It’s late and I’m running out of time to post so I’ll restrict myself to pictures. Today we walked part of the Cleveland Way from Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay. It’s only 6.5 miles, but it’s quite a challenging walk as it’s undulating with quite a few drops and climbs. Even so, it’s worth it because it offers some superb views of the coast. Here’s a few pictures from the trip.
The entrance to Whitby harbour seen from the cliffs by the Abbey.Saltwick Nab seen from the Cleveland way. Shipwreck by Black NabFishing boat dropping lobster/crab pots.Whitby lighthouse is still owned by Trinity House but the site incorporates holiday lets. The beach at Robin Hoods bay, looking South.Cliffs North of Robin Hoods bay in late afternoon light.
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After a leisurely morning packing and sorting out a few chores before loading up the car to head off to Whitby. It being Friday we were pleasantly surprised by the traffic levels on the ‘cobbled motorway’ (aka the M62) and M1. It was only when we came off onto the A64 skirting to the South of York that it went ‘Pete Tong’ due to a crash. Right now we’re trapped in slow moving traffic approaching the hold-up and have been for the past 25 mins.
15:30.
Made it!
21:30.
Time to relax and put our feet up for the evening. We’ve had a great first day here in Whitby. Well, once we managed to get here anyway. To be honest, we were only about half an hour late. Thankfully, the accident on the A64 wasn’t that serious, it was just time consuming. On the bright side (literally) the weather was far better than was forecast. We had a lovely run across the North Yorkshire moors with the sun breaking through the waning clouds so when we crested the final hill before Whitby we were greeted by the sight of the town basking in sunshine. 10 minutes later we were checking into our hotel up on the North promenade overlooking the beach. We were keen to explore so as soon as we’d settled in we went out to explore. My God – it was windy! No wonder the clouds didn’t hang around long! That said, the weather’s also incredibly mild and as soon as we dropped down to the harbour the wind disappeared. The town looked gorgeous in the late afternoon sunlight making it an ideal time to be out with the camera. Neither of us have been back to Whitby since (we reckon) 2014 so it was great to explore the narrow backstreets and discover places neither of us remember visiting before. The town was busy, but not overbearingly so the way it can be at the height of the summer, which made our perambulations that more pleasant. We did take a break to try a couple of the pubs, one of which was the ‘Little Angel’, a friendly little real ale pub with a great selection of beers.
Dawn suggested we eat at the Magpie, which she’s heard was a cut above your average sit-down fish and chip shop. It was a brilliant choice. The food was excellent. Despite not having booked we managed to get a table on the top floor of the building which overlooks the harbour. We opted to share a starter, so I picked the battered Calamari, which was superb. served with a spicy dip it was melt in the mouth gorgeous! For our mains we both chose the same dish – local scampi in a basket (with chips). The portions were huge. The pair of us were defeated by the chips although I managed to consume all my scampi (washed down by a bottle of Farmers Blonde Ale). Dee had a cuppa to compliment her meal. The whole bill came to £42 which seemed pretty good for what we had – fresh, delicious seafood…
Here’s a few more photos to end the day…
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It’s been another busy but relatively peaceful day for me here at Bigland Towers. I’m still wading through mountains of pictures to edit as well as catching up on paperwork so that I can submit some expenses as well as invoices for other work. It’s the far less glamorous side of photographic and journalistic work but it’s one that’s necessary to pay the bills! I’m looking forward to being able to get out and about again, but that won’t be for another day yet. One thing I’ve really noticed since returning from Scotland is just how much the nights are drawing in. I’m typing this around 20:30 at night and the skies are almost dark, but then tomorrow’s the 1st day of September so there’s just three weeks left of summer.
Still, I’ve plenty of projects lined up for the new month – starting with a week long holiday in North Norfolk. Sadly, the weather’s really not looking too good for us at the moment as rain is predicted to be a prominent feature in that neck of the woods. Still, things can change – and there’s plenty to do indoors if we have attacks of showers. Whatever, it’ll be great to kick back for a bit and enjoy the time away, especially as life we be full on when we get back as we’re into the events and awards season. Oh, and more rail strikes. Of course, whilst we’re away we’ve also got the absolutely fabulous news of who is going to be the next incompetent to lead the country. I think we can all guess which particular incompetent that is going to be – God help us…My spleen may need venting, even though I’m meant to be on holiday
So, it’s another short blog from me tonight. I’ll leave you with yet another picture from my recent travels with the hope that I’ll be able to provide you with some new North Norfolk scenes shortly.
Here’s the beach at Saltburn, looking West along the coast towards Redcar beach with the steelworks on the horizon. Out at sea to the right is Teesside Wind Farm, sometimes referred to as Redcar Wind Farm, it’s a 27 turbine installation of 62 MW capacity.
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After 8 days of continuous travel today’s very much been a day for going nowhere! My legs and back have enjoyed the rest as I’ve had no camera bag to carry and my step count’s been just enough to hit 12,500. OK, that equates to 5 miles which may seem a lot to some people but it’s my minimum daily target that I try to hit every day.
Whilst the majority of my time was spent in the office glued to a computer screen as I began the long process of editing a week’s worth of pictures and checking my notes I did manage to fit in a spot of garden maintenance, ensuring I’d not lost any plants whilst I’ve been away. Gardening’s both a pleasure and a therapy, so I try to get out into that space as often as I can.
There’s no long blog for me, Dee and I need to spend time planning our holiday, so I’ll leave at this tonight, along with a picture from my travels. Here’s another place I’d not visited for many a year. Saltburn, on the North Yorkshire coast, which boasts a 208m long pier originally built in 1869 as a 460m long structure. It’s seen here with the ‘cliff lift’ which is the oldest operating water-balance funicular railway in the United Kingdom.
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No rest for the wicked! It may be Sunday but I’ve a little job to do that involves trying to get a suitable cover picture for a magazine. This means that after a lazy Sunday morning at home I’m now heading to Leeds for a few hours. This could be a challenge as the weather’s variable to say the least. We had a lot of heavy rain overnight. The aftermath is Yorkshire’s blanketed by low grey cloud and a procession of showers. Still, I enjoy a challenge! On the bright side (if you’ll pardon the pun) I won’t have to worry about heavy shadows or being on the wrong side of the sun!
The train I’m using to get to Leeds is a late running service from Blackpool North to York that needed to rendesvous with an ambulence (for some unspecified reason) earlier in its journey. The 3-car 195 is packed with a variety of holidaymakers and day trippers leavened with a few determined shoppers but I’ve managed to find a tip-up seat in a vestibule and relax for a whole.
The train became less packed after calling at Bradford Interchange as a number of suitcase wielders bid us goodbye. I’m assuming they’re on their way home from fleshpots of Blackpool – although looking at some of them I suspect a lot of time was spent in pubs and chip-shops! I’m now sharing a table, which is an improvement as I can set up the laptop and catch up on some work.
16:00.
I’ve seen a lot more sunshine at Leeds than I expected! This choose my first photographic position for me, leaving me shooting pictures of trains approaching from the East along the narrow station throat to head straight into the range of my long lens – like this…
I managed to capture a variety of train types and companies but with it being a Sunday my quarry was on the sparse side! After an hour of changing light conditions I’ve swapped ends to add to the picture mix. I was hoping we might have had a rain shower just to wet the ground. Backlit shots after rain can look very dramatic – almost monochrome.
Whilst the trains are on the sparse side passenger numbers remain bouyant. I’m about to relocate to Bradford and this was the view as I walked to my train.
17:25.
Well my brief interlude in Bradford was a bit of a bust! It’s high summer and the ballast looks more like a lawn rather than a well-maintained trackbed. I had similar problems at Leeds but this was worse. Plus, it being Sunday, the trains I was hoping to shoot are sparse. I may have to nip out for a bit tomorrow as compensation. I’ll decode after I’ve edited today’s image haul. Right now I’m heading home on this wee beastie. You really don’t want to see a solitary 2-car on York – Blackpool’s, especially of a weekend, but there you go…
17:45.
I’m back in Halifax, the weather’s improving with the promise of a lovely evening so I’ve stopped for a ‘swifty’ in the Meandering Bear before the walk home…
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/
Today sees me travelling around the shire from West to South as I’ve a variety of things to do. First off this morning is one that’s familiar – and local. The friends of Mytholmroyd station are having a big volunteer event where Northern Rail staff volunteers are descending for the day to add extra bodies and muscle-power to help tackle some of the bigger and more complex jobs around the station that could do with a hand (and younger sinews). As an old friend of the group I’m dropping in to capture shots of the day, documenting what these partnerships can achieve and also showcase what the community rail sector gets up to.
After Mytholmroyd I’ll be travelling across to South Yorkshire to visit Sheffield where I’ll be catching up with at least one old friend (and maybe more). Feel free to keep popping back to see how things pan out as I document the day.
10:25.
Not the greatest start. Having walked down to Sowerby Bridge station for the short hop to Mytholmroyd I find my train is losing time by the minute. Due in at 10:24 it’s now scheduled to arrive at 10:29, having slipped as each minute’s passed. It’s a minor inconvenience in the scheme of things but it makes me late for the briefing and being late is one of my personal bugbears.
10:30.
Hmm, a 2-car 195 working all the way to Chester. That’s going to be cosy!
12:15.
I arrived just in time to miss the group briefing in the local church hall, but as I’m very familiar with the station and the group it wasn’t a big deal. Seventeen volunteers from Northern rail had turned up to offer a hand and they were allocated a variety of tasks such as digging up old Daffodils, repotting the planters on the platforms, general weeding or moving larger plants that had outgrown their spaces. The place was a hive of activity as people dressed in high-vis buzzed around like a swarm of angry bees! Here’s some examples of the activities.
Northern Rail volunteers clearing out old plants from the recycled plastic planters on the platforms before replanting them with a fresh display.The platform approaches at Mytholmroyd have steep banks on either side. Here, volunteers clear the entrance to the car park of old Daffodils and weed the area before replanting. Doing the hard work (digging out and moving plants) under the watchful eye of one of the station friends. The latest art installation is these terracotta impressions of the various station friends!
Sadly, I couldn’t stay for lunch so I bid adieu and caught the 11:53 to Leeds via Bradford Interchange, which gave me enough time to download, edit and post the pictures as a Class 195 makes a decent mobile office – unlike the train I changed onto in Leeds where a Class 150/2 was waiting to take me to Sheffield. These things have neither tables nor power sockets and I dislike balancing my laptop on my knee. So, it’s back to typing via my smartphone.
My steed awaits…
18:45.
Well, that’s been an interesting day…
Due to timings Richard Clinnick and I ended up catching the same train to Sheffield. I joined it at Leeds whilst Richard picked it up at Wakefield where he’d been to meet the staff at the Rail Business Daily offices where he was inducted into his new role as Editor of Inside Track magazine. On arrival at Sheffield we met up with another rail industry partner in crime – Lucy Prior. The three of us spent over an hour swapping intel and gossip before I headed off to explore parts of the region I wasn’t familiar with. In this case, Rotherham. Having taken a short break between towns I now know why I’d never had it on my radar. It’s a depressing place. Ignoring the fact the station is famous for turning into a place where you’re more likely to use a canoe than a train in heavy rain, the town itself isn’t exactly what I’d call buzzing. Here’s my introduction to the town centre after leaving the railway station.
Nice…
Frankly, if you wanted to make a ‘zombie apocalypse’ film, Rotherham’s your place. Not only does it have the right levels of decay and dereliction it’s also pretty much deserted. Plus, many of the few souls still shambling around the town centre could easily be signed up as extras – and it wouldn’t cost you much money in make-up either…
I didn’t hang around. One lap of the centre was enough. After that I was on the train back to Sheffield!
– but not on one of these tram-trains, seen here approaching Rotherham Central central station earlier. I caught the Northern rail service following behind. At least the fact I managed this shot was worth the trip…
21:15.
I’m now back at Bigland Towers after uneventful journey’s home. Neither of my Northern trains back to Halifax was particularly busy but then neither was Leeds station. Mind you, Halifax was even quieter – almost everything seemed to have closed down for the night despite it being before 8 ‘o clock. Even the pubs had given up and decided to shut up shop.
Now I’m having an easy evening editing pictures from the day. I might as well make the most of my time – Dawn’s gone round to a friend’s for supper, so there’s only me in! Ah well, it’s another day tomorrow…
I’ve a 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/
Far from being housebound today I’m out and about on the Yorkshire rail network, getting some pictures for a client whilst also seeing how the network and its users are coping with the reduced services imposed by the Treasury and Dept of Transport. It’s already evident from complaints across the South-East that service levels are totally inadequate for the numbers of people returning to work, but what’s the picture in the North?
I’m currently on the 08:46 from Halifax to Leeds which is made up of a pair of 2-car Class 195s. It was easily 60% full heading for Bradford where there was a large exchange of passengers that kept the loading around the same. There’s plenty of people waiting at Interchange for other services and the station’s actually very busy. As we sat at Platform 4 two more Class 195 (one from Leeds and one from Halifax) rolled in simultaneously and in formation into platforms 2 and 3. It was almost choreographed! The service levels seem to be frequent enough not to have caused consternation here in the way they have elsewhere and the number of people travelling justifies the levels.
Here’s passengers departing my train at Leeds.
11:00.
Having changed trains at Leeds which was busy but nothing like it can be I caught a Trans-Pennine service bound for Newcastle as far as York, which is where I’m typing this. The 5-car TPE train was quiet, certainly in the front car where I was anyway. The journey to Yorkshire’s county town was releaxed and easy – even if the weather was worse than expected (you know that fine drizzle that gets in everywhere? That..). En-route I observed the progress on erecting the over head wires from West from Colton Junction on the East Coast Main line to – well, the middle of nowhere really…
The current scheme as approved peters out just before the Junctions at Church Fenton. We’re told the wires will continue to Leeds as part of the Trans Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) but that’s going to take some time.
York station was subdued and suffering from recent storm damage. Part of the concourse and footbridge by platforms 5-9 is taped off due to the roof taking a hammering.
One thing that’s really evident at places like York is the absence of foreign tourists who used to make up a substantial proportion of the passenger flow. Admittedly, February was never their peak time but there was always a steady flow. I spotted one group of young (bemasked) Asian women, but that was it.
I hadn’t intended going anywhere today, exactly the opposite. I’d a shedload of pictures to sort out after my trip to the North-East the other day plus paperwork and all manner of gubbins. But I was up bright and early so managed to crack on with a lot of stuff, then realised that – actually – we’d been gifted a stunning day weather-wise. I didn’t want to venture too far, but the North’s railways are very much in the news at the moment due to the weapons-grade dishonesty from the Prime Minister and Grant Shapps (the Transport Minister, but don’t feel embarrassed if you’ve never heard of him before, he’s a classic Johnson appointee in that respect). So, I decided to head out to the railway between Leeds and York which is being electrified. Well, sort of – ish.
At the moment the wires are extending West from Colton Junction on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) along the route to Leeds but they peter out just before they get to the junctions East of Church Fenton. For those in the know, Church Fenton was *meant* to be where HS2’s Eastern leg joined the existing network. Well, before Johnson mothballed it anyway. Here’s the view from the footbridge at the station looking East. No, that’s not a railway bridge in the distance. That’s where the overhead masts end…
Although the day was sunny it was also bloody cold – and the existing train service isn’t exactly what you’s call ‘metro style’ either. Having arrived at Church Fenton I hung around long enough to get some useful shots and the early signs of hypothermia, then decided to move on to Ulleskelf, slightly further East. The only thing was – it was quicker to walk the two miles between them than it was to wait for the next train! OK, maybe I’m a glutton for punishment (and exercise) but the walk seemed like a good idea. Besides, this part of Yorkshire’s flat – which is why it’s so cold! Little old me was one of the few things in the way of the wind.
To be fair, there’s not a lot of reasons to hang around in this part of the world anyway. The old station building at Church Fenton’s been converted into an Indian restaurant but it’s not open until later. Neither’s the pub, but there is a very good community run shop only a few minutes walk away. It’s a friendly little place that stocks an amazing range of stuff – including some bottled real ales from local brewers.
The walk to Ulleskelf was mostly on farm tracks apart from the last mile, so it wasn’t taxing. Sadly, my timing wasn’t particularly good as I still had far more time to hang around than I’d needed to get the shots I’d planned – and the nearby pub only opened 3 minutes after my train was due to depart, so I spent a fair bit of time wondering what the hell I was doing this for. Talk about suffering for one’s art! Still, I did get the pictures I wanted – and more – as the light played ball for once.
Here’s a sample.
Remember, this line was meant to have been electrified years ago, but it was cancelled by a Tory Transport Minister. Now it’s being done piecemeal with no real plan, but this is the line Boris Johnson’s spinning as a ‘quicker’ upgrade than HS2. The fact HS2 would have acted as a bypass here and would have meant places like Ulleskelf (where this picture’s taken) could have had a far better service than the piss-poor one it has now is the last thing he’s bothered about.
I’m of the opinion George Osborne, the Tory Chancellor who championed the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ actually meant it. With Boris Johnson, what we’re left with is a (Peppa) Pig’s arse…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
And what a brilliant day it was! Dawn had suggested we drive over to the East Coast today and visit somewhere where I’d never been – Flamborough Head, near Bridlington. The area has some excellent cliff walks as well as teeming with marine and bird life – as I was to find out. The drive took us around two and a half hours due to some busy roads and heavy traffic on the M62 although the weather was wall to wall sunshine and we got to pass through some areas of the country I’m unfamiliar with, so it wasn’t all bad. Dee drove and I navigated to help share some of the strain. It was only when we arrived at Flamborough we realised there was one thing we hadn’t planned on. Fog. Sea fog! The area was covered in it! The lighthouse kept disappearing, one minute it was there, then you turned your back, looked back over your shoulder and it was gone. So much so I suddenly understood why Trinity House had built the thing in the first place! It was so thick you couldn’t see any of the bays and we debated on moving inland but knowing how the fog can suddenly clear we decided to go for a walk along the cliffs anyway, which proved to be a wise decision as within half an hour we were stolling in unbroken sunshine as the fog retreated northwards and out to sea, leaving us free to enjoy unhindered views of the cliffs, the thousands of seabirds that inhabited them and the dozens of seals that basked on the beaches or played in the inlets.
The area deserves a travel blog of its own which I’ll write up soon. Having explored we moved on to see another attarction, the RSPB reserve at Bempton Cliffs, just a few miles futher North. It was a fantastic place where the cliffs are the nesting site for around half a million seabirds which gather here between March and October. They include Puffins, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Gannets, Guillemots and Shags. The sight of these birds nesting precariously on narrow ledges it quite spectacular. Mind you, it’s not just that which takes your breath away – the pungent smell of guano does too! It’s easy to find where the greatest concentration of nesting birds are – just follow your nose! The RSPB have built wooden viewing platforms on the cliffs which are ideal places to get pictures (if you have the right camera equipment).
I’ve got a busy few days ahead of me so I probably won’t get all the pictures I took online until next week at the earliest, so I’ll leave you with this one of nesting Kittiwakes. Whilst they’re a member of the Gull family they’re the only one in decline, which is believed to be because their natural food (Sand Eels) are also shrinking in numbers.
I could happily spend hours here with a camera trying to get shots of some of the birds behaviours so I’ll certainly be returning one 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/
I’m up, packed and raring to go! My PPE’s been checked along with the camera kit, so I’m all prepared for whatever the day brings. So far, it’s brought brilliant weather! This is predicted to be the hottest day of the year so far with wall to wall sunshine. Dawn’s very kindly dropping me off at the station to save the long hike carrying all my stuff which means I don’t start the day a hot, sweaty mess (always a bonus). So, stay with me and see how the day unfolds. My opening part of the trip involves getting the train from Halifax to Leeds – for the very first time this year…
09:00.
The absence of road traffic despite the easing of lockdown and return of schools meant I was at the station in time to catch an earlier (late running) train to Leeds. I’m now one of only three people in the rear of a pair of Class 195s.
That said, there are significantly more people around compared to my travels last year and the amount of vehicles in the car park tells a tale.
Whilst the crew changed ends during our reversal at Bradford Interchange I had time to grab a couple of shots before swapping sets. I was pleasently surprised to find far more folk travelling in the rear unit. Nothing like pre-pandemic levels but even so it was a good portent for the way numbers should recover as restrictions are eased. We stopped once en-route to Leeds at New Pudsey, which was deserted, hardly surprising as it’s a park and ride/shopping centre station. I can’t see traffic returning whilst retail outlets remain closed.
11:45.
At Leeds I had time to explore and get some pictures before meeting my RAIL colleague Paul Stephen ready to catch the 10:49 to Carlisle. As you can see, life’s slowly returning…
We’re now enjoying the scenery and cloudless skies in the Aire valley as our three car Class 158 trundles North.
11:58.
Uh, Oh…
It’s all gone a bit ‘Pete Tong’. We’d just passed Settle Junction and joined the Settle and Carlisle line when we came to an abrupt halt. The Conductor rushing through the train to the cab wasn’t instilling confidence. We’ve now incurred a 12 minute delay to an ‘incident’ on the line. I’m betting said incident was a sheep!*
*Afterwards, a conversation with the Conductor revealed that a signal had returned to danger just at the moment our train passed it, so the TPWS kicked in and brought us to a stand. So for once, the sheep were innocent.
18:30.
Well, that was an interesting day! Our late train didn’t delay us much and we met the other two members of our party without problem. The weather at Ribblehead was superb and ideal for exploring the structure which we did thanks to Network Rail’s engineering team who escorted us around the piers and explained the work that was almost complete. Normally, the only way you’d get to see it from this angle would be if you’re a drone!
You’ll be able to read about our explorations of the viaduct in a forthcoming print or digital edition of RAIL, so I’m not going to spoil the article by revealing any more here.
Heading back we got a lift back to Settle with one of our party who’d driven, which gave us chance to have a bite to eat and soak up the sun at the station before Mark Rand very kindly gave us a tour of his home – which is in the old railway water tower! I suppose I’m a bit of a fan of water towers (after all – Dawn works in another one!) but this is the first that I’ve seen converted into an exceptional home. You can see the water tower in the background of this picture of Settle station taken earlier. There’s a lot worse places to sit and eat a sandwich…
Taking our leave, Paul Stephen and I caught the 16:35 back to Leeds where we parted company. He returned to Nottingham whilst I hung around long enough to grab a few pictures in the wonderful evening sunlight. There’s no doubt passenger numbers are starting to pick up again but getting back to pre-Covid levels could be a slog. Even so, it’s lovely to be out and about again now that the rules are relaxing. Yes, of course I’m still working from home as often as I can, but no-one is going to bring one of the most famous railway viaducts in the UK to me – are they? Here’s one of my shots showing the lovely light at Leeds.
19:12
I’m currently on the 18:42 Leeds – Manchester Victoria which is about 30-40% full. Looking up at the information screen by the vestibule I’m informed the temperature’s hit 21 degrees C today – glorious! During our reversal at Bradford we lost a lot of commuters but picked up some younger leisure travellers as a replacement, the same happened at Low Moor and again when I left the train at Halifax where my ‘chauffeur’ was waiting to whisk me home.
I’ve had a long day but a thoroughly enjoyable one after so many ‘Groundhog days’. Here’s to many more of them as the world returns to normal – bit by bit…
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/
Paul Bigland 