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Rolling blog: Back to the present

05 Friday Apr 2019

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After spending most of the week scanning old pictures from the 1990s to add to my Zenfolio website I’ve managed to escape for a day out in the present world!I got a lift into Huddersfield with Dawn this morning as my first mission was a haircut. I’ve acquired the Yorkshire habit of canniness with money and found a barber that only charges £3 for a haircut. Admittedly, I’ve not as much to cut nowadays and a No 1 isn’t exactly a hard style to execute, but even so…On the way I cut through the old graveyard surrounding one of the churches. Gravestones from the 18th & 19th centuries are now used as flagstones, which struck me as rather sad as the stories and names of those buried there are slowly being erased by the passage of feet as well as time.

Huddersfield town centre’s not in a healthy state nowadays. More and more shops are closing down with little sign of new tenants to take them on. How Brexit is meant to reverse this trend is a mystery that even it’s believers can’t explain. I’m now en-route to Manchester to recce a rail route I’ve not taken many pictures on for years, the WCML from Stockport to Crewe via Sandbach. Hopefully, the weather will play ball…11:35The old omilitary therum that no plan of attack survives first contact with the enemy held true today. As soon as I got to Manchester the weather turned and the clouds rolled in! Luckily, I had a plan B, so I’m now en-route to Liverpool to get shots of folk heading for a day at the races by rail. Like this pair!

I only hope the weather picks up for them otherwise there’s going to be some cases of hypothermia reported today!

15:09

Well, that was an interesting interlude as I’ve never shot the Aintree crowd before, only the Ascot and York! The trick is to get them on their way there, before they get trashed. The scenes aren’t as pretty on the way back. Merseyrail were running six-car trains every seven minutes on the Ormskirk line, and they had lots of staff on hand to shepherd travellers, so it was a well organised event.

On my way back into town I stopped to have a look at the new depot that’s taking shape at Kirkdale in readiness for Merseyrail’s replacement train fleet which is being built by Stadler.

Now I’m back in the city centre, ready to begin my journey back to Yorkshire (bit by bit).

16:02.

I’m now on a late running Trans-Pennine Express service back to Manchester which is (surprise, surprise) full and standing.

16:40

It’s Friday, the weather’s hardly condusive to scenic photography or interesting cityscapes, so I’m calling it a day and heading home in time to meet up with friends in my local pub for the groups quiz night. This time I’m on a packed Northern Rail service from Manchester Victoria to Leeds which is worked by my least favourite type of train, a Class 150 – even a refurbished one…

18:01

Having walked the 1.2 miles (All uphill) to the ‘Big 6’, I’m in need of this…

Home again.

30 Saturday Mar 2019

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After yesterday’s little adventure I’m having a quiet weekend at home, catching up on chores and picture editing. Slowly but surely I’m making progress in scanning my old rail slides, with the present batch straddling the period from 1996 to 1999 – albeit with a gap because I was out of the country and travelling around the globe from November 1997 until April 1999. Here’s the last one I took before I left. It’s from Stratford, in East London on the 29th October 1997. Now, these BR built class 315s are heading to the scrapyard as they’re being replaced by the Crossrail Class 345s.

06854. 315826. Stratford. 29.10.97crop

Here’s the first shot I took on our return, at somewhere very different to East London. This is Burscough Bridge on the Southport – Wigan line on the 9th April 1999 . The  signalbox here once controlled a junction with lines going off to the right and left to join the Ormskirk-Preson line which crosses over the bridge in the distance.

06855. 156452. Burscough Bridge. 9.4.99crop

You can find the full selection by clicking on this link to my Zenfolio website.

I’ve still several sheets left in the album to scan. With a bit of luck I might be able to get them all done next week. After that, the next album in the queue takes a step back in time to 1995 and the last year of BR before privatisation started. Unlike the last couple of albums, it far less Londoncentric, so watch this space…

One of those days…

17 Sunday Mar 2019

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But in a good way! There’s been so much to blog about but I’ve been taking it easy instead as it’s been a very convivial weekend. Yesterday we were out celebrating a friends birthday which meant today was always going to be a little ‘relaxed’. I’ve spent most of it scanning more old slides like this one. The railways often (rightly) complain about road vehicles striking railway bridges, but for once the boot was on the other foot and it resulted in this ‘italic‘ Class 08…

06480. 08898. Stored in the Down sorting sidings. Bescot. 29.3.97crop

This is what happens when people don’t check loading gauges. The loco concerned was photographed when it was dumped at Bescot (Birmingham) in 1997. It ended up looking this way because it had been used on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in South Wales, which had some extremely low bridges. So much so that the locomotives used on the line had to have cut-down cabs so that they fitted. Only no-one checked 08898 had when they used it to deputise for one of the regular locos…

I’ve dozens more slides ready to scan but they’re not going to get done tonight. You’ll find them being added to my website over the next few days. Instead I’m going to have some quality time with my other half. Catch you all tomorrow!

Hazy days and Sundays…

24 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by in Musings, Sowerby Bridge, Travel, Uncategorized, West Yorkshire

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It’s almost mid afternoon but the Calder Valley’s still covered in haze which is giving the Southern side a ghostly appearance, a Yorkshire Brigadoon if you like. We’ve been pottering around and finished our chores, so now it’s time for a Sunday constitutional. This is the view across the valley and over Sowerby Bridge as we walked up to Savile Park

Crocus’s provide a riot of colour along the roadside.

A bit farther on we dropped through Scare Woods to begin our descent to the canal.

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 29. Wandering around Waiuku and surrounds.

27 Sunday Jan 2019

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We’ve had another slow start to the day due to the cloudy weather, but it’s given me time to catch up on some admin and picture editing, so it’s not all bad. Now the sun’s making a break for it so we’re off  exploring. Watch this space…

23:11.

‘Tis too late for blogging now other than to say we’ve enjoyed another day of changeable weather. We visited a lighthouse which was witness to New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster when HMS Orpheus sank with the loss of 189 lives in 1860 (link). It was just a shame the low clouds gave us less visibility than the Commodore of the ill-fated ship when he preferred to rely on old charts.

Afterwards we headed over to the other side of the Peninsula and enjoyed a couple of hours sunning ourselves on a sandy beach. Pictures will follow soon but right now it’s bedtime as tomorrow is or last full day in New Zealand before flying back and we’re off into Auckland…

New Zealand day 26. Te Anau to Queenstown.

25 Friday Jan 2019

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Rather frustratingly, yesterday’s blog failed to load due to poor Wi-Fi where we were staying in Te Anau. I’ll finish it off today, then blog about our trip to Queenstown (where we are now). We’ve dropped off our hire-car so we’re on foot again now. Not that it’s a problem as we fly back from here to Auckland tomorrow.

Neither of us are adrenaline junkies, so Queenstown’s extreme sports are wasted on us. Instead, we’re enjoying the scenery and exploring. Right now we’re enjoying a drink outside a bar in central Queenstown. It’s “poets day” here (Piss-Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday) so the place is full of builders and hospitality workers – most of whom are English!

New Zealand day 18. Christchurch.

16 Wednesday Jan 2019

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(This blog is under construction. More later)…

We’ve spent the day exploring Christchurch, which is quite a surreal experience in many ways.  I’ve never been to a city that’s been so dramatically changed by a natural disaster before.

We started our day by walking into town and trying to piece together a picture of the city. It’s difficult. Not just because so many building have been demolished’ leaving entire blocks bare, but also because some condemned building are still waiting to be torn down and replaced, like this one on the Corner of Worcester Boulevard and Cambridge Terrace. In the corner window you can see a picture of the new building that will replace it.

dg316314crop

Not far from here was a statue of Scott of the Antarctic. Christchurch is a nexus for many of the countries that have bases there, with ships sailing from the city to the Antarctic on a regular basis. In the UK’s current political climate I could see Scott as a metaphor for Brexit…

dg316310crop

After wandering the city we visited Quake City, the museum dedicated to the 2011 earthquake and its aftermath. It’s a sobering experience as it brings home the power of earthquakes and also their aftermath. As well as physical remains and pictures of the earthquake there’s a series of very moving interviews with survivors of the day. These bring it home to you just what people went through. Afterwards we headed back into town to catch one of the vintage trams that operate a circular, hop-on, hop-off service around the centre of town. En-route we passed the remains of what had been the tallest building in Christchurch before the earthquake. This is what it looks like today. The whole city block has been demolished and awaits redevelopment. The rest of it is car-parks.

dg316334crop

Before catching the tram we stopped for lunch in the beautifully restored New Regent St, a pedestrianised zone (OK, trams don’t count) that has a great selection of bars, restaurants and cafes. We were craving spicy food so chose a Thai café called The Nook. They had tables out in the street so we could enjoy the food whilst soaking up the sun and watching the world go by – not to mention the cheeky sparrows, who ate almost as much of our rice as we did! dg316341crop

The food was good, the prices reasonable and the wine wasn’t bad either. Suitably stuffed, we caught a tram to see more of the city. Christchurch’s trams are a mix of vintage vehicles from New Zealand and Australia. We were lucky to get 152, one of the original city trams. It has a royal pedigree as both the Queen and Prince Harry have toured the city on it. There’s even little brass plaques to tell you that you’re parked your bum on the same seat as royalty!

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To be continued…

 

New Zealand day 14. Blenheim blogging.

12 Saturday Jan 2019

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After yesterdays wine tasting we’ve had an easy day exploring the sights of Blenheim after a lazy start due to the indifferent weather. For once, instead of the scorching sun, the day started under heavy cloud and low temperatures which was a great excuse to catch up on social media and events elsewhere in the world whilst drinking lots of coffee. When we did venture forth we headed over to the Marlborough museum which deserves more visitors than it gets, but then the name doesn’t really do it justice. They have some very interesting information on the origins of the wine industry as well as local Maori history and memorabilia on the Victorian settlers – not to mention a fascinating display on some feisty women who were part of the New Zealand suffrage movement.

The museum site’s home to one of the terminal stations on the 2ft gauge Blenheim Riverside railway which runs 5.2km along a river valley to terminate under a viaduct carrying the main line from Picton to Christchurch in the centre of Blenheim. Here’s a few shots of the line.

dg316066. brrs no 1. brayshaw park. blenheim. new zealand. 12.1.19crop

dg316072. brrs no 1. blenheim. new zealand. 12.1.19crop

The railway passes through Riverside park in Blenheim.

dg316084. brrs no 1. blenheim. new zealand. 12.1.19crop

After our railway fix we headed out to amble along the Wairau Lagoons Walkway, a 3 hour round trip that takes you out through the wetlands of the Wairau estuary to the wreck of the ‘TSS Waverley’.

dg316123. wreck of the t. s. s. waverley. wairau lagoons walkway. blenheim. new zealand. 12.1.19crop

dg316099. wreck of the t. s. s. waverley. wairau lagoons walkway. blenheim. new zealand. 12.1.19crop

dg316127. wairau lagoons walkway. blenheim. new zealand. 12.1.19.crop

Choices. Turn left and you can get to the wreck in 1hr15. Turn right and it takes you 1hr45. Guess which way we went?

Tomorrow we move on from Blenheim and head down the road to Kaikoura, where we’ve booked to go swimming with dolphins…

 

 

 

Crunching the StopHs2 social media stats: December 2018

01 Tuesday Jan 2019

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Happy New Year folks!

I’ve had a bit of time on holiday to crunch these numbers, so here’s the final series of the year (predictable as they are). Remember that the final few months of 2018 was meant to see the ‘relaunch’ of the anti Hs2 campaign? It never happened. Not only that, but their last ‘great white hope’ – a BBC Panorama programme that they’d worked themselves up into a frenzy about as it would provide the ‘killer evidence’ that would see Hs2 off once and for all turned out to be a damp squib. Aired on the evening of the 17th of December, it made barely a mention in the wider media – manly because there wasn’t a single new thing in it! You can read about it here.

After that, to quote Marvin the Paranoid android, they ‘went into a bit of decline’. It’s clear that the majority of politicians minds are elsewhere in the run up to 2019. Even Stophs2 gave up posting and tweeting before Xmas as it’s obvious they’re wasting their time.

Anyways, Here’s a look at their social media stats. First up is Facebook.

stophs2 facebook

As you can see the only real improvements are to their headline numbers due to people desperately trying to draw attention to the Panorama programme – although many comments on their Facebook page make it clear people were disappointed with it. They have managed to increase their Facebook followers by nearly 3% but as that’s from such a small starting number (after 10 years) it’s not something to boast about.

Meanwhile, over on Twitter, numbers remain flat.

stophs2 twitter

It’s becoming clear that Twitter’s a complete waste of time for them. The only thing it does is show how few of their followers actually bother with it. Remember that headlines behind these numbers. 6.5 MILLION people live on the route of HS2, so 6363 ‘followers’ (and how many of them are real I wonder?) are a tear in an ocean.

As with previous months a browse of their tweets/posts show that the majority are copies of media articles about HS2. Not a single one of them is news about the StopHS2 ‘campaign’ for the simple reason that – there is no news. They’re not actually doing anything! Sure, the media still trot out Rukin & Gaines for interviews, but they always have. There’s not even any news from (the increasingly scarce) local groups anymore. What both social media accounts show is that StopHs2 has little in the way of heavyweight support – and that’s putting it politely! In fact, both their accounts are refuges for the old ‘green ink’ brigade. who (in an earlier age before social media) would’ve had their ranting, batshit letters spiked by the newspapers they wrote to!

That said, there is one bit of news they’ve ignored reporting completely! Instead, it was slipped out by lawyers. Hs2aa, the ‘real’ brains behind the stophs2 campaign (StopHs2 were always strident, student politics types due to Rukin’s background) folded In 2017, but before they did they mounted a last gasp legal challenge under the Aarhus convention. Last month that was finally rejected, hammering the final nail into HS2aa’s coffin.

2019 is going to be a very bad year for StopH2, if they can be bothered to come back off their rather long Xmas hols…

 

Slowly but surely, the old slides are getting scanned…

20 Thursday Dec 2018

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It’s a painfully slow process, but I’m determined that 2019 will see the majority of my old railway back catalogue scanned and available on my Zenfolio website – although the travel pictures will have to wait a little longer! The past couple of months has seen me slog through a several hundred slides from 1996 onwards. Right now I’ve got as far as July, having uploaded or replaced another 40 images today. My plan is to continue my way chronologically through the years up the point I stopped taking slides and went digital, which was on the 20th February 2004, almost 15 years ago now! With the benefit of hindsight I’d wish I’d done it sooner – but hey ho!

These old pictures show just how much the railway scene has changed in the past 22 years. They’re all from the very early days of privatisation, when the railways had been ‘sectorised’ but not everything had been franchised. The first passenger service to be privatised was SouthWest trains in February 1996. This is adding another layer of complexity to scanning as the pictures are split up into different galleries on my website that are dedicated to each operator, so I’m having to do a lot of historical referencing as well. Here’s a few examples of today’s batch.

05865. 31421. Springs branch TMD. Wigan. 08.7.1996crop

A shot taken from a passing intercity service of the former Transrail depot at Wigan Springs Branch. Transrail was one of six companies the BR freight division had been broken up into as a way of introducing internal competition. In the end it, Loadhaul, Mainline Freight, Railfreight Distribution (RfD) and Rail Express Systems (RES) were bought by  American company Wisconsin freight which marketed them as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS). Many of the old BR locos you can see in the picture were actually stored.

05887. 3202. Herne Hill. 30.06.1996crop

A Eurostar set led by 3202 snakes through Herne Hill in South London. These services would run for another 11 years, until High Speed 1 and St Pancras International opened in 2007.

05925. 31455. 31255. Wolverton. 14.7.1996crop

A pair of class 31s work an engineers train during track relaying work on the West Coast Main Line North of Wolverton. These old locomotives would sit idle during the week as they were kept purely to work these trains. That meant their reliability was poor, often leading to engineering work being disrupted. Note that the adjacent pair of tracks remains open. This would never be allowed today due to the risks it passes to track workers, who can be seen ahead of my Euston-bound Intercity service.