Yesterday it was my pleasure to attend yet another celebration at Mytholmroyd, where the station friends and guests were unveiling a plaque celebrating the restoration of the 1871 station building winning a Railway Heritage Trust conservation award in December 2019. Sadly, the Covid pandemic postponed any chance to celebrate the award or mount the plaque until this year. Ironically, the postponement meant that the plaque was unveiled this year, which is the 150th anniversary of the building’s construction. The present building replaced an original timber structure from when the line opened in 1847. Records show that the contract to construct the building was let by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in May 1870 to a “Mr Wilkinson, contractor of Mytholmroyd”. In June 1870 construction was suspended due to excavations causing part of the embankment under the Down line to subside. Work resumed at the end of September 1870 and the new building opened in December 1871*. You can find a full selection of pictures of the interior of the refurbished building in this blog. Here’s how the building looks from street level. Passengers on passing trains don’t appreciate the sheer size of the building as they only see the top floor.
Here’s a selection of pictures from yesterday’s unveiling.
The plaque revealed!The participants from L-R. Craig Whittaker, MP for the Calder Valley. Geoff Mitchell (Friends of Mytholmroyd). Andy Savage, Railway Heritage Trust and RHA Judge. Sue Mitchell (Friends of Mytholmroyd). Chris Harris, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. Bob Freeth, Mayor of Hebden Royd Council. Theo Steel, Railway Heritage Trust. The plaque.
Work will soon begin to outfit the interior of the building ready to accept its first tenants. No doubt when that happens I’ll be bringing you more updates!
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!
*Thanks to Michael Allen of Mytholmroyd for providing me with the historical information on the station construction
Welcome to a new week. I had it scheduled in my diary as one I’d been spending entirely at home as I had to finish judging entries in three different categories for the 2021 Community Rail Awards. As Dawn wasn’t at work today because she was driving down to Surrey I decided to get up at Sparrowfart, let her sleep and get on with the marking. So, coffee made – I was in the office at 06:30 this morning, reading and annotating the final entries out of the three groups I’m judging for, which meant I was finished before lunchtime. There’s some excellent entries but there’s nothing I can say at this stage – for obvious reasons. Tomorrow my fellow Judges and I come together on ‘Zoom’ to see what we’ve each shortlisted and agree the final shortlist and placings. I’ll be fascinated to see if we near enough have the same people placed!
Having completed my effort and seen Dawn off on her travels I decided to make the most of the sunny weather and escape with the camera for a few hours. There’s a huge amount of subjects on my shot-list, but today I decided to stay local. Well, within Yorkshire anyway! Having walked into Halifax I caught a train to Bradford then walked between the city’s stations to take the long way around to Leeds. On the way I stopped to grab a few pictures at Kirkstall Forge station as the light was ideal. What was less than ideal is the frequency of the stations automated announcements. The station has a half-hourly service, which means there’s several trains per hour that pass non-stop. Not a problem in itself, apart from the fact ‘Digital Doris’ seems to have no idea when they’re due so fills the air with ‘Stand well back from the platform edge, the next train is not scheduled to stop here” every minute. Great, but no train’s due to pass for 7 minutes! I timed them! It’s like the boy who cried wolf. You get so sick of hearing the announcement that you turn off. Then suddenly, a train does whizz past. The old expression ‘less is more’ springs to mind.
Anyway, gripe aside, I continued my trip into Leeds in time to catch one of the trains I was after. LNER used to have a daily service from Harrogate to London Kings Cross. Essentially it was one out in the morning that would return in the evening. I never managed to get pictures of them, but now the service runs roughly every two hours, so I thought it was time to get this one in the can. Besides, the chance to juxtapose new intercity trains with traditional (albeit a renewed version) semaphore signalling isn’t that common. Here’s one of the shots.
Having worked 1D16, the 1333 London Kings Cross to Harrogate, set 800205 slinks off to the refurbished and renewed turnback siding before returning to London as 1A46, the 1736 Harrogate to London Kings Cross. To the left is a replicated bracket semaphore signal which was installed as it was easier than replacing it with modern signalling as the station’s still controlled from the old BR built signalbox behind the train to the right. The signal has all the aesthetics of a car-crash compared to a (once elegant) LNER lattice structure beyond. The semaphore arms look like they’ve been mounted on standard-length scaffold pole that no-one could be bothered to cut to size or cap-off.
Signalling aside, seeing these units at Harrogate makes a change from the standard diet of ‘Northern’ multiple units , even if they have gone more upmarket since the demise of the ‘Pacers’. Here’s a case in point. this is a shot of 800205’s return working passing an ex-Scotrail Class 170 which has been cascaded to Northern. The pair are seen at Horsforth, the only other station between Harrogate and Leeds that LNER call at.
Right, enough from me tonight. I’ve another early start tomorrow in order to clear the decks for Judging. Depending on how it goes I *may* venture out again tomorrow. If not, there’s still plenty of old pictures to keep you entertained with. So, for now – goodnight…
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Ah, lazy Sunday! Well, sort of – ish! After having a thoroughly enjoyable day and evening at a friends wedding yesterday we’d deliberately left today’s calendar blank. We may not have been up with the Larks but we still made the most of the day. Yesterday’s wedding threatened to be a washout due to the weather. Fortunately the showers held off for all the most important parts of the day. Having rendezvoused at the Ukrainian Club in Huddersfield where the post wedding celebrations were to take place we all boarded a vintage double-deck bus (a 1962 Daimler ex-Leeds for those who like to know such things) which took us to and from the Methodist church in nearby Denby Dale where the wedding ceremony took place. I have to admit to having a soft spot for old buses, but that’s us public transport geeks for you! Trains, trams or buses – I’m a fan of them all…
The evening do was great fun as Dawn and I caught up with so many people whom we’ve not seen for ages due to Covid. We also had chance to socialise with some of Dee’s colleagues whom we see more often, but not outside of work, so that was another bonus. All in all, it was great day and we’re really happy for Paul and Hazel that it all came together in such style.
That lousy weather I mentioned has hung around all day today, but neither of us minded. Dawn’s kept herself occupied packing for a trip to her brothers in Surrey in order to ‘mind the shop’ whilst he’s on holiday in Greece. Meanwhile, I’ve been busy with old pictures and paperwork for various jobs and clients. Admittedly, I couldn’t resist getting out for a walk and spending a some time watching the weather. I love the way the skies over the Calder Valley are constantly changing. I can see why the artist Ashley Jackson fell in love with Yorkshire.
One of my favorite perches is just down the road from where we live. The walk there is lovely, as it takes you through local woodland. It’s also a bit of a climb, so you feel you’ve done something positive to get there rather than just sitting on your arse back at home. So, today’s picture is one I took earlier from the promenade, gazing out across Sowerby Bridge and the Calder Valley as I waited for the next rain-storm to arrive…
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I’m not used to doing this anymore! I was up at 05:00 preparing to head off for this morning’s job over in Wakefield. Getting up whilst it’s still dark is a novelty nowadays, although the with days getting shorter it’s going to become all too familiar soon. Right now I’m sipping coffee whilst I finish getting my kit together whilst trying not to disturb Dawn and Jet, who’re still curled up in and on a warm bed it was hard to leave! Still, let’s see what the day brings, eh?…
07:10.
I gave myself plenty of time to walk to the station so that I could enjoy the trip without breaking into a sweat. Hardly anyone was about except for a few dog-walkers and the odd early-bird like me, which made made for a pleasent trip where I could enjoy the birdsong rather than the noise of traffic.
Halifax station was rather different. It’s much busier than I’ve seen it at this time of day for quite some time. Many folk are waiting for the Grand Central service to London which is good to see. As an open access operator GC had a terrible time during the pandemic. Unlike the franchises, they receive no government support, leaving them totally reliant on ticket sales. This left them no option but to suspend operations for several months. Now they’re bouncing back. This service was a lifeline for me when I moved from London to West Yorkshire and I’ve got to know many of the staff so I’m really happy to see them recovering.
07:25.
When we pulled in to Brighouse it was great to see a few dozen people waiting for our train. This really is starting to feel like the ‘old days’! The station platforms are looking very attractive right now as the planters maintained by the local station friends are looking resplendent. The local history boards on each platform added earlier this year add another nice touch.
07:31.
We’ve picked up well over a dozen people at our next stop (Mirfield). Most look like holiday makers – the people who’ve been returning to the railway in droves..
08:45.
Wakefield Kirkgate also held droves of passengers waiting for us. As I degraindd I bumped into Alan, an old friend from Grand Central. We had time for a quick chat (he confirmed my suspicions about passenger growth) before I wandered off to my job. I’m there now, soI’ll be offline for a few hours. Catch you later…
11:45.
I’m back! I’ve spent a couple of hours taking staff portraits for a rail industry magazine and now I’m back on the rails at Wakefield Kirkgate, a station I once christened Britain’s worst. But look at it now!
Even the area outside the station’s been brightened up as the derelict pub has been rebuilt for residential use. Sadly, the excellent little station cafe remains closed, but Alan informs me it’s due to reopen next month.
14:00.
I’m currently taking a break in Sheffield as the warm and sunny weather I enjoyed in Wakefield is being disturbed by a band of rain crossing the country. I’d headed down this way to visit a station that I’ve not been to for several years but was on my list due to the excellent work the local station friends group has done on keeping it attractive whilst also explaining the area’s industrial heritage with history boards. There’s an lovely old tub wagon in the garden outside with celebrates the history of mining and steelmaking. What I never knew is that the pretty village was once *the* centre for making rails for the railways. The Wilson Cammell works opened in 1873 and became the foremost rail making plant in Britain, exporting worldwide. Then, in 1882 the decision was taken to move the plant wholesale to Workington in Cumbria (where I was last week) which led to the industrial decline of the village.
Having had time to explore the village in-between trains I can safely say it now earns its money from three less than industrial sources. Cafes, boutiques and hairdressers!
18:00.
That was an interesting few hours – although most of it was governed by the weather. I headed back to Sheffield with half a mind to traverse the Penistone line as there’s pictures I need, but the weather defeated me. Instead I made a sideways move to Doncaster where conditions were more condusive. As always, there was a large contingent of railway enthusiasts adorning the platform ends or camped out under the canopies using camping chairs. Such a number of people used to be common at major junctions a few decades back but Doncaster is now one of the last bastions.
Ironically, I bumped into two people I knew purely by accident, although one was rail-staff rather than a platform-ender.
Moving on again I headed home via Leeds in order to see how the rush-hour’s shaping up. The answer? Well. It’s the busiest I’ve seen the station since before lockdown. There was a real mix. Commuters on their way home mingled with people having a night out or returning from shopping. The feeling of vibrancy that’s been missing for so long was back. The only thing giving away thd changed times was the amount of folk still wearing masks (including me)
21:30.
Time to draw this rolling blog to a close. I’ve finally made it home after walking just over 15 miles today – including a minor detour via our local pub. Well, after covering that distance with a camera bag on my back I thought I deserved it! Especially when you consider that this part of the world isn’t exactly level. The caps might be flat, but bugger all else is – as my Fitbit stats demonstrate.
I’ll be back working from home tomorrow as I’ve a shedload of pictures to process. I’m sure there’ll be a blog involved too as I’ve plenty of new ammunition for ‘picture of the day’. In the meantime, enjoy your day/night/morning!
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/
Boy, did it rain last night! The noise of it hitting the roof woke me up in the early hours of this morning. Thankfully, with it being Sunday neither of us had anywhere we needed to be so having a lie-in seemed like the best idea. Eventually I rose but had no intention of venturing out at first. Coffee and picture editing felt like the best option, but eventually the wind and rain subsided enough that I thought ‘sod it’. Besides, I’ve a full set of waterproofs and actually I rather like these wild conditions. Besides, I wasn’t going to venture out with the full camera kit, so what the hell…
I ended up getting in a really good walk that took in the the heights above and then the valley floor below. Here’s a small selection of pictures to illustrate my perambulations…
Once the rain had cleared we had these rare patches of perfect weather. Here’s the Rochdale canal in central Sowerby Bridge, just before the wharf which is out of sight behind the trees to the left. A Squadron of the local peripatetic Geese are enjoying themselves here, in between a constant stream of narrowboats returning at the end of their hire period. Some have been gone for a fortnight, one group I talked to had hired a boat for the first time – just for the weekend and only gone as far as Hebden Bridge, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Here’s the river Calder about half a mile East from the last picture. The river’s high because of the torrential rain, but nothing like flood levels. I’ve added an arrow to the left to show you how high it got a couple of years ago. That was scary! The road behind the building was completely flooded and you worried about the strength of the bridge I’m stood on to take this picture. Continuing my walk along the Calder and Hebble Navigation (as the canal East of Sowerby Bridge is called). I passed this lovely little canalside garden and motorboat. I always chuckle when I pass here as the boat takes me back to my childhood and a kids programme called ‘Tales of the Riverbank’. It used models but real animals. The ‘star’ was ‘Hammy the Hamster’ who’d often go sailing off on a similar boat, or have ‘adventures’ in all sorts of strange things like Jeeps or hot air balloons. You’d never be allowed to make a programme like that nowadays because of the stress the poor animals must have been put through! God knows how many ‘Hammy’s’ they went through making it! Even so, I can still hear the theme tune and the dulcet tones of Johnny Morris in my head every time I walk past. After my stroll along the canal I headed back uphill and towards home. You know the tower you saw on the horizon in the first picture? That’s just to the right of me in this shot and almost on the same level. The arrow shows you where I’d walked from in the previous pictures of the valley floor. At this point the sun’s buggered-off again and the next set of rain’s rolling in over Sowerby Bridge. Still, it was a good day…
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/
And relax… It seems some of my recent blogs on the nonsense Byline Times and the Guardian have published about the HS2 rail project have ruffled a few feathers judging by the traffic on my blog and comments on social media! That’s what happens when you critique lazy journalism with facts and references, you upset both right and left as each have an axe to grind so the truth is always the first casualty.
So, tonight I’m avoiding any political comment or critique. I’m going to talk about other things instead – like the weather! Who’s nicked the sunshine? We’ve had another indifferent day in the Calder Valley where heavy skies and the constant threat of rain has always been in the background. To be honest, it’s not been much of a problem as I’ve been office based, trying to work my way through the haul of pictures I took earlier in the week. Well, that and juggling various household chores and still trying to keep up my exercise regime. Where do the hours go?
One ray of sunshine was being able to stroll into Sowerby Bridge, visit the local Lidl and find the ‘Red Cross supplies’ had arrived. After several days of almost empty shelves the beer and wine section had been restocked, allowing me to panic buy – sorry, restock on bottles of their nice Hatherwoods IPA which has been very absent of late. Admittedly, carrying a ‘last supper’ number of bottles back up the hill to home in a rucsac left me in need of refreshment (and a shower), but hey!…
I’ll now turn off for the evening and leave you with a picture of the day. I was going to have a last evening stroll to complete my step total for the day but after cooking supper the weather had other plans. Here’s how sunset was in the Calder valley the other evening, when the descending orb in the sky was fighting a losing battle with incoming rain clouds. We didn’t even get this far tonight
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
I’ve had a rather unplanned break from the office today and taken the camera exploring instead. Dawn had to pop into the Community Rail Network offices in Huddersfield so suggested that I tag along so that I could help carry some boxes, meet her new Boss, then get out for a while whilst she worked. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss for several reasons. One being that due to the major engineering blockade on the railway into Manchester Victoria at Miles Platting several freight services are being diverted from the Calder to the Colne valley. Due to capacity constraints and the intensive passenger services along the Colne valley freight is normally rare, so it was a good chance to capture something unusual before the day comes when the overhead wires that will inevitably arrive change the route completely.
My donkey work done I caught a train West along the valley to Marsden. The 3-car local stopping was busier than I’ve seen it for ages as folk return to the railways
13:45.
I’m now playing cat and mouse with the sun, clouds and odd freight train, leavened with a selection of Trans-Pennine and Northern services, including some unusual empty stock moves. I’ll add a selection of camera shots later, right now you’ll have to settle for some phone pix…
For those of you who don’t know Marsden it’s a lovely little village surrounded by high Pennine hills. The last railway village in West Yorkshire and location of the famous Standedge tunnels (two rail, one canal). Here’s a flavour..
15:00.
As well as the railway Marsden hosts the Huddersfield narrow canal a popular inland waterway that’s busy with boats in the summer. The village was also a popular (perhaps too popular) stop for people on the trans-Pennine ‘Rail Ale Trail’ although Covid has killed much of that and the popular Riverhead pub in Marsden remains closed. Despite that, there’s still plenty of pubs, cafes and resturants to tempt visitors.
21:30.
That was a busy day! I stayed in Marsden for several hours until the skies began to close in and I had many of the pictures that I wanted. Despite me visiting some new locations there’s only so many shots that you can take before they become repetitive. Heading back to Huddersfield I spent an hour wandering around the town centre trying to get a feel for the place as it comes out of lockdown. I have to day, it feels sad. There’s clearly a lot of shops that are never going to open and the claims of Brexiters that being in the EU was what was holding us back have foundered on the rocks of reality – as you notice when you visit the supermarkets and gaze upon the empty shelves. Brexit hasn’t swept the streets of rogues and vagabonds (as promised) either as the vast majority of them are (of course) indigenous.
Once Dawn finished work we headed home to enjoy a quick drink in the garden watching the sun set on a glorious evening as the clouds had melted away here in the Calder Valley, leaving us with a perfect sky. We couldn’t linger long as we both had food duties to perform. Dee wanted to have another practice run with wedding cakes so whilst she did that I prepared a massive chick pea, tuna and veggie cheese salad with lots of trimmings that’ll keep us going for the next couple of days. Now, whilst Dee’s perfecting her baking I’m editing pictures.
First up is a shot from Marsden featuring an empty stock move from Newcastle’s Heaton depot to Manchester’s Newton Heath shed. Renumbered 150003 this is Northern’s newly converted 2-car Class 150116 which has been modified to run as a 3-car by the insertion of a 150/2 vehicle (57209). Three more of these units are to be converted, bringing the total to 6. This isn’t a new idea. Several trains ran in this formation when they worked for Central trains in the Birmingham area back in the 2000s.
Trans-Pennine Express unit 802202 speeds past Marsden whilst working 9M26, the 12:43 Newcastle to Manchester Piccadilly.802210 rounds the long curve from Marsden station (which is just out of shot around the corner) whilst working 1P29, the 1438 Manchester Piccadilly to Newcastle. The loop here is seldom used now that the former Northern stopping service from Huddersfield to Manchester is worked by TPE Class 185s. The fact this was once a four-track main line is evident from the width of the formation.
DB Cargo’s 66152 heads West with 6M16, the Monday’s only Tees Yard to Knowsley (Liverpool ) empty ‘binliner’. These waste trains were once a regular sight in the Colne Valley but changes in the locations served and the fact this trans-Pennine route no longer has the capacity to cope means the trains now normally run via the Calder Valley.
I’ll be adding these shots and many more to my Zenfolio website later in the week. But for now, it’s goodnight!
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/
Today’s been a lot less fraught. No ailing moggie to worry about for a start. Instead the little bugger seems to have made a speedy recovery and spent most of the day either curled up asleep on our bed or mewing for food, attention – or both. Jet’s such a lovely old boy that we can hardly be upset with him. Instead we just cherish the time we have with together.
The weather here in the Calder Valley’s certainly taken a turn. Although the forecast was for rain for much of the day we’ve had very little, merely the odd shower and a few claps of thunder out of some spectacularly threatening skies. Most of the really dark stuff has passed us by – which has allowed me to get in my daily perambulations without getting soaked. I’ve even managed a spot of gardening – cutting back the brambles on the terrace at the back of the house where they’ve made another bid for world domination. I’m sat up on the terrace now, beer in hand, gazing out across the Calder Valley, watching the next phalanx of stormclouds march towards us. It’s looking like this weather’s with us for the rest of the week now which is a shame in one way, but the gardens and woods would certainly benefit from the rain. Either way, I’ve got plenty to occupy myself with, so a few days climate-induced “house arrest” isn’t a problem.
The rest of the day’s not been unproductive. As well as sorting out paperwork I’ve enjoyed a pleasent few hours in the office, lining up some projects for the future now the country’s opening up again, as well as getting more old slides scanned. Right now I’m on an album of really random stuff that never got fully catalogued or filed, so there’s a melange of pictures taken between 1989 – 2003. Travel shots from the USA and Asia or images from my days working in social housing – even pictures of old friends – and of course old shots of Lynn. There’s such a mix of memories in these albums. I’m looking forward to having them all done so that I have digitised access to them in order to do something with them – even if it is just to jog some friends memories on Facebook, saying “remember this”?
This brings me on to the picture of the day which is one of today’s new scans. I took this shot of the old Three Mills complex at Bromley-by-Bow in East London on the 15th February 1990. In those days I lived just down the road on Bromley High St so this place was in walking distance and one day the winter sunshine was perfect for pictures. Built on the River Lea, Three Mills is the world’s largest tidal mill.
The grade 1 listed buildings have a long and fascinating history dating back to the 12th Century. In their time the mills have seen a multitude of uses, from milling flour to grinding grain for alcohol then distilling and bottling it or making gunpowder and used as warehouses right up to their present use for educational projects and as conference spaces. It’s a fascinating survivor of a world long-gone in this part of East London.
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/
Earlier today the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson presented the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to the members of the Mytholmroyd Station Partnershipat a ceremony in the restored station building which the group has put so much time and effort into bringing back into use.
The award was presented to Sue and Geoff Mitchell who received it on behalf of all the members of the groups, many of whom were able to attend – along with representatives of the rail industry and local councillors. As friends of the friends, Dawn and I went along to celebrate their outstanding achievement. Needless to say, I took my camera along, so here’s a few pictures from the day
The Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson greets Geoff Mitchell in traditional Covid ‘arm bump’ fashion… The Lord Lieutenant meeting local Councillors and community representativesAddressing the stations friends and their guests inside the restored station building. The Lord Lieutenant presenting Sue Mitchell from the station friends with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service The Lord Lieutenant presenting Sue Mitchell from the Friends of Mytholmroyd station with the engraved award and the certificate signed by the Queen. Everyone came together outside the building for the obligatory group photograph to celebrate the (well earned) award.
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/
Summer’s here! The past couple of days here in the Calder valley have been stunning with wall to wall sunshine, making up for some of the grey and grim days that have filled much of May. Even the fact it’s a bank holiday hasn’t put the mockers on the weather (for a change). Rather then joining the bank-holiday crowds heading for the coasts the pair of us have made the most of our time by staying at home and catching up on work on the house and garden which has been tiring to say the least but worth it just to be out in the sunshine and recharging the vitamin D levels. With my enforced stay in the ‘Septic Isle’ due to Covid and miserable weather I don’t think I’ve looked as pale as I did for years. Now we appear to be in for a run of good weather so my normal colour’s returning. Whilst I’ve been doing the heavy lifting on the garden terraces Dee’s been busy with sandpaper, filler and paintbrushes to restore the front door. Sitting high up on the valley side and facing South this row of cottages takes a battering from the weather, so keeping them up to scratch is a constant job.
That said, we’re having a day out tomorrow as we’re heading to somewhere I’ve never visited before. At Dawn’s suggestion we’re off to Flamborough Head near Bridlington, which sounds ideal, a rugged stetch of coastline with a lot of history, walking trails and wildlife. No doubt I’ll be blogging about it at some point but there’s going to be a a few more rolling blogs in the pipeline as from next Monday I’ll be spending several days based in Ipswich and travelling the East Anglian rail network for work. We’re having an early start in the morning so I’m cutting this blog short and leaving you with the picture of the day which I took this afternoon from our garden terrace looking over the cottages down towards Sowerby Bridge in the valley below. See what I mean about the sunshine?
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/
