The new year’s got off to slow start. Not because of hangovers or anything like that but because it was lovely to be able to have a lie-in! The year also started with a beautifully clear, crisp sunny morning which made us decide we needed to go walking. Sadly, by the time we’d had breakfast and got ready mist and hazy cloud had rolled in from the South. It didn’t affect our walk but it was a little frustrating from my perspective I was looking forward to getting some pictures to kick off the year. In the end, this was the best I could get.
New CAF Unit 195121 approaches Milner Royd Junction just outside Sowerby Bridge whilst working a Manchester Victoria – Leeds service. The ‘feathers’ on the signal indicate that the route is set via Halifax rather than Brighouse.
Our walk took us down into the valley floor before we climbed up the opposite side to head on to Norland Moor and before visiting the nearby Moorcock Inn for a drink and to chance to warm up for a while as despite the day being mild, the wind-chill up by the moor really makes a difference. Despite the pub only being open until six and its menu limited to selling their exotic range of bar snacks the place was really busy.
Once we’d torn ourselves away we rolled back downhill via Sowerby Bridge which was surprisingly quiet with most of the pubs and restaurants deserted, albeit it was only 5pm. I suspect many people were still at home in their dressing gowns and nursing an Alaka-Seltzer!
A power-walk back up the hill soon had us back at home, which is where we’ve stayed for the rest of the evening. Having walked a total of seven miles we’d earned our supper and polished off another slice of yesterday’s nut roast, roasted parsnips and potato’s with relish. As much as I love travelling, having quality time at home (especially in winter) is something to savour…
Where the hell’s 2019 gone? In fact, where’s the decade gone? The last few days have seen me in an introspective mood, looking back at all the things that have happened in the past 10 years – both good and bad. But, on balance, the good’s far outweighed the bad. In one respect I’m lucky in that – as a photographer – I have the photographic evidence that documents events as proof!
There’s no doubt that the 2020’s are going to be ‘interesting times’ to live in as the old Chinese curse mentions. Thankfully, I’m in a position to weather what’s coming far better than many people which leaves me with mixed feelings of sadness and hope.
What I’m looking forward to is being able to refocus on what’s important. So, expect to see me make huge inroads on the stack of old slides I have that have never made it onto my Zenfolio website. I’m also looking at writing up some of my old diaries as a travel story. Back in 1991-92 I travelled overland through Asia from India as far as Australia. In those days there was no internet or mobile phones. Backpackers were that, not ‘flashpackers’. You travelled overland, not just dipped in and out of places by hopping around on a series of domestic flights. A lot’s changed since those days but I think it’s a story worth telling as the world’s changed so much.
Of course I’m still going to be adding all the old railway pictures too – and new ones of course. Britain’s railways are changing at an ever increasing rate and this next year will see construction of the new HS2 high-speed rail line begin in earnest. I’m also looking forward to getting stuck into a lot more writing not just taking pictures. Later in 2020 I’ll be off on my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine which will see the biggest changes since I started writing the series back in 2004. I’ve lots of ideas for other things to write about too.
No doubt there’ll still be a few blogs containing wry observations on the state of British politics but they’ll be very much be from the side-lines. Brexit supporters have ‘won’, which means they can no longer pass the buck for their failures and the fact Unicorns don’t exist. Now they’ve no-one else to blame. Us ‘remoaners’ have been vanquished (for now), so we can sit back with the popcorn and watch as they try and deliver on their impossible promises – and downright lies! Right now my sympathies are reserved for my EU friends in the UK and my UK friends in the EU, many of whom face a completely unknown future.
Back In the here and now Dawn and I have opted for a quiet New Year at home, doing one of the things we both love doing – cooking. Admittedly, we nipped out for a ‘quick one’ at the ‘Big 6’ (our local pub) but not before preparing most of a repast for tonight. We’re going veggie more and more nowadays, although the current term seems to be ‘plant based’. Earlier the two of us were busy in the kitchen putting together a nut roast. But this is no ordinary nut roast – this is a super-duper pistachio and cranberry nut roast!
Before the year and the decade ends (OK, not for you Lisa in New Zealand and other friends further East, you’re already way past your bedtime!) I’d just like to thank you all for continuing to pop in to read my ramblings. I hope I’ve been able to both entertain and inform over the past year, and that you’ll find my future scribblings as interesting.
It’s the penultimate day of the year and the weather’s been glorious here in the Calder Valley. We’ve had wall to wall sunshine for most of the day and temperatures that would shame the South. Sadly, I’ve not had the time to enjoy the climactic conditions in the way I’d have liked as I’m too busy playing catch-up after a week away ‘down South’ and the imminent new year. That said, I’m also determined to up my exercise levels as the Surrey sojourn did little for me in that respect so I’ve enjoyed an afternoon constitutional by strolling up hill and down dale whilst shopping. The masochist in me secretly enjoys the fact that I’ve got to yomp uphill from the Sowerby Bridge shops. It certainly beats paying to use a gym!
The fact that we’re at the end of another decade has only just started to sink in as the last one’s been tumultuous to say the least. I’ll blog more about that as soon as I have the time, because for me, there’s a huge amount to look back and reflect upon.
Shopping aside, most of my day’s been spent immersed in swapping between paperwork and computer screens but this evening I have had chance to experiment on the culinary front and try a new dahl recipe from the Dishoom book that Darren (my brother-in-law) bought me for Christmas. It’s the ‘house black dahl’. Despite the fact it takes hours to cook it’s looking pretty good…
I do love cooking. I see it as a form of relaxation and therapy as well as the chance to always try something new. I’d certainly try this recipe again as it was a hearty dahl that was ideal for a winter’s night. Admittedly, I might tinker with it next time by adding a bit more chilli to suit our tastes, but otherwise it’s a lovely dish.
Whilst I was preparing this and keeping a watchful eye on its progress Dawn’s also been busy in the kitchen, preparing the ingredients for tomorrow’s meal. Whilst we’ll be nipping out for a few drinks with friends in the afternoon we’ve decided to flag the traditional New Year’s piss-up and spend the night at home together instead. The theory is that we’ll be entering the new decade bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on whatever the next ten years throws at us. I’ll let you know how we get on with that!
‘Celebrity environmentalist’ Chris Packham had arranged yet another stophs2 protest to ‘save’ the trees. You know, the one’s he’s never been honest with people about and continually made up numbers regarding. Like the claim HS2’s causing the greatest deforestation since WW1 (tosh I exposed here). Or that 108 woods will be ‘destroyed’ by HS2 (they won’t, as I exposed here). His latest numerical flight of fancy was to claim that his little campaign has 5 million ‘supporters’ – as can be seen mentioned on the box he handed in to Downing St in this picture.
Where this number came from is as mysterious as all his other made up numbers. It has no basis in reality, but then a lot of what Packham claims fits into that category.
Clearly, with such vast support, the ramble from Denham today must have brought the place to a standstill as all those supporters rallied to his flag, no? After all, Denham is less than 20 mins by train from London Marylebone and it’s right in the Nimby heartlands on phase 1 which is supposedly united in its opposition to HS2.
No.
Even Packham’s been forced to admit that the turnout has been pretty abysmal. He’s claimed “over 1000”, which seems remarkably generous judging by the pictures appearing on Twitter. Here’s a selection. First up, Packham’s tweet.
Packham’s attached a 20 second long video which shows a few dozen people walking past the camera and err, that’s it! Notice something else? How few of the ‘5 million’ have liked or retweeted this so far…Spot the 1000s? Nope, me neither…A nice, tightly cropped picture, showing just a few dozen people. Where’s everyone else? Another Packham self-publicity shot with the silly train set and the 1000s gathered who turned up for the ramble behind him. Oh, wait…”Tell the truth”? That’s rich coming from Packham, man who’s continually made stuff up!
Still, never mind. This must be trending on Twitter and across social media, right? I mean, 5 million people pumping this out will make a huge impact, won’t it?
Like hell. The #rethinkHs2 hashtag’s got nowhere! Meanwhile, over on the Stophs2 Facebook page, there’s one or two more revealing videos that show just how few have turned up. You can find them here.
To put all this nonsense in perspective. Many millions of us repeatedly marched against Brexit. Did we succeed? So, how will this little circus stop Hs2?
The really sad thing here is the way Packham and the other single-issue campaigners like the Woodland Trust are exploiting people for their own ends. None of this is going to stop Hs2 in the slightest, it’s basically a cheap publicity stunt for Packham and his friends where he’s exploited his ‘celebrity’ to suck people into believing the nonsense he spouts. My frustration is the way people are being misled over the true impact of HS2 and the fact they’re not actually protecting anything in the long term, exactly the opposite in fact.
Without HS2 we simply don’t have the rail capacity for the future to get people & freight off roads and cut transport Co2 emissions to tackle global Climate Change. Stopping HS2 isn’t ‘green’. This is the classic example of not being able to see the woods for the trees and the oil companies and road lobby must be rubbing their hands in glee at how easy it is to get ‘greens’ to do their work for them. Packham offers no solutions. He has none, because it’s always easier to oppose things and leave solutions to others. Here’s something else he doesn’t tell you. Here’s all that woodland ‘destruction’ put into perspective when you compare it to just a single road scheme in SE England. Of course, the LTC would have been greater than HS2 until the Woodland Trust mysteriously upped their figure from 40.2 ha when someone drew their attention to it, without providing a shred of evidence to back up or explain the increase. Funny, that…
One last thing that made me laugh about today? The complete absence of pictorial or other evidence that any of the remaining StopHs2 Twitter trolls managed to drag their sorry arses away from their keyboards and out of their armchairs to be there – even the ones within a 20 mile radius. They may rant on social media, but that’s all they do…
We’ve been up since 07:00 having breakfast and finishing packing up the chalet to begin the drive back to Yorkshire later today. This could be interesting as Dawn and her parents may have left a lot of presents behind, but they’ve gained a load too and now there’s me and my camera bag to fit into the vehicle! This could get cosy!
Fortunately, the weather’s looking OK. We’ve a mild but cloudy day to look forward to with no rain forecast anywhere on the 4 hour drive back to West Yorkshire – although as we’ll be stopping off on the way for coffee and lunch we’ll be on the road for longer than that. Let’s see how this goes…
10:00.
It all fits! Mind you, you should see what’s in with the rest of us in the passenger saloon…
So, it’s goodbye to the chalet that’s been our home for the past week.
Next stop, coffee with Darren & the kids in Farnham…
11:45.
Fuelled – up on coffee, pain au raison and having bid adieu to the Surrey branch of Dawn’s family it’s time to hit the road, thankful that we’ve dodged the elderly idiot in a Bentley who nealy caused a crash in the Waitrose car park! Well, it would be, wouldn’t it?
12:35.
We’ve just come off the M4 at Junction 13 to head cross-country on the A34. Apart from the ever-busy M4 the roads have been surprisingly quiet allowing us to make good time.
13:15.
Well, the A34’s lived down to expectations! Despite the general lack of HGV traffic on the roads this route is a main freight artery to/from the busy port of Southampton. Add in the fact Oxford’s saturated with cars and the A34’s the town’s by-pass we’ve now got snarled up in heavy traffic.
14:50.
We made it through the traffic before flitting along an equally congested M40 for one junction then headed up a less busy A43 to reach the M1 where traffic was heavy Southbound but reasonable (for the M1) heading North.
We’re now having a pit-stop at Watford Gap services. The busiest of the eateries here is the one I never use anyway – McDonald’s, where folk tap in their orders to touchscreens before queuing for their burgers. Whilst Dawn and her folks relaxed in the adjacent Costa coffee I went for a wander and took this shot looking North up the M1.
The M1 at Watford Gap. Surprisingly quiet.
19:06.
Home! The rest of the journey wasn’t bad at all. Traffic thinned out the further North we got and the only surprise was when we passed above the car parks of the Meadowhall Shopping Centre outside of Sheffield. They were absolutely rammed!
Leaving the M1 at Junction 35a we headed over to Huddersfield to drop off ‘the folks’ and their bags, then (considerably lighter) we drove cross-country back to home. Despite it being Saturday night, life in West Yorkshire seems quite subdued. Most of the restaurants and pubs we passed were mostly empty. Presumably people are hording what money they’ve got left from the Christmas excesses for New Year. I can’t say either of us are going to be painting the town red tonight either. The moggie needs some TLC and there’s plenty to sort out before year (and decade) end…
Today’s our final day in Surrey before heading back to Yorkshire tomorrow and it feels like the country’s starting to emerge from its festive hibernation. Trains have resumed running, the stock markets have re-opened and the shops have resumed their sales after having a less than merry Christmas. That said, you could tell that social media was still suffering from a slow news day. My timeline was full of folks outraged by a QC admitting he’d killed a fox with a baseball bat to protect his chickens whilst others were having an attack of the vapours because the “Gavin and Stacey” Xmas special on TV had used the original lyrics of the Pogues song which included the word “faggot”. Ho ho ho…
After a slow start due to the gloomy, overcast weather the four of us ventured into Farnham to collect some groceries and also check out some of the sales. The town’s not blessed with the panoply of outlets that nearby Guildford can boast of but it still has more than many. I managed to pick up a very nice long-sleeved polo shirt from ‘Fatface’ for £20, which was 50% cheaper than a few days ago. To be honest, I’d rather have piles than go shopping, but when needs must at least getting a bargain takes the sting out of things!
Despite the sales Farnham seemed fairly subdued. There certainly wasn’t the frenetic activity I’d seen just before Christmas when it seemed folks were stockpiling for the Zombie Apocalypse more than anything else (Firearms excepted, obviously). The busiest place we encountered was the nearby by-pass which had all the haste of a funeral cortege.
We’re now back at my brother-in-law’s after a quick visit to the local pub. The parents are dozing in the TV room, the kids are holed-up in their bedrooms playing on various electronic devices and I’m sat in front of the fire with the dog whilst typing this. Meanwhile, Dawn and Darren are busy in the kitchen preparing chicken chasseur. I’m on stand-by for washing-up and veg-peeling duties if needed but they seem to have everything under control.
After such stunning Christmas Day weather Boxing Day’s been a real disappointment here in Surrey. The morning’s been dominated by continuous rain and heavy winds. Foolishly, I hadn’t brought my full set of waterproofs and didn’t fancy getting a soaking, so I reluctantly flagged the traditional Tilford Boxing day walk. Dawn and her parents decided to have the day out in the car whilst I stayed at ‘home’ in the chalet and crack on catching up on some work (the beauty and the curse of being freelance, there’s always something to do, no matter what the season).
The silver lining was the fact our chalet is within a stones throw of the Duke of Cambridge pub which was one of the pit-stops for the walkers so I had chance to join them for a quick drink. Despite the weather, the mixed group of adults, kids and dogs were in good spirits – especially after drying off in a pub for a while!
After an hour or so they left to complete their walk and I headed back to the chalet to finish the work I’d lined-up. Whilst I was at ‘home’ I turned on the TV in the vain hope of finding a mild diversion that I could half-watch/listen to whilst concentrating on other things. That’s when I realised once again that you can have dozens of TV channels in a TV package but 95% of them are utter shite unless you’re a child or someone with the attention-span of a Goldfish. Looking through the schedule I’ve found one ancient Hollywood film that was pure propaganda for the US during the Vietnam War (The ‘Green Berets’, directed by and starring John Wayne) plus loads of channels that are all about flogging you stuff. I ended up turning it off and listened to music instead.
It’s Christmas day and there’s a long list of family commitments ahead, so there’s going to be little, if any time for blogging today despite me having plenty of thoughts that I could pen. Instead, I’ll restrict myself to wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas (wherever you are). I hope you all have a peaceful and enjoyable day.
Here’s one of the presents that was under the tree for me…
It’s Christmas Eve and the Platt family and I have congregated in Surrey, where Darren, my brother-in-law lives with his family. As it’s Darren’s son Sam’s 12th birthday we’re all off to a Spanish restaurant in Guildford to celebrate.
Considering the time of year the weather’s surprisingly mild – if wet! The amount of flooded roads and sodden fields has dropped since we arrived a couple of days ago, but there’s more rain forecast, which could make the traditional Boxing Day stroll a bit of a challenge. You need wellies, not walking boots around here right now.
Even without the rain it’s a challenge to get around as Tilford is partially cut-off do to one of the two bridges over the river Wey that provides access to the village is closed for rebuilding. A temporary pedestrian bridge has been built to allow folk to get to vital services like the local pub, but for vehicles the detour adds miles to the journey. The bridge is expected to remain closed until late 2020, which is causing a lot of grief. I’ll add some pictures later when I get time.
Yesterday, the Sunday Telegraph carried their latest anti HS2 nonsense when they reported that “Dozens of MPs” had signed a letter opposing HS2. There was only one problem, it was complete nonsense and a classic of the Sub-Editor’s art where the headline bears no relation to what’s in the article. Why? Because the letter was actually signed by less than two dozen MPs. In fact, only 21 had signed it.
Even the increasingly down – market Telegraph realised that this fiction was a bridge to far for many of its readers to swallow and soon dropped the ‘dozens’ claim from its website, but not before the tiny bunch of people still opposing HS2 has worked themselves up into a frenzy, sharing the original tweet. Here’s an example.
Here’s part of the Tel’s article, which reveals that things are not exactly as was claimed.
“New” group? No. it’s an old one resurrected, as the actual letter from the 21 makes clear.
Unsurprisingly, the letter also reveals that the majority of these MPs are from constituencies on the route of HS2. It also reveals they’re nearly all of a particular dogmatic wing of the Tory party, the Brexity section that’s allied with the political lobbyists ensconced in 55 Tufton St, in other words, the ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ (who never reveal who funds them, or how much UK tax they actually pay – if any) and their fellow travellers the IEA.
The idea that they’re somehow growing political force that threatens HS2 is what they’d like you to believe. The truth is rather different, for several reasons. Firstly, the newly MPs who oppose HS2 don’t make up for the numbers of anti HS2 MPs who’ve left Parliament such as Kate Hoey, Kelvin Hopkins, Dennis Skinner, Frank Field or Madeline Moon. They (mostly) just represent a different party. Let’s crunch some numbers. A total of 41 MPs voted against Phase 1 of HS2 back in 2014. Only 20 of them are still MPs. Several of the 20 that are left from the original 41 such as Hollobone, Fabricant and Davis, have signed this letter.
But…Of the 20 remaining opposers of Phase 1, seven did a volte-face to back building Phase 2a. leaving a grand total of just 15 MPs objecting, showing that they’re hardly a united or coherent front. We can expect this to happen again when the Phase 2b bill passes through Parliament.
The letter also exposes the fact these MPs really don’t have a clue what to do about HS2, hence the mixed messages about it. No doubt some would like to see it stopped, others are aware that campaigning against it would leave them with a battle on their hands as they’d face stiff opposition from local business groups like LEPs, Chambers of Commerce, transport groups and elected Mayors.
Whichever way you cut the numbers it’s clear that the opposition to HS2 in Parliament hasn’t grown, it’s mostly just changed party. This leaves Labour in an interesting position. Keeping their strong support for HS2 could well help them win votes back in the North as the limited real opposition to HS2 remains concentrated in the Tory shires and the Chilterns which they’ll never win anyway. It also leaves Johnson in a position that if he wants to hold onto the North he has to deliver on his promises to ‘rebalance’ the economy and invest in infrastructure and cancelling HS2 would send entirely the wrong message. Also, Phase 1 is a done deal as it has Royal Assent, there’s nothing the Chiltern/phase 1 Tory MPs can do other than posture as there’s no more votes in Parliament in regard to that phase, which leaves them in a bit of a bind. Voting against Phase 2b won’t stop Phase 1, but it could lead to some interesting conversations for ‘newbie’ MPs with the whips office, conversations ambitious new MPs may not want to have. Why provoke the ire of your party bosses over something you can’t win?
Whatever happens, don’t expect a resurrected “HS2 Review Group” have any more success in stopping HS2 than its previous incarnation.
UPDATE. 25th January 2020.
To say this tiny group of Tory MPs opposing HS2 haven’t been getting their own way wold be an understatement, despite the attempts of one or two of their new number to raise their profiles by sounding off about HS2, far more Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister in SUPPORT of building HS2 – as this article in the Guardian reveals.
