Category Archives: West Yorkshire

Rolling blog: Leeds liason..

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Best laid plans and all that: I’m currently sat on a train to Leeds with my wife as Dawn’s having to have an ultrasound scan on a shoulder injury, so I’m going with her for a spot of moral support. It’s a pain in more ways than one as time is flying by at the moment and there’s so much to do before we fly out to New Zealand.

Mind you, the concept of time seems to be relative if you’re a member of the Tory party, especially if you’re an MP. Despite the sands running out rapidly on the article 50 date and us getting ever closer to crashing out of the EU in a no-deal scenario, they’ve found time for another round of the interminable civil war to stage a no-confidence vote in the PM. This is proof (were it needed) that the majority of the Tory party only cares about itself and the wealth and ambitions of its members. The rest of the country can go hang. I can see I’m going to indulging in a lot of spleen venting in these next few weeks as these fools take us ever closer to the edge of the precipice.

Whilst my spleen’s up to speed, I’ll have another gripe? What is it about some people who clearly have all the awareness to their surroundings as an amoeba? Here’s an example from today.

These two women have the whole bloody platform to stand on and a waiting room to sit in. So where do they choose to stand? Right in the middle of the doorway! Despite several people having to try and squeeze past them (and being typically British, they never said anytbing to the women) it never entered into their tiny minds that this wasn’t a great place to hand around! I’m beginning to despair of the English and I’m constantly reminded of an old NUT badge from the teachers strikes of the early 1980s that said “if you think education’s expensive, try ignorance”…

From Leeds we had a spin on one of Northern’s Class 170s which have been cascaded from Scotrail. This one was working the 11:55 Leeds-Selby. They’re certainly an improvement on the 158s!

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For Dawn, this has been time well spent. Her shoulder injury is capsulitis which was diagnosed by ultrasound. A Corticosteroid injection was administered directly into her shoulder capsule to help ease the inflammation, so I came in useful as a hand-holder! Dawn was given advice on exercise and posture. We went private, so it cost £150, but it was worth it.

The clinic’s in Garforth, to the East of Leeds. It’s a place i’ve never visited before although I’ve passed through the station dozens of times. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact it still manages to retain a functioning High St. I was also interested to see clues to its past in the name of a pub (The Miners) and this building.

Those days are long gone. The last colliery (Rothwell) closed in 1983, the year before the bitter and destructive Miners strike of 84-85.

17:05

We’re now in Huddersfield. Slightly later than planned as the Trans-Pennine service we caught was (to no-one’s surprise) delayed. The stopping pattern of the Hull-Manchester service we used has changed, it no longer stops at Batley but the automated announcement still claimed it did, much to the Conductors annoyance!

As we left Garforth I spotted this historical plaque on the Miners pub.

Whilst Dawn’s returned to work I’ve been having a mooch around Huddersfield, looking for a few bits for our New Zealand trip. It’s bleeding freezing tonight, the temperature may be rising in Westminster but the hot air’s certainly not reaching West Yorkshire!

This festive season the town’s gained a new attraction in St George’s Square, outside the station. It’s a tent based pop-up pub (I saw the same thing in Lincoln last month).

I popped in to have a look but didn’t stop for a drink as we’re meeting up with Dawn’s parents for a meal later at the wonderful Thai Sakon.

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The food at Thai Sakon was excellent as usual and so were the staff. Here’s my starter: deep fried crispy noodles with prawns in a sweet and sour sauce.

It was a lovely evening with Dawn’s parents. We shared food and laughter. We’re now making our way back home on one of Northern’s less attractive trains.

Wednesday wondering

21 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, West Yorkshire

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Today we’ve suffered another dull and dismal day in the Pennines. The Calder valley’s been coated in cloud with just a rare glimpse of sunshine to tease us. I’m so glad that I got out to capture the autumn colours last week as the weather’s never been the same since and now most have the leaves have fallen.

I’ve not minded too much as my day’s been spent working at home in the warm with the heating on and the cat for company. This past few days I’ve been trying to make a dent in the 1000s of slides I need to scan, which has been an interesting trip down memory lane (see this blog). Now I’ve nipped out for a walk and a pint before resuming the scanning. Here’s the view across the valley as I walked up to the Big 6.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow as I’ll be making my way to Lincoln as I’ve a press event on Friday morning. Siemens are showing off their new railway bogie overhaul facility, so expect a blog over the weekend.

In the meantime, here’s a couple of the pictures I’ve been scanning. They tell two stories. One’s the changing face of the railways, the other is the changes in London.

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On the 15th March 1996 two old BR built Class 47 diesels cover South London in diesel exhaust as they power through Wandsworth Rd station. The locomotives were heading for the Channel Tunnel freight yard at Dollands Moor. Operated by a BR break off company called Railfreight Distribution they were used to move freight trains to/from the channel tunnel. They operated in pairs just in case one broke down so they’d be less likely to block the busy commuter routes across the home counties. The skyline behind them has changed completely. The old gasometer was demolished several years ago and the whole area as far as Battersea power station is being covered in high-rise housing. I really should go back to get a comparison shot soon.

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The same day a Eurostar service from Waterloo international passes Wandsworth Rd on its way to the Channel tunnel. These trains operated over the ‘classic’ network until High Speed 1 was built into a revamped St Pancras station in 2007, 12 years later. It’s passing an old BR Class 33 diesel locomotive. These were built especially for the old Southern region of British Railways and were a familiar sight in the area from 1960 until the last ones were withdrawn a few years after this picture was taken.

Right, we’ve both popped up to the Moorcock Inn for a midweek treat. Can you guess which two dishes we’ve chosen?

21:52.

We’re back at home. Dawn’s relaxing in front of the TV and I’m finishing off scanning the next batch of slides as I won’t have chance these next few days. The temperatures really starting to drop, so the central heating’s been cranked up a bit.

What a contrast (in more ways than one)!

16 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by in Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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After yesterday’s superb autumn weather we’ve had a complete change. I’ve been working  from home and I’ve hardly been able to see the other side of the valley all day! The fog came in this morning and it’s stuck, now it’s evening and the day seems to have slipped away into the murk.

I’ve been busy editing the pictures that I’ve taken in London and West Yorkshire before uploading them to my Zenfolio picture website. If you follow this link you can see the galleries I’ve added them to. I’ll upload a few here as samples.

In London I had a look at the old Liverpool St – Shenfield rail route that will become park of Crossrail, or the ‘Lizzie line’ if you prefer its new name. The old BR built Class 315 trains that have plied the route since 1980 are being replaced by the new Bombardier built Class 345s.

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315843 and a sister unit sit in the new bay platform at Shenfield that was built to take Crossrail trains. 13th November 2018

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Bombardier built 345003 approaches Manor Park in East London on a service to Shenfield. These 7 car units are replacing the 4 car class 315s and will operate the delayed Crossrail services from 2019.

A day later, on a very different railway, I was ensconced on a hill in West Yorkshire in equally stunning weather – but far more trees, and a lot shorter trains!

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A pair of Northern Rail Pacers cross the Rochdale canal on the Gauxholme bridge as they make their way from Leeds to Manchester. In the background is the town of Todmorden. The autumnal colours in the leaves have been spectacular this year.

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A Northern Rail Class 156 traverses the viaduct that crosses the centre of Todmorden. The railway station can just be seen trough the trees to the left.

 

Rolling blog: Autumn colours

15 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, West Yorkshire

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I was trying to get some autumn leaf colour shots the other day when I was rudely interrupted by the weather and the need to head to London. Today I’m back and the conditions are superb. Here’s my current location, looking down over Todmorden in West Yorkshire. The climb’s a bit of a bugger when you’ve a camera bag on your back, but it’s well worth it!

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I can’t upload any camera pictures right now, but I have to say, the light’s been gorgeous! The only problem is that the light doesn’t last long this time of years and the long shadows soon creep in

I’m back in Todmorden now as (foolishly) I took water with me but no food – so I was rather peckish by mid-afternoon and the days exertions. West Yorkshire ain’t flat!

Tod’ has a lovely little market, both indoor and outdoor, it nestles in the shadow of the railway viaduct and I keep meaning to come here one morning to get shots juxtaposing the two. The outdoor market sells all manner of stuff, especially bric a brac, whilst the indoor one has some good butchers selling locally sourced meat. There’s also a very popular coffee stall. Here’s a couple of shots.

Whilst I’m waiting for my train home I’ve popped into the Queens Hotel which is across the road from the station for a swift pint before heading home. They have two local ales on. One of which commemorates the Great War.

21:35

I’m back at home in front of the computer screen, so here’s a couple of sample of the pictures I’ve been after today.

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A sublime evening at the Moorcock Inn, Norland

10 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in Food and drink, The Moorcock Inn, West Yorkshire

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Last night we finally had the opportunity to sample the restaurant menu at the Moorcock Inn, Norland. We’re incredibly lucky to have this place so close to us and we walk up to the pub on a regular basis for a drink and chance to sample the bar menu, but until now, we’d never had the opportunity to sample the restaurant menu. As it’s our first wedding anniversary on Sunday we thought this would be a great start to the weekend. We weren’t disappointed. Here’s what was on the menu.

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I couldn’t resist getting some pictures of the courses but as none of this was set up, these were the dishes as they came, so you’ll have to excuse the rushed nature of the shots – it was quick, get a picture and tuck in!

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Bread (served with their home-made cultured butter) and the snacks, In the Foreground are sprouts in a Rosehip and Hogweed vinaigrette, ingredients that have been foraged. The sprouts were gorgeous and the dressing superb, reminiscent of a hoisin sauce but far lighter and less cloying.

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Smoked Dogfish (sourced from Whitby on the Yorkshire coast and caught sustainably) with celery and horseradish.

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Wood-roast pear and onion, sea herbs and walnut cider. A superb mixture of flavours and textures, salty, sweet and smoky.

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Potato tart, plankton and chrysanthemum. This was a real surprise. There was an earthiness and variety of textures, from the layered potato to the crunchiness of the pastry base. – all perfectly balanced. Accompanying the tart was the fish seen below, which added yet another dimension. Aimee had done an excellent job in complimenting Alisdair’s amazing food with a range of drinks and served a NV Drie Fonteinen Geuze beer from Belgium. The sourness of the beer added yet another dimension to the dishes.

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8 yr old Hebridean mutton, tomatillo and home-made feta cheese. Inside the lettuce leaf is braised mutton which had been cooked overnight in one of the smoke ovens at the rear of the pub. Dawn had never had mutton before and was blown away by the tenderness and taste.

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One of the extras which I had all to myself as Dawn is allergic to cheese, so for me it’s a rare treat nowadays. I love veined cheeses and this Young Buck blue cheese from County Down was rich and full of flavour. It’s made from organic raw milk. It was served with wood-roast apple and soda bread. The balance of flavours, from the thick tangy creaminess of the cheese and the sweetness and smokiness of the apple, coupled with the texture of the soda break was a delight.

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The meal was rounded off with Lavender ice cream with grapes and beetroot, served with sake from NV Kodakara Umeshu, Yamagata, Japan. The sake’s infused with plums and almonds, giving it a richness and roundness that makes it an ideal accompaniment to a dessert. Wow!

We had a wonderful evening and the food exceeded our expectations – which were already high after having eaten different items off the bar menu several times. Alisdair’s a wizard in combining tastes and textures to produce some unique and stunning food. His inventiveness is amazing. Couple that with Aimee’s talent in selecting just the right choice of wines, beers (or even sake) to accompany the food and a meal at the Moorcock’s a truly memorable experience. My wife’s no slouch when it comes to cooking (something we both enjoy doing) but Dawn was left in awe by what we had last night – and I have to agree. The food here is very, very special. We can’t wait until next time to see what the pair of them provide…

If you want to contact the Moorcock. Here’s links to their website and their Facebook page.

A short walk in the Calder valley

29 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by in Calder Valley, Travel, West Yorkshire

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It’s been a lazy(ish) day today. We’ve not been far, well, by our definition anyway! After a fairly lazy morning at home catching up on chores and bits we decided to walk across the valley up to Norland Moor and the fabulous Moorcock Inn.

After leaving home we walked down through Scarr Woods to the valley floor and along the Salter & Hebble Navigation (otherwise known as the canal) as far as Copley, a small place that’s sandwiched between the canal and the River Calder.

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There’s only one road in and out and for a couple of years the place was even more isolated as the old stone bridge that crossed the Calder was destroyed in the Boxing day floods of 2015. In 2017 this was replaced by a modern steel structure that once again allows pedestrian access to the Norland side of the valley and an area of dense woodland known as North Dean Wood. It’s a interesting little place. An old Toll house still stands by the bridge, opposite the disused St Stephen’s Church which is a designated Grade II* listed building, under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

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The church was open when we passed, so we had a nosey inside. It’s a huge, rather gloomy place that must have been murder to heat and light in its day!

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What was interesting about the church was that it contained nuggets of local history and an explanation of how Copley village came into existence. What I learned was that it was one of the earliest model villages, set up before the much more famous Saltaire. He’s a local website that explains – and saves me having to!

Heading on from the church we walked up through the woods to reach the top of the escarpment and Greetland Moor. The leaves are just beginning to turn but have yet to produce the rich panoply of colours we can expect to see in a few weeks time. What we did see was a wide variety of mushrooms. I’m no mycologist, so I don’t really know what I’m looking at, but here’s some examples.

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As you cut through the trees towards the top of the escarpment there’s some wonderful views back across the Calder valley towards Halifax, where the magnificent 23 arch, Grade 2 listed Copley viaduct is exposed to view. Built for the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway in 1850 it spans the River Calder, the canal and the A6026 Wakefield Rd.

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Once up on the moors we walked from Greetland to Norland and on to the Moorcock Inn for a well deserved pint and also – one of their home made pork pies – which are excellent. Succulent and packed with meat, they’re not cheap, but as a treat, they’re well worth trying.

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The bar menu changes on a daily basis and always contains something different and delicious

Sowerby Bridge rushbearing festival 2018.

01 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by in Sowerby Bridge, Tourism, Travel, West Yorkshire

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My day’s been taken up by enjoying a local tradition here in Sowerby Bridge: rush bearing. It’s an event that goes back years, to when church floors were covered in rushes which were changed at this time of year. Like many traditions, it died for a time. But it was resurrected in Sowerby Bridge back in 1977. I’m not going to get into a long explanation about this as I can provide links to websites that already explain it – such as this one. What I will do is add some pictures from today’s event and say – if you’re at a loose end tomorrow, why not come along? And if you can’t do that, remember that rush bearing happens at the first weekend in September every year. Here’s a few pictures from today. I’ll add many more to my Zenfolio website later. In the meantime, here’s the gallery from previous years.

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Rolling blog: Escaped!

29 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Huddersfield, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire

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After several days working from home I’ve managed to escape the confines of the office and do some research for a forthcoming article. Dawn dropped me off at Huddersfield station on her way in to work at ‘ACoRP Towers’, allowing me to pick up a train to head East

I’m now in the lap of luxury – a six car TPE set working a local Leeds stopper! Whilst this is lovely, I can’t help wondering about using 100mph Class 185s on such a service. It hardly strikes me as a sensible use of resources.

Still, I’m not grumbling, it beats bouncing along in a Pacer or a 150!

14:31. South Gosforth.

I’ve moved a bit! I’m now on the Tyneside Metro en-route to Whitley Bay after a stop in Durham to sample the new station bar – The Waiting Room. This is the latest edition to the stable of stations with decent pubs and it’s a cracker!

The rooms have been rescued from dereliction after their previous use as a newspaper delivery room and restored to a very high level. The bar has three hand pumps, all dispensing beers from the region.

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DG305956. The waiting room pub. Durham. 29.8.18crop

18:42 Aboard a TPE service back from Newcastle to York..

Today’s been busy – and suffered from a lack of internet access so I’ve not updated this blog as much as I’d hoped to. That said, it’s been a fascinating day. I’ve not explored the Tyne and Wear metro for several years, despite planning to – and today’s trip was very spur of the moment (so apologies to Paul Young when he reads this). My diary’s very few empty days in it right now, so when needs must.

What can I say about the T&W metro apart from the fact that it’s showing its age and it’s not just the trains? OK, it dates from the very early 80s (which makes it younger than the Merseyrail network which has been refurbished) but it has a lot of brutalist architecture and stations that really don’t feel that welcoming. It’s almost a throwback to the Thatcher years in someways. I travel the length & breadth of the country every year and I’m stuck to think of many places with stations this dispiriting, never mind a network of them.

To be fair, there are older (far more attractive) stations on the T&W network, but that just goes to show these ones up even more. Travelling round today reminded me of the former East Germany in some ways.

It’s not all bad. I stopped off at Monkseaton station which is a fine example of North Eastern Railway architecture and boasts a wonderfully eccentric real ale pub (The Left Luggage Room) that opened in 2016.

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It’s a fabulous jumble of mismatched furniture and tables, books, guitars plus a piano (Sunday nights are buskers nights). There’s even a rhino’s head on the wall behind the bar. Oh, and where else in the country can you play ‘Rhino Quoits’?

DG306012. Left luggage room pub. Monkseaton. 29.8.18 crop

15:00 Whitley Bay.

I nipped along the line one more stop to have a look at Whitley Bay. In the last century it was a popular resort for Geordies taking a break from the mines or shipyards. Like most seaside towns the death of heavy industry and the emergence of the cheap package holiday abroad spelled trouble. After years of decline investment is coming into the town and there are obvious signs of improvement as derelict building have been replaced with new developments, but it’s still a bit of a sorry place. Many shops are vacant (when charity shops close and the local British Legion’s up for sale, you know a place is in trouble).

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But there are green shoots, like the local Whitley Bay brewing company, who’ve recently taken over this wonderful looking pub on South Parade.

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There’s also new developments like this, which until recently was a derelict site on the corner of the Promenade and Esplanade, directly down from the station.

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Even the station’s come up in the world as it now possesses both a cafe and a bar/restaurant. The café (Coffee Central) is decorated in whimsical style and possesses a large covered seating area outside as well as a cosy interior.

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On Tuesdays you can even get Spanish lessons there (see sign on right)!

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The bar and restaurant (Olives) occupies another wing of the station and also has a large outside seating area.

21:00. Leeds

I was trying to pass through quickly but delays meant that it wasn’t to be. That said it was an interesting experience when I nipped through the barriers to grab a sandwich. The diminutive woman (and sole member of staff) crewing the barriers was trying to deal with a 6′ 4″ transvestite who was trying to attract attention (in every wrong way), as I crossed the concourse there was the obligatory drunk trying to make friends with any poor mug who’d sat down & was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

21:24.

Escaped again! My connection was running late so I’m on a different train that will arrive in Halifax with just a few minutes difference. This is one of the beauties of an increase in Calder Valley services – I don’t have to hang around for long. OK, we’re not at London metro standards yet, but when I look back at Calder valley timetables from the 1970s-80s this is luxury.

A traditionally British August bank holiday!

27 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by in Bank holidays, Food and drink, Musings, West Yorkshire

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So (naturally), it’s chucking it down! I feel sorry for anyone who’s organised an outdoor event this weekend. After the fabulous summer we’ve had they must have been thinking – ‘well if this keeps up’…Sadly, it hasn’t – certainly here in the Calder Valley anyway. Today’s our second where the rain has been almost continuous. Not the heavy showers that pass and you can avoid if you’re lucky, it’s that light drizzle that manages to penetrate waterproofs and blow under umbrellas. Here’s the view from our bedroom window right now.

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Dawn, my wife, isn’t too unhappy about the turn of events as her plan for today was to be a domestic Goddess and spend much of it batch cooking to stock up the freezer. The project started yesterday with these two fabulous dishes. The first is Karniyarki -Turkish stuffed aubergine, served with salad and a yoghurt sauce.

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The second is traditionally English – Bakewell tart!

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Of course, there’s another  reason Dawn’s not too upset about the weather. It means I’ve no excuse to duck work on finishing off refurbishing our bathroom, so that’s where I’m heading now…

Holed up in Huddersfield – but not for long…

24 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Lancashire, Photography, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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I’ve been spending the day working from the ACoRP office here in Huddersfield which isn’t a bad place to work. It’s not often that you get to base yourself in a grade 1 listed railway station!

Unfortunately a chunk of the morning was taken up with replacing my mobile phone. I dropped my old one last night and it performed a perfect belly-flop onto to a stone floor. The noise it made when the phone did an all points impact gave the game away immediately. Sure enough, when I picked it up I found the screen was shattered, which left the phone unusable.

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My wallets now £40 lighter as I’ve invested in a new Samsung A8 to replace the knackered S6. To their credit the staff at the Carphone Warehouse didn’t try to sell me something with all the latest bells and whistles and understood what I was after. They were extremely helpful and also informative. Hopefully this phone will last longer than its predecessor!

The superb summer weather we’ve been having has come to a stormy end here in West Yorkshire. I’ve been playing cat and mouse with rain showers which have been heralded by some extraordinarily moody skies and gusts of wind which have made umbrellas all but useless.

Having sorted out what I needed to do in the office I nipped out on a TPE service to Greenfield. I’m still trying to get used to that as it was always Northern Rail who operated the stopping service between Huddersfield and Manchester. Still it was worth getting a soaking to get the following pictures. My intention was to update pictures of the Uppermill viaduct now that TPE have re-liveried all their trains and before the line’s electrified. The interesting weather clinched it. Here’s the view as I walked up the road to get some shots – just after a torrential shower had passed…

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Here’s the view of the viaduct itself, looking towards Diggle and the Standedge tunnel.

DG305858The view’s getting hemmed in by trees now, in a few years time it’ll disappear. Here’s a closer look at the viaduct, with the former Saddleworth station (closed in October 1968)beyond.

DG305876 It’s a stunning area to stand and admire the views all around. This shot was taken looking back over Uppermill and Greenfield at Wimberry Crag.

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I’ve always loved the trans-Pennine lines via the Colne and Calder valleys and I consider myself lucky to have them on my doorstep. Here’s another view across Uppermill. The town itself is a popular tourist destination as it has plenty of pubs and cafes as well as holding a number of events throughout the year (link). As you can see from the picture below – it’s also great walking country!

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The nearest station to Uppermill is Greenfield which has an hourly train service from Manchester and Huddersfield. Greenfield is on the rail ale trail and the Railway Inn is right across the road from the station. Here’s a pair of Paver at Greenfield working the 16:24 service from Manchester Victoria through to Huddersfield.

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Tomorrow I get to explore another part of Yorkshire as we’re meeting up with friends to head over to Ilkley and the moor. Hats optional.