After yesterday’s fun afloat we’re very much back on terra firma today, ready to soak up the sunshine in the Calder Valley and stretch our legs by taking a stroll up to the Moorcock Inn on Norland moor.
I’ve spent most of the day catching up on editing pictures from the past few days travels and updating yesterday’s less then ‘rolling’ blog! Here’s a couple of examples of the shots I’ve already added to my Zenfolio website.
The new order at Newton Heath depot in Manchester. More and more of the CAF built Class 195s are entering service, although the driver training programme remains a challenge. In the background can be seen the steelwork for the new shed that will be dedicated to maintaining the CAF units. The old order is beginning to disappear. Here’s Pacers 142036 and 142048 approaching Ashton Under Lyne whilst working a Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge service. This line’s been heavily rebuilt to cater for the (delayed) electrification. Much of the track’s been renewed and junctions replaced. In the background is one of the many bridges that have had to be rebuilt to provide sufficient clearance for the overhead wires.
20:30.
OK, not everything went to plan today. Both Dawn and I were so heavily caught up in chores that by the time we left the house there was no way we were going to make it up to the Moorcock. Instead, we had a leisurely walk down to the foot of the valley and strolled along the Calder and Hebble navigation (aka ‘the canal’) into Sowerby Bridge. The weather was absolutely stunning, the sort that you really don’t normally associate with Bank-Holiday’s in the UK. The ‘bridge’ was buzzing, the town’s blessed with a number of pubs with beer gardens and I suspect every one was full. Here’s a look at how it was down by the canal.
Earlier this week Network Rail launched a consultation on its plans to expand and electrify the rail corridor between Huddersfield and Dewsbury in West Yorkshire as part of the £2.9bn Trans-Pennine electrification programme . You can find a link to the consultation here.
In the plans are proposals to increase tracks East from Huddersfield from two to four. Replace the flat junctions at Mirfield East and Thornhill LNW Jns with a grade seperated junction using either a flyover or dive under by Ravensthorpe station. As well as increasing track capacity, the line would be electrified all the way from Huddersfield to Leeds. Improvements would also be made to Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe stations. The work would be carried out under a Transport and Works Act Order. Network Rail expect the application to be submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport in autumn 2020 with work beginning in 2021.
Here’s a look at some of the route in pictures, travelling from Huddersfield and heading East.
Looking East along the station throat at Huddersfield where the railway enters the town over a long viaduct which can accommodate four tracks as that’s what it’s carried on the past. There are proposals to increase the number of platforms at the station by building a new island platform on the site of the DMU stabling sidings. This shot was taken from the top of the old water tower (now ACoRP’s office) back in 2012. The Preston Docks to Lindsay empty bitumen tank train approaching Mirfield in 2012. Just behind the end of the train is Heaton Lodge Junction where the line to Huddersfield swings to the left and the route to Brighouse diverges to the right. This junction is already grade-separated. As you can see, the formation used to be four-tracked. The fourth line was removed in 1986 when the junction was rationalised. A shot taken in 2009, looking the other way from the previous image. A TPE service speeds past the site of the old Mirfield steam loco shed and rounds the curve to pass Mirfield station whilst a Westbound Northern service slows for signals as it will be overtaken by a Westbound TPE service at this point before crossing over to take the route to Brighouse. Four-tracking this section of line should remove these conflicts and speed up services as well as removing potentials for delays. In 2014 a Leeds – Huddersfield service calls at the small wooden platform built on the Up Slow at Mirfield station. The width of the formation at this point is obvious. The tracks beyond at the Up and Down fast lines. Any train coming from the Up Healy Mills route has to use this line. In 2012, a TPE service speeds West with Ravensthorpe station visible beyond the bridge. This is the site of the much-simplified Thornhill LNW junction which (nowadays) consists of one switch! The track the 185 occupies is bi-directional as it forms the Up Main from Dewsbury and also the Down L&Y which goes off to the right towards the former Healy Mills Marshalling yard. It’s this junction that Network Rail are proposing to replace with either a flyover or dive-under. The Calder Rd overbridge that can be seen in the background could present a challenge to building a flyover. It will be interesting to see what plans Network Rail come up with… A 2009 view taken from the Calder Rd overbridge showing Ravensthorpe station with the former L&Y route via Healy Mills diverging to the right. The LNW route to Dewsbury and Leeds on the left was always two tracks. The L&Y used to be four. The area to the left of the railway station was the site of the hugevcoal powered Thornhill power power station that had extensive railway sidings. Now there’s a small combined cycle gas turbine power plant and industrial units.
I’ll be heading out to get some more pictures of the area shortly to detail other parts of the route and the challenges Network rail face. Deighton station is one of them. The present station was opened on the 26th April 1982 and consists of two wooden platforms built in a cutting on the site of the old four track formation. These will need to be demolished if the extra two tracks are to be reinstated.
It’s been an interesting and busy day so far, even if I’ve not got done everything I hoped. Yesterday the details of the Oakervee review panel into Hs2 came out, which saw me write a comment piece for RAIL mag about it, then a much longer blog that looked at the composition of the Committee. The past 24 hours have seen a barrage of comment – much of it woefully ill- informed or politically driven – but it’s been good to see the projects supporters wade through this nonsense to forcefully rebut it. Few of us have any worries about the review, but we know the next few days and maybe even weeks will be full of froth until the Committee reports back and we can continue with building HS2 without anymore daft diversions. There’s enough political theatrics going on as it is what with Boris the Clown humiliating us on his European tour. Brexiters are finding out to their cost that the excuse they used that the only reason Brexit wasn’t going well was because a ‘remainer’ was PM, was as true as all their other claims.
Away from the froth I’ve been busy sorting out pictures for clients and my website, along with future travel plans and events. This Saturday we’re having a day on a friend’s narrowboat and I’ve also been sorting out Eurostar tickets for the next ‘Big 6 on Tour’ adventure, which sees a group of us venture further afield to Bruges for a few days.
I’d planned to head out and top up the library shots as I’m meeting a friend in Stalybridge later, but – despite all the predictions of brilliant weather to come – it’s been pretty miserable in the Calder Valley today, with rain issuing from some very gloomy skies. Hardly conducive to photography. That said, I’m off out shortly (if this bloody rain ever stops) , so let’s see what transpires…
13:33.
The rain finally eased enough for me to make a dash for freedom and walk down into Sowerby Bridge. The weather may be wet, but it’s also humid, which I wasn’t expecting. Waterproof + camera bag + mile long walk = clammy!
Now I’m drying off on Northern’s 13:21 to Chester as far as Manchester Piccadilly. It’s a Class 150/153 combo with plenty of spare seats. I think the weather’s put a damper on things for many leisure travellers, although a couple of hardy cyclists did detain at a very miserable looking Todmorden, where the tops of the surrounding hills are lost in the murk.
14:20.
Manchester’s weather’s living up to the city’s reputation although the sun’s struggling manfully to show its face. The skies are dark and threatening enough to make for some interesting pictures so I’ve decided to look at a place I’ve been meaning to revisit for a while, the area around Northern’s Newton Heath depot. I’m heading there courtesy of these.
Metrolink has been a great success and I’ve never understood the antipathy some rail enthusiasts have towards converting heavy rail routes to light. The Oldham loop was a classic example! Now it’s far more successful and serves more communities than the heavy rail route ever did.
15:58
I’d forgotten just how run-down and depressing the area around Newton Heath is! Despite regeneration efforts it’s still struggling. The area seems to be a classic example of the fact you can regenerate buildings, but people are far more of a challenge. The depot is expanding as a new shed’s being built to service the new CAF built Ckass 195s.
16:49.
I’ve moved on again and left the dereliction and despondency of Manchester behind. A pair of Pacers have brought me to Stalybridge, home of one of the finest station bars on the network.
21:18.
I’ve enjoyed a very pleasant evening being a Northern Ambassador to a friend from South of London who’s never really explored Manchester. We only had a couple of hours but a look around the city’s ‘Northern Quarter’ has done the trick. Now I’m on my way home as tomorrow’s a very busy day as I’ll soon be on the move again.
21:42.
The final trip of the day. I’ve changed at Hebden Bridge to get a connection to Sowerby Bridge. The problem is the Blackpool- York train I’ve connected with is a human zoo. The contents of these trains doesn’t inspire of the future of the human race, nor the planet
Today’s been our first day back in the disunited Kingdom after our time in Eire. Despite it being a Saturday I’ve had little time to relax (or blog) as there’s too much to do. Most of today’s been taken up editing hundreds of wedding pictures from last weekend as well, as trying to collate all the rail and travel pictures I snapped during our time in Ireland. This has kept me glued to a computer screen all day but at least I’ve broken the back of them now, which is just as well as I have to be in Derby tomorrow night in readiness for the launch of the new East Midlands Rail franchise first thing Monday morning – which means there’ll be some rolling blogs to come as well as yet another batch of photos to add to the queue for editing. At least I’ll have managed a couple of nights at home this week…
This evening the tempo changes as Dawn and I are heading round to some friends for a meal and chance to catch-up with people after having been away, so expect me to be absent from the internet tonight!
In the meantime, here’s a taster of some of the Irish pictures that’ll appear on my Zenfolio website next week. First off is a view of Cork’s famous English Market
Meanwhile, over to the East of the city centre, here’s a shot of the railway station, showing a Midleton service waiting to depart from platform 1 which is worked by one of the InterCity DMUs from Mitsui and TCC(Japan). 8 of them were supplied to IR in 1993. The Midleton route only reopened in the past 10 years and it’s been a fantastic success. In the adjacent siding stands one of Irish rail’s 34 strong Class 201 locomotives built by General Motors in 1994. These are used to push/pull the Mk4 coaches on the express workings to Dublin.
I’ll add the rest of the Irish pictures just as soon as I can. You’ll be able to find the travel ones here and the railway ones here. Oh, I nearly forgot! I’ve also taken quite a few merchant shipping shots around Ireland, If they float your boat (so to speak) you can find them here!
Today was meant to be a fun day but it’s fallen hostage to several things. Originally, a group of us were meant to be having a very pleasant evening catching-up on a steamship on the Weaver Navigation near the Anderton Lift in Cheshire. Sadly, the weather put paid to that as the torrential rain that’s caused havoc on the transport network and threatened to burst the Toddbrook reservoir dam and devastate the village of Whaley Bridge has also flooded the Weaver Navigation, so the boat trip was off. Instead, a few of us rail folk were going to meet up in Manchester and Tamworth before staying in Warrington overnight as we’ve not had a proper catch-up for months.
However, for me, the dreaded Lurgy had other plans.
This morning I woke up with a temperature accompanied by general aches pains and lassitude that informed me I’d come down with a virus. I doubt it’s much more serious than a cold, but the last thing I wanted to do today was spread the bloody thing to friends. Instead, I’ve had a (rare) day in bed catching up on sleep and some work. This included loading some of the pictures taken over the last couple of days to my Zenfolio website. You can find them here. There was one positive bit of news that buoyed my spirits this morning. The Tories lost the Brecon and Radnor by-election, which has cut Johnson’s Parliamentary majority to one! Well done to all the remain parties for working together! I see the Labour vote collapsed by 12.5%. One would hope the comrades would now wake up and smell the coffee as they’re heading the same way as the Tories. However, I doubt it as ‘Magic Grandad’ is useless and the Corbynistas spend most of their time forming their wagons into a circle around him to hurl insults at anyone who challenges their suicidal tactics of supporting both him and Brexit. It seems beyond their wit to realise that it’s actually floating voters you need to win a general election and spending all your time abusing them because of their lack of ideological purity is a spectacularly dumb idea.
I’ve got a very busy schedule next week as I’m finishing the ACoRP awards judging, then heading off to Ireland for a week to attend a friends wedding as their photographer. Dawn and I are taking the car over via the Holyhead ferry in order to explore Ireland for a few days before and after the main event. Both of us are really looking forward to it as (for me at least) it’ll be chance to catch up with friends and a chance for the pair of us to explore the beauty of the Irish Republic. Thanks to the antics of Boris Johnson and his inept Cabinet it’s going to be an expensive time now that they’ve tanked the pound and it’s perilously close to parity with the Euro. I also feel sorry for the residents of Whaley Bridge too. Not only have they been evacuated from their homes as the nearby dam is a natural disaster waiting to happen, they’ve had to put up with an unnatural one as our disaster of a Prime Minister has graced them with his presence today. Haven’t they suffered enough?
Whilst I’ve manfully struggled on with Lemsips and Kleenex, Dawn’s been shopping in Leeds for a dress to wear for next weeks wedding. At least she’s not had to suffer me sneezing all over her! Tomorrow, if the aches and fever subside, we have a barbecue to attend which is being hosted by our friend Tony of Phoenix Brewery fame. You can tell I’m not feeling 100% as I even turned down going to the Big 6 fun quiz tonight. Instead I’ve settled for a quiet night in with a bottle of beer, some crispy duck and Dawn and I curled up together watching films. That said, after all the travelling I’ve been doing and the nights away, what’s not to like?
I’m having another rare day at home trying to keep on top of admin’ whilst not going stir crazy. The day’s been productive so far with several things ticked off the list and with more to come, plus another tranche of pictures added to my Zenfolio website which you can find here. Right now, I’ve nipped out to do some shopping and get some exercise whilst spending a moment enjoying the view across the valley whilst the sun shines and the thunderstorms build up. We’ve had one brief crack of thunder earlier but the skies are certainly changing now. A phalanx of dark clouds is moving in from the East, whilst the higher, lighter cloud is in full retreat whilst the sun’s caught (high up) between the warring factions. As if acting as an out-runner, the wind’s sprung up to ruffle the trees in Scarr woods.
Looking West towards Sowerby Bridge and on to Manchester
Looking the other way and the thunderstorms are gathering…
Then the skies got darker, and darker and…
21:15.
We’ve had quite a storm! The thunder and lightning passed over pretty quickly, but they left behind a series of heavy showers in their wake which have passed through in a succession for the rest of the day. I’m quite glad I’ve not had to go out tonight and I’m holed up in the dry as it’s a filthy night. It’s given me the excuse to catch up on more paperwork and prepare for another day out on the rails judging the ACoRP awards tomorrow – although I’m not sure how we’ll fare weather-wise. We’ve five stations to visit across the North-West and Cumbria tomorrow, so I expect to get soaked at some point! It’s going to be a busy week as this will be my only one at home, the rest of the week’s taken up with judging and travelling. Not that I’m complaining you understand, we’ve got some fantastic stations and friends groups to visit. Here’s a look at one station from yesterday as an example. This is Bingley on the electrified Aire valley line from Leeds through to Skipton. It was built by the Midland railway in 1892 to replace the original station further East and it’s a fine example of the work of Charles Trubshaw, one of the Midland’s architects.
A Northern Class 333 EMU calls at Bingley on it’s way back to Leeds.
The main station buildings at street level. Sadly, the classic glazed MR canopies that graced the building were hit by a bus many years ago and removed as a consequence. Both shops/offices that you can see here are currently vacant and available for letting.
Thankfully the weather was a lot better yesterday and the local station friends were keen to show us what they’d been up to and what their future plans were. I can only hope we get some more good weather like this over the next few days, although I’m not holding my breath! I’ll be doing a rolling blog throughout the day (judging permitting) but don’t expect to learn too much about what the varied groups we visit have been up to. That will be saved for the ACoRP awards later in the year!
Right now it’s time to call it a day and get all my kit cleaned and charged up ready for a busy few days. See you tomorrow.
Well, the apocalyptic weather forecasts of heavy rain were rather wide of the mark. Apart from a morning of drizzle, we’ve had a dry day. The skies are still threatening and from our bedroom window I’ve seen the odd shower across the valley but the wind’s so strong that nothing hangs around for very long. Because of this I’ve been able to take breaks from editing pictures and staring at screens to enjoy a couple of long walks through our local woods to get some exercise, burning off some calories before we go out for a meal with friends tonight.
Right now I’m taking a break on the promenade high above the valley to enjoy the views and watch the clouds roll by. I do enjoy coming up here because you can see for miles, as you can see from this picture looking down over Sowerby Bridge.
I can understand why the painter Ashley Jackson likes Yorkshire so much, the weather and the light’s constantly changing. Here’s the view nearby yesterday.
As I sit here now I can see sunlight and shadows constantly scudding across the fields, creating a myriad of patterns, most of which are gone in an instant.
It’s a glorious escape from the political insanity that’s engulfed us. But, like all escapes, it’s only temporary…
16:15.
I can’t believe it’s the same day! Right now I’m sunning myself in the front garden and getting a tan! The weather’s changed completely – as it so often does in this part of the world.
The wind’s still playing havoc with the plants, so I’ve had to repot a couple of the sunflowers to stop them blowing over, but it’s glorious to bask like a lizard for a little while before getting dressed up for dinner.
After a couple of days at home normal service will be resumed in the morning as I’ll be up at Sparrowfart to head down to London once more. I’ve a commission from a client which will see me taking pictures at Upminster IECC, the signal box that controls a large chunk of the local Essex rail network. Next week’s going to be busy as I’m away Wednesday & Thursday on ACoRP awards judging, with a mere nine stations to visit across the East Midlands train network.
It’s all a contrast to the weekend as Dawn and I have had some quality time at home. Today’s been quite a relaxing one which allowed me to catch up with a few chores at home, indulge in a bit of blogging, get out for a walk and plan more of a forthcoming trip to Ireland. We even managed to fit in a visit to our local pub for a couple of pints in the beer garden. Well, when I say ‘we’ I mean me, as Dawn’s decided to give up alcohol as part of a 60 day challenge, so whilst I was enjoying some of Acorn breweries finest Dee was supping bottles of Becks Blue!
I do enjoy these weekends at home because they’re a relaxed contrast to much of my working weeks that can see me travelling from one end of the country to the other and I’m going to be doing plenty of that over the next couple of months!
So, expect a few rolling blogs this next week, starting early tomorrow morning, but for now – goodnight!
I’ve had another long day working from home which has allowed me to achieve a variety of things. Firstly, I’ve caught up with picture editing which means there’s now over 59,300 pictures on my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to see which galleries the most recent pictures have been added to. I’ve also been busy on other client based projects, one of which I can’t talk about at the moment but it involves a lot of search for particular pictures. Hopefully I’ll have this finished by the weekend. Of course there’s been the usual paperwork drudgery, plus keeping in touch with clients about jobs old and new via the wonders of email. There’s some exciting stuff to look forward to, including a job on Merseyside on Friday, but more about that when it happens.
Despite all the office based stuff I’ve still managed to get out and get some exercise by strolling up through our local woods, taking a roundabout route to do some shopping, although today the Calder Valley hasn’t exactly been basking in sunshine, just haze and a mixture of dull skies or high cloud. Compared to the fantastic summer we had last year this one’s more like the proverbial curate’s egg!
With being so busy I’ve not been following the news so I’ve escaped the madhouse that’s the Tory Leadership race to the bottom. The idea that the country, or rather a very tiny proportion of it which is Tory, elderly and believes in some batshit crazy stuff – including Brexit – is about to elect a blustering and incompetent serial liar as the next Prime Minister (yes, you Boris Johnson) is beyond madness. But that’s where we are nowadays. The country has taken leave of its senses and all the majority of us can do is watch the car-crash as it unfolds in front of our eyes. How long it will take before the first political crisis arises after Johnson’s elected is anyone’s guess, but I’m willing to bet that it won’t take long. The Tory membership may be falling over themselves at Johnson’s feet, but there’s plenty of seasoned Tory politicians who know what a disaster he would be as Premier and the potential he has to tear their party apart and/or lead it to political oblivion. I suppose that might be the only silver lining to this particular cloud but it’s a hell of a price to pay.
Right, enough political musing, I’ve got another early start as I’ve lots of work to do tomorrow and the alarm clock’s already counting down to morning…
Today’s been one of those days stuck in the office where I’ve seen little else other than a computer screen. Most of the morning was spent editing hundreds of pictures from last week’s Network Rail jobs, but at least now they’re done and dusted so I can move on to other work, and there’s one very big job that’s going to be taking up much of this month – judging the 2019 ACoRP awards. The past few days has seem me busy going through the permutations and times of how to get myself and my fellow judge around all the stations we need to visit without us having massively long days. Luckily, Mark, the new Judge who’s joining me this year has a lot of rail experience and has been able to make suggestions I would’ve otherwise missed, so we’re gradually getting there. Tomorrow we start visiting the first stations closer to home before ending up with the more far-flung ones towards the end of the month. No doubt I’ll be rolling out some blogs about our travels. In between the ACoRP work I’ve a few interesting commissions coming up, so expect a bit of variety over the next few weeks. I’m going to be travelling pretty much the length & breadth of England, so there’s going to be plenty to see and photograph.
After the glorious weather we had for our narrowboat trips yesterday we’ve had a disappointing start to the week, the day’s early promise came to naught, gradually the day darkened as the clouds built up, culminating in a wet and dreary Monday evening, leaving me quite happy to be spending an evening keyboard bashing whilst Dawn’s busy downstairs cooking curries. The smells wafting up from the kitchen smell delicious!
Paul Bigland 