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Paul Bigland

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Paul Bigland

Category Archives: Rolling blogs

Rolling blog. Rail strike – the aftermath….

22 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in London, Photography, Rail Live 2022, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

London, Photography, Rail Live 2022, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

08:15.

I had a lovely evening yesterday as I was invited along to supper along with my old friend to meet some of the people whom he’d been to school with in Ireland. This impromptu alfresco meal was unexpected by very enjoyable and took me back to the days when Lynn and I would host such events in the garden of our home in Crouch End.

A late night wasn’t much of a problem as there was no need to be up at silly o’ clock because of the aftermath of the rail strikes. The tube didn’t start running until 08:00 and trains until after 07:30. The best way for me to start my trek to ‘Rail Live’ was to catch the 07:49 to Reading, avoiding central London entirely. Seeing Clapham Junction so quiet at 07:00 during the week was really strange. There would have been more services running during the pandemic! Still, I’m now on my way West, looking forward to todays events on what promises to be a scorcher weather-wise…

08:45.

The further West I head the more the railway wakes up. We’ve just left Bracknell where the station’s teeming with passengers heading for London. In contrast, my train, which was packed when it left Clapham, gets emptier and emptier! But then when this pair of 5-car Class 458s turn around at Reading it’ll be scooping up folk heading for the capital. I wonder how busy Reading station will be?

10:00.

My visit to Reading station was brief but I’m always impressed by the scale of the transformation. It’s unrecognisable as the place I first got to know in the 1970s. It’s grown in both stature and services and the facilities are a vast improvement on what they used to be. It shows what can be achieved with the right levels of investment.

Now I’m on one of GWRs Class 800s. Having sped across Brunel’s ‘billiard table’ along the Thames valley and called at Oxford we’re heading into the Cotswolds and my next stop – Honeybourne…

17:45.

Apologies for the gap in the blog but it’s been a very busy and a very sociable day. As soon as I stepped off the train at Honeybourne I started bumping into people I knew. This continued after getting off the shuttle train and entering the ‘Rail Live’ site. Often I couldn’t get more than 100 metres before meeting someone I knew – which was lovely after all that time in lockdown. Oh, add in the fact the on-site phone signal wasn’t the best and that were so many stands to visit, things to photograph and folk to chat to I gave up.

I’ll post some pictures later as right now I’m making my way back North, which is proving to be ‘intersting’. I left ‘Rail Live in plenty of time as I’d no idea how train services might pan out in practice. GWR from Honeybourne to Worcestershire Parkway was fine and on time. However, my connection was an Arriva Cross Country service from Cardiff to Nottingham as far as Birminham where I’d have 15 mins to Interchange. Great in theory until you see your trains left Cardiff I mins late and it’s dropping not gaining time.

It arrived 10 down which wasn’t too stressful as my interchange was cross-platform. Well, in the timetable anyway. But right now we’re wheezing our way in fits and starts up the Lickey incline.

1750.

We passed Barnt Green at the top of the Lickey 17 mins late, so it looks like I’ll be waving goodbye to my connection. I wouldn’t normally be too bothered if it wasn’t for the fact tomorrow’s a strike day…

19:45.

Ever been happy that a trains late? I was. Not because my internal service was as it knackered any hope of a cross-platform Interchange. But the fact my following train was 5 down allowed me to make my connection despite an escalator scramble! I’m currently sat on a Cross-Country service heading for Edinburgh, which means I can get home to Yorkshire at least! The journey’s been lovely, despite the train being busy. I managed to blag a table seat after Derby which has given me a panoramic view of a gorgeous evening.

23:00.

OK, I’m home and it’s time to end today’s blog. I’ve a busy few days ahead of me and lots of pictures to edit. I’ll leave you with a taster from ‘Rail Live’. Here’s a selection of the new CAF built ‘civity’ trains for the West Midlands in store before before they enter service sometime in 2022.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Rail strikes – day 1…

21 Tuesday Jun 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Photojournalism, Politics, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Photojournalism, Railways

09.20

I’m at Huddersfield en-route to London on the first day of the biggest rail strike the country has seen for 30 years. This normally busy station’s pretty deserted. There’s two Trans-Pennine express trains an hour running. One to Manchester and one to York. The 09:07 all stations Eastbound service had lots of people waiting for at although when the 6 car train arrived it was pretty empty.

Meanwhile, outside, the RMT union’s maintaining a large presence on its picket line.

Members of the RMT backed by other trade unionists including members of UNITE.

10:05.

Whilst Eastbound services were busy, far fewer were using trains in the Manchester direction. I’m currently in the front car of the 09:32 Huddersfield- Manchester Piccadilly. It’s clear most folk have heeded the stay away message.

10:55.

Manchester Piccadilly was a quiet as you’d expect with so few services running. The only new faces were a couple of camera crews who were filming reports on the strike. Arrive Cross-Country services were still running, along with Avanti West Coast. I’m currently aboard their 10:45 departure to London Euston with the first stop being Crewe. There’s plenty of room.

Pick a seat…

I’m in coach U along with four other people. The reduced service isn’t just the number of trains. The Train Manager’s announced there’s no food service in 1st Class and the shop is closed too – good job I decided to pack some sandwiches! I’ll have a walk-through later to see how full the train gets but right now it’s time to set up the mobile office and get some writing done.

11:15.

We’ve crawled our way to Crewe at reduced speed (for whatever reason) where I counted a grand total of eight people waiting for this 11 car Pendolino. Just before we arrived a member of Avanti staff cam through the train dishing out free bottles of water, which was a nice gesture. From what I can see, Crewe station’s deserted – apart from the bay platforms which are full of trains going nowhere.

11:30.

We’re well South of Crewe now and hitting line-speed as the Pendolino gets into its stride. I have to admit, it’s been a trouble-free journey so far. The rail staff who are on duty (and there’s lots of them) are unfailingly cheerful and helpful. The pickets I met at Huddersfield were hardly the frothing mouthed ‘Marxists’ trying to bring down the Government as some sections of the media seem to be trying to make out. They were ordinary rail workers concerned about their pay and conditions during a period when we have a Government that that has neither a plan nor a clue what to do about anything other than keep Johnson in power.

12:55.

Despite stopping at Stafford and Milton Keynes we only picked up a few dozen more people. There’s four young lads in my coach who got on at Stafford, but those are the only extra punters in my car. It feels strange to pass so few trains on the West Coast Main Line but now we’re South of Watford at least we have the London Overground (which is running a near normal service) for company.

13:20.

We arrived into Euston 20 minutes early which was hardly surprising considering the amount of slack in the emergency timetable. I held back to count my fellow passengers as they disembarked. 6 from 1st Class and approximately 80 from Standard. From a train that can hold what? 550?

Euston station wasn’t as quiet as I imagined it might be. TV crews were on station on the mezzanine floor but spart from that everything seemed normal, just subdued.

Once you wander outside you realise another reason the place is so quiet. The London Underground’s also on strike, so many people couldn’t get to/from Euston even if they wanted to!

16:00.

After walking along to St Pancras and Kings Cross to bag a few more pictures – including some colourful RMT flagbearers outside St Pancras – I decided to walk across central London to Waterloo and explore some old haunts on the way. After all, it’s perfect weather for exploring and the city’s quiet. This city was my home for nearly 25 years and I have to admit I miss it – especially on days like this.

18:25.

And relax! I’m now relaxing in Clapham after an interesting day. The journey from Waterloo was painless as the 8-car train I caught had lots of seats available. In fact, the concourse at Waterloo reminded me of how it looked during the pandemic.

My travels are over for today but tomorrow I leave London to head to ‘Rail Live’ and onwards back to Yorkshire. Let’s see how quickly the railways bounce back from the strike…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. West Yorkshire yomp…

16 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, West Yorkshire

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Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

09:30.

After days away doing other things it’s time for my regular visit to Milnesbridge over in the Calder valley which involves my usual mixture of public transport and long walks. The weather’s glorious today so I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully there’ll be no train delays today so that I won’t have to keep up the daft pace that I did last time. Let’s see…

11:00.

Another fun day on the railway! After a pleasent downhill stroll all the way to Sowerby Bridge I had plenty of time to catch some sun before catching the 10:22 to Leeds which was taking me to Mirfield for my connection to Huddersfield. Then things started going Pete Tong. A quick check of Realtime Trains showed me that my connection was cancelled. As it’s an hourly service and Mirfield’s hardly the most exciting place to kick your heels in I syayed on the train as far as Dewsbury which has more trains. Sure enough, I was rescued by the fact a TPE to Liverpool was running 30 mins late! To add to the fun it was made of of a single 3-car Class 185 which was absolutely rammed!

11:35.

I’m now waiting for my onward connection at a very quiet Huddersfield station. There’s sudden burst of activity as trains arrive and depart but in-between it’s deserted. You could be forgiven for thinking the rail strikes have already begun!

3 TPE 185s at Huddersfield, including mine. A few minutes later the station was deserted, even the stabling sidings are empty.

Still, there’s worse places to kill time in than a grade 1 listed building! Plus, the sun is beating down and doing its best to chew through my suntan lotion whilst it tops up my vitamin D levels…

12:08.

Everything’s going to plan – time for an amble along the Huddersfield narrow canal from Slaithwaite to Milnsbridge…

12:15.

I hope no-one’s trying to go East from Slaithwaite?

12:55.

That wasn’t bad. It took me 50 mins without breaking into a sweat and gaving time to observe the life in the canal. Flotillas of Tadpoles and Squadrons of fish, both managing to avoid eath other and no-one becoming lunch. A pair of Herons preening in a field. Lovely! Now it’s time to go off-grid for a while…

17:00.

Ever had one of those days? After my appointment in Milnsbridge and because it was such a beautiful day I decided to retrace my steps along the canal but at a pace where I could take pictures. It was a lovely walk (pics later) and I arrived with plenty of time to catch my train back to Huddersfield – and my onward connection. Thanks to the Dept of Transport inspired timetable cuts Huddersfield – Halifax has been reduced to 2-hourly. To say this is a pain in the arse is an understatement but it did give me the excuse to visit the excellent Kings Head pub on the station so I could kill 50 mins whilst waiting for the 16:35.

The best pub on the station (yes, there’s two!). The Kings Head.

Then the curse of Pete Tong struck again. Just a few mins before the train was due to leave the Conductor announced it was cancelled due to a door fault. Bugger! Plan B? Get a local TPE service to Mirfield to connect with a Grand Central service from London. But wait – the GC is shown as running 35 late already, meaning I wouldn’t arrive in Halifax until 18:16 at the earliest.

So we’re now on plan C and my least favourite from an environmental perspective. Dawn’s driving over to collect me and we’ll go via the supermarket on the way home. This is what’s so frustrating about the Trasury inspired timetable cuts. They’re forcing people onto roads by making rail unusable! Despite the Government’s weasel words over climate change and net-zero – this is the reality. And all for what? How much money’s actually saved by slashing the service by half? Madness. Contrast this with what they’ve spent on dodgy PPE contracts to their mates, “track and trace”, or flights to Rwanda – but no Tory MPs election prospects have been harmed by these cuts…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. And so it begins – 3 Peaks by Rail…

09 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in 3 peaks by rail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, The Railway Children, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

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3 peaks by rail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, The Railway Children, Travel

09:30.

After a stressful morning I’m now sat on the train from Leeds to London for the first event of the day – the annual Siemens press lunch. I’m looking forward to meeting friends and colleagues plus the new personnel who’ve taken over roles at Siemens since the start of the pandemic. It’s a lovely day for travelling as the sun’s shining, the trains are running well and I can start to unwind. The day’s not going to be completely relaxed of course. After the lunch I’ve got to hot-foot it up to Crewe to join the other volunteers and staff of the Railway Children charity who’ll be preparing the train that we’ll be living on for the next few days – plus all the fundraising teams who’ll be arriving to take part and climb all 3 Peaks. I’ve also a rather large bag full of kit to tow around as you never know what weather you’ll encounter on this adventure so if you’re sensible you come prepared.

I’ll blog throughout the day as I can, so feel free to keep popping back to see what I get up to…

09:55.

The destressing continues. The mobile office is up and running, there’s HS2 pictures to edit, I’ve a fresh coffee from the buffet and I’m listening to The Waterboys through my earphones…

16:30.

Apologies for the interlude but it’s been a busy few hours. The Siemens press lunch was an enjoyable and informative event. We had chance to chat over drinks at the start, then sat down for lunch. Members of the media were allocated specific seats but Siemens staff rotated after each course which meant we had the opportunity to talk to a wide range of people, including CEO William Wilson and Sambit Banerjee, Director of Rolling stock.

Siemens CEO Will Wilson briefs the media on what the company’s been doing over the last year and plans for the future.
It beats sandwiches!

Sadly,I had to leave early to ensure I was on time for my next event. I’m now speeding North on an Avanti Voyager in order to meet up with the Railway Children staff at Crewe ready for the big adventure – 3 Peaks by rail 2022.

23:35.

Well, that’s been a change of scenery! I arrived at Crewe in plenty of time to slip into my role as official photographer for the Railway Children’s 3 Peaks by Rail. This is my 5th year in a row and to be honest It’s just like meeting up with family. It’s not just the staff and volunteers either, there’s always familiar railway faces amongst the teams too. Here’s everyone all together just before we set off from Crewe. We were joined by the Railway Children’s founder, David Maidment who can be seem bottom left.

First things first. As soon as the teams are settled in on the train they’re fed. The food is all donated by various suppliers who help support the charity and prepared on board.
On arrival at Bangor teams are provided with snacks by the on-board team to ensure their energy levels are maintained. It’s a slick operation. We only have 6 minutes to unload everyone and get the train dispatched.
After dropping the teams off at Bangor the train heads for Holyhead where the locomotives can run-round, the train can be cleaned and the on-board staff have the chance to eat and get some rest before we head back to Bangor to pick up the teams at 04:00. Here’s 47501 and 47593 being passed by the Welsh Assembly train (aka ‘Gerald’) which is made up of ex-LNER Mk4 coaches and a Class 67 loocomotive. It’ll set back into the stabling point behind the signalbox to be serviced overnight.

Right, I’m going to call it a day as we’re now sat in the carriage sidings for the night. I’ll resume blogging in a few hours time – but that’ll be another day. Day 2 in fact…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. High Speed 2 and ecology…

08 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Environment, Hs2, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Warwickshire

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Environment, Hs2, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Warwickshire

06:45.

I’m back on the rails for the rest of the week, travelling across a large chunk of the UK (as you’ll see). Today I’m off to have a look at some of the High Speed 2 construction and mitigation work around Cubbington in Warwickshire.

Thankfully, the weather’s better where I’m going than where I’m coming from. The Calder valley’s a wet and gloomy place this morning as the area’s trapped beneath a low layer of heavy grey cloud that’s shrouding the valley tops. My first train of the day’s Northern’s 06:23 from Sowerby Bridge which is worked by a pair of 2-car Class 195s. I’m taking it as far as Manchester. This should be a Chester service but it’s been chopped back to Victoria for some unknown reason.

08:00.

On arrival at Manchester I made the customary ‘mad dash’ across the city centre from Victoria to Piccadilly on foot. It took me 15 minutes which meant I was in plenty of time to get an earlier train than originally planned. I’m now ensconced on Cross-Country’s 07:27 to Bournemouth. Today the train’s made up of consecutively numbered, 4-car Class 220s (020 and 021 for the number-crunchers amongst you). Despite the earliness of the hour the front unit is very busy with few spare seats after we’d departed Stockport. Thankfully, the cloud levels are lifting and getting thinner the further South I go.

220020 ready to head the 07:27 from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth.

09:20.

My train was packed all the way to Birmingham New St where the vast majority of travellers decamped only to be replaced by a smaller cohort for the continuation of the journey. Some were only travelling as far as Birmingham International and a few more for Coventry. My stop’s in another 20 mins so I’ll be interested to see how busy we are then.

11:40.

Out exploring the route of HS2…

Looking North to Cubbington wood…

19:00.

Apologies for the break in blogging but I’ve spent most of the day exploring the HS2 route and mitigations sites in the company of local farmer Penny McGregor. Penny’s been kind enough to show me around before and having her local knowledge and passion for the environment (tempered with pragmatism) has been invaluable. We’ve pootled around several sites in her little electric car so that I can see and record the changes that have taken place since I was last here in February.Then the woods and ancient woodland translocation sites were dormant. Now they’ve burst into life and are even past their best as many plants (such as Campions) have gone to seed. Even so, it’s easy to see the opponents of HS2 who claim building the railway has created a barren wasteland are talking out of a fundamental orifice. Yes, of course the trace of HS2 looks like a building site – that’s because it is! The margins however, can be very different depending on the age of the planting. Plus, the ancient woodland soil translocation sites are throwing up surprises as seeds that have lain dormant for years under the tree canopy have now been stirred up and have access to light…

I’ll add a selection of pictures shortly. Right now I’m making my way back North. Having bid farewell to Penny after such an interesting day I caught Cross-Country’s 17:15 to Manchester Piccadilly as far as busy Birmingham New St where I swapped sets to catch the 18:03 to Edinburgh as far as Leeds. Both trains afforded me some great views of HS2 construction – especially around Birmingham. Forget the media froth and protesters howls – HS2 is happening! The amount of work to be seen around Curzon St and Washwood Heath is very, very impressive. I hope to return soon to cover some of it.

23:00.

Time to bring this blog to an end. I’ve been at home for the past few hours, preparing for the next 4 days of fun and travels. I’m in London tomorrow morning ready for a press lunch that’s been on hold for several years due to the pandemic. It’ll be a lovely opportunity to catch up with old and new faces from our hots – Siemens – as well as other colleagues from the rail press. As soon as the lunch finishes I have to hot-foot it up to Crewe to join the annual ‘3 peaks by rail’ charity fundraiser in aid of the Railway Children charity. I’ve been a volunteer on this event since 2017. It’s exhausting but bags of fun. So, expect a varied bunch of rolling blogs over the next few days.

But for now I’ll leave you with a picture of this little critter that Penny and I saw in a field next to HS2 earlier today. It’s a silver studded blue butterfly.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. One last thing…

27 Friday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Community rail, Community Rail Network, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

08:30.

I wasn’t expecting to be staying in Sheffield last night. But, there’s one last photographic opportunity for Community Rail week that seemed daft not to fit in – especially as it’s at such a scenic location Edale in the Hope valley. A group of Network Rail staff are joining the station friends to give the station a heavier spruce-up. Many hands make light work and all that.

So now I find myself sat on a 2-car Northern Class 156 ready to depart Sheffield and trundle up the valley.

Raring to go…

Job done, I’ll be heading home to Halifax for the weekend and a time to edit the plethora of pictures that I’ve taken over the past few days.

08:45.

It’s a lovely morning to be heading for Hope, there’s high cloud around and a fair bit of wind too, but plenty of sunshine. The train’s already busy with a mixture of students, walkers and cyclists heading to college or for a day out.

08:45.

Heading West I’ve noted a substantial amount of work being done around Bamford station by Network Rail contractors. They appear to be putting in a haul road on the North side of the line, although I’ve no idea why. I’m assuming its to do with the capacity improvements planned for the route.

12:45.

That was in interesting interlude. Edale station’s a lovely little place that’s seen a lot of inhancement work recently. All the station fencing has been renewed (paid for from car-parking charges) whilst the station friends have added new planters, artwork, running-in boards and old pictures of the station. This has been added to with Ukrainian flags and bunting.

On time, the volunteers from Network Rail, Transport for Gtr Manchester and the local station friends arrived and set about tackling various jobs such as litter-picking and tree-trimming in the old goods yard whilst others had a big clear-up of the tree-lined station footpaths which were in need of a good clear-up.

The group getting a safety brief before beginning work.13

13:45.

Having photographed what the groups were getting up to I took my leave after a couple of hours and headed back to Sheffield to finally head home. The 2-car Northern service had room but the 8-car Arriva Cross-Country train I caught back to Leeds was full and standing. I shared a vestibule with a group of off-duty S Yorks police officers off to York for a stag do. Leeds station was just as busy as the train. There’s a lot of people dragging around big suitcases right now!…

Rolling blog. A man of Kent…

26 Thursday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Kent, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Community rail, Community Rail Network, Kent, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

08:00

Well, for a day anyway! I’ve woken up to be greeting by a fabulously sunny day here in Folkstone, a town I’ve been pleasantly surprised by. I’ve stayed in the Ship Inn overlooking the harbour. It’s a quiet little pub and my room is lovely. Here’s the view.

I’m preparing to head out for the day and explore a little before I’m due to begin work in Ashford later this morning at another Community Rail Network event celebrating Rail Week. I’ll blog about what I get up to…

10:30.

It’s not often that I’m pleasantly surprised by a town in the UK nowadays but I have to admit Folkestone is the place. It’s reinvented itself in recent years and a damned fine job they’ve done of it too. The Ferry port is long gone but the harbour and the harbour railway and pier have been transformed into an excellent tourist spot. I’ll add a load of pictures later and blog about it in detail but the town (unlike its cousin Dover, which is a shithole) is really attractive with a bohemian vibe due to artworks and quirky shops and bars.

Looking back on the tiwn from the harbour breakwater.

14:30.

Well, that was a stressful few hours. Firstly problems on the rails meant I thought I was going to be late getting to Ashford. As it was I made my train with just 3 minutes to spare rather than the relaxed 25 mins I was expecting. Then I got a text from a nag saying “could you get those Crossrail pics to us – only we’re on press today”? So, with no notice I managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat (after some wifi false starts) and get them over. As if that wasn’t enough I gad to go straight to work photographing students from Ashford college getting lessons in all aspects of the railways (safety, ticketing etc) on a round trip on the train to Maidstone East. That was actually good fun. The students were lovely and watching their delight in being let loose on making announcements over the station PA at Maidstone was priceless.

Now I’m taking a minute to get my brath back before getting some library pictures before beginning the trek back North…

17:10.

This visit to Kent is coming to an end. Whilst I was here I decided to nip over to Dover to get a few pictures as my records show I’ve not been there since 2011. Not a lot’s changed around the station to be fair and what little of the place I’ve seen hasn’t changed my opinion of the town. Whilst I was there I did have time for a quick pint and enjoyed the last rays of the sunshine outside The Priory, the pub opposite the station which is where I stayed all those years ago. It’s one of those rare beasts – a pub which still hosts live music.

Now I’m on one of SET’s high-speed services back to London to head back to Yorkshire. I’ve a fast mobile office back to the capital with plug-sockets and wifi – what more do I need? (A bar and restaurant car? Ed)…

17:33.

My mobile office is now speeding along High-Speed 1 to London. A railway that exposes all the anti High-Speed 2 environmental scaremongering as just that. It’s 15 years since this line opened to passengers and the scars from building it have long healed. I really must come back and spend a couple of days taking pictures along the route as the last ones I took were for a client and I’m not allowed to use them.

17:45.

I’m curious. On both my trips on SET ‘Javelins’ the Train Manager has announced which toilets are working, so by implication – this is a problem. This set (like all class 395s) has two toilets, a fully accessible one and a cubicle. The access one seems to have conked out. Is this a common issue?

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Heading for the coast…

25 Wednesday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

14:30.

I’ve had the morning off as it’s Dawn’s birthday. We’ve had to cut the planned days celebrations short due to work commitments but I was determined that I’d at least take Dee out to celebrate before I began my journey from West Yorkshire to the Kent coast. I’d booked us in at La Luna in Halifax which is an attractive cafe/restaurant in the centre of town that does a cracking brunch which (sadly) is all we had time for. Even so, it was a lovely interlude.

Brunch with the birthday girl.

Now I’m on my travels again, beginning with Northern’s 14:16 from Halifax to Hull as far as Leeds. The service is made up of a pair of former Scotrail Class 158s. Having started from Halifax the trains pretty quiet which is nice as it give me the chance to do some work and recharge a few devices from the USB sockets. I know now why my new Fitbit 5 is called the ‘Charge 5’. It’s because the damned battery needs recharging every 5 minutes! OK, that’s a slight exaggeration. It’ll last just over 24 hours on a full battery, but as it was advertised as lasting seven days someone is clearly taking the pee. I’ve some setting to play with yet and I’ll do a full blog review next week when I’ve played around with it, but right now I’d suggest ‘caveat emptor’…

17:15.

My trip South’s been very pleasant for a number of reasons. LNER’s 15:15 from Leeds to Kings Cross wasn’t that busy so I could spend some quality time on the 9-car Azuma editing pictures and sorting out paperwork. Plus, the further South we got the more the weather improved. Brollies were extremely useful in Halifax this morning, now you’d be using them as parasols. As we sped South I did decide on a minor diversion – purely in the interests of research you understand. The 15:15 stops at Grantham en-route, so I decided on a short interlude at the station to try out the new micro-pub. The ‘Whistle Stop’ opened in November 2019 but I never had chance to visit before the pandemic hit. Today seemed like the ideal time as the train following just 20 minutes behind was something else I’ve never sampled – a ‘Hull Trains’ Class 803 (in other words, an ‘Azuma’).

The micropub has three real ales on tap, two of which rotate and one of which is a dark ale. There’s also a selection of lagers, cider and bottled beers. The pub also has outdoor seating on the road and platform sides. It was quiet when I popped in. I was the only other customer inside but credit to the young guy behind the bar – he was industrious and kept himself busy behind the bar rather than just sitting there on his phone.

A quick pint later I was heading South again on Hull Trains. From what I can see there’s very little difference with this flavour of ‘Azuma’ other than seat moquette and carpet. The train’s about half-full and – like all Hitachi 800 series trains – it can shift!

An Azuma by any other name shall smell as sweet (despite having toilet retention tanks) ..

18:30.

A quick change in London has seen me transfer to the precursor of the ‘Azuma’ – the Class 395 ‘Javelin’ trains used by Southeastern trains on High Speed 1 services from St Pancras international. I love this line as it shows what’s possible with some imagination. I remember what a pain it was to get to the South coast when I lived in North London. First there was the schlep across London by bus and tube to Victoria or London Bridge and then the crawl on old 3rd rail slam-door units. I remember my excitement in watching HS1 being built then using it when it opened. I’m currently on the 18:07 to Sandwich – a ce that demanded to be included on the HS1 network as it was never part of the original plan.

Right now we’re speeding through Essex on structures I watched being built and construction sites I was privileged to visit working for RAIL magazine. The line’s really blended into the landscape in the 15 years it’s been open – just as HS2 will do in its time.

18:25.

17 minutes after leaving St Pancras and including a stop at Stratford we’ve arrived at Ebbsfleet in Kent, having passed under the Thames.

19:10.

I’m now on a murky South Coast where mainland Europe’s not cut off by fog. Just us, by Brexit. My train split at Folkestone Central with the front portion continuing on to an old haunt – Sandwich, so as I have time to kill and for the photographic opportunities I’m staying with it. Passing Dover is odd as I remember it as a hive of railway activity before the ‘chunnel’ was built. Now the boat trains and train ferries are long gone – as are the sidings and stations that serviced them. Now the physical journey is seamless – if you ignore the new customs and mental barriers the UK’s built in its foolishness.

20:38.

My visit to Sandwich lasted all of 50 minutes which was the time allowed before the next train back to Folkestone and a bed for the night. Despite that it was a fascinating trip. I’ve not been to Sandwich since the cycle trips around Kent that Lynn and I used to do after the Canterbury beer festivals, so I’ve probably not been back since 1996. Arriving by train’s odd as nowadays the station’s tucked away in a midern housing estate. No doubt these were once the old station goods sidings. I struggled to recognise anywhere in the pretty but dead little town. Most shops and restaurants were shut so the place had a sonambulent air. That aside I found the architecture fascinating. I love stuff like this which is an historical jigsaw and mystery.

Right now I’m retracing my steps to Folkestone. This time it’s on a less than high-speed Southeastern service to London Charing Cross from Margate. It’s quiet this time of day in this neck of the woods but I’ve no doubt that’ll chane when it gets closer to the capital.

23:45.

Time to end the day. I’m now tucked up in my hotel by Folkestone harbour. I’ve not been here for years – maybe 13? – I’d need to check my pictures, and I’ve never ventured this far from the main railway station even though I’ve done an overnighter before. I must admit to being pleasantly surprised. The town’s obviously putting in a lot of effort to reinventing itself. I’ll be up early tomorrow before I go to work so I’ll explore (and explain) more. But for now it’s time to sign off….

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Crossrail’s here…

24 Tuesday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Crossrail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Crossrail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

07:15.

I’m up and about ready to head out and make my way across London to meet up with an old friend and colleague as today’s the day that Crossrail’s central section finally opens to the public. Keep tuning in to see what I get up to…

17:30.

Humbles apologies – that was a crap “rolling” blog! The problem was that I was non-stop all the time I was in London. Crossrail’s opening was a huge story and the media were out in force. I met up with Richard Clinnick at Liverpool St. As the press leanch with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wasn’t until 09:30 we decided to take a trip to explore Farringdon – one of the stations we’d not had chance to look around before.

Like all Crossrail stations it’s impressive. What I hadn’t expected was how many ordinary commuters had switched lines already today – it was packed. Of course there was also thousands of visitors who’d just come along for the ride. These included rail and architecture enthusiasts as well as ordinary people who just wanted to try out this amazing new railway under central London.

Farringdon at the level of the Thameslink platforms.

The pair of us made it to Woolwich station where the official press event was going to be in plenty of time – which was just as well as it was packed. If you’d dropped a bomb on it you could have wiped out 3/4 of the rail press and a goodly chunk of national media and agency snappers too!

It turned into a bit of a media scrum at one point but to Sadiq’s credit he was in no rush and got round almost all the outlets who wanted to interview him. No government Minister was there apart from Baroness Vere. As she sits in the Lords I’m assuming she was seen as ‘safe’. Today was very much Sadiq’s – even if some journo’s threw him curve balls with questions about ‘partygate’ – which eventually elicited the wrath of Kahn about what had gone on in No 10!

Sadiq in the media scrum at Woolwich.

After the circus was over I headed off to visit some more of the stations. Stations that are no longer just the preserve of folk in PPE. I managed Abbey Mills and Custom House before meeting up for a quick drink with a Singaporean friend who’s over in the UK for break. That break turned lucky with Crossrail opening whilst he’s here.

I left London just after 15:00 and spent the whole trip to Leeds editing the pictures I’d taken. I’ll get some on the blog later. Right now I’m perched in the luggage rack of a Northern Class 158 heading for Halifax. I’ve noticed what seems like another upturn in passenger numbers – especially during ‘rush-hours’. I’ll be interested to see if this appears in the next set of Government figures on rail usage…

21:15.

I’m now back at home where I’ve chance to edit some of the selection of pictures I’ve taken today for your delectation.

Looking down from the main concourse at Farringdon. Underneath me are the Thameslink platforms whilst the entrance to the Elizabeth line is straight on from the stairs.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan doing one of his many media interviews this morning. I hope his staff had throat lozenges to hand!

A class 345 enters Abbey Wood station. With a 5 minute interval timetable the service is literally ‘one out – one in’
The concourse and gate line at Abbey Wood station.
A service to Abbey Wood calls at Custom House.
Whitechapel. This walkway is built over the tracks of the East London Line,
Whitechapel. The gate line and main entrance.

You’ll be able to find the full selection of today’s pictures on my Zenfolio site in the next few days. I’m signing off for tonight as I’ve a busy few days ahead. I’m back on the rails tomorrow afternoon as I’ll be heading for the Kent coast. This time I’ll make sure the blog does roll!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Community rail week starts today…

23 Monday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Community rail, Community Rail Network, London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

07:30.

I’m preparing to head off to the opening of Community Rail week which is kicking off with events in Bradford and Bingley. This year the message will be centred on increasing confidence and encouraging people to travel by train with the simple call to action, ‘Give the Train a Try’. You can find out what’s happening where and when by following this link.

Afterwards I’ll be heading down South as I’m staying in the London area tonight ready for the opening of Crossrail tomorrow where I have another assignment.

Feel free to keep popping back to see how my day goes…

09:08.

The journey begins. I’m off to Bradford for our first event of the day. Taking me there is a Northern 2-car Class 195. Unsurprisingly, it’s busy!

09:45.

I’ve strolled across from Bradford Interchange to Forster Sq to await the arrival of the rest of the Community Rail Network team. It’s a walk I always enjoy as ‘Bratfud’ (as the locals pronounce it) has some fantastic buildings. I keep promising myself that I’ll have a day out in the city taking the camera for a wander to photograph some of the delights the city holds. I passed this small slice of history on the way.

Sadly, the modern versions of the city’s stations are hardly architectural gems and are vastly reduced in area and stature.

15:30.

I’m back! It’s been a very hectic few hours so I’ve not had time to blog at all as the day job’s taken precedence. We all rendezvoused at Forster Square where CRN staff were joined by colleagues from Northern Rail and other organisations as well as the women from East meets West. The idea behind this group is to bring women together from different communities by using the train. The women selected have very little or no rail confidence so travelling by train with Community Rail Partnership officers and community group leads inspires them to take further trips – alone, with friends and with their own families. The group enables the women to have different experiences which they can access locally by train. Some of the women are single mums and are from isolated backgrounds so the project has really helped raise their self-esteem and provide them with a sense of community. They were all very excited to be taking part in the the event. Before we left we were joined by Rail Minister Wendy Morton, who is the MP for Aldridge-Brownhills. Needless to say, I was kept fully occupied taking pictures on the train and at Bigley station where the Minister met other Community Rail Officers and the local station friends. It was all extremely informal. To her credit the Minister was open and approachable to all, not surrounded by SPADs or ‘minders’.

Afterwards we we took part in a walk from the station to the top of the famous Bingley five-flight locks on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, guided by staff from the Canal and River Trust. Walking backwards along a canal bank whilst taking pictures of dignitaries isn’t my favourite job as there’s always the worry that you’ll end up either going arse over tit or in the cabal, but I managed it without accident!

At the top of the lock we took over the small cafe for a lunch of tea and sandwiches before retracing our steps to the station and disappearing off in different directions. I headed into Leeds and found a quiet corner of the Leeds Tap to download and edit some pictures before sending a batch out to the various PR and Media people on my lists. Now I’m sat on LNER’s 15:15 service to London which has become a mobile editing suite as I sort out a bigger picture selection. Meanwhile, here’s a few for your delectation.

Rail Minister Wendy Morton (seated, left) talks to some of the women from East meets West on the train to Bingley from Bradford. Standing is Karen Bennett. Karen is community rail education officer at Community Rail Lancashire, and a CRN Board member.

Everyone poses for a group photograph at Bingley station with some of the excellent work of the station friends on display behind.

The Bingley station friends having a laugh and a giggle with the Minister.

Gerald Townson Chairman at Leeds-Lancaster-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership gave a presentation to the Rail Minister on the work CRP’s are doing to encourage rail travel, supported by Community Rail Officers Brian Howarth and Catherine Huddleston.

17:25.

We’re now approaching London after an easy (albeit slightly late) run from Leeds. The weather’s picked up too. It looks like there’s a nice sunny evening in the offing. I’m not going to be staying long in the centre but there is one place Im going to stop at on my way through Euston…

23:00

It’s time to call it a day folks. As I was staying in the Watford area I hooked up with a local friend whom I met when I was spending a lot of time down here working for Network Rail on the 2014-15 Watford blockades. Alan Harte is a fellow railway person, cat lover and beer aficionado – so it would have been rude not to meet up for a couple of jars.

Right now I’m back at my accommodation, repowering all my devices and editing pictures ready for another busy day tomorrow as Crossrail finally opens. Watch this space…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

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