but he doesn’t like being prodded and poked by vets – so they couldn’t get to the root of the problem because (in the vet’s words) Jet was being “grumpy”. In the end we came away none the wiser, just with a cat that was full of antibiotics and a purse that was £83 lighter. Once back at home Jet became decidedly less “grumpy” and also stopped having the head-shakes and tremors. It’s almost like he did it to wangle yet another trip in the car!
Our schedule ripped up, the pair of us decided ‘bugger it’ and rather than work late to catch up for lost time we went out for a stroll and enjoyed the sunshine – which is due to leave us tomorrow, being replaced by several days of rain. We also called in at our replacement ‘local’ – the Wainhouse Tavern (the ‘Big 6’ remains closed as the transfer of ownership is still in the hands of solicitors, who’re taking an age) for a couple of drinks and chat with other ‘6’ exiles.
With the weather changing I’m expecting to be based at home all week, which will allow me to sort out lots of paperwork and pictures like this one I’ve chosen for today’s image. I took this shot in May 1995 whilst Lynn and I were out for a day cycling around Essex. This is Bradwell nuclear power station framed by old wooden mooring beams in the nearby harbour.
This old Magnox power station ceased operation in 2002 but in 1995 it was very much alive…
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I’ve not done one of these for a little while as I’ve been busy with rolling blogs and other things. There’s a few more blogs in the pipeline, including one that’s occurred to me today because of the complete crap that’s come out of some of our ‘new’ media – the people who’re fed up with what they see as ‘biased’ reporting from the mainstream media so are doing their own stuff. The only problem is they fall into exactly the same trap (and worse). I’ll write that one up tomorrow.
Today’s been a mixed bag. After the fantastic weather we’ve had the past few days today has very much been an anticlimax – even though the temperature’s only been 4 degrees cooler. The skies have remained cloudy all day (hang on – wasn’t that a line from an old song?) so the sun’s never really broken through. Because of that I’ve been happy to be stuck in the home office bashing away at the computer to get some paperwork done as well as scan more old slides. Admittedly, I eventually cracked as I wanted to get some exercise so I ended up strolling down into Sowerby Bridge to get some shopping as Dawn had presented me with the challenge of making some veggie burgers – which is a first for me.
Considering it’s a Friday Sowerby Bridge was quiet – apart from the canal, which was busy with narrowboats leaving our local hire company (Shire cruisers). A veritable flotilla of their boats were queuing to head West through the locks on the Rochdale canal. It’s great to see people returning to the canals which is a wonderful way to travel. Ironically, myself and a group of friends did exactly the same thing back in 2005. At the time I never dreamed I’d end up living here, but then life’s full of surprises.
Whilst I was strolling along the canal I came across the picture for today. Sowerby Bridge is famous for its free-range geese. These animals own the town. They don’t just stick to the canal, or the river – they can be found roosting all around the centre of Sowerby. What makes them amazing is that they have incredible road sense. They’re infamous for the fact one of them will stand in the middle of the main road through town like an old ‘Lollipop’ lady, blocking traffic whilst the rest of the band waddle across the road. It’s quite a sight to behold when it happens. So, today’s picture is of the next generation of Sowerby Bridge Geese growing up on the canal earlier today…
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Having spent most of yesterday in the office on what was one of the sunniest (and certainly hottest) days of the year, i’m venturing out today. Sod’s Law being what it is, the weather’s nowhere near as good as we have low cloud instead of wall-to-wall sunshine. Hopefully, if the Met Office have got it right the cloud will disappear later.
That suits me as right now I’m on the 08:50 train from Halifax to Huddersfield. Why? I’m off to Specsavers! Having had my usual eye test deferred by Covid it’s time to get my ‘mince pies’ checked out and choose a new pair of glasses. My preaent ones are four years old now. Photographer’s glasses take a beating due to costantly coming into contact with cameras. The lens coatings get worn away and the glass scratched and scored, so it’s time these ones were retired. Besides, it’ll be a week or so before the new ones are ready…
After the Opticians (and if the weather’s right) I plan to spend a few hours at the lineside getting some pictures. I’m not sure where yet, that depends on the sun – so let’s see what happens.
My service to Huddersfield’s being worked by 150274, a unit that’s worked in Yorkshire all its life. It’s been refurbished and had USB sockets and PIS screens fitted, so it’s in good nick. It’s also empty. The handful of people who got on with me at Halifax detrained at Brighouse, leaving me on my lonesome!
09:30.
As train times and available appointment times were out of sync I’ve time to hang around at the station getting a few shots. Until recently the stabling sidings were always full of surplus Nothern units that weren’t needed due to the Covid downturn. Today the yard’s empty, which augurs well. All there is to admire is the massive, multi-storey bulk of the old goods warehouse in the background.
Watching the procession of Trans-Pennine Express services as they arrive and depart it’s plain passenger numbers are picking up. Some of them are busy and it’s noticable that 1st Class (which suffered the biggest collapse in numbers) is seeing people return as business travel returns.
11:45.
My eye-test revealed that my eyes are perfectly healthy, which is always good news. They didn’t pick up any other underlying health problems either. As an extra precaution I paid to have my Retinas scanned and mapped which provides a health template for the future. As usual, the Specsavers staff were both professional and friendly with no pressure put on me to buy expensive frames or extras. I chose an new lightweight frame to house the thin lenses I’d ordered. They don’t look very different to my old ones really, they’re simply a slightly different shape.
Back at the station I spotted that the famous station cafe on the East end of the island platform had reopened, so I couldn’t resist popping in for one of their delicious, freshly cooked bacon rolls. The lovely couple who run it were both there so we swapped stories as we’ve not seen each other since the start of the pandemic. It’s great to see them back. The cafe was always one of the station’s hubs with a regular throughput of passengers and railstaff passing through. They reopened just 9 weeks ago and are finding it hard to build back the business. Passengers are returning but many have changed their routines, bypassing businesses that relied on them. Getting them back is a challenge. So, if you do pass through Huddersfield remember they’re there and pop in for a drink and a snack and enjoy one of the few remaining traditional family run station cafe’s left on the network.
17:15.
Apologies for the gap in blogging but I’ve been on the move non-stop since leaving Huddersfield. Looking at the weather I decided tp bolt across the border into Lancashire for a few hours and recce the forthcoming Trans-Pennine route upgrade engineering work that will be taking place on the route to Stalybridge, so I caught a train to Manchester Victoria then retraced my steps towards Ashton-Under-Lyne by tram just for the sheer variety! I’ve not spent much time on Metrolink for some time, so it was a good opportunity to update the library with images of street-running trams and their place in the pecking order. Frankly, I could have done with some air-conditioning on the vehicles, most of which were very busy. Unlike the national rail network the number of people who’re still wearing masks is much lower. Despite the weather, I maintained mine. One thing that struck me as we pootled along the streets of Droylesden was how many shops remained closed. There were all sorts, fast-food joints, nail bars, restaurants – small businesses of all kinds. I’m assuming more than a few have been put out of business by the pandemic and will never reopen. It was a very sad sight.
Once out at Ashton I walked over to the nearby Ashton Moss North Junction where a road overbridge offers decent views and a new housing estate right next to the line adds perspective. Sadly, by this time the clouds were rolling in and I lucked out on a few shots. The weather felt like it could thunder any time, so I kept an eye out on the skies to make sure I didn’t get caught out. There’s no signs of electrification mast bases on this section yet, but there’s a large compound next to the railway on Richmond St which contractors have established and stocked with equipment – including mast piles. I expect progress will be made during the blockade when the line will be under a possession with trains diverted. Here’s a Northern Class 150 working from Southport – Stalybridge past Ashton Moss North Junction with the compound seen to the right, next to the trackside access.
Here’s a view looking the other way from the bridge. TPE’s 802206 is passing the new housing estate (barely 4 years old) with a service from Liverpool Lime St to Newcastle. This was the site of Old Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction, where the line to Guide Bridge trailed off to the right towards the camera. The Junction was closed in 1991. The site beyond the Junction (also on the right) was the site of the LNWR Oldham Rd goods depot which closed much earlier in 1966. It’s now the site of a Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets. The new housing makes me crack a wry smile when I think of those opposed to HS2 saying ‘no-one wants to hear the noise of a railway’! No doubt I’ll be popping back here on a regular basis now to document the march of the electrification masts.
Moving on to Ashton itself I caught a train through to Stalybridge where I resisted the temptation to visit the station buffet (believe me – that was a struggle on a hot day like today!). Staying just long enough to get a few pictures I made my way back into Manchester before heading back home. I’m currently on the 16:58 Victoria to Leeds which is very busy indeed.
22:30.
Time to bring the day to a close. I’ve spent part of the evening editing today’s pictures, so here’s a sample. A Manchester Metrolink tram approaches Ashton West with IKEA dominating the skyline beyond. I’ll add a few more pictures and some text to this blog tomorrow. Right now I’m going to try and get some sleep on what’s another hot and humid night…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today the weather’s finally turned good and stopped raining and I have a few hours to spare so I’m popping over to Merseyside in the hope of getting some shots of Merseyrail’s new Stadler-built Class 777 trains on mileage accumulation runs between Liverpool and Southport. There are now many Special Train Plan (SPT) paths in the timetable and I have a window that allows me to be around for a couple of them. Right now I’m on my way from Sowerby Bridge to Liverpool via Manchester, hoping to find the sweet spot of location and weather – and hope the runs aren’t cancelled at the last minute!
14:41.
I’m now on my way from Liverpool Central towards Southport on one of the old Merseyrail trains. What’s the fuss you nay ask? Well, for me it’s a bit of personal nostalgia. You see, I grew up in Southport and remember when these old trains were brand new and just being introduced. I was still a teenager then and I worked in a factory making underground telephone cable for the National Coal Board (NCB) that was right next to the railway. If you ever get the train between Birkdale and Southport and gaze to your right you’ll pass a place with a clocktower. That’s where I worked. In those days it was called ‘Adlec Ltd’. As well as making cables we also made plastic mirrors by their 1000. They were used as vanity mirrors in British cars of the day. You know the ones you’d find in the back of the sunshields above the windscreens? Them. Making the armoured underground telephone cable was fun. It came in various lengths and each length had to be capable of stretching by 15%. The only way we could do that way by hand. A few of us would tie one end to a post, stretch it with a rope until the wires and brass connector head fitted, then clamp it with a metal ring. There was only one problem. The factory aas too short to do this with the longest length the NCB ordered. The solution was to do it outside in the street! We’d tie one end to a nearby lamp post, then it would take half a dozen of us to stretch it. One time I remember us doing it was during a blizzard. That was fun. So, if in 1978 and you went past on the train and thought you saw half a dozen blokes looking like they were trying to pull down a lamp post – you weren’t mad – that was us!
This memory has come back to me because the Class 507s were just being introduced, so I got to watch them from work. They sounded very different to the old LMS built trains from 1938 so it was easy to know they were coming – and now they’re going, after 44 years to be replaced by the third fleet I’ve known in my lifetime. Barring a genetic fluke or miracle advances in medicine I doubt I’ll be around to see the fourth generation!
My affection for old trains is really reserved for the old 1938 stock which was from a completley different era. Whilst the 597s were all yellow Formica the 502s were panelled with exotic hardwoods which used to have little labels telling you what they were. They had deep bouncy horsehair seats too! In contrast the 507s were more utilitarian and a product of their age. The new teains are for yet another age – one where the population’s ageing. They have a rare thing in the UK, step-free level boarding.
16:36.
As usual, the law of Sod came out to play today. There *should* have been two of the new units out, but one was cancelled at short notice, leaving me with only one chance to get pictures. Here’s 777010 heading back to Sandhills from Southport, captured at the lovely little station of Birkdale in Southport’s suburbs.
Still, it was a nice opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine whilst remembering old times and a different age. Now I’m en-route to Liverpool to pick up some shopping before heading home. Time’s precious at the moment so I doubt I’ll have time to stop off on the way to get more pictures.
I did spot this earlier when I was walking through Renshaw St. Roadworks have uncovered the old tram tracks that have been buried since the last Liverpool tram ran in 1959..
18:30.
I’m on my way home using a TPE train from Liverpool Lime St to Manchester Victoria and I’ve just heard the most surreal conversation. As we pulled out of Lime St a young lad and his hard-faced girlfriend occupied the table opposite and began to talk. Well, he talked – and boasted of his jail time and the fact he has 392 criminal convictions and he’s not even 30. Oh, and how his solitictor ‘loves him’ as he’s made so much money from him. It was totally bizarre. He was actually boasting about being such a shit criminal he can’t even get away with shoplifting! Some criminal mastermind! They got off the train at Lea Green, leaving me wondering ‘what on earth’? If I hadn’t been sitting here on the laptop with the ability to transcribe his transgressions as he uttered them I might have thought I’d imagined it.
18:45.
I swapped from TPE to Northern at Victoria for the last leg home. It’s certainly been a varied day and the next week will be very much the same. I’m getting home early as tomorrow Dee and I (along with her parents) are relocating to Surrey for a week, so the pair of us need to sort out our stuff and pack. The logistics are fun as we’re taking Jet (our elderly moggie) with us, which will be the first time in his 20 years of life he’s ever set paw outside of Yorkshire! We didn’t feel comfortable leaving him at home with strangers for that length of time so we thought the old boy should have an adventure in his ‘golden years’. At least he’ll be with people he knows.
This means the next few blogs will be coming from a very different corner of England. I’ve a couple of jobs on whilst I’m there, so it’s not going to be all cricket on the green – although I’m hoping we will have time to indulge in that – as well as the football…
22:55.
I’m bringing today’s blog to an end with a couple of final pictures from today that show the difference the new trains will make to passenger accessability. Here’s one of the older trains at Liverpool Central earlier today. Notice the step down from the train.
This is known as the PTI (Platform Train Interface) and is the biggest cause of accidents on the railways nowadays. Here’s one of the new trains on test at Birkdale station this afternoon. Spot the difference.
Yep, no step, no gap and level floors throughout. This is how things should be. Sadly, this is how a minority of new trains are. I’ll look forward to trying these new Stadler trains out in public service soon.
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Well, that was a fraught evening! Dawn was so het up about the England – Denmark football match tonight I thought she was going to do herself an injury before it ended! Thankfully, England won, although now I’ll have to go through all this again on Sunday with the final, only this time with the whole of Dawn’s family (three generations in fact). Drink may have to be taken…
Joking aside, it’s great to see the England team doing so well after so many false starts, hype and disappointments. From an outsiders eye all I can say is that finally they look like and play like a team. They’ve done so well to get this far and it would be lovely to see this young group of players get the trophy.
Sports aside, I’ve had a busy day finessing an article before getting my copy and pictures off to RAIL magazine. With that done I managed to get a few more old slides scanned before giving priority to houshold bits and bobs including shopping for tonights food so that Dee could ‘relax’ in front of the TV and watch the footy. Not spending all my day goggle-eyed in front of a computer screen’s been lovely, even if the weather’s been mixed. The most difficult decision right now is what to wear. Either you under-dress and get soaked by heavy showers or you over-dress and end up with the same result in sweat as it ain’t flat around here and carrying shopping a few hundred metres uphill soon opens your pores. Still, first world problems eh? I think back to some of the Nepalese porters I met who’d be carrying 75kg loads in wicker baskets 1000s of metres uphill whilst wearing flip-flops and realise I’ve sweet FA to complain about.
So, today’s picture is one that reflects what you won’t find me doing as I walk back uphill to home from the supermarket – even if it does feel this way sometime! I took this picture in a village in the Gorkha district of Nepal in April 1998. Be grateful that you can always order a taxi…
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It’s been a quiet few days here in Bigland towers. The pair of us have been busy working from home which has been fine as the weather’s been spectacularly wet with torrential showers accompanied by claps of thunder and grey, apocalyptic skies. On Monday I didn’t even manage to get out for my daily constitutional because every time there was a window of opportunity the heavens opened so I put it off. There’s not even been time for blogging as I’ve just kept my head down trying to catch up on writing for a living and scanning old slides in order that I’ve another set ‘in the bank’ ready for editing when I have some down-time away from the office.
Mind you, it’s the semi-final of the football tomorrow night, which means I’ll be finishing early to transfer to cooking duty so that Dawn can watch the match!
The latest batch of old slides that I’ve been scanning are from two very different batches. This morning I finished scanning the last of a series of travel pictures taken in Bali, Indonesia way back in 2003. In fact, they were the final batch of travel slides I ever catalogued and had in albums. I did go to the Maldives in early 2004 but those pictures remained in boxes until I finally edited and scanned them last year. Unfortunatley, the albums haven’t been scanned in order, so I’ve still a few from the 1990s and early 2000s to occupy my time with yet. Right now I’m working on something different, an album of personal and social issues pictures taken between 1994 and 1997. Talk about a trip down memory lane! These are from the days when I still worked in London as a Housing Officer and boy, has the world changed a bit since then…
Right now – especially with the weather being what it is – I’ll leave you with something less heavy and more colourful. I took this shot of a procession of the Gods in Ubud, Bali on the 19th September 2003. Here a group of men are carrying an effigy of the God Dewa Bramha down the main street of Ubud, with many other Gods following behind.
These events are incredibly colourful as the statues are part of a huge parade which includes musicians, women carrying offerings on their heads, men dressed as warriors and young men and women dressed up in traditional finery. You can find the rest of these pictures by following this link to my Zenfolio website.
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I’ve had another productive day at home catching up on various jobs, emails, seminars and picture editing – and still found enough time to get a couple of walks under my belt to clock up my minimum number (12.5k) daily step total, so I really can’t complain. The weather’s played ball too being mostly bright and sunny even if it’s not exactly been cracking the flags.
Whilst I was ‘type swiping’ this morning at lunchtime I joined the latest ‘munch and learn’ seminar from the Rail Innovation Group. I enjoy these sessions and log-on when I can. Today’s was a presentation by Johan Berhin, Designer & Founder of Green Furniture Concept, a company based in Sweden who’ve recently produced new green seating for some of Network Rail’s major stations in London that have replaced some of the sturdy (but uncomfortable and not very attractive) metal seats. I’ll be producing a blog about this next week as it was a great session with a lots of interesting facts and facets about how seating doesn’t just improve passenger satisfaction it also generates extra business for retail outlets on stations. Expect these seats to appear at Leeds soon…
Apart from this I’ve also been busy getting my next RAIL article on HS2 together, although It’s taking slightly longer than I’d thought as there’s an interesting environmental aspect to the Calvert site I need to talk to someone ‘in the know’ about. Even so, it’s already been fun to write.
Plus, as a filler for the day I did manage to get a few more old slides from the archive scanned, which has provided the latest picture of the day. My old slide folder currently contains pictures from 1993 – 2003, but there was one small group that stood alone as they’re from the UK rather than India, Bali, Holland or Denmark – although there is an Asian connection to today’s picture of the day as it’s of the Maharajah’s well at Stoke Row in Oxfordshire, which I took on the 21st July 2003.
Lynn and I had taken a weekend break from London by taking the bikes on the train from Paddington to Cholsey in order to stay with a friend in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. The next day we worked off our hangovers with a long cycle ride through the rolling countryside and happened upon this rather unusual feature. Inscribed around the lip of the onion done is the inscription ” Given by his Highness The Maharajah of Benares 1864″. What on earth is a well donated by an Indian Maharajah doing in Oxfordshire you may well ask? After all, this is the first known established Charity in Great Britain of an Indian nobleman? The answer lies in the fact that a story of a little boy was being beaten by his mother for drinking the last of the water in their house during a drought was was narrated by Edward Anderdon Reade, acting governor general of the United Provinces, to the Maharajah of Benares (now Varanasi) at the latter’s palace over dinner. Moved by the story the Maharajah agreed to fund the sinking of a well in the village. It was the first of several in the region. All were funded by royals and other benefactors from India, inspired by the Maharajah of Benares’s example. The well itself is 368 feet deep and cost £353. In contrast, the caretaker’s cottage (seen in the background) cost £74 14s 6d.
Amazing what crosses your path by chance when you’re out cycling, isn’t it?
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I can’t believe we’re on the penultimate day of June already! Half way through 2021 in what (in many ways) feels like the blink of an eye. Admittedly, because of Covid part of me has been wishing it away, purely so we can see the back of the pandemic and the world returning to a normal life – although I suspect that’s not going to happen until 2022, despite the UKs success in rolling out the vaccines. Populist politics has shown it’s the Emperor’s new clothes in several countries, exacerbating the problems in countries like India and Brazil to name but two. It’s going to take time to unpick the mess, but at least the USA dumped Trump and got back on the road to recovery. Now, if only we could do with a certain blond buffoon here…
There’s been no travelling for me this week as I’ve had too much to do at home, catching up after so many days away. That’s not been a bad thing. It’s allowed me to get all my recent pictures edited and placed on my Zenfolio website, get other images out to clients and wade through a load of paperwork. Plus, after some weeks where thing have been allowd to slide (if you’ll pardon the pun) I’ve also managed to get some more of my old travel transparencies edite and on the website. So, finally, 29-30 years after I took them, all the scannable pictures I have from my 1991-1992 world trip have been added to this gallery. Now I finally feel like I’m getting somewhere after so many years and a project that’s taken me three decades is finally drawing to an end. Oh, I’ve still got a few thousand to scan but that’s manageable. When I added the latest batch to my website earlier day I realised I’d passed the 5000 mark in less than six months – and that’s with new pictures also. The most I’ve ever managed to add in a year since 2011 when I started stocking my new site has been 6200. If anything’s come out of Covid for me, it’s been this.
Apart from being a personal trip down memory lane I’m hoping I can provide an interesting archive for those who want to see how much the world’s changed in the past few decades. Plus, the pictures are going to allow me to tell quite a few stories when I get around to digitising and cross-referencing some of my old diaries as I’ve quite a few travel stories to tell from the days when backpackers went overland rather than jetting in and jetting out of disparate destinations.
Nostalgia’s not been the only thing that’s kept me occupied this week. I’ve been sending out a backlog of pictures to clients and I’ve a new article to write for RAIL magazine on the High Speed 2 railway following my site visit last week. Once this week’s over I’ll be back travelling as I’ve got several commissions and other travels lined-up. July’s going to be a busy month.
In the meantime, I’ll still be adding pictures old and new as well as blogging – and poking fun at what’s left of the anti HS2 campaign which is on its last legs. But, tonight I’ll end with a picture of the day from my 1991-92 travels. I took this picture of Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia in September 1992 as I returned from a boat-trip to nearby Semau Island.
At that time Timor was an unhappy Island. The Indonesians had invaded East Timor many years before and a civil war still raged. The East is now its own master again, but that’s not the only thing thing the Island is known for – Kupang especially has another place in history, as anyone who’s heard of the story of ‘The mutiny on the Bounty might know, because it’s here that Captain William Bligh and 14 of the crew who refused to take part in the mutiny made landfall after being set adrift in one of the ships boats. It was an extrordinary feat of navigation after a journey of 47 days and 3,618 nautical miles to land here, navigating using only a pocket-watch, a quadrant and a compass, but no charts.
Thankfully, my Island hoping was always a little more relaxed, but I have to say it was quite a buzz to visit a town so far away but with such a history.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Phew! No trains and no buses involved in my life today. Instead I’ve had a busy day at home editing all the pictures I’ve taken over the past few days as well as catching up all the paperwork I’ve neglected whilst I’ve been away, which means I’ve been stuck in front of a computer screen for most of the day. That’s not been a hardship as the weather’s been less than seasonal with low cloud, desultory showers and a steady wind that’s kept temperatures low. Welcome to a typical British summer! The upside of all this is that I’ve received commissions for new articles and have some really interesting visits planned that I can’t talk about until they’ve happened.
I won’t have all the pictures I’ve taken edited for a while but the ones I’ll be adding to my Zenfolio website can be found by following this link. Of course, I’ve still hundreds of archive slides to add but right now they’re taking a backseat for the contemporary stuff. Well, they’ve waited 25-30 years so another few weeks won’t matter!
I’ve no plans to be away for the next week so I’m hoping I can catch up with the picture backlog by the end of next week but I’ve an article to write for RAIL magazine first. After that I’ll be on the rails again.
I have to admit, one of the things I’ve really enjoyed about being back home after my time away (apart from spending time with Dawn – obviously!) has being able to spend time in the kitchen cooking. It’s something I really enjoy and it’s a form of therapy, you forget everything else to concentrate on the preperation and the act of bringing all the ingredients together to make a wonderful meal. Dawn requested a Chicken Vindail curry from Rick Stein’s India cookbook as it’s become one of her favourites. I enjoy making it because the smell of all the spices is wonderful! It also goes really well with chapattis cooked on a griddle. So, tonight’s picture of the day is going to be something different. This is what I was up to this evening…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 