Category Archives: West Yorkshire

This wasn’t in the plan…

07 Tuesday Oct 2025

Posted by in Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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18:57

After a very busy day at the community rail conference (hence no rolling blog this time) myself and many other staff members and delegates were heading North on Northern’s 16:14 to Leeds. All was going to plan until we entered West Yorkshire, where we started to get news of a problems in the Leeds and Halifax area which mean that no trains are running through the Calder valley, which has buggered up several of us.

Rather than get stuck in Leeds four us decided to jump ship at Wakefield Kirkgate in order to catch Grand Central’s 18:36 which was shown as still running through Halifax to Bradford, having avoided the Calder valley route. This would have got two of three of us home, whilst our colleague heading to Accrington would be nearer his.

So much for cunning plans. A further signalling fault at Greetland Junction (just South of Halifax) put the mockers on that idea. Fortunately, our intrepid Grand Central crew and Grand Central’s control team were up to the challenge. We’re now running direct to Bradford Interchange via Wakefield Westgate and Leeds. It will involve a reversal at Whitehall Junction in Leeds, but at least we’ll get to Bradford in comfort! After that? Who knows? It would seem that trains have started running through the Calder Valley (and Halifax) again, so something will turn up sooner or later.

I’ll be happy to get home as I’m on the rails again tomorrow heading down to Swindon for another job with the Permanent Way Institution. Hopefully that trip will be incident free!

19:24.

We made it to Bradford Interchange in good order. Needless to say, there was a melee on the platforms as people milled around, hoping for a train going in their direction. I was one of the lucky ones as a service bound for Wigan was following behind us. It’s busy, but not unbearably so – and at least I’m on the move again.

The welcoming sight of approaching headlights!

21:00.

Phew! I finally made it home. Dawn offered to pick me up from the station which saved me a 30 minute walk and got me home earlier. Now I’ve put my feet up to relax before another busy day tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a few pictures taken in Nottingham today.

A cyclist passes a tram on Middle Hill in central Nottingham. The area contains some very colourful murals which certainly brighten the place up.
It’s leaf-fall season on the railway, so Network rail has deployed its fleet of railhead treatment trains (RHTTs) which blast leaf mulch off the rails with high pressure water jets. Here’s one passing through the station earlier today.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

When the wind blows…

04 Saturday Oct 2025

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, Photography, West Yorkshire

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We’ve spent our day here in West Yorkshire being battered by ‘storm Amy’, the latest weather front to pass through and cause chaos as it brought torrential rain and heavy winds that ripped small branches off the trees opposite the cottage. Not that the conditions affected us that much as we had no plans to do anything other than stay at home – which we did!

Whilst the rain battered on the windows the pair of kept occupied with various work tasks as both of us had stuff to catch up on. I’ve still got a backlog of pictures to edit and caption before next week, whilst Dawn’s keen to get on top of her work before the two of us head off to Nottingham for the Community Rail Network conference.

Eventually, the storm abated long enough for me to get out for a walk and do some shopping in order to cook this evening. I fancied trying a different Indian recipe, so after scouring various cookbooks I plumped for a North Indian dish – chicken in a cashew nut sauce. Our extensive spice collection meant the only things I needed to buy was chicken from Tesco and fresh coriander from our local Asian supermarket. As I feel in the mood I also bought bunches of Methi (Fenugreek leaves) to use in another recipe.

Here’s a few phone pictures of my day.

Walking back from shopping I stopped off on the promenade to watch the weather. I love a good storm and as I was wearing full waterproofs I wasn’t too perturbed watching the latest rain front approach along the Calder valley.
Dropping down from the promenade I walked through Scarr woods which were showing the effects of the storm. Even though, it was a lovely, peaceful place to walk.
The ingredients for tonight’s meal – bar a bit of plain yoghurt…

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1st October picture(s) of the day…

01 Wednesday Oct 2025

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

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October’s got off to a slow start, mainly because I’ve spent most of the day glued to a computer screen as I continue to clear the backlog of picture editing, along with associated paperwork. My optimism that I’d broken the back of editing all my Portugal pictures turned out to be misplaced. As I integrated all the edited and captioned pictures back into the main database I realised just how many pictures from the Douro valley and elsewhere I’d skipped. They’ve now joined the queue to be dealt with by the end of the week.

I did manage to get out for my daily constitutional by wandering down the valley into Sowerby Bridge in order to pick up some shopping, the first time I’ve visited the town since we’ve got back. Sadly, despite the opening of the refurbished market square the rest of the place seems to remain in decline. The number of vacant shops has increased, another pub appears to have closed (the ‘Sore Bee’. That’s two going now as the ‘Loose Goose’ is to be converted into HMOs, a laundrette and office space) and the canal remains closed to traffic due to low water levels. In fact, the Rochdale canal resembles more of a flowerbed with a water feature than a canal! Here’s a few camera-phone pictures from my excursion.

Oh, to be back in Portugal…

The Rochdale canal looking towards Tuel Lane lock. It’s haighly unusual to see it like this so late in the years, although this section being closed to navigation is becoming more frequent due to lack of rainfall.
In contrast to the canal the River Calder has obviously been high in recent weeks – hence this old tree stuck on the weir, which is a recent addition. I wonder how long it’ll remain stuck there?
One thing we’ve seen in abundance this year has been fruits and berries. We’ve had a cracking blackberry season and acorns aplenty. This bush in the centre of town is showing the same spirit.

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Reservoir (and more) blogs. Part 7…

22 Monday Sep 2025

Posted by in Climate Change, Photography, Railways, Reservoir blogs, Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade, West Yorkshire

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After Sodden Saturday we had Sunny Sunday, a day which encouraged the pair of us to get out and make the most of things. As we’d heard about all the rain Yorkshire had seen whilst we were away in Portugal we thought we’d check out how things stand with some of the local reservoirs. However, there was something else I was keen to have a look at seeing as we were out in the car – and that was progress on rebuilding Huddersfield station. Dawn kindly detoured so we could take a look. Here’s some of what we saw.

The view inside the trainshed seen from the nearby road bridge (which offers a grandstand view). To the right is the newly extending bay platform used by terminating services from Sheffield. The old Platform 1 have been extended outwards, taking over the course of the old track, which has been re-laid closer to the old platform 3. Originally there were four tracks running through this part of the station, but the centre two roads were removed in the 1980s.
What a change! This was the site of platform 8 and the stabling sidings. The smaller station roof has been removed and all tracks lifted. Eventually, a new island platform will be built here.
The area in the centre of the picture was the site of the two short bay platforms. They’ve disappeared completely. The only remains are the wooden platform end fence to the right of the yellow crane. The Eastward extensions of the through platforms, which have been built over the replacement William St bridge.
A general view of the North side of the station and old island platform. The roof’s gone, as has the signalbox. Only the lift shaft and an equipment room remain.

Having checked out TRU progress we headed out to the M62 for a short trip to Junction 22 where we passed the Booth wood reservoir. We’d visited it back in August when it was looking perilously low. To be honest, there seemed little difference in the levels, as this picture shows.

From Booth wood it was a short drive to Baitings, where we got a surprise as levels have increased by around 3 meters.

Looking towards the dam from the new road bridge. Just a few days ago an earlier dam could be seen in the foreground. It disappeared again virtually overnight thanks to the recent rains.
The old bridge has water under it once more as the Ryburn has started bringing water down from the moors.
A torrent of water is entering the reservoir from Horse Hay Clough which runs off the moors to the North of the res’.

Does this mean an end to the drought? I doubt it. No more rain’s forecast, and there’s still a lot of ground (or should that be water) to make up…

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Ready, steady…

04 Thursday Sep 2025

Posted by in Photography, Portugal, Travel, West Yorkshire

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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…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

The seasons change…

03 Wednesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Climate Change, Musings, Photography, West Yorkshire

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Alas, the glorious weather we’ve enjoyed this year feels like it’s coming to an end as the seasons change. Autumn is fast approaching, although for many farmers it arrived unseasonably early, allowing them to harvest weeks earlier than normal, with some enjoying very good crop yields, despite the dry weather and heat which has meant that 2025 has been identified by the Met Office as the warmest summer on record. The worrying thing is that record is very likely to be broken next year.

Now the rain’s taken over here in West Yorkshire. We’ve had several days of heavy showers and leaden skies. I shouldn’t really complain, anyone who’s read any of my reservoir blogs will know how desperate we are for rain around here. Yorkshire Water reports that levels are down to 32.6 per cent – well below the 72.7 per cent average for this time of year. So we’re going to need a hell of a lot of steady rain to make up the deficit – and avoid floods. Still, Dawn and I are off to Portugal on Friday, so if the heavens want to open for the next couple of weeks, then don’t mind us!

I nipped out between heavy showers earlier to get shots of the signs of the seasons change. The Oak trees that make up some of the woodlands surrounding us are a mass of acorns right now. It’s difficult to walk through the woods without getting bombed by them dropping. The downside is that the local grey squirrels have gone into overdrive, collecting and stashing as many acorns as they can find as food for the winter months. The problem is these pesky rodents are seeing my flowerbeds and pots as part of their larder, destroying any plants that get in their way. Bloody things…

The persistent rain’s brought the valley sides to life again, reinvigorating grass and woodland alike. It’s also made for some interesting skies, like this. I managed to get home before this little lot dumped on me.

Looking across the Calder valley to Norland and the Ryburn valley beyond.

We’ve a thunderstorm warning for the rest of the day, which could produce some fun. Let’s see…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

31st August picture of the day…

31 Sunday Aug 2025

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade, TRU, West Yorkshire

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Finally, after what’s been an incredibly dry spell, we’ve had rain this weekend. It’s nowhere near enough to fill the reservoirs (that will take months), but the showers have been heavy enough to make a difference to gardens and soak the ground enough so that the water doesn’t just run off the baked earth.

Admittedly, these downpours have made photography more challenging. I’d half-hoped to nip out yesterday to get shots of the first day of Huddersfield blockade diversions, but the weather was so gloomy and wet I gave up on the idea. Today was meant to be better. Plus, there were several engineers trains booked to run via the Calder valley from work around Mossley in the Colne valley. Dawn wasn’t feeling 100% so decided to concentrate on packing for Portugal, which gave me the time to nip out on my own and head the Hebden Bridge in the hope of getting some decent shots. Of course, the weather had other ideas. Shooting engineers trains is a hit and miss affair. The chances of them running to time are minimal, so you really are in the lap of the Gods – and today they were laughing at me! Each time one of the services I was waiting to photograph was due the heavens opened. Today’s picture tells the tale…

5 minutes before 66541 arrived the sun was shining and conditions were perfect. Then we had a cloudburst which sent me scurrying for the shelter of the station canopy. This was the result, the loco steams in the rain as it heads from Mossley to Doncaster with a train full of spent ballast from track renewals.

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

TRU: Huddersfield hiatus…

29 Friday Aug 2025

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Today’s the final day where Huddersfield station retains its current shape. Lines – and the station – close tonight until September 29th. When the station reopens its transformation will be well underway. So, I’m out and about looking at the way the forthcoming blockade is changing stations in the area – as it’s not just Huddersfield.

A general view of the West end of the station. Whilst the main trainshed roof will remain the smaller one to the left will disappear, along with the island platform as this side of the station will be extensively remodelled to accommodate an extra island platform, creating four through platforms.
The old stabling sidings at Huddersfield have disappeared. Now, part of the former goods yard is a storage site for hardcore.
Giant cranes dominate the station, ready to lift in new bridge segments.
Platform 1 has been stripped bare of shelters and kiosks. The scaffolding that shrouded the roof has also disappeared.
The former Huddersfield signalbox. Located on the island platform, it will disappear in order to make way for the new wing of the station.
The station subway, always a cold place – even in the height of summer. The new platforms will be accessible from a footbridge with lifts.
Looking through the station from the by the bufferstops on the bay platforms. The old wooden station building that occupied the site where the seats are on the right has been carefully dismantled and will be re-erected on the new platform in the future.
A last look at the East (Leeds) end of the station. The bufferstops of the two bay platforms are visible to the right. One can only fit a a single 2 car and the other a 3 car so are inadequate for the modern railway. They’ll be replaced by two full length through platforms.
Brighouse is about to become the railhead for Huddersfield. This has involved extending the station car-park and providing shelter for passengers waiting for buses onwards.
In recent years Brighouse has had its platforms lengthened as part of the TRU upgrade. The place has recently had a spring-clean, which has added to the excellent work done by the local station friends group.
There’s worse places to wait for a train than Brighouse. The friends group keep the place looking attractive and whilst there’s not many amenities on the station there’s a real ale pub and cafe right outside.
This is Deighton station. It closes tonight. It won’t reopen for two years – when the line here has been four tracked. Here’s how the new station will look.
Picture copyright of TRU.
Here’s a scene which will vanish today. The bridge in the background will be replaced by a new structure.
A TPE Class 802 speeds West through Deighton. Four tracking is already underway at this point
The King’s Head pub on Huddersfield also closes tonight. Fancy a pint? All beers are half price today…

Over the weekend I’ll compose a picture-blog looking back over the life of Huddersfield station as I’ve seen it. Unfortunately I only have pictures from the 1990s onwards, which is a shame as I first passed through in the early 1970s, but the memory’s a bit hazy nowadays!

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Reservoir blogs. Part 6…

27 Wednesday Aug 2025

Posted by in Climate Change, Derbyshire, Photography, Reservoir blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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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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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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Reservoir blogs. Part 5…

25 Monday Aug 2025

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I have to admit I’m rather behind with these as today we’ve sallied forth from West Yorkshire to Derbyshire and back in order to walk around the Derwent valley dams and more – but that’s tomorrow’s story.

We were out an about yesterday but stayed local. Having driven over to Southport recently we’d passed the reservoir at Booth Wood near Ripponden. We were shocked to see the state of it so sore to return to get some pictures. If you’re familiar with the M62 motorway you’ll know the famous stretch where East and West carriageways part around Stott Hall farm. Well, Booth Wood is in the valley below – although you may not notice it.

Normally, when we drive past the water is cascading over the top of the dam. Not any more. Here’s how it looked yesterday.

The famous farm is the white building to the right of the picture.
You can see how low the water levels are by the fact that water would normally be cascading over the central (lower) part of the dam for much of the year. In the background is the notorious Scammonden Bridge which carries the B6114 high above the motorway.

Hving checked out Booth Wood we took off over backroads to a favorite and well-publicised location. Baitings reservoir gets a lot of publicity due to the old road bridge which appears when the dam is suffering from low water levels. I’ve featured it in several of these blogs. Only now it’s worse, with levels having dropped several more feet in just a few days. Having parked the car we decided to walk right around Baitings which was both lovely – and disturbing. Here’s how it looked.

Looking East from the road bridge towards the dam. Levels are dropping all the time.
As the water levels continue to drop features like this which haven’t been seen for years continue to be exposed. Was this an old quarry?
A few weeks ago there was still water under the old bridge. Not any more…
Standing on the old bridge looking back at the new. Consider the fact that when the reservoir is full the water level is about a meter below the bottom of this bridge.

Tomorrow I’ll add pictures from today’s adventures (and more).

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312