*blog in preperation as its not a rolling one..*

For a whole host of reasons I’ve escaped from home today. I’ve not ventured far but I have made it Westwards to Todmorden. The weather’s gloriously sunny and the temperature’s made it into double-figures so with everything else going on I thought “bugger it”. Now that lockdown has eased there’s lots more people about as shops and some pubs have reopened. Seeing groups of people out together enjoying themselves takes a little getting used to but it’s a positive sign for the future. We’re all tired of the social isolation so it’s hardly surprising.

I walked down into Sowerby Bridge with the intention of getting a few shots at the station but as the weather’s so good and I’m currently writing an article on the Calder Valley line for a magazine I thought “here’s a good excuse for some new pictures” so I caught a train to Todmorden which is where I am now. Of all the locations on the line this offers the best photographic locations. That saying, I came out with the D5 and only the 50mm lens, so my options are limited!

Still, here’s the very first of the BR built Class 150s that’s called here as I’m typing this…

After decades of service around the West Midlands these units have pitched up here to help replace the Pacers.

Hi ho, Hi Ho – it’s off to ‘lockdown’ we go..

The operative word that seems to define this Government is shambles – be it Brexit or Covid. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs on this – most of which would be cathartic and splenetic – but ultimately futile, because we have a dysfunctional Government led by a complete chancer who’s never had any interest in anything other than his own ego.

So, now, with a Government that’s completely lost the plot (because it never had it in the first place) we are where we are. Welcome to phase 2 of the shit-show – only now we’re on the cusp of winter so forget sitting outside in the way we could in shit-show phase 1. Do you feel these people have a grasp of all this? No. Me neither.

How all this will pan out now is anyone’s guess as I suspect many people have lost any faith in the Government to manage this. Personally? Dawn and I will do what’s expected of us. Not because we trust these jokers, but because we care about other people. I need some new glasses, but I’ll be buggered if you’ll find me taking a trip to Barnard Castle…

I’ll spare you more spleen venting as enough is enough (for now), here’s the picture of the day instead. I was walking through a paddy field in Bali, Indonesia on the 2nd January 2012 when I spotted this critter. I’ve carried a Nikon Micro lens in my camera bag for years (I bought it brand new for a bargain price in Kathmandu, Nepal, back in 1998, but that’s another story) so I whipped it out to get this shot and for once the little beauty played ball and stayed still.

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!

*warning, blog under construction*

Our most varied day of the week began with the weather promising a fantastic day ahead. We had wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures that made you feel like summer really was on the way. Our day began around 07:30. Both of us were tempted to lie-in, but there was too much to do – despite me having picked up some of Dee’s parents shopping yesterday.

After a leisurely breakfast and time for me to start uploading the batch of old slides I’d been bust scanning we headed out in the car. Our first stop was planned to be our local supermarket to get the fresh veg I couldn’t get for John and Norah yesterday, but the queue stretched right around the car park so we gave it a miss and headed over to Huddersfield instead. On the way Dawn and I discussed the positives and negatives of where the world is now and what we’ll miss when life returns to normal. The one thing we both agreed that we’d miss was the empty roads and absence of traffic noise and pollution.

Huddersfield wasn’t too bad. The roads were still quiet although there were certainly more cars around than at the start of lockdown, but who knows what they’re doing or where they’re going. Our first stop was Sainsbury’s, where the queue was the longest we’d seen it. Then Dawn twigged what I hadn’t. Tomorrow’s a bank holiday so people are stocking up! To be honest, queuing in a car-park in the sunshine isn’t much of a hardship and it didn’t take that long to get in to begin our shopping. The place wasn’t exactly packed once we were through the doors when we split up. Dawn did her parents shopping and I did ours. Well, most of it. For some unfathomed reason I managed to miss several items off the list, which didn’t go down well with ‘Senior Management’..

Afterwards we called in to the Community Rail Network offices in the old water-tower at Huddersfield station. Whilst Dawn sorted out some work there I went for a wander with the camera. The weather was ideal for getting some rail pictures but with so few services running and big gaps in the timetable I also went for a wander through the town. With so many shops closed it was hardly surprising that it was quiet. That and the fact a lot of outlets had closed already before Covid had arrived. Huddersfield town centre isn’t what it was even when I first came up here 10 years ago. But what did catch my eye was the number of queues outside banks. They were the only places you saw groups of people. But why? I couldn’t work it out. The only time I physically visit a bank branch nowadays is on one of those rare occasions when some Luddite organisation still insists on paying me by cheque. So why were these people there? I’ve no idea, but I was curious. What am I missing?

Shopping and office work done we drove over to Dawn’s folks to drop off the shopping and have a chat. Considering the pair of them have had their social wings severely clipped they’re both doing remarkably well, but then they come from a generation that has a different perspective on the definition of ‘hardship’.

We drove straight home afterwards and unloaded our haul of shopping before ‘taking 5’ to enjoy the lovely weather.