I’ve had a rather unplanned break from the office today and taken the camera exploring instead. Dawn had to pop into the Community Rail Network offices in Huddersfield so suggested that I tag along so that I could help carry some boxes, meet her new Boss, then get out for a while whilst she worked. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss for several reasons. One being that due to the major engineering blockade on the railway into Manchester Victoria at Miles Platting several freight services are being diverted from the Calder to the Colne valley. Due to capacity constraints and the intensive passenger services along the Colne valley freight is normally rare, so it was a good chance to capture something unusual before the day comes when the overhead wires that will inevitably arrive change the route completely.
My donkey work done I caught a train West along the valley to Marsden. The 3-car local stopping was busier than I’ve seen it for ages as folk return to the railways
13:45.
I’m now playing cat and mouse with the sun, clouds and odd freight train, leavened with a selection of Trans-Pennine and Northern services, including some unusual empty stock moves. I’ll add a selection of camera shots later, right now you’ll have to settle for some phone pix…
For those of you who don’t know Marsden it’s a lovely little village surrounded by high Pennine hills. The last railway village in West Yorkshire and location of the famous Standedge tunnels (two rail, one canal). Here’s a flavour..
15:00.
As well as the railway Marsden hosts the Huddersfield narrow canal a popular inland waterway that’s busy with boats in the summer. The village was also a popular (perhaps too popular) stop for people on the trans-Pennine ‘Rail Ale Trail’ although Covid has killed much of that and the popular Riverhead pub in Marsden remains closed. Despite that, there’s still plenty of pubs, cafes and resturants to tempt visitors.
21:30.
That was a busy day! I stayed in Marsden for several hours until the skies began to close in and I had many of the pictures that I wanted. Despite me visiting some new locations there’s only so many shots that you can take before they become repetitive. Heading back to Huddersfield I spent an hour wandering around the town centre trying to get a feel for the place as it comes out of lockdown. I have to day, it feels sad. There’s clearly a lot of shops that are never going to open and the claims of Brexiters that being in the EU was what was holding us back have foundered on the rocks of reality – as you notice when you visit the supermarkets and gaze upon the empty shelves. Brexit hasn’t swept the streets of rogues and vagabonds (as promised) either as the vast majority of them are (of course) indigenous.
Once Dawn finished work we headed home to enjoy a quick drink in the garden watching the sun set on a glorious evening as the clouds had melted away here in the Calder Valley, leaving us with a perfect sky. We couldn’t linger long as we both had food duties to perform. Dee wanted to have another practice run with wedding cakes so whilst she did that I prepared a massive chick pea, tuna and veggie cheese salad with lots of trimmings that’ll keep us going for the next couple of days. Now, whilst Dee’s perfecting her baking I’m editing pictures.
First up is a shot from Marsden featuring an empty stock move from Newcastle’s Heaton depot to Manchester’s Newton Heath shed. Renumbered 150003 this is Northern’s newly converted 2-car Class 150116 which has been modified to run as a 3-car by the insertion of a 150/2 vehicle (57209). Three more of these units are to be converted, bringing the total to 6. This isn’t a new idea. Several trains ran in this formation when they worked for Central trains in the Birmingham area back in the 2000s.
Trans-Pennine Express unit 802202 speeds past Marsden whilst working 9M26, the 12:43 Newcastle to Manchester Piccadilly.802210 rounds the long curve from Marsden station (which is just out of shot around the corner) whilst working 1P29, the 1438 Manchester Piccadilly to Newcastle. The loop here is seldom used now that the former Northern stopping service from Huddersfield to Manchester is worked by TPE Class 185s. The fact this was once a four-track main line is evident from the width of the formation.
DB Cargo’s 66152 heads West with 6M16, the Monday’s only Tees Yard to Knowsley (Liverpool ) empty ‘binliner’. These waste trains were once a regular sight in the Colne Valley but changes in the locations served and the fact this trans-Pennine route no longer has the capacity to cope means the trains now normally run via the Calder Valley.
I’ll be adding these shots and many more to my Zenfolio website later in the week. But for now, it’s goodnight!
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Personally, I preferred the Eurhythmics version myself, but I have to admit the latest caterwauling from the opponents of HS2 in the form of the self-appointed ‘tree-protectors’ who’ve wasted so much time and money getting nowhere when it comes to stopping HS2 is actually quite revealing. This long thread (featuring all the usual suspects) has appeared on the ‘stopHs2’ Facebook page!
It seems that little old me has upset them again and the mask of them being ‘peaceful’ and non-violent’ has well and truly slipped!
I applied to join one of their groups to post a riposte to this abject load of nonsense I blogged about a couple of days ago. I didn’t hide who I was as I thought the reaction might be interesting. After all, they believe in ‘free speech’, don’t they? Obviously not – and a lot more besides. Go get some popcorn before you start reading…
My, what nice people! Oh, but wait, it gets better…For clarification, ‘Carl Woods’ is the pseudonym of one Caroline Thompson Smith, who’s from Steeple Claydon. I’ve blogged about her before, here and here aanndd… here! Caroline has appeared to have deleted her own Facebook account to use the fake one instead. Still, she sounds like a nice woman when she thinks she’s amongst friends and she’s not being all smarmy to HS2 staff in her livestreams, doesn’t she?
Brent Poland is the serially failed Green Party candidate whom I’ve blogged about here. The remarks from Mark Keir (another serially failed Green Party candidate) look curious. “Delete” me? What can he possibly mean? Take a look at this (expanded) explanation. “I want HIM deleted”.
My, that’s very peaceful and non-violent, isn’t it? Mark Keir is one of the leading lights (that’s not saying much: Ed) of the HS2 ‘rebellion’ who’s spent several years lying about HS2, most famously claiming he watched the tree that inspired Roald Dahl to write ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ actually being cut down by HS2 contractors in Jones’ Hill Woods. It was complete cobblers of course, as I revealed in this blog.
Keir has a habit of being very abusive to HS2 staff on camera, then acting all aggrieved if anyone ever answers back. Meanwhile, back at that thread it seems they also want to burn me…
And there’s more…
You have to laugh at them moaning about ‘shutting down opposition’ whilst they’re all saying the opposition to them (me) should be shut down (permanently, according to Keir)! Hypocritical, much? But that’s the protesters for you – free speech only applies to them, apparently…
What a nice bunch of people they sound! Remember that next time you hear someone wanting to donate money to this bunch of anarchists and fantasists, because all they’re doing is harm. Harm to the woods they’re supposedly protecting, and harm to the HS2 contactors who’re merely going about their jobs. They have a habit of stirring up hate wherever they go and this shows what’s beneath the mask they try and wear. Now that their campaign’s collapsed that mask gets dropped more and more often. Soon they’ll be scattered to the four winds – and good riddance…
UPDATE. 1st August.
Some more ‘nice’ people popped in to add their pennorth and support freedom of information and the right to free speech, or not…
They really don’t seem to able to put down that shovel. Here are the latest diatribes from these lovely people! With such erudition and ambition, how could they possibly have failed so dismally to stop HS2?
UPDATE: 2nd August.
Meanwhile, the fantasies and accusations get even more bizarre from these ‘freedom of speech’ loving people! I do chuckle at the ‘accusation’ – otherwise known as ‘let’s just make stuff up’! Plus, what an utterly bizarre accusation Keir’s dreamt up but then the poor chap’s always had a vivid imagination as well as a tenuous grasp on reality!
UPDATE. 7th August 2021.
Talking of ‘non-violent’. I see one of the ‘non-violent’ protesters from Jones’ Hill Woods has been up in court this week. The Bucks Free Press reported that Ross Monaghan, 38, assaulted two HS2 security guards and damaged fences at the ancient woodland site between November last year and February this year. Monaghan was found guilty of two counts of assault and four counts of criminal damage. He was ordered to pay £775 in costs and £50 to each of the guards he assaulted. I believe Monaghan still has other court cases pending…
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In the past few years there’s been widespread dissatisfaction with ‘traditional’ media outlets, both print and broadcast. It’s not an unreasonable feeling as most newspapers have been bought up or are owned by media barons who use them to push their own particular world view to further their own interests. The Broadcast media such as the BBC have also come under fire as their obsession with ‘balance’ has led then to give undue weight and prominence to people and groups selling snake-oil on subjects like the economy, politics or climate change. Then there’s the mystery of why right-wingers like Nigel Farage always featured on programmes like Question Time, despite him failing multiple times to ever get elected…
This dissatisfaction has fuelled the rise of the ‘alternative’ media. Sadly, much of that has been just as bad as many of the outlets are exactly the same as the print media. They’re exist solely to push one political view or ideology and damn the truth! Their function is to reinforce peoples prejudices and tell them what they want to hear. It’s not just the right-wing either, you have several left-wing outlets too. As always, the first casualty is the truth.
So, it felt like a new hope when Byline Media was established by one Peter Jukes back in 2019. The aims were laudable. It was to be impartial, report the truth and be a platform where ‘facts matter’. You can read more about its aims here in its manifesto.
Sadly, the reality has proved to be a real disappointment as the project has some major flaws. Here’s one. In it’s manifesto it says “Byline is a platform, not a paper. This means we don’t edit our journalists”. The reality is – this leaves them free to publish some complete crap! They also claim “Though we accept absolute truth isn’t reachable, aspiring to accuracy is still important” Really? How, when they don’t ‘edit’ their Journalists, or check their facts – or correct their errors? This smells like a cop-out. Then there’s the fact that Jukes himself isn’t averse to leaping in on social media to throw in fact-free assertions backed-up by nothing other than his own prejudices. Jukes talks of “holding power to account”, but who holds Byline to account?
Let me give you some examples. Regular readers will know I often write about railways and HS2, the new High-Speed railway in particular. Because of the fact I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade I’ve come to know a lot about it, which means I can tell fact from fiction – and there’s plenty of the latter around masquerading as the former!
Sadly, Byline have chosen to publish an awful lot of the latter too, which is ironic as in April they celebrated their second birthday and tweeted this.
Two years of ‘exposing lies’ eh? But what about the ones you’ve helped spread?
Here’s a recent article on HS2 entitled “the runaway train”. It was written by Sam Bright and billed as an ‘exclusive’.
It hits the buffers straight away as there’s nothing ‘exclusive’ about it. It’s a rehash of old accusations made by two ex HS2Ltd employees (Andrew Bruce and Doug Thornton) dating from the mid 2010s and investigated by the Public Accounts Committee in 2018, which dismissed the claims. Despite Bright’s claims, there’s no new evidence in the article. Bright does say,
“Byline Times has seen a signed affidavit given by Bruce in August 2019, detailing his experiences working for HS2 Limited – the Government-funded private company that is tasked with delivering the railway.”
So, what’s the new revelations in this affidavit then? Bruce doesn’t say, probably because there aren’t any. But we do get this tidbit.
““I was advised that I had not passed my probation due to poor performance and that I was to leave the building immediately,” he states in the affidavit”
So, Bruce wasn’t ‘sacked’, he simply didn’t pass his probationary period. Hardly unique…
So, no new revelations in the article, but plenty of muddled conspiracies and factual errors – like this.
“The phase one HS2 hybrid bill was introduced for its third reading in the House of Commons in March 2016 and Royal Assent was granted in February 2017.”
“Nine months before the hybrid bill was put before Parliament for Royal Assent, HS2 – and therefore one would reasonably assume the DfT – knew the true cost, but I was fired and the true cost was concealed until after Royal Assent was granted”…
Eh? Royal Assent is a formality. The Queen cannot refuse it. Third reading of a Hybrid Bill is also a formality that just rubber stamps any amendments made during the petitioning process. The bill is regarded as being ‘established’ (ie passed) after its 2nd reading, which was in April 2014. So any extra costs there were on land purchases are a total Red Herring. The Hybrid Bill petitioning Ctte added 100s of millions to the cost of HS2 by agreeing to extra tunnels but that wasn’t an issue either as Parliament had agreed to build HS2 back in April 2014. It doesn’t then go back and say ‘hang on a minute – recall Parliament – we want to scrap this now the costs have changed’ so the idea that anyone was fired to conceal something that would have no impact is just stuff and nonsense. Oh, there’s also the small matter that the property costs of HS2 were reported every year (there’s now a report to Parliament every six months).
It’s worth noting that the land and properties acquired for the construction and operation of HS2 are purchased by HS2 Ltd as agent for the Secretary of State and are recognised as assets in the DfT’s financial statements. They are not included in HS2 Ltd’s financial statements. The DfT accounts are published annually and presented to Parliament annually, so any HS2 property figures would be known annually. They’re also scrutinized by the National Audit Office (NAO). Here’s their latest look at HS2. The idea that anything was being ‘hidden’ when HS2 has so much public and Parliamentary scrutiny is far-fetched to say the least – and it was dismissed by the NAO in this report in 2018 which specifically deals with the ‘whistleblowers’ claims.
“The National Audit Office received correspondence concerned about HS2 Ltd’s land and property programme. They raised concerns with us that:
• HS2 Ltd had understated the property cost estimate, including in information provided to Parliament with deposit of the hybrid Bill for Phase One”
Their conclusion?
No ‘conspiracy, no smoking gun – and still within budget…
So, what’s the point of Byline’s ‘exclusive’ other than to rehash old ground? There’s nothing new at all. It’s throwing old mud around in the hope it’ll stick second time around. The only interesting revelation is that Thornton (one of the two embittered ex-employees) is now driving delivery vans for Tesco!
But then Bright really goes off the factual rails, writing that
“A 2019 review of HS2 by the project’s former chairman Douglas Oakervee suggested that the total cost could amount to £106.6 billion – while others have claimed that it could cost as much as £170 billion.”
Eh? Oakervee never said any such thing! The only time the £106.6bn number was mentioned was to specifically REJECT it – as anyone who’s actually read the Oakervee review would know. Here it is in in black and white on page on page 60.
How Bright’s managed to claim this says “Oakervee suggested that the total cost could amount to £106.6 billion” is a mystery. Here’s what Oakervee actually says about the cost of HS2.
£62-69bn. Oakervee notes that 2015 prices are ‘problematic’ so on page 56 of the report he updates them to 2019 prices.
So, £62-69bn becomes £80.7 – £87.7bn. Not £106.6bn as Bright inexplicably claims! But where did that other £170 billion figure come from Bright mentions? It’s made up by a chap called Michael Byng. No-one but Byng recognises it, but it’s a nice big scary number, so Bright gives it an airing.
When Byline published this and Jukes promoted it on Twitter, the reaction from HS2 supporters was ‘oh, no – not that old rubbish again’? Jukes took a bit of a hammering. Instead of looking at the (valid criticisms) he doubled down with this tweet which put the made-up number on a par with official figures.
Doubling down again in the face of further criticism, he came out with this Linking HS2 to Tory cronyism on the basis of absolutely no evidence whatsoever – and yet again giving credibility to inaccurate and made up numbers!
Peter clearly forgets he’s meant to be ‘exposing lies’ not telling porkies…
A friend described Byline to me as “skwawkbox for centrist dads’. I’m beginning to see what he meant.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, one of Byline’s regional branches (East Anglia Bylines) also launched a hatchet job on HS2, and this one’s a doozy! Take a look at this!
No wonder the author (Wheeltapper) wanted to be anonymous! It’s utter rubbish. How about this ‘revelation’?
“So, the reason the NtP initially referred only to Phase 1 is that Phase 1 isn’t going to integrate: it’s all completely new. Larger, faster trains will need different track; they are being purchased from the continent, where the track gauge is wider, necessary to achieve the higher speeds.”
Wait? What? HS2 is going to be built to a different gauge? The ‘continent’ doesn’t use standard gauge? That’ll come as a shocker to Eurostar then, they’ve been running through services using standard gauge trains between London, Paris and Brussels since 1994 and now run to Amsterdam too – not to mention across France with ski specials and to Eurodisney!
The whole article is appalling there’s so many howlers and untruths I could spend a whole day blogging factual corrections but can’t be bothered. Any real media outlet with any semblance of quality control or standards would have binned this rubbish straight away. I tweeted East Anglia Bylines and pointed out some of these howlers but never received as much as an acknowledgement. This load of crap is still on their website (see update). But remember, according to Jukes and Byline “the truth matters”. Except when it doesn’t, obviously.
It’s a huge shame to see that Byline – despite all their claims – are just as bad as the media outlets that pander to people’s prejudices, because I have to ask, if they’re printing dishonest stuff like this I’ve spotted because I know about the subject, what else are they putting out? I’m not the only once to spot this conundrum.
Other well-known bloggers have spotted the problems too…
So, remember as a well-known TV series once said, “the truth is out there” – just don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’ll fall into your lap on Byline media…
UPDATE.
I’ve been told via back-channels that the awful East Anglia Bylines piece has been ‘pulled for review and correction’. Personally, I think the best thing they could do with it is file it in the bin, but we shall see….
UPDATE No2.
Sadly, Byline have continued their trend of publishing fact-free, poorly researched and just plain wrong articles about HS2 and Peter Jukes continues to get very sniffy when people then criticize him for it – even when those people are Byline subscribers. The latest daft piece is this, titled “HS2 doesn’t know how many Oak trees it’s destroyed”. No-one seemed to have had the gumption to ask “well, why would it? Why does it need to know every single tree by species, what’s the point”? HS2 has responded with how many hectares of oerdinary and also ancient woodland have been felled, but count every single tree? Oh, please!
The article contains another classic snide remark that’s rather backfired. The author, one Jake Tacchi sniffily says
“It also involves the construction of four new stations, including the ill-thought-out name of Old Oak Common in West London”. The lad is clearly unaware that HS2 didn’t invent the name Old Oak Common, it’s a long established name of an area of London that’s been in use for centuries. You might as well complain there’s no Pachyderms or Battlements to be found at the Elephant and Castle!
The article trots out all the old trite claims about HS2 that feature on everyone’s Bingo Cards when it comes to canards. The Woodland Trusts supposed 108 woodlands ‘destroyed’? Check. HS2 not ‘carbon neutral for 120 years’? Tick. Then there’s another gem. Apparently, “Despite the felling of such ancient trees, the project first being proposed in 2009, and costs for the railway soaring, not a single mile of track has yet to be laid”. Really? Has no-one told this young man that HS2 only got Notice To Proceed in early 2020 and that before you lay any tracks you need to build tunnels, bridges, cuttings and embankments first (which the contractors, now mobilising, are doing at a rate of knots? Not exactly what you’d call a killer argument, is it? Here’s the reality this young man doesn’t seem to have noticed…
Oi! Get a shift on will yer? I know you’ve only been boring these 10 mile long tunnels for a couple of months and it’ll take 2 years to do it, but Jake Tacchi’s moaning that you’ve not laid any tracks yet…
My criticisms of Bylines poor standards of Journalism and complete absence of fact-checking have met with this reaction. Frank and fearless journalism, or touchy and unable to accept and respond to criticism? You decide….
Needless to say, this silly act of pique won’t stop me critiquing any other nonsense Byline publish about HS2 as they can’t block me from their website! It’s entirely counter-productive and hasn’t done their reputation any favors either all it shows it they’re rather thin-skinned when it comes to valid criticisms of their content.
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/
Earlier today the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson presented the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to the members of the Mytholmroyd Station Partnershipat a ceremony in the restored station building which the group has put so much time and effort into bringing back into use.
The award was presented to Sue and Geoff Mitchell who received it on behalf of all the members of the groups, many of whom were able to attend – along with representatives of the rail industry and local councillors. As friends of the friends, Dawn and I went along to celebrate their outstanding achievement. Needless to say, I took my camera along, so here’s a few pictures from the day
The Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson greets Geoff Mitchell in traditional Covid ‘arm bump’ fashion… The Lord Lieutenant meeting local Councillors and community representativesAddressing the stations friends and their guests inside the restored station building. The Lord Lieutenant presenting Sue Mitchell from the station friends with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service The Lord Lieutenant presenting Sue Mitchell from the Friends of Mytholmroyd station with the engraved award and the certificate signed by the Queen. Everyone came together outside the building for the obligatory group photograph to celebrate the (well earned) award.
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/
It’s another silly o’ clock start for me this me this morning as I’m travelling down to Wolverton to a memorial service for a friend, Major John Poyntz, who died last year. Due to Covid those of us who knew John have never had the chance to get together to celebrate his life and swap memories, but today we will.
Of course, today’s also the day the Government have relaxed all the Covid restrictions in England, so it may be an interesting day to be travelling. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, seeing how it pans out…
07:00
Walking to Halifax station was lovely this morning. There was barely a cloud in the sky. It’s obviously going to be a glorious day but there was still enough coolness in the air that I made it to the station without becoming a sweaty mess. I’m now on my first train of the day, the 06:44 to Manchester Victoria, which is made up from a pair of two-car Class 195s. It’s a quiet train with just half a dozen other passengers in the front car besides me so I’d no problem getting a table seat where I could set up the laptop to type this. I like the amenities on the 195, working air-con (great on a day like today), decent-sized tables that don’t trap your legs like the ones on the old Class 158s, plus power sockets and wifi. On the bulkhead in front of me is a Passenger Information Screen that tells me what the next stop is as well as the trains final destination. It even tells me the temperature (16 degrees), which is more than the old Calder Valley Class 155s ever could!
195s pass at Halifax with 195003 on the right working today’s 06:44 to Manchester Victoria.
My train never really filled up – even after calling at Rochdale, making it a very relaxing journey. The vast majority of passengers were still adhering to wearing masks which also helped. As we descended the bank from Miles Platting to Victoria I checked the progress on wiring the line to Stalybridge. After years of delay the work’s finally progressing. I noted several new piles for overhead masts that had been sunk, whilst several pallets of new cable trunking sat in the cess.
As my train was quiet there was no melee at the gateline so I made a speedy departure. The walk from Piccadilly to Victoria was also a breeze. One thing I did notice that really stood out was the absence of rough-sleepers. Normally I’d pass dozens. Today I only saw one on a bench near Piccadilly. Have Manchester finally got hold of the problem?
08:30.
I’m now on a 9-car Avanti Pendolino speeding South. This is the busiest I’ve seen these services for a while. It’s certainly not pre-Covid levels but it’s plain that passengers are returning to the rails. I’ll be interested to see what the loadings are like after Stoke as the next stop then isn’t until we reach Milton Keynes. A welcome change to this set (390043) is it’s the first I’ve been on where the table power socket has been changed to include two USB ports as well as mains – a welcome addition as I can now recharge some of my other gizmos as well as power the laptop!
09:55.
I made it to Milton Keynes without a hitch. The sun’s really cracking the flags here so I’m glad I packed the suntan lotion. My train from Manchester has a lot of slack time here in order to let non-stop services past, this gave me time to nip across the footbridge and get pictures and a cheery wave from the driver!
From Milton Keynes I’m doubling back to Wolverton on a LondonNortwestern service which is worked by a single 4-car Class 350 so it’s busy.
10:50.
What I and many others in the congregation hadn’t known (until the Vicar mentioned it) was that the church we were in was the very first church built by a railway company. Built in 1844, it was paid for by the London and Birmingham railway.
20:50.
Well, that was quite a day! John’s memorial was a great event in so many ways. It was chance for all of us to celebrate his life and achievements. It was also an opportunity for his family to meet some of his railway and military friends, and it was chance for us sll to swap stories – and stories there were aplenty! Lord Snape, who served with John on the Longmoor Military Railway when the “Great St Trinians train robbery” film was being made had some great stories to tell. One of his fellow Railway Inspectors (David Keay) also had a few tales to tell..
After the event we all adjourned to a nearby pub where a buffet had been laid on and we could enjoy a few jars in John’s memory. After all – it’s what he would have wanted!
We spent a glorious few hours reminiscing before breaking up and heading off in different directions. Two of us were heading North so Mervyn Allcock and I couldn’t resist a little ‘pit-stop’ in Derby. Railway aficianados will recognise the background and know exactly where we were.
21:45.
I’m now on the final leg home, having caught a train from Leeds to Halifax before the final walk home – happy that the weather’s cooling down and that I can have the next few days staying local. I might not be going far but there’s going to be plenty to blog about…
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/
Over the past few weeks I’ve been privileged to visit two of the major High Speed 2 railway construction sites. Firstly the one at Calvert, Buckinghamshire on the 23rd June where HS2 will cross the rebuilt East-West Railway, then the site at West Hyde in Hertfordshire on the 13th July where the Chiltern tunnels are being driven North whilst the Colne valley viaduct will be built Southwards. My article on the Calvert site will be appearing in a future edition of RAIL magazine but I’ll be blogging at length about my visit to West Hyde next week. Both visits demonstrate how construction of the new railway is ramping up massively now that contractors have finally been able to mobilise and begin the main civil engineering. This process will really more obvious next year when the Colne valley viaduct starts to span the lakes as you can’t see the tunneling and many cuttings that are being constructed are below peoples line of sight, so out of view – especially as they’re tucked away in the countryside. It’s the bridges and stations that are the most visible signs of progress. I’ve now got most of the pictures I’ve taken during my visits online. You can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.
Over the the next few months I’ll be visiting other HS2 construction site to bring you views and in-depth news of what’s actually going on with the largest construction project in Europe. As well as the engineering I’ll be talking a look at some of the ecological and mitigation work that’s being carried out to make this the greenest project of its kind.
What you’ll be hearing less and less about is the protests against HS2, becuase they’ve collapsed.
Having reached their height last summer they’ve been gradually fizzling out ever since. The Euston Gardens tunnel eviction early this year was their most public failure, but there’s been many since. Now, even their umbrella group – HS2Rebellion – are tacitly admitting that the protests asre on the wane. Yesterday they announced that after 38 issues their weekly (no)newsletter is going from weekly to fortnightly!
Mind you, its appearence has beeb patchy for some months due to a lack of anything to report. Deserted ‘protection’ camps don’t produce anything so they’ve filled space by talking about other political campaigns. Here’s a look at their probel. These are the ‘protection’ camps they list on their website with my annotations to reflect the true picture that HS2Rebellion aren’t admitting.
Hardly what you’d call an active campaign, is it? The handful of people left at the camps are in no position to mount any coherent actions against HS2, most of their time seems to be spent getting splinters in their backsides whilst appealling for funds to keep them in food. Even their social media activity’s dropping away as the mostly young people involved lose interest and find other things to get outraged about. When you consider the summer is meant to be the height of the activist season it’s clear they’re a busted flush now.
Come the autumn when it’s clear they’ve failed to ‘protect’ anything, much less actually stop HS2 I’m expecting the last few camps on Phase 1 to pack up and the people involved either drift off to other campaigns or try to set up new camps on Phase 2a. But they have several problems. Their support up North is nowhere near as strong or well-established as it was in the Chilterns, the weather’s harsher in the winter and they’re going to be waiting until Spring 2024 before the main civils work starts on phase 2a. That’s three winters away. Care to take bets on how many people are willing or able to sit around for that length of time – even if they’re not evicted first? So, as you can see, this is going to be the final year of any organised (and I use that term very loosly) campaign against HS2, which leaves me free to write about other things. No doubt I’ll still keep a watchful eye on the rump of their campaign as it continues to sink but I’m looking forward to writing future blogs on the positive events going on with the HS2 project.
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/
Ugh! The alarm went off at 05:00 this morning in order for me to have a shower, an injection of caffeine and a sugar rush- thanks to Dawn’s freshly made Bakewell tart. Just to add to the excitement the cat decided to be sick and feel sorry for himself so it wasn’t the most relaxed start to the day as we had to clean Jet up before we left. Dee was up too in order to drive me to the station (thank you babe! X) but on the bright side we both enjoyed a beautiful Surrey morning as the mist caused by last nights torrential rain begain to boil away as the sun rose. By 06:00 the mercury had already hit 14 degrees.
I’m currently sat on the London train, a 12 car set from Alton to Waterloo which is pretty empty. In this neck of the woods a lot of people are still working from home. Oh, there were a few dozen people waiting for the train to arrive and it is early, but you’d expect far more than this on a normal working day. It’s upper and middle-class commuter zones like this in the South-East where the rail recovery is going to be the slowest. I’ll be interested to see what Waterloo looks like when I arrive in under an hour. Still, my train’s clean and well-presented. The interior of this Siemens Class 450 has been refreshed with the new SWRailway seat mocquette and there’s now power sockets throughout . Oh, and wifi – which is how I’m transmitting this blog.
Not exactly crowded, is it?
07:10.
Whilst Surrey may be basking in sunshine the closer I get to London the gloomier it gets. The weather along the old London and Southwestern main line feels more like a dull and dank November day not July. Only the fact that the trees are sporting their summer regalia and gardens are full of blooms gives the game away. Hopefully, by the time I get to the HS2 construction site that I’m visiting today things will have perked up.
08:17.
Hanging around Waterloo just long enough to get a few library shots (including of the new ‘green’ wooden seating -nice!) I caught a Bakerloo line tube over to Marlebone. Initially quiet, the train filled up after Charing Cross.
Aboard the venerable Bakerloo line trains, now the oldest on the Underground network.
Marylebone was equally busy with commuters coming off arrivals. Numbers here are really picking up. There’d be little room for social distancing on these trains so It’s just as well rules will be relaxed next week. The vast majority of folk are still wearing masks and I’d be surprised if that changed overnight.
18:00.
Wow! What a day..
The gloomy weather cleared by the time I got to my final destination, which was the amazing HS2 construction site at South Heath, on the edge of the M25. It’s from here that two of the biggest structures on phase 1 of HS2 are being built from. Right now there are two huge tunnel boring machines (TBMs) drilling a pair of 9.1m diameter bores Northwards. These dwarf the 7.6m bores of the channel tunnel. Meanwhile, preperations are underway to begin costruction of the 3.5km long Colne Valley viaduct which will be built Southwards from the same site. Our small group wrre given a guided tour that got us up close and personal with “Cecilia” the second of the 160 metre long TBMs which was launched last week (a week earlier than planned).
I’ll be blogging at length about our visit another time. Right now I’m downloading the pictures from my camera, but here’s a taster.
Here’s what ‘Cecilia’ looks like without me stood in the way…
This isn’t the full 160 metre length of ‘Cecilia’ either. The cutting head and shield have already disappeared into the tunnel and there’s a good few metres of the tail which I simply couldn’t capture, even with a wide-angle lens! This things are big!
And there’s more…
Up close and personal with ‘Cecilia’ (named after Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, an astronomer), the second TBM which was launched last week. This is the view from the tail of the machine, looking through the centre towards the cutting head where you can see a tunnel lining segment waiting to be put into place. This is the tunnel dug by the first TBM. It’s only when you get this close you realise just how big they are. The Channel tunnel main bores are 7.6m in diameter.These tunnels are 9.1m. Several hundred metres inside the tunnel are the tail lights of TBM ‘Florence’ which is now outside the M25 motorway and running ahead of schedule. Inside the on-site factory making the steel and concrete segments that will line both of the Chilterns tunnels. The plant will produce approximately 112,300 of these 7.5 tonne segments which come in seven different shapes.
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.
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’s an easy day. All I’ve really got to do is get home, however, there’s some places on a clients list of pictures in this neck of the woods that make it worth my while to visit, so my route isn’t going to be direct. The weather’s not as good as it was yesterday as we have low cloud, but as the original forecast was for rain I can’t complain! Feel free to keep popping in to see where I am and what I get up to…
09:10.
I wasn’t very complimentary about Aylesbury architecture in an earlier blog, but once you pierce the ring roads and wall of mediocrity that surrounds the centre, there are some interesting buildings. Here’s the old county hall which was built in 1740. It was originally intended to be a new county gaol and was fitted with courtrooms.
In 1805 the first floor window of the central buildings were fitted with a balcony which was used for public executions. The last person was hanged here in 1845 when John Tawall was put to death for murder.
Aylesbury seems to have a penchant for statues of old dead blokes. There are several in the centre including this one of Benjamin Disraeli, who was an MP for the area (as well as being Prime Minister).
09:35.
Here we go, the first train of the day, one of Chiltern Railways fleet of old BR built ‘Thames Turbos’ as they were named when first introduced. Unlike other DMUs of the era, these units have slightly wider bodyshells to take advantage of the former GWRs legacy of a wider loading gauge.
11:15.
I dunno, if it’s not one thing it’s another. My little train trundle along the single-track branch to Princes Risborough was brought to an unexpected halt just outside the latter town. Initially the driver apologised for the fact we were held at a red signal, but a few minutes later he emerged from his cab (as he changed ends) to explain we were being sent back to Aylesbury because a passenger had been taken ill at Risborough. After a quick look at Google maps I asked him to stop and drop me off at Monks Risborough which was only half an hours walk from my goal.
It turned out to be an enjoyable walk as it took me through the centre of this little market town. I’ve been coming here for years. Lynn and I would often catch the train out here to go walking from Saunderton to Chinnor and back via Princes Risborough, but in all that time I’d never ventured into town as it was a walk from the station. Today I put that right. It was market day too so I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.
When I finally got to the station I could understand what the problem was.
An Aylesbury bound service was still blocking the platform when I arrived and lots of people trying to get to London were milling around. Thankful I wasn’t one of them I relaxed on the opposite platform and watched the Red Kites performing acrobatics in the sky above me. The reintroduction of Red Kites to the UK must be one of the most successful schemes ever. The birds territory has grown over the years and you can find them all over the Thames valley now. They also put the lie to the idea that humans disturb wildlife (a common complaint from HS2 antis). The birds are unfazed by people and will swoop down in towns and villages throughout their empire. They remind me of the raptors I see in India, who’ve colonised cities like Delhi as they find an easy food supply.
I3:00.
I’m slowly making my way North, the Oxfordshire skies are very overcast now which has changed my plans somewhat, Right now I’m heading towards Birmingham, where I’ll decide what do next. Maybe it’s an early day for once…
14:45.
The weather in Birmingham was dry but low cloud made for gloomy skies and flat light so I decided to continue to head North rather than hang around. Right now I’m bound for Crew but plans may change yet again when I see what the weather’s like. I’ve had a profitable couple of days and there’s plenty of pictures in the can so I don’t mind too much.
16:10.
The weather changed my plans yet again. I abandoned the idea of a visit to Crewe and changed trains at Stoke to continue North up to Manchester. The station boats a fine overall roof as well as other interesting architectural features which make it a pleasant place to while away time.
My choice was a wise one. I’m currently passing through the South Manchester suburbs in the sunshine!
18:15.
My next stopover was in Stockport where I basked in the sun for a while whilst shooting pictures of trains coming off the famous viaduct. Something else caught my attention too – the number of palnes passing overhead on final approach to Manchester Airport. It’s a sight and sound that’s very much been missing over the past year and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it.
The sun dallied but didn’t stay long as high cloud eventually won the day so I moved on once more into Manchester, happy that I’d bagged a couple more useful shots but content to head home. The stroll between the stations across the city centre was the busiest I’ve known it for quite some time as a mix of commuters heading home vied for pavement space with shoppers and those just out for a good time. Plus of course the usual quota of itinerents, homeless and general naer-do-wells who always hang around Piccadilly Gardens.
Over at Victoria I walked straight on a Leeds service consisting of the 3-car Class 195. It was busy, very busy. People are sharing tables or standing in the vestibules if they feel too uncomfortable to sit. There’s a definite feeling of normality resuming – apart from the fact we’re all still wearing masks! Despite the train being busy it didn’t feel unsafe. All those around me were being respectful of each other. Clearly, we’re getting back towards normal and trains will be increasingly busy. Hopefully soon the rules can be relaxed but I think I’ll be carrying masks and hand sanitizer for some time yet…
21:10.
Having walked back from the station I’m knackered! That camera bag doesn’t get any lighter, add another few kilos for my overnight rucsac and there’s a fair bit of weight to carry around all day, especially as I’ve covered over 37 miles these past 3 days! No doubt I’ll still go out walking tomorrow, just sans camera bag, which should put a spring in my step. I’ll bring this blog to a close now with a whimsical picture taken earlier. When I was walking through Princes Risborough I happened to spot this gate…
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/
My morning has started with an example of just how crap public transport can be in the UK.
I’m heading for Calvert which has no working rail links, and being environmentally conscious I use public transport whenever I can. There’s a bus route from Aylesbury that goes through the village. The No 16 is run by a company called ‘Red Rose’ and goes from this God-awful bus station buried under a multi-story car park.
I arrived in plenty of time and found the right bay by checking every one as the tiny information screens in the dingy waiting area are too small to list anything more than 30 mins later.
Some bright spark has timetabled 2 buses from the same bay at the same time, the 10 and 16. The 10 turned up and sat there for ages whilst the driver went to the toilet. The 16 never appeared. I ring ‘Traveline’ (and paid 12p a minute for the privilidge) but they’re useless as they only have timetables, not real-time info. There’s a ‘press for info’ button at the stop. I press. It says “no bus is due”. Great.
10 mins after booked departure time another Red Rose driver spotted me and asked what bus I was waiting for. When I told him he said “well, it should be running” another driver wandered over, then said “the 16? It’s gone – it pulled in over there” (pointing to an anonymous bit of tarmac at the end of the bays). There were no announcements, no information as the bus drops off the screens which aren’t real-time information anyway. Nothing. So. I now have another hour to wait. I ring the bus company after finding their number on Google. No-one answers…
Is it any wonder so many buses drive around like this? Yep, i’m the only passenger, having paid £4.40 for the honour!
13:10.
My own personal taxi – sorry – the bus passed through some places I’d never visited before which included Waddesden which has some lovely old buildings. I really enjoyed the trip, even if it it did meander. I got off at journey’s end, the village of Steeple Claydon, then set off to explore.
Getting shots of the work reactivating the old East-West railway line led me to the line where it passes Poors Piece, a tiny bit of woodland that became a stophs2 protest camp. The irony being it’s nowhere near HS2! I popped in to get a few pictures only to find the camp deserted. The few remaining occupants appear to have buggered off to Stonehenge. The only occupants of the untidy mess were a couple of chickens!
It’s a good example of how the protest campaign against HS2 never stood a chance. A handful of people in camps like this were never going to achieve anything. Now, despite the bluster you see on social media from the likes of Hs2Rebellion it’s obvious all but a handful of the protesters have given up and moved on. How any of them thought sitting in a treehouse off the route was going to stop the largest construction project in Europe is a mystery, but there you go. They didn’t – and now the project’s in full swing.
14:55.
On site and being briefed on the work.
19:15.
Well, that was a busy day! After our site briefing and presentation on what HS2 contractors are doing in the area (lots) we went out on site to see the work up close. The sheer size of the site is the first thing that impresses, but then it includes a sizeable chunk of E-W rail, HS2s Infrastructure Maintenance Depot (IMD), passive provision for a link between E-W rail and the line to Aylesbury as well as road diversions – and that’s without HS2 itself. Plus, the site contains its own railhead which receives three trains a day of aggregates. Nearly half a million tons have already been delivered and by the end of the programme that will reach 787,000 tons. Not bad for a plan that was originally conceived to deliver 100,000 tons in total!
The third train of the day arrived when we were on site so we went out to watch the slick unloading operation. Operated by DB Cargo, the loco in charge has been converted to run on HVO (vegetable oil) not diesel. This is yet another example of HS2’s commitment to reducing its carbon emissions.
22.15.
I’m now back in my hotel room in Aylesbury after a long day of wandering around the Calvert/Steeple Claydon area on what was a very warm day. With the combination of that and lugging around a full camera bag for nearly 14 miles I’m treating myself to a glass of wine and an early night. I’ll blog about my HS2 site visit in full in the next few days. There’s some great stories – including what’s probably the most expensive Jackdaw nest ever! For now, here’s a shot of where E-W rail crosses over the route of HS2. The piles for the bridge have already been sunk. Above the little digger in the far background you can see the rest of the E-W route heading East.
I’ll leave you with one last picture, which is of myself and fellow journalist and railwayman Phil Marsh. See what I mean about the camera bag?
Tomorrow I’ll be making my way back North, so I’ll be rolling blogging once more. Only this time there are no buses involved…
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 