Which is a very quick one today as most of my time’s been spent preparing for Christmas as well as continuing to scan vast quantities of old slides. There’s a huge amount that I want to blog about, including the latest National Infrastructure Commission report into new railways in the Midland and North, but I keep running up against the fact there’s only 24 hours in a day.
So, here’s one of today’s slide scans which I took in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 26th August 1994. So much of this scene has changed now as the rail yard in the foreground and to the right (which were just outside the main station) have disappeared. They’ve been replaced by new building as this area of the city has been redeveloped. It’s an object lesson in how an everyday scene can quickly become history. The site’s now occupied by the Danish Energy Agency…
Oh, and notice one of my favourite landmarks in the background? Many of the slides I’ve been scanning at the moment are also of of what are now times past – which is really starting to make me feel like an old bugger – as they seem like the blink of an eye to me!
I hope to catch up with more blogging this weekend…
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/
Remember that concept called the work/life balance? No. Neither do I…
Right now the balance has swung very much in one direction, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Here in West Yorkshire we’re in the run up to Christmas and we’re in Tier 3 – with no realistic chance of coming out of it in the near future, so you can forget the season of Xmas parties, pubs and general socialising. Plus, now London’s gone into lockdown there’s no chance of me returning South to catch up with old friends. Oh, and the weather’s been pretty crap here too – so there’s little incentive to wander out with the camera.
Instead, I’m holed-up at home most of the day, spending time living in the past, present and future. The past is because a lot of my time is spent scanning old pictures from 20-30 years ago in a concerted effort to have a decades long project finished by next year. There’s an irony in this in that by getting all these pictures uploaded to my website – it actually frees me from that past as it becomes history once more – and not something I have to spend hundreds of days of a year reliving. Yet – there is a link with the future here too. Some of the pictures I’m scanning have meant I’ve had to read through old diaries to check where I was – and when. I’ve always meant to write some of those experiences up as travel blogs about what it was like to travel overland though S-E Asia in the early 1990s but without having the pictures scanned it was impractical. It won’t be from next year, which will be the 30th anniversary of my first big solo trip…
The present is the everyday stuff we all do to keep our lives and my businesses ticking over. This can range from the mundane like shopping, cooking and housekeeping to those moments when you can simply stop and admire something that reconnects you with the here and now, no matter how random, or seemingly inconsequential.
The future? That’s a little more complex. It’s knowing that 2021 will be a very different year to this one so I can make up for some lost opportunities – and the work I’ll have done in 2020 will have cleared time and space to indulge myself a little after a year of lockdowns. All I have to hope for is that our sagacious and revered Government don’t screw up the economy and trash the pound in the next few months as the Brexitshambles reaches the denouement. OK, fair point – it’s a big ask…
Right, whilst I’ve been writing this I’ve also been scanning more slides – so here’s the picture of the day which was taken at the amazing Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during the Ashes test between England and Australia at the end of December 1998. Our friend Alison had booked tickets for what was a great day. I love the Aussies forthrightness – which is on display here. The reason I took this photo – other than to show the crowds? look at the adverts on the middle row…
“If you drink, then drive, you’re a bloody idiot” Can’t say fairer than that!
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/
Yes, It’s late I know. It’s 22:43 and I’ve only just knocked off after a marathon work day and scanning session. I was sorely tempted to venture out today as we’ve actually had a reasonable amount of sunshine. Instead, I just got stuck into paperwork, phone calls and a long session scanning old rail slides and then (to break the monotony) a batch of Australian travel slides. The rail images I’ve been scanning date from 1992 and the reason some of them have never seen the light of day before is because they require quite a bit of retouching in Photoshop to remove scratches and blemishes, so it’ll be a while yet before the most seriously damaged ones appear on my website – although many others have and you can find them in the India and Sri Lanka rail galleries (just click on the country names).
I’ve another busy day tomorrow which includes a trip to an Osteopath in Huddersfield (another story) so I’m going to be brief tonight and go almost straight on to the picture of the day. I took this shot of the Balconies in the spectacular Grampian national park in Victoria, Australia on the 8th January 1999. I only wish we’d had visibility and temperatures like this here in the Pennines today!
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/
To say that this hasn’t been the most exciting day of the month would be an understatement! The weather’s been uniformly crap all day, we’re still in tier 3 so there’s nowhere to go or people to see – so I’ve stayed warm and dry at home, scanning yet more old Indian rail slides. Only now it gets difficult. Many of the latest batch have very visible scratches on them. This is due to the conditions I was taking them in and not being experienced enough to understand how film cameras needed the film backplate kept clean – a lesson learned too late as these aren’t exactly pictures you could just nip out the next week to recreate. Thanks to the wonders of Photoshop these scratches can now be removed, but it takes time. Now I realise why I’d never put them on my website before, but they’re such a historical archive I’m glad I kept them as everything captured has vanished – and we’ll never see the like again.
My engagement with the past hasn’t been restricted to old pictures. During the trip they’re from I kept a daily diary (well, almost daily) which I haven’t read for decades but now it’s a useful resource to date some of the pictures. Re-reading it sure as hell takes me back to a very different time. Young, single and free…That said, looking back on my feelings, experiences and aspirations 30 years later is really interesting. If only I knew then…
But, to be fair, the day’s not been about unbridled nostalgia. It’s Friday so it was time for the ‘Big 6’ online quiz via Zoom which was lovely as there was actual interaction, jokes and banter despite the (social) distance. In some ways the quiz was just an excuse to interact with friends and the amount of times we all digressed was lovely – even if we did finally answer all the questions!
OK, enough of me rambling and trying to get my thoughts in a semblance of order, here’s the picture of the day which is from my latest slide scans. I took this shot in Jaipur steam locomotive depot on the 30th October 1991. It was shift change and a group of workers were washing at a hydrant inside the shed. Hardly private and not exactly the best environment, but that’s how it was in those days – and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have seen 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/
Sorry for the lack of a blog yesterday. That was because last night was spent at the online Community Rail Awards – which was a brilliant event! Yes, it was sad not to be able to see people in the flesh, but the platform used by Community Rail Network to deliver the event had a lot of features that allowed interactions beyond just watching the ceremony so it was the nearest best thing. If you missed it and want to see the fantastic work done by community rail volunteers you can find the awards here on YouTube. Enjoy!
Now the awards are over today’s been spent playing catch-up on the slide scanning front. Only now I’ve started scanning my old world railway slides in tandem with the travel stuff that I’ve been doing these past few weeks. Today I’ve added another 60 old slides that I took in India in 1991 when steam locomotives were in everyday service. Many of the pictures have never seen the light of day before as I never got around to scanning them in the past. It’s been a real trip down memory lane for me as – despite the fact they’re almost 30 years old – as soon as I saw them it seemed like yesterday, but my – how the world’s changed since then! So here’s the picture of the day, which I took just a few days after my 32nd birthday, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India…
A metre-gauge Class YP 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ No 2000 comes off a train and passes one of the many semaphore signal gantries that guarded the station at the time. This scene’s changed out of all recognition in the 21st century, so I consider myself fortunate to have seen it like this. I remember UK railways in the age of steam, but I was too young to get out and about to appreciate those days. Experiencing the end of Indian steam was the nearest I got and it gave me an inkling of what it must have been like. In those days India had a massive metre-gauge network that covered almost the entire country. Now in 2020 most of it has been converted to broad-gauge and electrified. You wouldn’t recognise Jaipur station now.
Over the next week I’ll be adding more – including steam shed depot visits at Delhi, Jaipur and Jodhpur. I’ll also be adding more travel pictures from Australia, so it’s not all about railways.
If you want to see more of the Indian railway scans, follow this link.
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/
Another week and yet another day in ‘splendid’ isolation – working from home, staying out of the cold! The weather’s changed here in the Calder Valley. We’ve had clear skies and a sunny day but the temperature has plummeted. There’s no doubt that winter’s just around the corner. Even so, I’ve been making a concerted effort to up the ante on the exercise front so I’ve braved the cold and clocked up 5 miles – even if it was by ping-ponging up and down our road! Well, it passes through some lovely woodland and there’s great views across the valley so it’s not like walking round the block in a city. You never know what critters you might bump into, especially in the evening. I often encounter foxes and deer aren’t unknown, although I’ve never encountered any of the local badger population. Owls regularly make their presence known through their hooting, but they’re so silent when they fly you’d be lucky to see one. I’m toying with the idea of getting an infrared wildlife camera just to see what I might find exploring our back terraces at night.
The rest of the day’s been spent catching up on paperwork, filing and admin jobs plus a small amount of picture editing, just to keep the ball rolling – and dispatching a few eBay orders, although that’s taken more of a back seat this month as I’ve not had time to upload many new pictures or other railwayana. Hopefully next week once other jobs are cleared away as I’ve still got a lot of stuff to dispose of. Part of the next tranche features as the picture of the day. at the weekend I picked up several new slide albums to join the queue for scanning over the winter. One of those albums is full of foreign railway slides like this. I took this picture on the 17th October 1991 in Delhi, India. Steam locomotives were dying out but hundreds still plied their trade on Broad Gauge network – although not for much longer. By 1996 they’d all gone, so on my 12 month trip away in 1991-92 I was determined to get pictures and had arranged a photographic permit that allowed me access to several locomotive depots, including the one adjacent to old Delhi railway station, where I found this WG Class 2-8-2 No 8009 being moved on the depot turntable. The WGs (W indicated it was Broad gauge and G a goods engine) arrived in India in 1950. The first 100 were built in England by the North British Engine Co, whilst hundreds of others were produced by American, German and Japanese firms before Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in West Bengal took over construction. the last were produced in 1970 after 2450 had been built. Sadly, only a handful have been preserved with most of them being static exhibits.
If you’re interested in looking through more rail photos from this trip or of, Indian railways in general you can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio picture website.
Meanwhile, 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/
This blog’s going to be short and sweet as I’m writing it late in the day. Not that it’s been a bad Sunday – far from it. The pair of us have had a relaxing start to the day but still managed to get out for an extended walk around the local woodlands and along the canal. It was lovely to get out but also see the rare sight of a Kingfisher catching its dinner on the cut. Other folk had spotted the bird stock-still on the other side of the canal and were gracious enough to point it out. Just as they did the animal dived into the canal to successfully grab its prey before flying off. A chap who saw the sight admitted it was the first time in his 50 years of walking the cut he’d actually seen a Kingfisher, so we felt rather privileged!
The walk was lovely but arriving in Sowerby Bridge was rather odd as the place was so deserted because nothing was open. There’s little chance of us coming out of Tier 3 in our bit of West Yorkshire so I think most businesses have given up until 2021 – which must be awful for them as they’re missing the most profitable part of the year. The secret pessimist in me wonders how much better things will be next year when the true costs of Brexit spread throughout the supply chain, but I’m saving my spleen on that shambles for now.
Back at home we’ve had a relaxed night as Dawn’s cooked one of our favorite dishes (spicy prawns) which has allowed me to spend time sorting out the picture of the day which is from my latest batch of travel slides. I took this on the 7th January 1999 on the Great Ocean Rd in Australia. This is ‘London Bridge’ – although – like the old nursery rhyme, it had fallen down! Back in 1990 the arch linking it to the mainland collapsed. Even so, it was still a fascinating natural structure.
If you’re interested in looking through more photos from Australia (or the rest of our epic trip), you can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio picture website. I’ll be adding many more shots of other exotic locations (including New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands) over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, 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/
S’cuse the lack of blogging these past few days. Ever had one of those weeks where you don’t quite get the hang of it? That’s been me this week. I’ve been trying to juggle a lot of things and dropped one too many balls! One of the balls was blogging but I’m determined to have a better time from now on in the run up to what’s going to be a very different festive season as here in West Yorkshire we’ll be in Tier 3, so it’s going to be a Covid Christmas!
The weather’s been getting into the Xmas spirit as we’ve had our first dusting of snow on the high ground around us. Although it snowed most of yesterday the stuff didn’t stick around where we live and the roads have remained clear. Not that we’re going to be going far for the next few weeks – unless you count Huddersfield. Instead, we’re preparing for a local Xmas and the opportunity to make the most of our time.
For me, part of that time will be spent wading through scanning lots more old slides. Having broken the back of the pile now I’m determined to get the process finished next year and catching up with scanning’s been one of the reasons I’ve not been blogging. So today’s picture of the day is one of the fruits of this weeks labours. I’m currently working my way through an album of travel pictures from our 1997-99 ‘big trip’ and the current set is of Australia. I took this picture on the the 4th January 1999. It’s a view of the coastline of Victoria on the beautiful ‘Great Ocean Road’ between Anglesey and Port Campbell.
After having spent Xmas in Melbourne and New Year at Sorrento beach, Lynn and I headed off with Alison, and her two children (Matt and Kim) in Alison’s van, to spend a couple of weeks touring Victoria. You’ll see more pictures over the next week or two.
If you’re interested in looking through more photos from Australia (or the rest of our epic trip), you can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio picture website. I’ll be adding many more shots of other exotic locations (including New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands) over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, 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/
Here we are folks – we’ve finally staggered into December – for better or worse. Although I’m afraid I’m not sure where the better is meant to be coming from. Well, unless you count the arrival of several Covid vaccines, but that’s not making things ‘better’. At best, it will restore things to a form of normalcy. Meanwhile, we have another iceberg looming on the horizon and getting ever closer. Brexit. Yep, we have 31 days left before we leave the transition period and few people (in or out of Government) have the faintest idea what happens now – as no-one who’s meant to be in charge on this side of the Channel seems to be willing to admit that Brexit is an absolute shit-show. Yet, in 31 days time, international treaties will assert themselves and all the bullshit and bluster of the Brexiters will be laid bare. Because, right now, it doesn’t matter what ‘deal’ Johnson and his cronies cobble together and present to the gullible public as a ‘victory’, the reality of what Brexit actually means will kick in from January 1st 2021 regardless – and it matters not a jot what the right-wing press bluff and bluster when it comes to our ‘demands’ of the EU. This is the real world that’s about to intrude – just as it did on the Orange shit-gibbon in the White House. On the bright side, I’m under no illusions what’s to come.
That said, have mixed feelings about the whole situation but for different reasons. Let’s face it, this is hardly a normal Xmas, is it? I suspect any people are torn over what to do and what advice to follow. If Dominic Cummings can sod off to Barnard Castle from London during lockdown, why can’t they bend the rules too?
Tempting as it may be – we won’t be bending any. Our Xmas will be in the four person bubble we’ve been maintaining for several months. Because we want this shit to end as soon as possible – and to all be in good health (with a clear conscience) when it does. Besides – we’re going to have to spend an awful lot of 2021 listening to people saying “this isn’t the Brexit I voted for!” which is going to require quite a bit of physical stamina and mental fortitude – as well as hiding anything sharp. If things were normal I’d be looking to having a flight booked to somewhere in Asia in December in order to escape Britain in January. Fate however, has decided to conjoin Covid and Brexit. Still, it’ll give me something to blog about – although I may need a spleen transplant by February! On the bright side, there’s going to be plenty to blog about and if (as I suspect it will) this is where I can do it.
OK, back to the season and the picture of the day, which has come together beautifully as the last batch of old slides I’ve been scanning for the archives are from Christmas in Melbourne Australia back in 1998 when Lynn and I stayed with Alison Barry and her family. The pair of us met Alison in India earlier that year and we all hit it off – as travellers sometimes do. So much so that when we arrived in Oz Alison invited us the join her and her family. We had a ball! The rest of our Aussie Oydessy are nest in the queue for scanning, but here’s the picture of Xmas lunch in the Southern Hemisphere with Alison, Lynn. Matt, Kim and Ken all those years ago. What a different world that seems now – for so many reasons…
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/
Where the hell’s the day gone? It seems to have vanished into the mists and murk that have covered the Calder Valley all day. One minute it was there, next minute – whoosh – it’s eight o’clock!
Admittedly, with it being the weekend, we did have a teeny-weeny lie in this morning. After all, we knew the weather was going to be cold and wet, so what’s to get up for? It’s not as if we’ve got a flight booked, or people to meet in the pub. Instead, the pair of us have spent the day cooped up inside out of the way of the drizzle and damp. The only person who’s been venturing outside is the cat who’s repeatedly returned as a very soggy moggy before retreating to his heated mat to sit and steam!
The day’s passed with the two of us working in order to make the most of the time. Whilst Dee’s been working in the living room I’ve been holed up in my upstairs office sorting out paperwork and yet more old slides which includes the picture of the day. I’ve finished scanning the last album of pictures from our 1998 Indonesia travels, but I’ve skipped forward a bit as the next album in the series is stashed away in Dawn’s parent loft. So please forgive me going from Flores to Java with nothing in between (there’s plenty, honest – but they won’t appear for a few weeks yet).
So, today’s picture was taken in Yogyakarta. Java in early December 1998. Yogya’s one of the cultural centres of Indonesia. It’s a fascinating place with a rich history. I’d spent time there back in 1992, so I was determined to revisit on our grand tour. As it was, Lynn and I based ourselves there for over two weeks so we could explore the area. Well, that and the fact it was such a relaxed place. We were staying in the same cheap and cheerful Homestay in one of the backstreets by the station that I’d stayed in back in 92. The facilities were basic, but every morning a local woman would set up her stall in the street outside to sell the most wonderful Javanese food. Most of it was vegetarian and it was sublime. You could mix and match and a really hearty, spicy breakfast packed full of flavours would cost you about 20p. you’d see stall like this throughout Java. Women would cook the food at home, then set up little street stall every morning (or evening) and sell the most delicious street food. Once it was gone, so were they. The bowls would all be stacked upon each other and the woman would carry them off in the same way most of them arrived in the first place – by scooter, or balanced on her head, or by Becak (cycle rickshaw).
Boy, do I miss the food of Asia. I’m so glad that both Dawn and I are good cooks so we can recreate some of these tastes at home. But I do miss being able to nip out for breakfasts like this…
If you’re interested in looking through more photos from Indonesia (or the rest of the epic trip), you can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio picture website. I’ll be adding many more shots of other exotic Indonesian Islands over the next few weeks. There’s a huge cross-section of Indonesian life and street-scenes like this.
Meanwhile, 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/
