Category Archives: Picture of the day

4th June picture of the day…

04 Sunday Jun 2023

Posted by in Merseyrail, Merseyside, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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After my meandering around Merseyside I’m back home in the Calder valley. We’ve had another day of glorious sunshine but I didn’t have chance to enjoy much of it as I’ve been stuck in the office most of the day in order to edit all the pictures I’ve taken and get the Class 777 train test pictures across to RAIL magazine ready for Monday. Whilst I was at it I thought I might as well keep going and get all the other pictures from last week edited, captioned and onto my Zenfolio website.

You can find the Merseyrail images here, plus the Northern trains pictures here. There’s also a look at some stations (which you can find here) and also several new infrastructure images (here). To round things off I’ve now added the pictures from the last two train tests. So, if you want to have a look around the interiors of West Midlands trains new Class 196’s click here, whilst Transport for Wales Class 197 interior shots are here.

Now I’ve got these out of the way I can (hopefully) make the most of next week. I’ve another project to get my teeth into which involves reviews of certain scenic rail lines around the UK so good weather is essential. June’s looking like a busy month so there should be plenty to blog about.

But, right now, I’m going to call it a day. Dawn’s been busy experimenting with our new kitchen toy – a double-drawer air-fryer and the smells that are wafting upstairs from the kitchen are divine. So, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is of one of the new Stadler Class 777s which are starting to enter service on Merseyside. At the moment they’re only working Northern line services from Liverpool to Kirkby and Ormskirk but they’ll be rolled out west of the Mersey soon. The Eurovision song contest led to one of the units having special vinyl’s applied which have left it looking very colourful indeed. They’ll last for another couple of months, so catch it whilst you can.

777013 calls at Maghull whilst working a service from Ormskirk to Liverpool Central.

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!

28th May picture(s) of the day…

28 Sunday May 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

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It may be a bank holiday weekend but today’s hardly been a day of rest, although the pace has been far less frenetic than of late as the two of us hardly moved from the house for most of Sunday. Taking it easy made up for the amount of walking we did yesterday as we had an outing to Manchester for a few hours.

For one of Dawn’s birthday presents this year I ventured right out of my comfort zone of buying perfume or scarves. Instead, I bought Dee a dress – not something many men will do for the fear of getting it wrong. Fortunately, I didn’t. Dawn loved the dress but the fitting wasn’t quite right, so our trip to Manchester included a visit to the store I’d bought it from – Japanese fashion company Uniqlo. They’re a great shop. The prices are very competitive but the quality of their stock is far better than certain cheaper brands. The only thing is – sizes do vary as nothing seems identical. This worked to Dee’s advantage as she found an identical dress in the identical size, but one that really fitted her. In fact, I ended up buying her another in the same design but a different colour. We had just enough time to pick up some foodstuff shopping in Chinatown then enjoy a drink in the sun before it was time to head back as I’d booked a table at a restaurant in Sowerby Bridge for 15:00.

The sunshine brought out the crowds in central Manchester.

Bad move.

We found that the train we were due to catch to get back in time was cancelled. No biggie, as there was another one that would get us there 25mins later. The restaurant were fine about it when I rang as it just meant we wouldn’t have our table for longer than and hour as they were fully booked. Our backup train turned out to be an asthmatic two-car class 158 that was rammed. It crawled its way as far as Castleton where it expired. The crew managed to coax it back into life but the service was terminated at Rochdale. Plan C meant we wouldn’t arrive back at Sowerby Bridge until after 16:00 – more than an hour late, so I rang the restaurant again, told them to give our table away but we’d still come in and see if we could get seats at the bar. Two trains later (we had to change at Todmorden) we finally made it into ‘The Engine’ tired and hungry way after 16:00.

Fortunately, seats were available at ‘the Chef’s table’ as they’ve named the bar facing the kitchen. This turned out to be a brilliant place to sit as we got to watch as all the food was cooked and chat to the chefs as they prepared it. It added a fascinating new dimension to the meal. The food was excellent, we ordered 6 different dishes, some of which were old favorites (the fire roasted cauliflower for example) others new. The undoubted star dish was new, slow-roasted Aubergine with pork, crispy chili and roast spiced cashew nuts. It’s superb! We can’t fault the Engine. The food is divine and the staff friendly and efficient. The combination makes for a great experience.

Here’s a few pictures from our meal.

BOQUERONES: Spanish pickled white anchovies on sun blushed tomato flatbread.
FIRE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER with Pomegranate, chilli and sesame dressing.
SLOW ROASTED AUBERGINE with pork, crispy chilli and crushed spiced cashew nuts.

If you want to see more of the dishes here’s a link to the current menu.

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 May picture(s) of the day…

24 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Community rail, Community Rail Network, Manchester, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Yet another day when (thanks to the glorious sunshine) it’s been anything but grim up North! T’was even cracking the flags in Manchester!

My day started pottering around at Bigland Towers before catching the train from Sowerby Bridge to nearby Mytholmroyd station to join in the Community Rail week fun with our old friends Geoff and Sue Mitchell, some of the other members of the station group plus visitors from the Calder valley Community Rail Partnership, Transport for Greater Manchester, Network Rail and others who came along to enjoy a guided walk from Mytholmroyd to nearby Hebden Bridge.

The event was meant to kick off with tours of the restored station building, but that nearly didn’t happen due to one of those black comedy moments that we can laugh about now, but at the time could have been far less funny. Since the building’s been restored it’s always been assumed there was no water supply. Today that turned out to be untrue, as when some protective coverings were being moved a pipe was exposed which then blew its plastic coupling to release a high pressure jet of water across the ground floor. Poor Geoff and Sue and another of their colleagues got absolutely drenched trying to reattach the pipe to stem the deluge, but if you’ve ever tried such a maneuver you’ll know it’s next to impossible. In the end, all we could do was open a drain in the floor, dam and divert the flow into it and wait for the water company to come and access the stopcock buried in the pavement outside. Thank God it was a bright sunny day and not January!

The irony? The door in the picture is equipped with flood protection – but only from the river outside…

Still, it provided some amusement for the visitors, who were still able to have a look around the upstairs of the old building. Tours over, everyone assembled for short welcome speech from Geoff before Sue (who’d dried out somewhat) led the walkers off on their exploration of the valley. Poor Geoff was left behind to dry off in the sun and wait for the water company!

“Can anyone hear running water”? The gang gathered outside the station building in Mytholmroyd before setting off for Hebden Bridge.

Having done all I could to help, and taken pictures of the event I headed off into Manchester for the rest of the afternoon to do some shopping and grab a few pictures. In many ways I’m still a city boy at heart, so it was lovely to be able to spend an afternoon exploring and people-watching, as well as stocking up on bits I needed that are hard to get elsewhere. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the weather, the city was very busy with many people taking advantages of the centre’s open spaces to relax or work outside.

Manchester’s old Midland Hotel basks in the sunshine.

Now I’m back at home ready for a day with a very different focus tomorrow. It’s someone’s birthday…

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!

22nd May picture of the day…

22 Monday May 2023

Posted by in Flora and Fauna, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Apologies for the lack of blogging these past couple of days but I decided to take the weekend off – something I’ve not done for a long time. Writing a daily blog can be time-consuming and the past few days I’ve been concentrating on other things – such as the glorious weather we had on Saturday and Sunday! The wall-to-wall sunshine we enjoyed made me want to spend as much time outdoors and away from computer screens, so that’s what I did. Instead, I swapped the office for the garden and spent a lot of time on Saturday repotting plants, tidying up the front and back gardens and trimming back some young saplings which are taking over land at the back of Bigland Towers. The place looks a lot better for the work and I feel virtuous as I expended a lot of energy doing it!

The only strange thing is we seem to have inherited some mad birds. A crow took an irrational dislike to a mirror which I’d propped up on the terrace at the back as it enabled me to see what the weather was like coming in across the valley. The crow spent two days smashing the mirror to pieces! The umbrella dish bird-feeder outside my office window became the target of a pigeon which has learned that if it attacks it all the seeds are scattered to the cobbles below so the greedy creature can hoover them up. Looks like I’ll have to come up with a plan B…

Today the weather reverted to type. Temperatures are still above normal (18-19 degrees instead of the average 15 for this time of year) but cloud cover has been with us for the afternoon. Dee and I still managed to get out for a couple of walks through the woods – which are gorgeous, but the Bluebells are past their best. So, today’s picture is what’s replacing them in several people’s gardens (including mine). Azaleas.

There’s not going to me much time for woodland walks for the rest of the week as we’ve both busy schedules. Expect a rolling blog tomorrow as I’ll be out and about on the Aire valley line and up to the Settle and Carlisle railway as part of community rail week. Then later in the week I’ll be in Beeston and Matlock – and no doubt a few other places too. Plus, there’s a birthday girl to treat this week…

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!

17th May picture of the day…

17 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Transport for Wales (TfW), Travel, Wales

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After the last two days travels today’s been a much quieter one here at Bigland Towers as I’ve barely moved from home, so it’s a short blog from me tonight. Most of the day’s been taken up with editing and captioning all the pictures I’ve been talking, plus catching up with shots I took in Turkey. You can find the pictures in various galleries. Here’s links to Avanti West Coast, Northern, Trans-Pennine Express and Transport for Wales. There’s also additions to the infrastructure and railway stations galleries plus the UK travel section. The new updates take my Zenfolio website over the 83,000 picture mark – and there’s still plenty of archive material to add, but next up will be a new gallery dedicated to Turkish rail operations.

Now all those are out of the way I can concentrate on other activities although I’m not sure if I’ll be travelling again this week as we’re heading into the next tranche of rail strikes, plus the weather’s looking decidedly mixed. We’ll see. I’ll certainly be out and about next week as I’ve commissions that will take me to Bingley and the Settle and Carlisle line as well as the Nottingham area.

In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which was actually taken yesterday during my visit to Llandudno Junction. This is one of Transport for Wales new CAF built trains, 197002 working 2D69, the 1414 Llandudno to Llandudno Junction. On arrival at the Junction and after a layover, it formed a service East to Manchester Airport.

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!

14th May picture(s) of the day…

14 Sunday May 2023

Posted by in Aircraft, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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In contrast to last weekend when we were in Istanbul the pair of us have had a home-based time at Bigland Towers. The weather’s picking up – as are the temperatures – so the season’s feeling more like the May of old rather than the miserable and wet one we’ve experienced so far. We’ve also had a impromptu weekend. Yesterday, whilst browsing the internet I found out that the Lancaster bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was due to include an afternoon flypast at the Golcar lily festival in the nearby Colne valley. As the skies consisted of blue skies and bright sunshine the pair of us decided to pop over to watch. It’s near where Dawn’s parent live anyway so we could call in and see them. Surprisingly, information on the flypast was limited. There was nothing on the BBMF website. All I had for reference was an article on the Yorkshire Post website which gave times. Despite this, we decided ‘what the hell’ and Dawn drove us over. Fortunately (as a local girl) Dee had a really good idea where on the South side of the valley would be the best place to head to so we parked up on a road high above Golcar and waited. Eventually we were joined by another couple and their young lad. They’d spotted us, seen my camera and worked out why we where there. The cahp had ‘flightrader’ on his phone so scanned for signs of the Lanc’. No Lancaster to be found, but a Spitfire was heading our way…

Sure enough, in the timeframe the Lancaster was meant to arrive a Spitfire and Hurricane from the BBMF put in an appearance to put on a short display over the village before flying off to their next engagement. I’d been expecting a slow, four-engine bomber, not a pair of nimble (and far smaller) fighter aircraft, so even my 400mm lens was struggling with the range, but I managed to grab a couple of reasonable shots, but it was frustrating…

Today we haven’t moved from home at all. Whilst I prepared lunch Dee’s been the ‘hostess with the mostest’, cooking up a mouth-watering evening meal of pulled-pork, roasted vegetables and new potato’s seasoned with some of my home-grown Parsley. Now it’s time to call it a day and relax before the start of another week. I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from yesterday’s flypast. Expect more blogs and more wide-ranging travels next week…

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!

12th May picture of the day…

12 Friday May 2023

Posted by in Flora and Fauna, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Another short blog from me at the end of another day dominated as much by the weather as anything else. Call this May? It’s bleedin’ freezing! Today Dawn and I went out for a light lunch with her parents over at Totties garden centre in ‘Last of the summer wine’ territory just outside Holmfirth. They have a good cafe there where John and Norah are regulars. The only problem is Totties is on the side of a hill and a stiff breeze left the place ‘Baltic’! I was glad we had a nice warm cafe to seek refuge in. It was hardly salad weather so three of us ended up ordering Sausage, chips and mushy peas with onion gravy, which was far more suitable – and warming.

Of course, I couldn’t resist a mooch around after eating so I left the others in the cafe and checked out what was on offer. They have a good range of plants but it was some of the plastic pots that really caught my eye as they had stuff in sizes and at prices I can’t find around home. In the end, I didn’t buy any but I’ve certainly got my eye on a few for the future when I’ve done some more changes to the terraces at the back of the house. I did end up with a couple of plants but they were indoor ones. I spied a plant I’d not owned for years. In fact, it’s so long ago I can’t even remember where and when it was I had it. I suspect it was in my flat in East London, but the memory’s hazy. It’s called Hypoestes. They’re small plants that have attractive pink polka dot leaves, although I also managed to pick up a red-leaved one too – all for £4.50. Back at their house Norah dived into the greenhouse and shared some Gladioli bulbs with me and some ‘Golden Rod’ which we dug out of the front garden. This will add a splash of colour to the back of the house later in the year.

It wasn’t the weather for hanging around in the garden so we quickly bade goodbye and came home to the warm, where Dawn’s stayed ever since (sensible woman!) whilst I potted up my new acqusitions before heading out for a walk to get my remaining steps in. I’ve always said the two valley’s (Calder and Colne) have their own microclimates and today was another example. The temperature at home felt a couple of degrees warmer than over in Huddersfield, but then we do benefit from being on the sheltered side of the valley and South facing, so we catch the sun. I’m hoping we’ll catch more of it tomorrow as the weather’s due to pick up, then I can get more jobs done around the place.

To round of the day I’ve spent some time editing travel pictures from Turkey which you can find in this gallery. There’s many more to add yet, so today’s picture is a sample. Here’s the inside of the magnificent blue Mosque, looking up into the domed roof.

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 May picture(s) of the day…

11 Thursday May 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Flora and Fauna, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Another short blog from me as today’s not been the most exciting of times unless you count dodging heavy rainstorms, potting cuttings for the garden and slaving over a hot keyboard in order to get a load of pictures edited! To be fair, the rainstorms were fun – as long as you weren’t caught out in the open by one. The forecast had threatened us with thunder but that never materialised which was a shame as I love a good thinderstorm. What was very much in evidence was the thunderous looking skies. Dark clouds forming a band low in the skies that contrasted magnificently with their lighter, wispier counterparts which were occasionally illuminated by the sun. All of this was played out whilst I had a grandstand view from the bedroom window. I do love the skies up here in the Pennines, they’re constantly changing to provide a stunning backdrop. Well, on the days they’re not doing their best to hide the valley – obviously!

Having successfully edited another tranche of pictures ready for captioning and with the weather having changed from showers to sunshine I made a break for freedom and a long walk through our local woods – Scarr and Long wood. Both are looking stunning at the moment as they’re covered in Bluebells. Long wood has the added attraction of wild Garlic flowering which adds another contrasting colour to that of the bluebells. The round trip is a lovely walk and good exercise as the woods cling to the side of the valley so are anything but flat.

Now it’s time to knock-off for the night and catch up with the ‘other half’ who’s still on holiday and been out for a long lunch with friends. So, I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from today’s perambulations.

Bluebells and wild Garlic in Long wood
A mass of Bluebells adjacent to Scarr wood.

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!

10th May picture of the day…

10 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by in Istanbul, Photography, Picture of the day, Ships, Transport, Travel, Turkey

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The excitement of a break in Istanbul is slowly fading as we re-establish our UK routine back at Bigland Towers. Well routine for me. Dawn’s still on holiday, so – after pottering around at home she left to join Fran and Kath for an afternoon watching the King’s coronation on catch-up TV. Having the house to myself I pottered around solo. The garden’s really burst into life during the four days we were away so I soon lost an hour or so catching up on weeding and general maintenance in-between showers. The weather’s been crap since we got back with bouts of rain and temperatures only just in double figures – a good excuse to stay indoors and catch up on emails, paperwork and picture editing.

The shots I’ve taken in Istanbul are going to take several days to sort out, but the first collection (shipping) ended up on my Zenfolio website this evening. You can find the gallery via this link. Istanbul’s on the gateway to the Black Sea so the amount and variety of maritime traffic that passes is great for anyone interested in the nautical world. Add in the cruise liners that call and the multitude of ferries, tourists boats and pleasure craft that to and fro and you’ve a fascinating collection of craft to observe.

I suspect I’ll be trapped at home for the rest of this week as I’ve a lot of stuff to catch up on, plus, we’ve rail strikes on Friday and Saturday which will cramp my style anyway. I suppose I’ll be able to get all my picture backlog cleared at least…

I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which is one of my new shipping pictures. Here’s the passenger ship Ilker Karter which was built in 1980 at the Halic Shipyard in Istanbul. At 456 gross tonnes it’s not the largest ship in the world but it and its sister vessels put in a lot of nautical miles ferrying passengers around the Bosporus strait. In the background is one of the more modern ro-ro ferries.

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!

4th May picture of the day…

04 Thursday May 2023

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

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We’ve had another mixed day here at Bigland Towers. On opening the bedroom blinds this morning it was obvious the glorious sunshine we’d had yesterday was a flash in a pan as the view across the valley was hampered by low cloud and poor visibility. Temperatures weren’t exactly balmy either! As the pair of us had plenty to keep us occupied with at home the weather wasn’t much of a problem – although sunshine and blue skies does help lift the spirits.

The weather certainly didn’t stop us voting in the local elections. Nor did the new need for photo ID. That’s because we’d already voted! For many years now we’ve had postal votes so our returns were in. I can’t help thinking the whole photo ID idea is a scam on the part of the Tories to stop people voting. Recorded cases of voter fraud have always been tiny, so why the sudden need for photographic ID? Plus, if I remember correctly, when there have been minor cases of impersonation it’s been with postal ballots – for which you don’t need ID! I’ll be very interested to see how this scheme pans out and if it backfires on the Tories in the was some observers are suggesting. Some older people (likely Tory voters) don’t have photographic ID and may well struggle to be allowed to vote. There would be a delicious irony if we see shrinkage in the Tory vote because the ‘wrong sort’ of voters have been disenfranchised!

Of course, the results won’t be clear until tomorrow and I’m not going to be staying up to watch as the pair of us have better things to do tomorrow. Dawn’s spent the day toiling like a Stakhanovite in order to clear as much of her work as possible before turning off her computer this evening ready for the next few days.

Me? I’ve been busy too although I did have a side trip to our local GPs in order to have check-up that I’m overdue for. Fair credit to our local surgery down in Sowerby Bridge. I only rang them about an appointment this morning yet they managed to squeeze me in to see a GP by 15:00! That’s an impressive service, but then they’ve always been good.

Now it’s late in the evening and the pair of us are packing, ready to head off to Turkey tomorrow whilst leaving the cottage in good order for our friends who’ll be looking after the place whilst we’re away. No doubt I’ll be doing some blogging over the next few days whilst I’m away, just don’t expect them to be mammoth travel guides to Istanbul as we’re going with the other members of the ‘5 from the 6’ so the intention’s to have fun!

It’s a good time to go, the UK weather forecast’s not looking good for the next few days. Plus, as a republican and not a royalist the next few days of Coronation fever and forelock tugging is something I’m happy to miss – especially when I reflect on the state of the UK economy right now. I’ve nothing against Charles (in fact, I rather like him) but there’s a whiff of ‘bread and circuses’ in the air that hopefully won’t travel as far as Turkey, although I suspect some of our number will be happy to watch the pageantry, pomp and circumstance on ‘catch-up’…

OK, time to go. Today’s picture is from the last time the ‘5 from the 6’ went on a jaunt which was to Berlin this time last year. Here’s the Oberbaum bridge which became an important crossing point between East and West during the ‘Cold War’ years.

I’m looking forward to being let loose in Istanbul with the camera, but I think hoping for blue skies like this may be optimistic…

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!