Rolling blog. Crossrail’s here…

24 Tuesday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Crossrail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Crossrail, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

07:15.

I’m up and about ready to head out and make my way across London to meet up with an old friend and colleague as today’s the day that Crossrail’s central section finally opens to the public. Keep tuning in to see what I get up to…

17:30.

Humbles apologies – that was a crap “rolling” blog! The problem was that I was non-stop all the time I was in London. Crossrail’s opening was a huge story and the media were out in force. I met up with Richard Clinnick at Liverpool St. As the press leanch with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wasn’t until 09:30 we decided to take a trip to explore Farringdon – one of the stations we’d not had chance to look around before.

Like all Crossrail stations it’s impressive. What I hadn’t expected was how many ordinary commuters had switched lines already today – it was packed. Of course there was also thousands of visitors who’d just come along for the ride. These included rail and architecture enthusiasts as well as ordinary people who just wanted to try out this amazing new railway under central London.

Farringdon at the level of the Thameslink platforms.

The pair of us made it to Woolwich station where the official press event was going to be in plenty of time – which was just as well as it was packed. If you’d dropped a bomb on it you could have wiped out 3/4 of the rail press and a goodly chunk of national media and agency snappers too!

It turned into a bit of a media scrum at one point but to Sadiq’s credit he was in no rush and got round almost all the outlets who wanted to interview him. No government Minister was there apart from Baroness Vere. As she sits in the Lords I’m assuming she was seen as ‘safe’. Today was very much Sadiq’s – even if some journo’s threw him curve balls with questions about ‘partygate’ – which eventually elicited the wrath of Kahn about what had gone on in No 10!

After the circus was over I headed off to visit some more of the stations. Stations that are no longer just the preserve of folk in PPE. I managed Abbey Mills and Custom House before meeting up for a quick drink with a Singaporean friend who’s over in the UK for break. That break turned lucky with Crossrail opening whilst he’s here.

I left London just after 15:00 and spent the whole trip to Leeds editing the pictures I’d taken. I’ll get some on the blog later. Right now I’m perched in the luggage rack of a Northern Class 158 heading for Halifax. I’ve noticed what seems like another upturn in passenger numbers – especially during ‘rush-hours’. I’ll be interested to see if this appears in the next set of Government figures on rail usage…

21:15.

I’m now back at home where I’ve chance to edit some of the selection of pictures I’ve taken today for your delectation.

Looking down from the main concourse at Farringdon. Underneath me are the Thameslink platforms whilst the entrance to the Elizabeth line is straight on from the stairs.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan doing one of his many media interviews this morning. I hope his staff had throat lozenges to hand!

A class 345 enters Abbey Wood station. With a 5 minute interval timetable the service is literally ‘one out – one in’

The concourse and gate line at Abbey Wood station.

A service to Abbey Wood calls at Custom House.

Whitechapel. This walkway is built over the tracks of the East London Line,

Whitechapel. The gate line and main entrance.

You’ll be able to find the full selection of today’s pictures on my Zenfolio site in the next few days. I’m signing off for tonight as I’ve a busy few days ahead. I’m back on the rails tomorrow afternoon as I’ll be heading for the Kent coast. This time I’ll make sure the blog does roll!

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Rolling blog. Community rail week starts today…

23 Monday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Community rail, Community Rail Network, London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

07:30.

I’m preparing to head off to the opening of Community Rail week which is kicking off with events in Bradford and Bingley. This year the message will be centred on increasing confidence and encouraging people to travel by train with the simple call to action, ‘Give the Train a Try’. You can find out what’s happening where and when by following this link.

Afterwards I’ll be heading down South as I’m staying in the London area tonight ready for the opening of Crossrail tomorrow where I have another assignment.

Feel free to keep popping back to see how my day goes…

09:08.

The journey begins. I’m off to Bradford for our first event of the day. Taking me there is a Northern 2-car Class 195. Unsurprisingly, it’s busy!

09:45.

I’ve strolled across from Bradford Interchange to Forster Sq to await the arrival of the rest of the Community Rail Network team. It’s a walk I always enjoy as ‘Bratfud’ (as the locals pronounce it) has some fantastic buildings. I keep promising myself that I’ll have a day out in the city taking the camera for a wander to photograph some of the delights the city holds. I passed this small slice of history on the way.

Sadly, the modern versions of the city’s stations are hardly architectural gems and are vastly reduced in area and stature.

15:30.

I’m back! It’s been a very hectic few hours so I’ve not had time to blog at all as the day job’s taken precedence. We all rendezvoused at Forster Square where CRN staff were joined by colleagues from Northern Rail and other organisations as well as the women from East meets West. The idea behind this group is to bring women together from different communities by using the train. The women selected have very little or no rail confidence so travelling by train with Community Rail Partnership officers and community group leads inspires them to take further trips – alone, with friends and with their own families. The group enables the women to have different experiences which they can access locally by train. Some of the women are single mums and are from isolated backgrounds so the project has really helped raise their self-esteem and provide them with a sense of community. They were all very excited to be taking part in the the event. Before we left we were joined by Rail Minister Wendy Morton, who is the MP for Aldridge-Brownhills. Needless to say, I was kept fully occupied taking pictures on the train and at Bigley station where the Minister met other Community Rail Officers and the local station friends. It was all extremely informal. To her credit the Minister was open and approachable to all, not surrounded by SPADs or ‘minders’.

Afterwards we we took part in a walk from the station to the top of the famous Bingley five-flight locks on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, guided by staff from the Canal and River Trust. Walking backwards along a canal bank whilst taking pictures of dignitaries isn’t my favourite job as there’s always the worry that you’ll end up either going arse over tit or in the cabal, but I managed it without accident!

At the top of the lock we took over the small cafe for a lunch of tea and sandwiches before retracing our steps to the station and disappearing off in different directions. I headed into Leeds and found a quiet corner of the Leeds Tap to download and edit some pictures before sending a batch out to the various PR and Media people on my lists. Now I’m sat on LNER’s 15:15 service to London which has become a mobile editing suite as I sort out a bigger picture selection. Meanwhile, here’s a few for your delectation.

Rail Minister Wendy Morton (seated, left) talks to some of the women from East meets West on the train to Bingley from Bradford. Standing is Karen Bennett. Karen is community rail education officer at Community Rail Lancashire, and a CRN Board member.

Everyone poses for a group photograph at Bingley station with some of the excellent work of the station friends on display behind.

The Bingley station friends having a laugh and a giggle with the Minister.

Gerald Townson Chairman at Leeds-Lancaster-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership gave a presentation to the Rail Minister on the work CRP’s are doing to encourage rail travel, supported by Community Rail Officers Brian Howarth and Catherine Huddleston.

17:25.

We’re now approaching London after an easy (albeit slightly late) run from Leeds. The weather’s picked up too. It looks like there’s a nice sunny evening in the offing. I’m not going to be staying long in the centre but there is one place Im going to stop at on my way through Euston…

23:00

It’s time to call it a day folks. As I was staying in the Watford area I hooked up with a local friend whom I met when I was spending a lot of time down here working for Network Rail on the 2014-15 Watford blockades. Alan Harte is a fellow railway person, cat lover and beer aficionado – so it would have been rude not to meet up for a couple of jars.

Right now I’m back at my accommodation, repowering all my devices and editing pictures ready for another busy day tomorrow as Crossrail finally opens. Watch this space…

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22nd May picture of the day…

22 Sunday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

After our brief visit to Surrey the pair of us are now back in West Yorkshire – although that’s for just one night for me. We left Tilford this morning to drive back North. With it being Sunday the roads were pretty quiet all the way until we hit the M1 motorway which proved to be a real pain in the arse. Almost as soon as we hit it after coming off the A43 we hit traffic and then a tailback caused by an accident North of Watford Gap services. We also left the good weather behind which was a double blow. Something else that was left behind was motorists common-sense. The way some folk were driving was atrocious – hence us passing a second accident further North. At least we made it home without getting caught up in anything more than traffic.

Roll on being back on rails – which will be tomorrow for me. It’s the start of Community Rail Week and I’ll be covering a couple of the events, starting with an event in Bradford and Bingley tomorrow. After that I’ll be heading down South again in a different role(s) as Crossrail opens to the public on Tuesday which promises to be a really exciting day. That done I’ll be back up North as it’s Dawn’s birthday, but then I’ve go to hot-foot it down to Kent for another Community Rail Week event on Thursday. Hopefully – unless things change -as they often do, I’ll be home on Friday.

So, there’s lots of rolling blogs and pictures to come. For now I’ll end with a picture from today’s travels and why I much prefer rail to road.

This was the front vehicle in a shunt consisting of half a dozen cars on the M1 North of Watford Gap services today.

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21st May picture of the day…

21 Saturday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Surrey

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Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Surrey

After yesterdays travels today’s been a quiet one so there’s only a short blog from me. I’ve been in Tilford most of the day, enjoying the weather and chance to feel the sun on my skin again. I have done some work, all yesterday’s pictures are edited and awaiting their captions so they’ll appear on my Zenfolio website soon. In the afternoon Dee and I popped into Guildford to pick up some bits which is always enjoyable as it’s a fine little town with a variety of independent shops and more upmarket chains than you’ll find in our neck of the woods. Needless to say, with the weather being so good the town was packed.

We only stayed for a couple of hours then returned to Tilford where I went for an evening wander and dropped by the local pub to watch the cricket. It’s a quintessentially English scene, sat outside the pub with the locals watching the local team playing on the green opposite. So, here’s today’s picture (with a bonus).

Cricket on the green outside the Barley Mow in Tilford.

Tomorrow we return to Yorkshire, but only for a while for me. I’ve got a hectic week that’ll see me traversing the country once more on various assignments. Watch out for a few rolling blogs…

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Rolling blog. A change in the weather…

20 Friday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

09:20.

Bloody typical! We’ve had glorious sunshine these past few days whilst I’ve been at home, but today – when I’ve a day out the weather is the South is grey, wet and miserable! I’d planned to be out and about taking pictures for a client but the scenic pictures they want are incompatible with the conditions. So, I find myself on a busy 4-car Class 450 working the 08:50 from Farnham to Waterloo whilst I rejig my plans. I’m heading into the capital, then heading East where the weather’s meant to be clearing from. A vague plan is forming in my mind but we’ll see…

Feel free to keep popping back to see where I go and what I get up to.

10:45.

The trip into London was fine – even if the weather wasn’t. The service was short-formed but the rush was over by the time the train was running. I’d have made an earlier on if it wasn’t for the fact Dawn was dropping her nephew off at school first and Farnham was chocked with traffic, ironic when some people insist that we don’t need to improve public transport and build railways like HS2 because everyone’s supposedly still working from home!

Once in London I dashed to Waterloo East and caught a train to London Bridge where I was going to buy some breakfast but the queue at the Greggs was so long I gave it up as a bad job.

Waterloo’s concourse post rush-hour is still busy.

Right now I’m on a quite SouthEastern service heading out to a place I haven’t visited for years – Abbey Wood, which is about to develop a new life from next week when it become a Crossrail terminus. I’m sorry, but I really can’t get into calling Crossrail the Elizabeth Line. Sorry your Maj, but it’s part of the national network, it’s not a glorified tube line. Besides, I suspect if any name does stick it’ll be the ‘Lizzy Line’ which is far less cumbersome!

Passing through old haunts in SE London I’m stuck by how much has changed in the 12 years since I moved away. There’s new building everywhere. What a far cry from when I moved to London back in 1986 when the city was still in decline and the population was steadily shrinking. In those days the reputation of some of the areas I’m passing through was rough to say the least. In Bermondsey it was said even the rottweilers walked around in twos!

11:10.

There’s still something slightly surreal about suddenly seeing overhead wires appearing outside the train window – and then the twin tracks of Crossrail emerging from their tunnels to run parallel all the way into a rebuilt Abbey Wood station. Crossrail Class 345s were much in evidence running the shadow service in preperation for next week’s public opening.

I didn’t hang around at Abbey Wood as the weather’s still crap. Instead I decided to do some recce’s for other pictures as I’ve spent very little time along this line in recent years.

13:30.

I’m currently taking a break in rainy Rochester after travelling as far East as Gillingham where I stopped off to grab a sandwich. I’ve known the town since 1990 when I often used to pop over from London of a weekend to photograph the variety of traction that would be stabled here then. All that’s long gone. The town looked pretty run down then. It’s fortunes haven’t improved. I braved the torrential rain and flooded main street (blocked drains on both sides) to find a Greggs. It was a depressing experience. Shops are boarded up and empty and the dereliction has spread to the population. Just 15 minutes walking down the High St let me see there’s an awful lot of deprivation and health problems here. People who believe the hypes that Kent is the ‘garden of England’ have never visited Chatham and Gillingham! I doidn’t hand around after I’d grabbed a couple of pictures. I made my way along a platform flooding due to leaks from the station canopies and headed back to Rochester which has gained a brand-new station since I stopped here last.

The new 3 platform station at Rochester opened in 2015 and replaced the old cramped one which was further East. It’s been part of a scheme to redevelop the nearby dockland area which was cut off from the town by the railway. Progress has been slow but steady with new housing springing up alongside the railways and the East end of the huge site.

I must admit to liking Rochester. It’s a place with history (hence its castle) literary links (Charles Dickens) and an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants and pubs. It’s also less right-wing than much of the Medway (which is very Brexity), as this artwork by the museum attests to…

I have to agree. And it’s not done the Medway town any favours at all…

21:15.

Apologies for the ‘slight’ intermission but I’ve been non-stop for the past few hours as I made my wat back to Surrey – which is where I’m typing this from. As I left Rochester the weather really began to change making the trip much more enjoyable. I really enjoyed being back along this line, seeing the changes that have – and are – happening. It’s all a far cry from when I first explored the region back in the 1980s!

My first stop was at Gravesend, a station that’s been rebuilt in past years but still retains its Victorian buildings to complement the modern infrastructure such as it’s large cycle hub. Always on the lookout for an elevated view I found a nearby multi-story car park that afforded me this view.

Here’s the other side of the station. My pervious vantage point can be seen in the background.

Moving in once more my next port of call was Dartford – yet another place that’s changed dramatically since I first got to know it 30 odd years ago. The vintage slam door trains are long gone. Even the more recent BR built stuff has been elbowed aside by cascaded Siemens trains like this.

But, the biggest change was when I returned to Abbey Wood, the terminus of Crossrail South of the Thames. 30 years ago I’d never have imagined this far-flung corner of South-East London would have not one, but two cross-London connections. The first to arrive was Thameslink and services between Rainham and Luton, allowing to people to traverse the centre of the capital without changing trains. Now Crossrail’s arrived to add East-West to North South. As a consequence, house prices in Abbey Wood have gone through the roof and the skyline’s following suite – as this picture taken earlier demonstrates.

The changing face of South-East London. A Crossrail train arrives at Abbey Wood with the rising skyline beyond.

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Rolling blog. Here there and everywhere…

19 Thursday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Photography, Rolling blogs, Surrey, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Photography, Surrey, Travel, West Yorkshire

10:15.

Today is starting from home but it will end in Surrey this evening. Right now my journey is starting at Sowerby Bridge station as I wait for the 10:22 service towards Leeds via Brighouse on a roundabout route to get to my first port of call. Huddersfield…

10:24.

A 3-car Class 195s arrived to carry me Westwards to Dewsbury where I’ll double back on myself before hitting Huddersfield. It’s a quiet train today.

My walk to the station wasn’t blessed with the wall to wall sunshine we had yesterday and the temperatures not hitting the same heights, even so, it’s a good day for walking and getting used to how my new Fitbit Charge 5 works. My old Charge 4 model developed a not uncommon fault where blank lines appear across the screen as the LCD fails, making it almost unreadable. In contrast (if you’ll pardon the pun) the Charge 5 has a much brighter and easier to read colour display.

Listed at £170 I bought mine from Amazon for £114, the same price Curry’s are selling them for. My initial reaction is it’s a far superior product but I hope they’ve ironed out the LCD problems. This is my fourth fitness tracker. I’ve found them really useful in improving my health. Well, in some aspects anyway. I’m glad they don’t count units of alcohol! They appeal to us number-crunchers as have a library of helpful and not useful statistics. For example, last week I won my “you’ve now clocked up the equivalent distance of walking from the North to South pole” badge!

11:00.

I’m now waiting for a late running TPE here at Dewsbury having arrived on this..

The TPE service is running 8 down which puts it behind the local stopper to Huddersfield which I expect it to overtake at Mirfield.

11:10.

The local arrived first and as I’m in no rush I decided yo catch it! We’re now trundling along under grey skies towards Mirfield.

11:18.

Sure enough we were held at Heaton Lodge junction West of Mirfield to allow the express to flash past. When this section to Huddersfield is returned to four-tracks as part of the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) such conflicts will be removed, making timekeeping much easier.

11:58.

Bugger! Another late-running TPE express is stopping my Huddersfield – Slaithwaite stopper from leaving. We’re already 7 down and the damned thing’s only just left. That means my walk along the canalside to Milnsbridge is going to turn into a dash as I’m up against arriving in time for my appointment…

We’ve just left Huddersfield at the time we should have arrived at Slaithwaite. Oh, joy! To cap it all, despite the weather forecast saying it’ll be dry and even sunny today the weather in the Colne valley clearly didn’t get the memo!

12:10.

The dash begins…

12:55.

I’ve impressed myself! I’ve made it with 6 minutes to spare. The sun’s come out too – although I’m glad it was gllomy whilst I was walking as that was some pace. I’m going off grid now – catch you in an hour or so.

17:10.

That was a long hour I admit! We’re currently taking a break at Watford Gap services on the M1. Dawn’s driving down to Tilford and I’m riding shotgun. The weather was beautiful as we traversed Yorkshire on our way to the motorway but it’s slowly deteriorated en-route on what’s been a busy motorway.

22:10.

And relax! We’re now ensconced in Tilford, Surrey after a drive that traversed motorways, major A roads like the A34 and even crossed the site of HS2 at Brackley – where work’s really come on in the past few months. I’m hoping we can take a detour on the way home just to check out progress.

Tomorrow Dawn’s on school run duties for her nephew whilst her brother’s away. Her niece is revising for her exams so’s (mostly) housebound apart from lunchtime when the two of them are going to have lunch together in Farnham. Me? I’m having a day out on the rail network although I haven’t decided exactly where I’m going yet. I’ll be doing that research after I’ve signed off here. But, I’ll be blogging throughout the days as I travel…

Until then, goodnight!

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18th May picture of the day…

18 Wednesday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Berlin, Germany, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Berlin, Germany, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

Today’s been a catching-up sort of day but also a long one. The pair of us were up early, Dee because she had work stuff to sort out on-site rather from home and me because I’d lots of picture editing to plough through whilst I still had the time – because tomorrow the pair of us head South to Surrey for a few days.

Whilst the day’s been busy the sunny weather did tempt me to venture out for more than my daily constitutional, so much so I’ve nearly 10 miles under my belt today as I wandered down into Sowerby Bridge to pick up some shopping then meandered back along the canal and tarried in the local woods before hitting home. The Calder Valley looks glorious this time of year and the views should be savoured. Much as I miss Asia, days like this are a form of recompense. Sitting outside the house in the sunshine whilst sorting out paperwork certainly beats being holed-up in a claustrophobic office.

However, tomorrow’s all-change. I’ve my regular appointment over in Milnsbridge tomorrow which will see me out and about. Afterwards the pair of us will be travelling to Surrey for a few days whilst Dee fills in for her brother to be there for her nephew and niece whilst he’s away. I’m coming along too to offer support and because I’ve things I can do in that neck of the woods. Have camera (and laptop) – will travel! Expect a few rolling (and not so rolling) blogs whilst we’re away – and many more the week after as I’m going to be doing a lot of travelling.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which is one from our recent trip to Berlin, Germany and that encapsulates the country’s torrid history in the 20th Century.

In the foreground is the ‘Topography of Terror‘, a museum documenting the systemic atrocities carried out by the Nazi regime before and during World War 2. The museum is on the site of the former Gestapo HQ where so much of the terror was organised from. In the background bordering Niederkirchnerstraße is a large chunk of the former Berlin wall. It’s not an easy place to visit. There’s something spine-chilling about the way the Nazis turned the extermination of millions of people into a bureaucratic exercise, as if it was a normal inventory, not a mass slaughter.

The fact the site is bounded by one of the largest fragments of the Berlin wall that still exists in the centre of the city adds another dimension.

I have to admit, I love Berlin as a city, even if its history can sometimes be uncomfortable. It’s shaken that past off now, although reunification still causes echo’s and ripples. I’m looking forward to going back later this year for business rather than pleasure – although visiting the city’s always a pleasure!

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Crazy anti-HS2 campaigner of the week. No 33.

16 Monday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Air Travel, Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week, Hs2, Iolo Williams

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Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week, Hs2, Iolo Williams, Railways, Travel

This feature makes its first appearance in 2022. Mainly because there’s so few anti HS2 people left out there and the ones that are are nearly all crazy! However, this one is such a classic self-own I couldn’t resist.

Meet Iolo Williams, a minor celebrity in the Chris Packham mould. Like Packham he never lets facts get in the way of his occasional rants about HS2. This time with hilarious consequences! Here’s his tweet from yesterday when Williams channelled his inner Jeremy Corbyn to have himself photographed sitting in the vestibule of a train.

Ignoring the fact he managed to link in a spoof Avanti West Coast Twitter account, not the real one (attention to detail, much?) there’s several problems with his tweet which is just a cut and past job of anti HS2 soundbites. Let’s start with the fact that the new HS2 railway IS “investment in the current network” as it will be part of it, not separate to it. And most delicious irony? HS2 will relieve the very line that Williams is travelling on and complaining about having to sit on the floor! Without HS2 Williams would be doomed to sit on floors forever (as he seems incapable of reserving a seat) because there’s no extra capacity to be squeezed out of the West Coast Main Line. Of course, Williams also seems ignorant of the fact we spent £9bn upgrading that line just 15 years ago, which caused massive disruption for years that led to the service hemorrhaging passengers as it was closed nearly every weekend to allow the upgrades to happen. Those people transferred to far more polluting road transport.

This isn’t the first example of cognitive dissonance and complete absence of knowledge or fact we’ve seen from Williams. I’ve blogged about him before this time last year here when I had to look him up because I’d never heard of him. That’s when I found out he shares other traits with Chris Packham. Both of them fly people around the world on expensive wildlife trips to exotic locations and charge people for their company.

So, we have a ‘conservationist’ who objects to us building low-carbon mass transport that is vital to cutting our biggest source of Co2 emissions (transport) but who’s happy to generate God knows how many tonnes of Co2 flying people around the world. Here’s a list of destinations advertised on his website. Hypocritical, much? Even his Spanish trips advertise flights although it’s perfectly possible to get there by very low carbon transport (rail).

The Costa Rica trip alone involves a round trip flight of just under 11,000 miles!

This is why you should ignore the pronouncements of ‘conservationists’ when it come to the environment. They’re often part of the problem, not part of the solution. Here’s the science these people ignore. What Williams is opposing is on the bottom of this chart. What he’s based a business around is the opposite…

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15th May picture of the day…

15 Sunday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Halifax, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Halifax, Musings, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

After a busy week we’ve had a quiet weekend here at Bigland Towers. Catching up on sleep was important as next week’s going to be another active and varied one – as will be the next few. Saturday’s weather was glorious with lots of sunshine and balmy temperatures, so the pair of us decided to walk into Halifax and visit the Piece Hall where a friend was exhibiting some of her charcoal artwork as part of a charity fundraising sale. The building and its internal square was packed with people enjoying the weather, bars and shops. It’s such a special place that it’s sometimes hard to remember that you’re actually in West Yorkshire and not somewhere in Italy.

Today the weather’s not been as generous although the threatened rain never materialised. Not that it mattered as we didn’t venture outside until late afternoon when we enjoyed a long stroll around the local area in order to get in some exercise. Halifax possesses some fascination old buildings, many of which have been repurposed over the years, so a wander invariably ends up in a game of ‘guess the house’s original purpose’.

Now we’re back at home and relaxing for the evening. Dawn’s cooking roasted vegetables with lamb rolls and I’m catching up on a spot of picture editing, trying to clear the backlog of pictures I’ve taken over the past few days. OK, it’s not exactly the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle, but it suits us! Although talking rock and roll (and the Piece Hall, we’ll be back there twice over the next few weeks to see Nile Rogers and Chic, then Paloma Faith.

I’ll leave you now with today’s picture, which was taken at the Piece Hall yesterday, just so you can see what I mean about the building…

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The HS2 ‘rebellion’ derails in Staffordshire (day 4)…

13 Friday May 2022

Posted by Paul Bigland in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Politics, Protest, Railways

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Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Politics, Protest, Railways

I thought I’d offer an update on the death throes of the HS2 ‘rebellion’ which is playing out in both Staffordshire and (shortly), in the Courts.

Four days ago bailiffs, security staff and police took over the last remaining protest camp on the HS2 route, the so-called ‘bluebell’ camp near Swynnerton. The few occupants remaining were caught with their pants down and the camp was swiftly repossessed. One lad got up a tree and was removed within a few hours whilst it’s believed that only 2-3 others made it into tunnels on the site. Meanwhile, a slightly larger group were surrounded and fenced-in at another nearby woods which they (complacently) thought was a ‘safe-haven’ for them. Cut off from supplies and any reinforcements, they’ve been told they can leave anytime they want, but they won’t be allowed back in.

This fiasco made local news on day one but since the media have shown little interest – and why would they? The unprepared tunnel rats have no communications with the outside world so aren’t producing any propaganda. Instead, the ‘campaign’ are relying on dire Facebook rants from two of the protesters ‘Drew’ (not his real name) who’s corralled inside the ‘bluebell B’ camp and who (judging by his video’s) seems to spend most of his time pissed and on Jim Knaggs who was at ‘Bluebell A’ but not on site when the eviction happened. If you’re suffering from insomnia you could always find Knaggs 20 minute long polemics where he invents a long (long!) list of HS2 ‘crimes’ and whatever else he can think of to fill the time with – including constant appeals to mugs to part with more of their money to fund no-hope court cases and fund the squatters beer, ‘baccy and food bills.

27 shares and 12 comments. Not much of a ‘rebellion’ is it?

Quite how any of these people are meant to be stopping HS2 when they’re hiding in tunnels or corralled behind Heras fencing away from the route is a mystery, but then sense is always in short supply when it comes to trying to talk to these people.

Meanwhile, HS2 contractors and security are busy demolishing the ‘Bluebell A’ camp and preparing to dig out whatever tiny number of tunnel rats remain. Over at ‘Bluebell B’ the impotent protesters bluster (and get pissed) in their cage whilst not being able to do anything else until they get bored, run out of food, fags and alcohol (and whatever other exotic substances they possess) and go home – or get evicted.

It’s farcical. The HS2 ‘rebellion’ has ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. There are no other camps anywhere on the route of HS2 and there’s not likely to be either. On Thursday 26th May HS2 Ltd’s legal team will be back at the High Court in Birmingham where their application for a route-wide injunction will be heard. The Final Hearing is estimated two last 2 days. If the injunction is granted (and there’s every reason to believe that it will) then any further trespass on HS2 land will become a criminal matter. The protesters claim this will make protests against HS2 ‘illegal’ – which is not the case at all. Here’s the wording of the injunction.

Protest will still be legal. Trespass, vandalism, interference and obstruction will not.

There’s another court case pending which has interesting ramifications as it will clear up the legality of protest. The Lord Chief Justice has granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court the case of an HS2 protester (Elliot Cuciurean). The LCJ has certified points of law of public importance for the Supreme Court to adjudicate upon, these are;

(1) Does the Human Rights Act 1998 require a court when determining a charge of aggravated trespass contrary to section 68 of the Criminal and Public Order Act 1994 to undertake a proportionality assessment when the actions under scrutiny occurred during a protest?

(2) What are the circumstances in which a court is required to carry out a proportionality assessment when determining a criminal charge when the actions alleged to constitute the actus reus* of the offence occurred in the course of protest?

*actus reas – action or conduct which is a constituent element of a crime

(3) What principles should a court apply both at first instance and on appeal when a proportionality assessment is required?

The Supreme Court ruling on these matters will remove any ambiguity in the future which is important as it establishes the law around aspects of the right to protest. This may help or hinder the protesters, but it’s important that it’s established.

Either way, it’s not going to save the HS2 rebellion, which is on its death-bed anyway.

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