Category Archives: Picture of the day

10th March picture of the day…

10 Monday Mar 2025

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

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Another week beckons. It’s not quite been the start I’d planned but nevertheless it’s been reasonably productive. All the pictures I took on Sunday have been edited, captioned and are now on my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to find out which galleries they’ve been added to.

A frustrating part of the day was that the weather was far better than had been predicted, with several hours of clear skies and sunshine. The snow and rain that was predicted last week has disappeared off the charts, not that it really matters as I’ve too many things to sort out before heading off to the Community Rail awards on Wednesday. Hopefully I can have another productive day tomorrow, ensuring the decks are cleared as the awards will be a busy few days.

As usual when I’m working from home I’ve been keeping an eye on the political news, which has provided some moments of schadenfreude. The Reform party continue to disintegrate as the war of words between their main characters escalates and becomes more bitter. This saga is going to run and run! There’s only going to be one winner (Farage) but that could prove to be a costly win. It’s clear that Farage isn’t openly racist enough for some Reform supporters, who’re rallying behind Rupert Lowe as he talks their language. The potential for a party split looms large…

Meanwhile, across the Pond, Elon Musk is having a bit of a ‘mare. Twitter (or X as he insists we call it) has had several outages today which he’s blaming on attacks by hackers. Of course, the fact he’s sacked many staff and is running the platform on a shoe-string won’t have helped! To add to his woes, Tesla’s share price is losing ground fast. Oh, and he’s managed to alienate both Poland and US senator Mark Kelly with widely publicised insults. The irony of an unelected South-African calling Kelly, an American war-veteran and ex-astronaut a ‘traitor’ has not been lost on people – even on Americans, who normally struggle with irony!

I can’t help wondering what mess Trump and Musk are going to create next…

Right, it’s time for me to go. I’ll leave you with a picture to brighten the evening up with. Here’s a view of the Victoria tower atop Castle Hill just outside Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, that I took last Saturday.

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

4th March picture of the day…

04 Tuesday Mar 2025

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

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Today’s been another busy one here at Bigland Towers. Nearly all of it has been spent wading through hundreds more pictures to edit and caption. I’d foolishly thought I’d broken the back of things yesterday. Then I opened up another couple of picture files. Oops! I’m now far more confident that I’m where I want to be as there’s just a handful left from my Asia travels. I’m not going to post loads of links again, I’m merely going to do what I did yesterday and post one to my ‘recent’ page. I doen;t take long to work out which galleries the new pictures have gone in to.

Whilst sat at home I’ve been keeping one eye on the news (and social media), watchin the American political binfire burn. Vice-President JD Vance has done a fabulous job alienating most of Europe – and especially the UK and France with his comments about the military. He’s tried to deny it of course, but that’s just added fuel to the fire as no-one likes being taken for a fool (well, unless you’re a Reform voter: Ed).

The furore has become more interesting as it’s revealing fault-lines between various right-wing commentators, media outlets and political parties. Some, like the Daily Mail and Sun have been outraged at Vance’s words. Suddenly, the world has turned upside down and I find myself agreeing with the likes of Julia Hartley-Brewer and Dan Hodges (don’t worry, I’ve had a bath since). Even Andrew Neil is taking sense. Then temporary Tory leader Kemi Badenoch completely misreads the mood and defends Vance , who’s a ‘friend’ of hers, apparently! An amazing take when even Nigel Farage (who was better at seeing which way the wind was blowing) didn’t support him.

These are interesting times for Reform. They’re becoming split between those who slavishly support Trum p and those who can see the danger of being exposed for what they really are – Russian assets and little more than ‘surrender monkeys’ who’re riding on the back of Putin and Trump’s coat-tails. Reform MP (and millionaire) Rupert Lowe being a classic example with this tweet, which has already aged like milk.

I’ve no doubt the row will continue, stocked by the trolls and bots on social media under the command of Putin (who must be laughing his socks off).

But this row’s about to be overshadowed by the latest Trump disaster. Tariffs. Trump is starting a trade war. The world’s markets have already taken fright at what he’s doing, but – undeterred – he’s proposing to bring in more. The poor saps who voted for him are about to find out *exactly* who it is who pays for tariffs. One American TV channel has just pointed out that (overnight) a Dodge pickup has increased in price from $80,000 to $100,000 – and it’s American consumers who’ll be picking up that tab. Now American farmers are about to find out where much of their supplies come from (Canada). Of course, it’s not just the US who suffers. But I’ll tell you who doesn’t – Trumps millionaire friends who’ll be playing the stock market as they knew in advance what was coming. This is likely to be insider trading on a gargantuan scale. As the old saying goes – follow the money….

We are living in very dangerous times. The one ray of sunshine is that this is forcing Europe to unite and get its act together. There’s some very welcome signs on that front. In the meantime, batten down the hatches, the world’s in for a rocky ride…

I’ll be taking a break from the computer tomorrow as I have a dentists appointment. Weather permitting, I may venture further afield as a result.

On a brighter and more peaceful note. Here’s today’s picture – a Balinese Hibiscus flower.

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

1st March picture of the day…

01 Saturday Mar 2025

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

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Today’s been a quiet one here at Bigland towers. After all my travels and adventures it’s time to kick back a little and catch up with myself. My sleep patterns have just about returned to normal now, helped by not being on the ‘go’ all the time. Instead, I’ve been concentrating on catching up with some household chores, enjoying the opportunity to cook once more – and continue editing pictures from my travels.

You can find the latest additions to my Zenfolio picture website here;

Malaysia

Indonesia

Ships and shipping

Norway railways

I’ve still got hundreds of pictures to edit. They’ll gradually get filed over the next few days as I’m not expecting to be travelling anywhere much over the next week as I’ve too much to do at home. It’s a shame as the weather’s beginning to pick up here in West Yorkshire. We’ve had some stunning sunsets with fabulous colours these past couple of days. I was fortunate to capture this one from the bedroom window this evening.

The setting sun over Sowerby has produced some amazing colours these past few days.

I’m expecting tomorrow to be a little more active today, but productive when it comes to producing pictures. Plus, there’s a political blog brewing. Yesterday’s disgraceful ambush at the White House is certainly causing waves of outrage. Plus President Zelenskyy arrived in the UK today – a country that backs him to the hilt – despite what the hard-left and far-right would like you to think.

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

Indonesia day 8. Bali and relax…

22 Wednesday Jan 2025

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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After 9 days travelling from Manchester to Jakarta, then overland through Java to Bali, today’s been one to kick back and relax. We’ve travelled nowhere – unless you count walking around the town of Ubud, which is where we’ll be based for the next week and more. The bags can finally be unpacked for a while.

Admittedly, I’m still waking up at 06:00 every morning. For some strange reason it’s my built in default every time I come to Asia. It’s different for Dawn as she’ll still be in the arms of Morpheus for several hours more if allowed. I have to be careful so as not to disturb her – which means always leaving the sound off on my laptop for a start!

Once we finally got our acts together not long before noon we went for a stroll along the famous Monkey Forest Road in search of sustenance. It was also a chance for me to see just how much has changed since I was last here in 2017 (short answer? A lot). Having dodged monkeys and dodgy pavements we ended up at Bumi Bali, a large restaurant and bar which is sheltered from most of the traffic noise. The attentive staff soon served dishes we’d ordered from the Balinese section..

My Balinese brunch. Yellow rice with satay skewers, egg, green beans and all the trimmings. Both well presented and delicious.

Replete, we worked off the food by exploring further as I rediscovered some old haunts whilst mourning the loss of others. To Dawn’s eyes it’s all new, so the effect was rather different. Having stretched our legs we retreated to our hotel where I couldn’t resist trying out the pool. Dawn tried an alternative relaxation outlet and used the hotel’s massage service. Dee tells me they’re very good. Well, she certainly came back relaxed, which us what matters.

After returning to Bumi Bali for our evening meal we’re now relaxing at the hotel before another hard day of doing nothing much at all. We’ve earned it. Hopefully, I’ll have loads of pictures from this trip added to my Zenfolio website tomorrow. Watch this space…

It’s nearly midnight so the hotel pool is quiet. As our room has a private entrance from the balcony I’ll be making the most of this over the next few days.

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

Goodbye UK (for a while)…

13 Monday Jan 2025

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

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This will be a a short blog as the pair of us have got to be up at silly o’ clock to get a taxi to Manchester in order to catch our early morning flight to Jakarta. Thankfully, the snow which has blanketed West Yorkshire for the past week is finally melting so we shouldn’t have any problems getting to the airport. We’ve had a busy day packing and arranging all sorts of last minute stuff before we leave (in my case, that involved filing a tax return!).

Now we’re packed, everything’s ticked off the list and we can relax for a few hours before beginning the trip. I’ll do as much of a rolling blog as I can, but that will be reliant on airport, hotel and other wifi as international roaming charges cost an arm and a leg out in that neck of the woods nowadays. Still, I’m sure I’ll find time to post pictures and other stuff of interest over the next few weeks. We’ll be on the move a lot for the first week but when we get settled in Bali there’ll be more time to write. In the meantime, here’s a taster of life in Jakarta.

Indonesians are a friendly bunch, including those in uniform. In 2017, a couple of railway level crossing keepers at Tanah Abang in Jakarta were very happy to have their picture taken as a train they were protecting crossed the road behind them. You can find more of my pictures from Jakarta here.

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

11th January picture of the day…

11 Saturday Jan 2025

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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It’s a short report from Bigland Towers today as I’m in ‘getting away from it all’ mode – although that means life is rather frenetic as I clear the decks before travelling on Tuesday. There’s not a huge amount to report from this part of the world. The snow’s still here. It’s far too easy to break your neck (or extremities) on pavements that have become skating rinks, but the landscape from afar does look lovely, buried as it is under inches of snow (metric measurements are available).

Today was the first day I ventured out of the Calder valley this year as Dawn and I joined her parents for lunch over in Huddersfield. I’d have got some pictures but we were pressed for time and when we returned the the glorious sunshine had been snuffed out by low cloud. Ah well…

Now we’re back at home and I’ve begun the process of packing. I’m determined to travel as light as possible (says a man carrying a weighty camera bag) as I want room in my suitcase for bringing back some shopping from various destinations. Besides, textiles are cheap in the neck of the woods we’re heading to and I’ll be putting money into the local economy.

One of the things I’ve managed to do is clear the hard-drive on my laptop and add a lot more pictures to my Zenfolio website. You can find pictures in these galleries.

High Speed 2

UK travel

Northern trains

Railway stations

Expect something rather different soon. They’ll be added to these galleries (which will give you a taster of what to expect.

Indonesian Travel

Indonesian railways

Here’s a quick taster.

Legong dancers in Ubud. 1994.

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

10th January picture of the day…

10 Friday Jan 2025

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

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Bugger. Another day when things didn’t quite go to plan so I ended up trapped at home. The moral of the story? When you get a new phone, don’t forget the new password you entered for getting into the bloody thing! I did, which set me back as I ended up having to do a factory reset after wasting several hours trying a combination of passwords, all to no avail. These new phones drag out the agony too. Every time to enter a wrong ‘un they extend the time you’ve go to wait before you can try again. My wife, on hearing what I’d done, summed it up thus – “you dipstick!”. Who am I to argue?

Now everything’s sorted and my time wasn’t entirely wasted as I’ve cleared the decks of more old photos which have now appeared on my Zenfolio website. You can find the latest gallery update by following this link.

I did manage to get out for a little while in the evening whilst Dawn was working late in order to wrap up her work before going away. I popped up to our local pub (The Big 6) to join friends for the Friday quiz. It’s an informal gathering where Mel reads out the two quizzes published every week in our local ‘Pub paper’. It’s neither serious, nor competitive – just fun. Oh, and there’s plenty of beer – and free pork pie.

Now I’m back at home, compiling a list of more stuff to sort out before going away. I’m looking forward to being back in the sun and balmy weather rather than the barmy weather we’ve still got here. The snow’s never gone away in many places. Instead, it’s turned to sheet ice thanks to the sub-zero temperature of the past few days. Minor roads and pavements resemble skating rinks. I’ve never known the snow stick around for so long in the 15 years I’ve lived up here so I’ll be more than happy to see the back of it on Tuesday. Today’s picture shows how the Calder valley looks today. This is a view taken with my new Nikon Z series 100-400mm lens, looking out across the Calder valley to Sowerby. As you can see, the snow’s certainly sticking around.

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

9th January picture of the day…

09 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by in Manchester, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Today’s been another one of those days that’s not quite gone to plan due to a combination of weather, technology and impending travel plans. I’ve spent a large chunk of time waiting in for a number of parcels to arrive as I’ve been shopping for various new bits of kit in readiness for heading back to Asia next week. Most have been pretty straightforward. There’s not much you can learn about a new camera bag after all – although my new 100-400mm Nikon Z lens is proving to be rather tasty, I’m looking forward to having some fun with that documenting street life in places like Jakarta. The frustrating thing has been getting a new phone and getting the damned thing to sync with my laptop and with all my different websites, apps and general electronic clutter of 21st century life. I *think* I’m pretty much there. To be fair to Samsung, their phones copy over data and apps very well. The issue is me trying to sync them with a myriad of forgotten passwords! I may have sworn a little tonight…

On the bright side (with fingers crossed) everything seems to be working OK now. Well, all the important stuff anyway. Other bits I can discover later. At least I know have a fully functional smartphone to travel with as my old one was on its last legs. We’ve only a few days left before we travel and there’s still plenty of stuff to sort out in order that we can breeze into a holiday (did I mention a tax return to fill in?). But, come Monday everything in the UK takes a backseat.

One of the other little jobs I’ve been doing is adding more pictures to my Zenfolio website in order to clear space on my laptop. So, today’s picture is one of them.

Here’s the inside of St Mary’s shed at Newton Heath depot in Manchester with 195128 undergoing a bogie and wheel swap. You’ll be able to read more about the past, present and future of the depot in a future edition of RAIL magazine.

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

8th January picture of the day…

08 Wednesday Jan 2025

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

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It’s a short blog from me tonight. Today was another one that didn’t quite go to plan – but in a good way! I’d intended to get out with the camera, despite the sub-zero temperatures but an email and a phone-call soon put paid to that. The email was from an old client, a railway magazine which was after a selection of archive pictures. Whilst I was sorting and sifting through those I received a phone call from a company in the rail industry whom I’ve never worked for before. They were anxious to source pictures – and more. So, I ended up dealing with a long-term work proposal and yet more urgent picture requests. On top of which I’ve been busy sorting out more of the logistics for next week’s trip which has involved a fair bit of research and purchases which will (snow permitting) arrive before we leave.

Next thing I knew it was nearly dusk. The quality of the light at the back of the house made me look out of the bedroom window, which is when I saw this rather amazing and colourful sky as the sun set over the Calder valley.

I have to go out tomorrow to pick up some of the stuff we’ve ordered so maybe there will be the chance to get a final few snow pictures…

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

7th January picture of the day…

07 Tuesday Jan 2025

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

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We’ve still plenty of snowy scenes here in the Pennines. Much of it hasn’t really shifted, especially away from human habitation and major roads. Today the pair of us spent quite some time digging Dawn’s car out of the drifts – something I don’t recollect doing for donkey’s years as normally the stuff doesn’t hand around that long. On the bright side, the exercise was useful. Plus, helping to clear the road was a bonus as the pair of us are expecting various parcels to arrive over the next few days as we’ve been busy preparing for our Asian odyssey. Admittedly, most of mine will contain things like photographic kit (my old camera bag is on its last legs) whilst Dee’s orders are rather more wide-ranging.

Like most days since the snow’s arrived and we know we’re off to Asia, my day’s been spent working from home, ticking off various things on my work ‘to do’ list before we bugger off. This included editing the last of 2024s pictures that I’d not uploaded to my Zenfolio website. There’s still a few more to do, but the job’s back’s broken, so I’m hoping (weather permitting) to venture out with the camera tomorrow whilst there’s still enough snow on the ground to make it worthwhile.

What is remaining has certainly cramped people’s style. Having spent the day getting square eyes I did venture out to our local pub (the Big 6) for a pint earlier this evening. I was one of a handful. The place was deserted due to the difficulty in getting there. Most pavements are still under several inches of snow and driving to the pub isn’t recommended in these conditions.

A welcoming sight after a trek uphill through the snow. The Big 6…

Still, I did get to try a very tasty beer (thanks, Lee) which will be on in a couple of days time. I’m savoring my last chance for real ales right now as decent ales are as rare as rocking-horse droppings out in Indonesia.

It looks like a cider, but don’t let looks (or the innocuous fruity taste) fool you. This 5.2% beer is anything but a session ale…

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