Category Archives: Rolling blogs

Rolling blog: HS2 engineering adventures around the capital…

13 Tuesday Jul 2021

Posted by in Hs2, London, Railways, Rolling blogs

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06:45.

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/

Thank you!

Rolling (ish) blog: I’m just stepping outside…

08 Thursday Jul 2021

Posted by in Merseyside, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs

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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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Another day, another train…

24 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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08:15.

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: exploring HS2…

23 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, Uncategorized

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Well, that is if I ever get there!

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Chiltern coming…

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:30.

My early start didn’t quite happen that way. Instead I’ve been busy sorting out some stuff at home before venturing South. No, suitably prepared I’m about to sally forth on Britain’s railways to venture into the Chilterns. I’m hoping the locals won’t be all fiery torches and pitchforks at the ready if they find out they’ve a prominent HS2 supporter in the midst – maybe the mask will fool ’em! I’ll keep you updated, but first I’ve got to walk down to the station. Stay with me to see how the day goes…

10:30.

With leaving later I’m able to sample Calder Valley rail travel at off-peak times for a change. I’m currently on a pair of 2-car Class 195s working the 10:23 to Chester and it’s far busier than the early peak services I’ve been using. Travellers are a mix of retired folk on a day out plus a few younger people on a jolly themselves. I’d guess the train’s about 40% full on leaving Sowerby. Looking at the attire, I’d surmise many folk are off rambling…

10:44.

Sure enough, when we arrived in Todmorden several people left the train to head off hiking in the hills around town. They’ve got a lovely day to do it too as the weather’s dry and warm but not insufferably so – ideal walking conditions to enjoy the landscape and views around the area. There were few replacements joing them, but our next stop is Rochdale. Pre Covid the station had a footfall of over 1.5 million people making it the 2nd busiest station on the line after Halifax. It still provides a lot of passengers and numbers are growing all the time, so I’ll be interested to see what it’s like in July when (hopefully) all Covid restrictions are lifted.

12:00.

Time to relax for a while! As usual I strolled across Manchester station to station, catching in the sights as I did. The centre was quieter than I’ve seen it but as it’s a Tuesday morning that’s hardly surprising. Even so, there’s an air of normalcy starting return, even if many people are still wearing masks whilst they walk around – which is no bad thing. I think people are starting to relax now that so many of us have been vaccinated and fears of a massive third spike are receding. That said, I’m not being complacent and carry spare masks and several hand gels with me. With swapping swapping between so many locations and transport modes It seems sensible – even though statistically the chances of contracting Covid on public transport have proved to be miniscule. Right now I’m on a Pendolino bound for London via Crewe which gives me time to catch up on some work and also indulge in a spot of window-gazing. Oh, and lunch on the hoof!

12:55.

An hour into the hourney having made our final pickup at Crewe I decided to have a wander through the train to see how busy it is and I’m glad I did as this is the best loaded Pendolino I’ve been on for a long time – and the reason is? The football is on! There’s dozens of groups of guys on here in England foorball shirts who’re obviously on their way to London, either to see England play (unlikely) or just enjoy the atmosphere. For too long the railways have been deprived of traffic like this due to events being cancelled or crowds banned. Leisure travel (contrary to what opponents of HS2 claim) is the mainstay of the long-distance railway.

20:30.

Mind the gap…

Sorry for the fact it’s taken me so long to do an update but I’ve been constantly on the move since arriving at Euston. The journey down flew and the football fans on the train were very well behaved. I was impressed to see the group of four young lads near me clear the table of all their rubbish and empty bottles as they got off, something many older people can’t be bothered to do.

I didn’t hang around in London. Instead I caught the Metropolitan line out to Baker St and strolled from there to Marylebone to catch a train up the Chiltern line and old territory. I’ve not spent much time on the outer section of the Met for years – an omission I really must correct. It’s an interesting system as Chiltern trains share the tracks with Met services as far as Amersham. It’s perhaps lost a bit of interest now the old trains are gone. But I have fond memories of coming here for the ‘Steam on the Met’ events back in the 1990s.

The stations are still photogenic anyway. Further out I stopped off at Wendover to have a look at the trace of HS2. The locals were up in arms about the new railway ‘despoiling’ their village, which always seemed a tad over the top as it would pass them in a tunnel and cutting with both the existing railway and noisy A413 road in between! I had a quick wander around Wendover, which is a pretty enough place that suffers from the same curse as most places around here – it’s choked with cars. Why anyone thinks they’re going to hear HS2 trains over the noise of a constant stream of SUVs is a mystery…

22:00.

I’m back in my hotel and catching up on the day’s events via their wifi, plus finishing this blog. Although I’ve visited Aylesbury many times in the past this is the first time I’ve stayed here. Why would I have when I lived just an hour away in London? Now it’s a little bit different. Aylesbury’s an odd place. We hear so much about the Chilterns being an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) but to be perfectly honest I never understood how it managed to get thaty appelation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not unattractive. Lynn and I would take day trips out from London and come walking around here – especially West of Princes Risborough around Bledlow Ridge, but it’s not particularly special (is that the sounds of locals sharpening their scythes I can hear?) and it certainly doesn’t compete with parts of Yorkshire. Or for that matter, the South Downs or Shropshire.

Aylesbury itself is a bit of a mess. It’s got some awful modern buildings and ring roads that have turned it into a town strangled by the car. All I can hear as I sit in the window of my hotel is traffic whizzing by outside on the Tring Rd. Here’s an example. This is the ‘gateway’ to Aylesbury that you’ll see just as soon as you step outside the station. Attractive, huh?

Appropriately enough, the Ceaușescu era like building that dominates the skyline is the HQ of the local district council, the same ones who’ve granted planning permission to this aesthetic shambles.

To get into the old town (what’s left of it anyway) you walk up the road and pass the multi-storey car park to the right, cross a busy inner ring road, then walk underneath a shopping centre under which is buried a dark and claustrophobic bus station full of fumes and then (and only then) do you arrive in Aylesbury proper. There’s some lovely old buildings, but what a shame about the rest of the place. Here’s another example of the architects ‘art’ that should have been stillborn.

Yup, a Waitrose cum Travelodge cum multi storey car park! And the ‘beauty’ of it? It’s been built right next to the historic canal basin and theatre (to the right)! I’m sure the local planning officers in their ‘tower of power’ opposite must gaze down upon this lovingly and think ‘didn’t we do well!’

These are the same Councillors who are objecting to the design of HS2 vent shafts because ‘they’re not in keeping with the beauty of the area’. The expression ‘extracting the urine’ springs to mind.

Tomorrow, when I’m on walkabout I’ll get some shots of the fine old buildings in Aylesbury the Council haven’t demolished or ruined. In the meantime, I’m going to call it a day as tomorrow will be busy – and long. I’ll try a rolling blog but – like Aylesbury’s historic architecture – it may contain gaps!

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/

Thank you!

Rolling (ish) blog. Rail live revisited…

17 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by in Rail Live 2021, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel

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11:00

Oh, the joys of having a lie-in! As I stayed in Birmingham last night after a long, hot and busy day I thought “sod it, I’ll have a lie-in and get to Rail Live an hour later than yesterday” – which was a great idea until I turned up at New St station only to find that – due to a shortage of units – Cross Country had cancelled the 10:30 to Worcestershire Parkway! So now I’ll arrive two hours later…

Even so, it’s worth going as I’ve a couple of meetings to make, plus the rain that had been forecast hasn’t materialised so hopefully there’s no need to hide in marquees.

As phone reception’s non-existent on site there’ll be a gap in blogging. Right now I’m on my way as I’m taking an earlier train via Worcester Foregate Street rather than kick my heels at Birmingham New St. One thing I did notice whilst I was waiting for my train was the gradual rollout of the resignalling programme at New St.

The new signals aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing examples of their kind, but they’re less prone to failure and the fact they’re hinged at the bottom so they can be swung down to platform level for maintenance means there’s no need for the traditional ladders attached to allow access to the signal head.

11:55.

It’s going to be one of those days, isn’t it? I’m currently in Worcester. I’d hoped to get a couple of shots of trains framed by the lovely old GWR semaphore signals before mine arrives, but one of the two I have a window for has been cancelled!

12:23.

Almost there! I’m now on a GWR Class 800 on my way to Honeybourne to catch the Avivarail shuttle to the site and into a communications black-out! See you on the other side…

Depending on how my meeting goes and who I bump into I’m hoping to leave earlier than yesterday in order to get some pictures on the way home, but let’s see what happens. The last shuttle train leaves at 16:00.

18:00.

I’m back! Despite arriving on site later than I managed to get all my meetings in and saw all the people I was hoping to (and more) – mainly because we were all in the same place at the same time – outside the Porterbrook marquee!

I’d have liked to have spent more time exploring the stands as (really) two days isn’t enough to see everything so I didn’t even try.

After leaving on the 15:00 shuttle I retraced my steps via Worcester as far as Droitwich where I stopped off to get a couple of pictures of the fine array of old GWR semaphore signals. The weather had clouded up so the shots weren’t as warm as I’d hoped, but that’s life. Sadly, West Midlands Rail are having a bad day, with many trains cancelled due to crew shortages, so half of what I hoped to photograph wasn’t running. I’m now on the 17:34 from Droitwich which is still running but has stops at Bromsgrove and University dropped as it’s running fast from Droitwich to New St via the line through Stourbridge instead of its booked route. Good for me, but not others. I suspect getting back to West Yorkshire might be ‘interesting’…

19:45.

The problems I was anticipating at Birmingham failed to materialise. One of my options was running late enough for me to miss my connection but plan A worked out just fine. So much so I had time to saunter into the city to buy a snack for the train. The area around New St’s teeming with life once again as people enjoy the good weather and chance to let their hair down again. The atmosphere wasn’t oppressive or claustrophobic either as most people were being cautious and respectful of others.

Back at New St I managed to find a seat on Cross-Country’s 18:57 to Manchester Piccadilly. It was a busy train but not uncomfortably so, despite a growing number of people returning to the railways.

I have to admit – I’ve really enjoyed the chance to network and mingle with real people again and from many conversation I had at ‘Rail Live’ I know that I’m not alone in that. The idea that everyone’s going to work from home in the future is just stuff and nonsense!

Not that I’m looking forward to having some home time myself in the next few days as I’ve got a lot of things to do – not least get all these pictures edited! I’ll be back on the road again soon enough as next week I’ll be visiting the HS2 construction site at Calvert in Buckinghamshire – so watch this space…

21:20.

The final leg…

A brisk but pleasant stroll across Manchester city centre between the two stations saw me arrive in enough time to catch the 20:55 to Leeds and home – although looking East the skies look anything but inviting due to the masses of heavy grey cloud I can see on the horizon. I suspect the fine summer weather I’ve been experiencing may be about to come to a rather abrupt end…

Homeward bound on this beastie…

No matter. It’ll save me worrying about having to water the garden and I’ve plenty to do indoors! Expect to see lots of pictures appear on my Zenfolio picture website over the next few days. Oh, and tomorrow there should be a blog on HS2 as the Amersham by-election is being held today, so the result will be in tomorrow and I’ll be looking at how the Green Party’s throughly dishonest and hopelessly Nimby based anti HS2 campaign fared. But for now – goodnight! I’ll leave you with one last picture from ‘Rail Live’ which I took yesterday. Here’s Vivarail’s Class 230 destined for Transport for Wales (TfW) to work services on the Wrexham to Bidston line. It was used to form the shuttle train from Honeybourne to the Rail Live site…

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Is it that time already? Heading to ‘Rail Live 2021’…

16 Wednesday Jun 2021

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06:30.

What is is about those nights when you know you’re going to be up at silly ‘o clock that your sleep pattern goes to pot? Instead of a restful night your mind races and refuses to rely on the alarm clock, so you end up lying there wating for the damned thing to go off? Last night was one of those nights!

Still, I may be bleary-eyed, but a couple of cups of Sumatran coffee have seen me right and I’m now sat on the 06:04 from Sowerby Bridge on the first part of my journey down to Rail Live 2021.

The weather here in the Calder Valley’s already heating up as we had a stunning evening yesterday and cloud cover overnight to keep the warmth in. Hopefully the good weather will remain the same in the Midlands, although we do have rain forecast for tomorrow morning. I’m not anticipating too many problems as there’s always a few marquees to hide in for a while if need be!

My current train is worked by a 3-car Class 158. This service is never busy at the best of times and this morning there’s just four of us sharing the front car after departing from Todmorden. I’ll be interested to see how busy the city of Manchester is later. My travels over the past couple of weeks have demonstrated how rail travel is quickly picking up again as people enjoy their re-acquired freedoms, so let’s see how today goes…

06:40.

After calling at Rochdale our numbers in the front car have climbed to 15 early birds, most of whom are heading into work in Manchester.

07:30.

Like most on my train, I abandoned the service at Victoria. This time of day’s too early for most ‘suits’ (many of whom are still on furlough). Instead it was tradespeople and shop workers who made up the crowds as we teemed up the bridge from platform 5. Walking across the city centrw from Vic to Picc I passed many homeless people who were starting to emerge from sleeping bags and duvets from doorways along my route. A sad sight.

Piccadilly was emerging from its slumbers too as the concourse shops prepared for business whilst passengers miled around looking for their trains. Mine wasn’t hard to find. A Class 221/220 lash-up on platform 4 forming Cross-Country’s 07:27 to Bournemouth. XC are running a reduced hourly service from Piccadilly in order that they’ve sufficent Voyagers available to double the size of their trains to aid in social distancing. It’s a wise and welcome move as – pre Covid – their trains often resembled sardine cans!

220018 leading the 07:27 Piccadilly-Bournemouth is my chariot to Birmingham..

The cheery Train Manager in the rear set’s kept passengers well briefed about the train and social distancing rules and requests (cover nose and mouth, try to only occupy window seats to keep the aisle safe). Both sets are staffed, so I expect a ticket check. There’s also a trolley service, so I can get my coffee fix!

08:20.

The ticket check took place as expected but there weren’t many to examine as my coach (F – at the front of the train) has remained quiet with only half a dozen passengers using it. That said, those half dozen have changed a few times as people have joined and departed at Stockport, Macclesfield and Stoke! Cross-Country may be an intercity operator but many of the people it carries use it for short hops rather than long Journeys. I can’t imagine anyone on here will be travelling all the way from Manchester to Bournmouth!

09:30.

Having half an hour to change trains at New St took any pressure off me so I was able to top up my caffeine tank without rushing. I’m staying in the Ibis here tonight so there was no need to worry about grabbing a few pictures either. I’m now on a Cardiff service to take me to Worcestershire Parkway, the new Interchange with the Cotswold line which I’ve only passed through before now.

10:30.

My trip to Worcestershire Parkway went without a hitch. I even had enough time between trains to admire the new station which seems light, cool and spacious with decent facilities and landscaping.

Now I’m on my penultimate train of the journey here, a GWR class 800 to Honeybourne…

10:50.

Now for something a bit different. A Vivarail Class 230 working the shuttle to the site. This one is a 3-car set (010) that will be used by Transport for Wales on Bidston – Wrexham services.

1930.

Massive apologies for the gap in the blog but the site is a massive communications black-hole! It wasn’t possible to keep a 4g signal for more than moments much less upload pictures, so I’m now playing catch-up. Plus, I kept bumping into people I knew every five minutes, and there was so much to see and do that the time flew. I’ll update this blog fully when I get back to Birmingham (I’m en-route now).

When we arrived on site the sun was absolutely cracking the flags. It was less than an ideal day to be wearing high-vis, but at least we didn’t gave to wear full PPE, just vests. The site is vast, so there’s lots of wandering around trying to find things and half the stuff I wanted to I never got to see as I kept meeting people. Real people, not just their screen image – and that was what was so lovely.

22:00.

I’m at my hotel in Birmingham, spending the evening sorting out pictures from today before round 2 tomorrow. What was a special event for me and one I was proud to be part of was the naming of a GBRf locomotive after a recently departed old friend – Major John Poyntz.

The naming was carried out by representatives of John’s old regiment and his widow, Jill who was later joined on stage by members of their family.

Rolling blog: take the long way home…

12 Saturday Jun 2021

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09:30.

My time in East Anglia has come to an end and I’ve begun to make my way home via London. Trains are getting increasingly busy so I’m avaoiding 2 – 3 car units and trying to stick to longer trains at the moment. I’m currently on a GA 12-car set to Liverpool St which is only about 1/3 full. Mind you. there’s engineering work North of Ipswich this weekend, so that’s cutting down on the numbers travelling as it’s the dreaded ‘bustitution’ up to Norwich and North of Bury St Edmonds on the Ely line.

The weather’s still good so no doubt I’ll be stopping en-route. The first one planned is an old stomping ground. Stratford in East London. The place is virtually unrecognisable since the days I lived down the road, but it’s a good place to while away an hour with the camera.

10:45.

God, I’d forgotten just how much Stratford has grown and changed over the years! Bits have been bolted on everywhere. New London Overground platforms here, the Docklands Light Railway there (and there)! Plus, an entire Jubilee line terminus in the basement. It’s all a big mess that’s made worse by a multitude of overhead structures (some redundent) and the encroachment of Buddleia. Add in the fact it’s now hemmed in by high-rises and its no longer the lovely place for photography that I remember.

The only bright side was that all c2c services from Fenchurch St were being diverted through the station, adding something different.

Because of these constraints I moved out three stations East to Manor Park where there aren’t the same constraints (as you’ll see from pictures later)

12:20.

Having spent a profitable hour at Manor Park capturing shots of trains (and passengers) I’ve moved West to Forest Gate. On the train I had one of those experiences I’ve missed. Some folk like to pretend that no-one strikes up conversations in London – especially on public transport. As someone who lived in this city for 25 years I’ve always known that was bollocks and today was a good example. As I boarded the front of the train I made eye contact with a young Londoner of African origin, we both nodded to each other and I stood opposite each other in the vestibule. As often happens, having a big camera hanging off your shoulder tends to provoke questions, so this young lad started to ask me what I’d been taking pictures of. Within minutes we were deep in conversation (he was on his way to Stratford to see his mum, who gas Parkinsons). It was so nice to be able to interact with strangers again. It also reminded me why I miss London. It’s such a cultural melting pot. The rainbow of faces I’ve seen in the past couple of hours…

15:30.

I really enjoyed my break in East London. The camera was working overtime due to the sheer number of services along the lines. It’s sometimes easy to forget how intensive rail services are around London. The good news is that they were all really busy in both directions.Here’s my train into Liverpool St.

16:17.

The London Underground was just as busy as the Overground network as people are enjoying the good weather as well as the relaxations in freedoms. Having got the tube from Liverpool St to Kings Cross I elected to walk the rest of the way to Euston and enjoy the sunshine rather than be stuck in tunnels. The Euston road was teeming with people who all seemed to have the same idea in mind – enjoy the sunshine. At Euston I decided to visit somewhere I’ve not been able to go to for ages and enjoy a swift pint outside of Adnams ‘Ghost Ship’ outside the Euston Tap at the front of the station.

Cheers!

Now I’m speeding up the West Coast on a lightly loaded 15.20 Euston to Manchester Picaddlilly although with such good weather I’d rather be by the lineside somewhere, but hey ho! – I’ve taken so many pictures this past week I’m going to be busy for another one just sorting them out!

18:15.

I’ve left London and the South-East behind for now and walked across Manchester city centre which was packed with people. It’s a bit disconcerting at first after spending so long avoidjng people but I’m gradually getting used to it. The weather’s just as sunny as London but there’s a noticeable drop in temperature up North! I’m now on my final train of the trip, a 3-car Northern Class 195 which seems tiny compared to the 8-12 car trains I was photographing earlier! The change in topography is fun too. As much as I enjoyed the big skies of the flatlands across the Fens it is good to be back amongst the hills of the Pennines.

I’ll bring this blog to an end now as I’ll soon be home. I’ll be taking a break tomorrow but I’ll be back next week – hopefully with edited pictures to show. Plus, I’ve still got a few hundred old slide scans to dip into for picture of the day.

Rolling blog: Extra time…

11 Friday Jun 2021

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13.20.

Sorry for the lateness in starting this rolling blog but I decided to treat myself to a lie-in and a more thoughtful and less frenetic day today. I’d originally planned to head back to West Yorkshire today but I’ve extended my stay by another night as there’s so much to try and catch up with photographically. Having been confined to barracks because of Covid you forget how much you’ve missed out on seeing in that time.

I’ve just been exploring the railway between Norwich and Ely, stopping off at stations I’ve not visited for several years and certainly not since the new trains started running. Right now I’m en-route to Ely (again) to change-over to another route. I’ll update this blog once I have…

20:20.

OK, OK – I know! This has been a crap rolling blog – despite all my best intentions. Part of the reason is that the trains I’ve been on have been busy, there’s none of this ‘having a cosy table bay of four to yourself. In fact, the train I’m on now (an AGA ‘Stansted Express’ set pressed into service on Norwich – Liverpool St) doesn’t even have tables, so my laptop’s balanced across my legs!

That said, it’s been a good day, even if I didn’t get to do everything I wanted and the weather spent most of its time being overcast. I’ve visited some stations I’ve not been to for donkey’s years and got really useful pictures. I’ve also observed how passenger numbers are very much on the increase again, driven by schools, colleges and leisure travel. But that’s not all, there’s a lot more ‘suits’ around again too as business travel picks up with companies coming out of both lockdown and furlough.

Today’s route took me from Ipswich to Norwich in order to station hop along the line to Ely. My first port of call was Wymondham. As well as taling pictures of the lovely old station building where the cafe and beer garden have now reopened. I also ventured into the village for a mooch around only to find that it was market day. The town’s done an excellent job in making the centre ‘covid safe’ with planters narrowing the roads to make more space for what matters: People.

23:00.

It’s far too late to be blogging now, plus I have to be up early to pack my kit and start making my way from the flatlands of East Angular to the rather less flat Pennines. That said, I’ve really enjoyed my time here and the chance to explore places old and new. There’s so much that I could write about but there’s not enough hours in the day – and I still have hundreds of pictures to edit yet. Here’s a final one from today. Once a male-dominated industry (except in times of war) the UK’s railways are making great strides in becoming more inclusive and representative. I noticed this young Muslim train dispatcher at Ely earlier. This is the future of the railways…

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Flatlands frolics…

10 Thursday Jun 2021

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08:20.

Having fallen into a pattern of getting up at 06:00 to make the most of my time here today was no different apart from the weather. The wall to wall sunshine we’ve had these past few days had been rudely interrupted by clouds this morning, leaving the looking decidely mixed. Even so, there should be plenty of photographic opportunities. I’m already on the move, heading to Norwich for a meeting with an old friend who’s recently changed jobs. Having worked with Richard Clinnick on RAIL magazine for 15 years (we were on his first job together) I’m keen to hear about his new role on another magazine I’ve worked for – the International Railway Journal.

Right now I’m sat on another of Anglia’s Class 745 12 car units. I really like these trains but I noticed that one of the Stansted Express variants was working a Norwich – Liverpool St diagram earlier. They seem rather inferior, with no tables and what looks like reduced legroom in the airline seats. Hopefully, I’ll get to sample one later today. Here’s how the priority seating/wheelchair area looks on my train.

10:02.

My meeting with Richard had to be cancelled at the last moment due to him receiving a text from the Covid ‘Track & Trace” system telling him to self-isolate for 24 hours. Talk about timing! Instead I hung around Norwich long enough to get some pictures before catching the 09:27 to Stansted Airport to head along another old familiar route, the line via Wymondham to Ely. I’ve written about my trips on this line several times over the years. It used to be very “old railway” with mechanical signalling, jointed track and even telegraph poles festooned with dozens of wires. All of those are gone now. Instead the Stadler 755s zip along the line at an impressive pace. The old signalboxes still remain, but they’re all boarded up and derelict.

Sadly, cloud cover is 100% around here, blue skies are a memory again.

12:00.

My sojourn in Ely coincided with the heaviest cloudcover of the whole trip – aided and abetted by a partial eclipse! To cap it all, the photo location I walked to was now so overgrown it was pointless for what I was after. That’s the danger when you don’t visit a place for 25 years I suppose! Just before I left the cloud cover cleared so I did manage a few useful shots. Next up – Cambridge…

19:00.

Sorry about the lack of updates – I got sidetracked! In Cambridge I took a couple of hours off to meet an old friend. An old girlfriend actually. Margot and I were an ‘item’ back in the 1970s but haven’t seen each other for well over 35 years, but through the magic of Facebook we regained touch with each other a couple of years ago. Margot’s happily married with two grown-up sons but as I was in the area and we still share common interests like travel and photography, we decided to have a light lunch, a G&T and remember old times whilst sat in her garden. It was lovely to see her after all these years and realise just how much time has passed.

Back on the road again retraced my steps to Ely but the weather was still playing silly buggers, and as memory lane was in vogue today I headed up to a place I’ve not visited since the early 2000s. Kings Lynn. I didn’t linger, I just wanted to refresh my memory. Nowaday’s the line’s worked by Great Northern Class 387s rather than the old WAGN Class 365s (a train I miss). What surprised me was just how rough riding the 387s were on that line. OK, I was sat over a bogie, but every time we passed over a road crossing the violent hunting and crashing make me fear we were going to end up in the dirt. This happened at several crossings which was rather disconcerting when you realise it’s not just a one-off.

On the way back I stopped off at the lovely old station of Downham Market which retains its original buildings and a working signalbox, which surprised me as I thought this section of line from Ely to Kings Lynn had been resignalled, but obvioulsy not. The place was a pean to the vanished BR region of ‘Network South-East’ as nearly all the signs carried the branding of a company that vanished in the 1990s.

22:00.

I’m now relaxing back at the hotel after a long day’s exploring, albeit with mixed photographic results due to the weather but that hasn’t detracted from the sheer joy of being out and about again, rediscovering some old haunts whilst realising just how much has changed in the intervening years. There’s still lots to try and capture so I’ve decided to extend my stay here in Ipswich by another night in order to try and maximise my time away. Plus, let’s face it – it’s not like I’m going to be jetting off abroad next week…

Hopefully the extra time will also allow me to spend more time catching up with some of the places I’ve missed so far. The forecast isn’t brilliant tomorrow but harsh sun isn’t always the best for some pictures. If the weather’s not so condusive I can always retreat somewhere to catch up on photo editing and bide my time. Let’s see what happens – and where I get to…

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/

Thank you!