We’ve begun the trek back to the Algarve from Porto, a place both of us really didn’t want to leave. It’s a fascinating city the pair of us rather fell in love with. Personally, it has everything I enjoy, amazing architecture, cosmopolitan people, great food and drink – and interesting transport infrastructure. What’s not to like?
Well, maybe the weather – especially this morning as we left when it was chucking down. That said, it was a minor inconvenience. A bus to the station stopped right outside our hotel. At 07:10, it took us 20 minutes to Campanhã through sodden, deserted streets. We sought refuge in a cafe opposite the station and fortified ourselves with coffee whilst watching the locals come and go. I love people-watching and cafes and bars around railway stations are ideal observation points.
Our intercity train South arrived a few minutes late and lost time throughout, but that wasn’t a problem as (in theory) we couldn’t check into our hotel for another three hours after arriving at Lisbon Santa Apolónia. The weather was miserable throughout the trip so there was little to do but doze on the packed train. Fortunately, conditions broke as we approached the city outskirts. To add to the brightening mood we didn’t need to kick our heels in Lisbon either as the hotel had our room readily available. Oh, I forgot to mention, we hadn’t far to go as for the next three nights we’re staying at the station in the gorgeous Editory Riverside hotel! Both the hotel and station have a lovely feel to them – as I hope this selection of pictures portray.
We’ve not done a huge amount on our first day in Lisbon, mainly because our attempt to traverse the No 28 tram route was foiled by the service falling down. We gave up after waiting over an hour for a tram, but we’ll try again tomorrow.
In the meantime, here’s some of what we have been up to.
The weather was still a bit moody when we arrived, as this sky over Praça do Comércio illustrates…Residential tower block? Almost. This was a cruise ship moored in the dock by the station. Name the Otis Redding song (thanks to Dawn for spotting this image). Lisbon Santa Apolónia station is a relaxed place, but it has a lovely atmosphere and great facilitiesThe lobby of our hotel. Nice, innit? We’re on the 2nd floor, where the window at the end of the corridor allows this view across the station.
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Today’s another blog which is light on words but heavy on pictures. This has very much been a day of two halves, partly due to the weather, which was glorious this morning but crap this afternoon. Not that I’m complaining. The heavy cloud made backstreet photography easier as there were less contrasting conditions. Here’s an idea of what we got up to…
We took the tram out along the Douro to the river mouth, where St. John the Baptist of Foz Fort still guards the entrance to the river. There’s not much to see inside, but the walls look impressive and the views are rather good. Outside the fort is the Praia do Carneiro, a local beach were you can watch the Atlantic ocean break on these rocks offshore, safe in the knowledge that 1000s of miles of empty ocean separate mainland Europe from Donald Trump’s America. Next stop was Porto tram museum which is housed in the old power station which supplied electricity to the tram network. There’s a great selection of restored trams showcasing the history and development of the network.The adjacent building houses some of the original power generating equipment and switchgear. It’s an amazing room where steampunk meets ‘Metropolis’. Wandering through the streets of the old town my eye caught this sign outside a restaurant. It’s not often you hear someone using ‘force majeure’ nowadays! The backstreets of the old town are fascinating. You never know quite what you’ll find…
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It’s late in the evening back here in Porto. The pair of us have had a long, enjoyable day traversing the Douro valley to Pochino and back by train. Now we’re knackered and relaxing at our hotel. I’ve managed to get the wifi working so I can post a few pictures from today. I want to write a full blog about the trip as it’s well worth the effort, but I’ve hundreds of photos to edit first. Plus, this is meant to be a holiday!
What I will say is the train journey is amazing, but stay on it to the end of the line as the Douro valley changes character a couple of times, from lush wine country to wild landscapes and gorges that remind me of the Waikeri railway on New Zealand’s South Island. Anyways, here’s a few pictures from today. As you can see, we were blessed with stunning weather.
The railway runs through fertile areas full of vineyards like this……and this....then passes through rugged gorges like this, where the railway hugs the side of the riverIn many places the railway runs just a few meters above the river, passing through many tunnels en-route.Many trains on the line consist of vintage coaches hauled by these vintage locos – the British designed Class 1400, which are powered by English Electric engines. 67 were built between 1967-69, with many still remaining in service. Here’s 1438 running round our train at the end of the line – Porchino.
Tomorrow we’ve a day exploring the delights of Porto, which is a city I’ve really taken to. I love the architecture, ambience and cosmopolitan nature of the place, so we’re looking forward to having time to mooch around.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
After a full day in Faro we’re relocating to Porto by catching the 07:00 train which will take us all the way through to our destination without changing. This service is worked by one of the ‘Alfa Pendular’ tilting trains which are capable of speeds of up to 135mph. They’ve had an interior refresh since we last travelled on them in 2010 and now have new seats, plus plug sockets and wifi, so I’ve chance to update my pictures – and (hopefully) blog from the train. See you later…
06:55.
We’re settled in on our virtually empty Pendular, with barely half a dozen of us in coach 4. Sadly, two of them are noisy young children with a mother who’s decided she doesn’t want to be distracted from her phone so has left them to amuse themselves with various noisy electronic gubbins! Deep joy! Hopefully they’re not going far. In response, Dawn’s plugged herself in to listen to a meditation on her phone. Me? I’ve set up the mobile office on the wide backseat table and logged into the wifi, ready to update this blog with a few pictures.
07:12.
We left spot on time. 10 minutes later we called at our first stop – Loule, where our coach began to fill up. Curiously, most of our fellow travellers are women. Meanwhile, I’m already contemplating infanticide…
I’ve downloaded pictures from the camera, so here’s a look at the Pendular’s Standard class interior.
07:22.
We’ve reached Albufeira, having enjoyed watching the sunrise en-route. The train’s really filling up now and the gender balance has improved. On the downside, the whiny kid quotient has also increased with the addition of another family. Dawn’s made the sensible decision to stay ‘plugged in’ whilst trying to get some sleep. Don’t get me wrong. I like kids, I just couldn’t eat a whole one…
In the short time it’s taken me to write this we’ve arrived at our next stop: Tunes, an attractive little junction station where the cafe is already bustling. The line along the coast to Lagos branches off from here. Now we’ve been joined by younger backpackers who’ve leavened the mix of travellers.
07:45.
North of Messines-Alte the Pendular’s tilt mechanism has come into its own. This section of line’s sinuous as it weaves its way through the low hills. Tilt isn’t as smooth as in the UK but I suspect that’s due to track qaulity more than anything. The handy display on the car bulkhead tells me we’re doing anything between 90-100kph.
08:25.
We’ve just left Funcheira, a station that looks to be in need of some TLC compared to the other well-kept places we’ve called at. There seems to be little surrounding it other than abandoned buildings, which makes the sound barriers lining the railway seem rather surplus to requirements!
I’ve had time to explore the train further, checking out loadings in various cars, and I have to say they’re pretty good. most are over 70-80% capacity. Talking of capacity, I had to use one of the toilets, and they’re ‘cosy’ to say the least. Claustrophobic would be another word I’d use. I’d think your average sized American would need a shoehorn and vaseline to get in/out.
08:40.
Having zipped along at 220kph under overcast skies we’ve passed the triangular junction for the freight only line to Sines to arrive at Ermidas Sado, another neglected station with a vacant station building. To add to the depressing air the rain’s arrived, in a complete contrast to the wall to wall sunshine we basked in yesterday.
09:35
We’re close to Lisbon now, having just left the suburban junction of Pinhal Novo after crossing the plains and the Do Sado estuary. Unfortunately, rain and mist has dogged us all the way, leaving visibility low. At least it’s quietened down inside the car, so I won’t get hauled off the train in Lisbon in handcuffs!
10:30.
We’re now North of Lisbon. Arriving in the city on the bridge high across the Tagus river is always a delight as the views are so dramatic. First stop was Entrecampos, then Oriente with its magnificent vaulted roof. There was little chance of getting pictures as we exchanged that many passengers the platform was a melee of people and suitcases. Some people who had having no idea which car they were supposed to be in ended up traipsing up and down the interior of the train like lost souls. This is new track for me as I’ve never been North of Oriente before. The line passes through a lot of industrial areas which (judging by the numerous rail yards we passed) look to provide a lot of CPs freight traffic – something we’d seen little sign of in the South.
11:10.
We’re well on our way North now, having passed through Entroncamento, the Portuguese version of Crewe, with it’s sprawling railway works and depot, stuffed full of locomotives, coaches and wagons, many of them stored or withdrawn. It covers a huge area either side of the railway and hosts the national railway museum too. The town’s also the junction for the lines to to the East of the country. The landscape North of Lisbon is markedly different to what we’ve seen so far, it’s far less arid and much more lush, with forest cover and green fields in contrast to the dusty farmland we saw in the Algarve. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind the Algarve weather back. Whilst the clouds lifted over Lisbon they’ve returned with a vengeance to hide the tops of the forested hills.
12:30.
Yay! 20 minutes to go before we arrive in Porto and the weather’s brightening up! We now have patchy, high cloud and blue skies with temperatures (according to the train’s information screens) in the mid 20s. The landscape’s continued to change. The North is so much more built up and industrial, yet greener (that’s not an oxymoron, honest).
16:11.
We’ve made it to our apartment, which is in a fabulous location by the river. We even have old trams outside.
Now to go and explore…
21:45.
I was going to round off today’s blog with a selection of pictures from our wanderings around the city, but the hotel’s wifi has taken umbrage with my laptop for some unknown reason. So, pictures will have to wait.
Tomorrow, we’re heading up the Douro valley by train. I’ll try and do some form of blog during the day – technology permitting…
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We’ve had a hectic first full day here in Faro, exploring the old and new towns, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the local cuisine. We both love fish, so Portugal (a country synonymous with Sardines) is right up our street. Our wanderings took us through the narrow backstreets of the old town and into the delightful cathedral, which is a baroque dream. The roof of the belltower also doubles as a fantastic viewpoint across the town, and provide an ideal place to watch planes taking off from the airport nearby.
The railway station’s only a stone’s throw from where we’re staying, so I managed to pop in and get my railway fix in advance of us catching the train to Porto tomorrow. All in all, it’s been a really enjoyable day. There’s a big music festival happening across the old town tonight but as the weather’s changed due to sea mist and drizzle rolling in across the town we decided discretion was the better part of valour. Instead, we’ve adjourned to our hotel in order to rest our weary feet, full stomachs and pack – ahead of a silly o’ clock start in the morning as we’ll be on an 07:00 train.
Here’s a few pictures from today.
These diesel units provide local rail services around Faro. They’re not in the best of external condition due to regular attacks from grafitti vandals. 19 of these units were built by Portugese company Sorefame in 1965 as Class 0400. They were modernised in the late 1990s and reclassified Class 0450. Cast iron balcony railings and ornate street lamps are a theme of Faro.The marina in the centre of Faro is a pleasant place to sit and watch the world go by. Fun and frolics in the old town, which has a vibrant artistic and youthful feel to it despite the age of the buildings.When I said the cathedral was a baroque delight, I wasn’t kidding! – and more…Faro is well known for Storks building their nests on some of the old buildingsWe were wandering the back streets near the municipal market when we stumbled on this architectural delight!Oh, remember I mentioned Sardines? Whilst Dawn tucked into a plate of them I’d opted for the Squid. Unfortunately, my squid was overcooked, but the Sardines weren’t bad. Sadly, we’d had to take pot luck when it came to eating as the place that was our first choice had a knackered card machine and could only take cash. We’re looking forward to getting better in Porto and Lisbon. Even so, this was a healthier and tastier option that some. The queue of local ‘Deliveroo’ riders outside the back of McDonald’s was both instructive, and depressing.
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Well, we’ve made it to Leeds/Bradford airport, which is a start, although it wasn’t without hiccups! We’d had a leisurely morning finishing our packing and making sure the cottage was shipshape for the friends who’ll be looking after it whilst we were away – then it was time to go. The taxi got us to Halifax station in plenty of time, but that’s where things went wrong. I’d checked train times earlier in the day when everything seemed tickety-boo. Only, in the intervening time a signalling failure had occurred, causing delays and cancellations in the area. Our train to Bradford was on time but it was sufficiently delayed en-route that we missed our bus connection to the airport. It was no big deal, it simply gave us an extra 30 mins to admire Bradford Interchange bus station!
Well, as bus stations go…
Our luck changed when we boarded the bus as the driver’s ticket machine was kaput, so we got a free ride to the airport! The A3 took us through a variety of places en-route, from the edge of wonderful little Germany, through Manningham (not so wonderful) to Shipley, Guiseley and Yeadon. It was a fascinating journey through many areas we don’t usually frequent before we were dropped right outside the airport terminal.
The airport’s undergoing a major expansion of facilities at the moment, but that didn’t slow us down. Check-in was speedy and security a breeze, despite the numbers of people here. Having the latest kit so there’s no faffing with talking laptops etc out of bags certainly helps.
Now we’re killing time airside in a bar in the new airport extension, which is as busy as the rest of the place. It’s an ‘interesting’ place to people-watch. The vast majority of people here are package or other holiday-makers heading into Europe. It’s a vary different atmosphere to an international hub like Heathrow!
18:10.
Our train wasn’t the only thing that’s late. Our plane is too – by 30 mins so far. Still, it’s going to be good to be in the air and heading for Europe.
Grins all round!
00:23.
I wouldn’t normally update a blog late into the next day. I’ll fill in the rest tomorrow, but suffice it to say our first night here in Faro has been such a breath of fresh air – and just what we needed.
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Today’s been a tying up of loose ends sort of day here at Bigland Towers, as tomorrow the pair of us head off for a much-needed break in Portugal. Dawn’s been busy sorting out stuff for her employer, Community Rail Network, whilst I’ve been busy editing pictures, getting others out to clients and chasing paperwork and potential jobs. To be honest, it’s not been a bad day to be stuck at home as the weather’s still deteriorating and there’s a distinct autumn chill beginning to creep in – which I’ll be happy to leave behind for warmer climes. It’s a much nicer 29 degrees in Faro tomorrow!
We’re in no panic to pack as we don’t fly from Leeds/Bradford until tomorrow evening, which gives us a relaxed morning. I should even have time for some blogging! But right now it’s time to enjoy our last evening here in the UK for a while. I’ll leave you with a picture from our last trip to Portugal, which we may get to reprise. Lisbon’s old trams are a delight to both travel on and watch pass by for entertainment value – especially as many people would ‘tram-surf’, like these three young women…
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Yesterday the pair of us made the best of the good weather to break out of Yorkshire to cross the border into Derbyshire and visit some old haunts. Regular visitors to my blog will know that visiting and walking around reservoirs (when feasible) has become a bit of a hobby this year – mainly because of the drought we’re experiencing this year which is leaving so many of the places we visit with abnormally low water levels.
We’ve been visiting the Derwent valley for many years, but until now we’ve never seen the various reservoirs in the area as low as they are now. But to get there we had to pass others. Langsett reservoir is South of Penistone. We’ve walked around it in the past but this time it was merely a photographic stop.
Going, going…
With it being a bank holiday we weren’t the only ones heading for the Derwent valley. Far from it. The roads around Ladybower were chokka with vehicles, leaving parking at a premium. We decided to head to our usual parking place at the Fairholmes car park in the shadow of the Derwent dam. Even this large car-park was full, but we were lucky and managed to find a recently vacated space. Others weren’t so lucky, ending up circling the car-park several times before finding a spot.
We headed off to the Eastern side of the Derwent dam to take our usual route towards Howden. It’s an easy walk along a wide, well-made (albeit unmetalled) track that doubles as part of the circular cycle track that encompasses both the Derwent and Howden reservoirs. As we had plenty of time and the Howden dam’s only a 30 minute walk away we decided to extend our walk as far as ‘slippery stones’ which is at the end of the Northern most finger of the res’ before continuing around the West bank. The first leg is along a track which turns into a metalled road all the way back to Fairhomes. Here’s a selection of pictures.
One of the impressive towers of the Howden dam seen from the Eastern side. Like Derwent dam, these were built in Victorian Gothic style. The Western finger of the Howden reservoir, showing just how little water remains. Looking North up the Northern finger of the Howden reservoir towards ‘slippery stones’Just South of ‘tin town’ are these remains of a bridge from the works railway used in the construction of the dams. This ran for 7 miles from Bamford to Birchinlee (aka ‘tin town’ after the corrugated iron shacks built to house the workforce).Looking North along the Derwent reservoir from Hern Side with the towers of the Howden dam in the background and the old railway bridge in the foreground. ‘Tin town’ was located on the woods to the left of the bridge. You can learn more about the construction of the dams and reservoirs from this link.
We ended up walking about 10 miles around the reservoirs before getting back to the car-park. As you can see from the pictures, it was a lovely day – and one where a gentle breezed prevented us from overheating en-route. On the way home we had one last stop to make, at the Woodhead reservoir East of Hadfield. It borders the old Manchester to Sheffield Woodhead railway (hence the name). It’s another res’ that’s retreating rapidly, as you can see from this picture.
Frankly, I can’t see any chance of the water levels in these reservoirs improving this summer. We’ve had some desultory rain showers over the past couple of days which has done little other than damp the dust down. There’s no proper rain forecast in the future either, so I expect future pictures of these reservoirs will look even bleaker. Watch this space…
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Here we are at the end of another working week with the August bank holiday looming. It’s been an odd week here at Bigland Towers, the classic curate’s egg. I’ve enjoyed getting out and about to see the latest High Speed 2 railway construction milestone in Birmingham (a full blog and pictures to follow shortly). The weather’s been rather indifferent and the nights are certainly drawing in, heralding next month’s change of season. I’d have liked to have got out more but there’s been a lot to do at home, partly because Dawn’s had a tough week so I’ve been on hand to offer tea and sympathy. Oh, and breakfast lunch and dinner as required!
On the bright side, I’ve also booked a fortnight in Portugal for the pair of us, starting in the first week of September. This will see us exploring the Algarve, Lisbon, Porto and the Douro valley, travelling by train. We’re both really excited about the trip, we just need to bottom out a few details – like where we’re actually going to stay! That will be one of the tasks this weekend as we’re not planning to go far over the bank holiday – although there will be some walking involved – somewhere.
Right now it’s time to sign off and relax. I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is one I’ve been meaning to use for a few days. I have a 105mm micro lens which really doesn’t see much use nowadays (I’m hoping to put that right in Portugal), but I couldn’t resist digging it out when I saw this opportunity last week.
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/
The alarm roused me at the ungodly hour of 05:00. Now, having shaved, showered and kissed Dawn goodbye, I’m sitting on Sowerby Bridge station, awaiting the arrival of the 06:23 to Manchester. It’s a grey, drizzly morning here in the Calder valley with the valley tops hidden under cloud. Still, it was refreshing to walk downhill all the way today, rather than having to climb the cobbles of Wakefield Gate to summit Spring Edge before dropping down into Halifax. That certainly gets the blood pumping first thing in the morning!
06:45.
My ride in the shape of a 3-car Class 195 arrived a couple of minutes late.
Now, having traversed the valley and passed through the Summit tunnel we’ve emerged into Greater Manchester, where the weather’s no different to Yorkshire! My train’s filled up en-route. Now it’s busy with early-birds heading into the city for work. Many are dozing, catching a few more minutes precious rest and peace.
08:00.
I arrived in Manchester on time and with plenty of it to spare, allowing me to take a slow amble between Victoria and Piccadilly whilst getting a few tram shots en-route. Now I’m settled on my 2nd train of the day, Cross-Country’s 08:03 to Paignton, which is being worked by a 4-car Class 220. My feelings about putting out 4-car Voyagers on the Manchester-Birmingham intercity route are well known. This one’s already packed and we haven’t even left Manchester yet!
220005 jn ‘pride’ livery is my second steed.
08:45.
Because there’s a blockade on at Stockport whilst road bridges over the railway at Greek St are replaced, my trains going off piste, travelling via the alternative route to Wilmslow via the Styal loop, then staying on the main line to Crewe, avoiding the normal route via Stoke on Trent and Norton Bridge. This brings the rare sight of Cross-Country Voyagers to Crewe – although we pass through without stopping. Mind you, Voyagers of any sort are rare at Crewe now that Avanti have ditched their fleet which used to pass through to/from the North Wales Coast.
Whilst cloud levels have lifted here in Cheshire/Staffordshire, the day remains dull. I’m hoping for an improvement when we reach the West Midlands, although I’m happy enough not to have to fight strong shadows and backlighting whilst we’re looking at 1000s of tonnes of rusty steel bridge this morning!
12:20.
The site visit is over – and it’s been fasinating! Here’s how the Smallbrook bridge looks now. The work is several days early. One last 12 meter push tonight should see it in its final position.
I’ll write about this in greater length later.
19:45.
Apologies for the gap. After the press event Chris Howe and I went for a drink in the Woodsman pub nearby. We talked HS2, the state of the UK media and politics in general before heading in different directions. I ended up tarrying in central Birmingham just to soak up the atmosphere. The city is one of my guilty pleasures as I really enjoy my visits. I ended up in conversation with these people – whom Reform MPs and voters would hate- for obvious reasons.
Jesus and Allah? That’ll upset Reform and the faux Christians
Having enjoyed the city vibe I made my way back North in stages. A brief stop in Wolverhampton was followed by another stop in Stafford. I stayed longer at my best interchange (Crewe) as there was so much going on- and so many memories. Plus, I was hoping to get shots of diverted Cross-Country services, which proved more difficult than I hoped due to signallers sending them off the Fast lines.
Even so, it’s been a really interesting day. Now, I’m heading for Manchester on an old Midlands Class 323 via the airport. After the scrimmage on trains out of Birmingham, it may be slow – but at least it’s comfortable!
21:30.
I’m on the last leg home. My local train to Manchester remained relaxed even after calling at the airport. I guess it was the wrong time for arrivals/departures. The city centre remained busy with the usual mixture of people enjoying the nightlife, feral young lads desperate to attract the attention of their bored female companions and the smattering of homeless trying to beg and be anonymous at the same time. Talk about the whole of human life…
Having wandered across the city I had nearly 30 mins to wait for a train, so a swift half in the Victoria Tap was in order before boarding the 21:21 bound for Leeds. This 3-car train is rather quiet as its running in that quiet time between commuters having returned home and leisure travellers still enjoying their evening. Plus – it’s Tuesday, not a day renowned for revelling!
23:15.
I’m home and resting after a long day, but there’s on last thing I want to add to the blog. Today’s world photography day, so here’s my contribution, which was captured at Crewe station earlier.
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/
Paul Bigland 