This isn’t going to be a long blog. The pair of us are starting to flag after getting to bed at 03:30 this morning before getting up again just a few hours later at 07:30, but it was well worth it. The ACoRP awards was a fabulous night that went without a hitch due to the great team that delivered the event. The full list of winners can be found here on the ACoRP website.
The days when Community Rail was seen as a sideshow and something eccentric or even irrelevant are long gone. Now the awards are seen as a ‘must attend’ event and have the support of the Department of Transport, Network Rail and the Train Operating Companies themselves, hence the regular attendance of the DfT’s Peter Wilkinson and Network Rail’s Chief executive Andrew Haines to name but two. But the evening belongs to the groups, most of whom are volunteers – who put in the thousands of hours that make such a difference to their stations, and their communities. As one of the awards Judges I feel very privileged to get to meet so many inspiring people who’re doing such fantastic work up and down the country. The community rail awards is our way of ensuring they get the recognition and appreciation they deserve for all the brilliant work that they do.
Here’s a few pictures to give a flavour of the event.
The stage is set and we’re all ready for the guests to arrive…The coveted trophies and certificates waiting to be awarded.
The drinks reception outside the main room as people gather for the awards. LNER’s Richard Salkeld is an old friend of ACoRP and helps out every year to organise ‘Heads and Tails’ a fun game that raises thousands of pounds for charity each year. Two of the guests demonstrate how you play ‘heads or tails’. You win or lose on the flip of a coin. The last one left standing wins a bottle of champagne. The winners gather together onstage at the end of the awards.
Right, it’s time for bed. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow when I’ve lots of pictures to add to my Zenfolio website. Watch this space…
– As Rod Stewart sang, only this night is going to be akright as it’s the annual ACoRP community rail awards. This year it’s being held in Telford, Shropshire.
Right now I’ve a few hours off to explore before the big event. I’ve never been to Telford before, so after breakfast I had a wander. Built as a new tiwn back in the 1960s you can see that the motor car featured heavily in the town’s design. It’s sprawling and features a lot of car parks. That said, obvious efforts have been made to provide plenty of footpaths and even some cycleways to compensate. I don’t think the place will win any architectural awards tho’…
12:09.
Not having long I popped down to Wolverhampton for a flying visit to grab a couple of shots before heading back up the line to a place I’ve not visited since 2005, the delightful Codsall station. The old station building was converted into a pub many years ago. Run by Holden’s brewery, it’s a delightful place to visit for a pint, a sandwich and a browse of the railway memorabilia that decorates the walls.
What is it about pubs on stations? You can almost guarantee that you’ll see someone you know! On this occaision and location I bumped into Mike Lamport, an old friend from the industry who used to work in PR, latterly for Silverlink trains and then the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).
13:00.
Sadly, the weather’s not been kind to me. I’ve managed to get a few shots for the library, but now it’s time to head back and get ready for tonight and a very different style of photography…
16:13.
Right, it’s time to head for the big event. Suitably ‘suited and booted’ and with all the camera kit checked and ready to go I’m off for the staff briefing…
It’s time to say adieu to the Calder Valley for a few days as we’re off to the ACoRP awards in Telford, Shropshire. First port of call is the ACoRP office in Huddersfield to meet up with other members of staff, then begin our rail journey to Telford via Manchester and Shrewsbury. The rain’s abated, the skies are clear and the sun is rising. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing, hopefully, so stick with me and see how the day goes…
08:50.
Oh, the joys of driving in the rush-hour! Dawn’s usual route from home to Huddersfield is via the infamous Ainley Top roundabout by the M62. On a good day, without traffic or a motorway snarl-up it can be done dorr to door in 15 mins. Today, 35m after leaving home we’re still queueing at the Ainley Top traffic lights!
09:24.
Finally, after 50 mins in the car, we arrived at Huddersfield, having missed the train we were aiming for. All’s not lost as we’re now on TPE’s local service to Piccadilly, where we’ll catch up the others before getting the Transport for Wales service to Shrewsbury. This time of day our train’s quiet. After years of travelling ln jam-packed 185s, I can’t get used to seeing them like this…
Despite our train starting in Huddersfield it still had a 3 minute late departure, but at keast we’re on our way and Dawn can let others worry abkut the driving…
What a beautiful day for crossing the Pennines. The sunshine’s highlighting the seasons change in the leaf colour of the trees en-route. It’s a perfect day for lineside photography, but I’m stuck on a train! We may have been empty at the start but after stopping several times on the way we’re now about half-full. To TPE’s credit, the conductor on this train’s excellent, keeping oeople informed of delays and connections in an informative but relaxed way.
10:40.
Time for a change of TOC. The gang’s all here on Transport for Wales 09:31 to Shrewsbury. At least we’ve all got seats at tables, even if there’s no power sockets.
11:31.
Not a great day on the trains today. Our TfW service is now 9 mins late, having dropped time ever since leaving Manchester Piccadilly. This means we’ll miss our connection at Shrewsbury and have to get the later train. No big deal, but frustrating nonetheless.
12:15.
The enforced delay allowed a mad dash for sustenance as the group tried to find food tgat suited all tastes. Mission successful, we’re now on West West Midlands Railway’s 12:13 to Telford. The weather’s not as cloudless here, but it’s still a great imorovement to the past few days – and it’s dry!
15:00.
On arrjval in Telford we went straight to the venue and got stuck into the various jobs that needed sorting, such as last minute table changes, cancellations and checks. We even found the time to set up a production line and stuff the 450 goody bags we need…
17:09.
Preparatory work done, a group of us are off for a littke jolly to Wolverhampton thanks to WM Trains. You’ll see where they’re taking us shortly….
20:20.
– well that was the plan anyway! We were taken on a trip to a museum I’ve never visited before, but the snapshot we had of the Black Country Museum was so enjoyable I’ll definitely be coming back to explore more of what it has to offer.
We’ve been treated to a private night at the museum, complete with rides on a trolleybus, drinks in the rebuilt Mechanics Institute building, tours of selected old shops and fish and chips from their vintage chippy. I’ve too many pictures to add now, but I will do in the morning (along with links to the museum). Right now we’re being taken back to Telford by road, ready for the big day tomorrow.
Here in the Calder Valley October began exactly where September left off – in the rainclouds! The rain’s hardly stopped all day except for a few moments when you feel emboldened enough to set foot outside, then it creeps back laughing and soaks you! I went for a walk up through our local woods earlier, all the paths had been turned into rivulets as the ground’s so sodden the water’s nowhere else to go. Apart from me, a few soggy squirrels and a couple of determined dog-walkers the woods were deserted. For the past few days I’ve been lucky to see the other side of the valley, never mind further afield.
I’ve not minded too much as I’ve got plenty to do at home. In fact, this enforced sojourn has allowed me to catch up on a huge amount of paperwork and also led me to have a bit of a clear out of stuff I’ve been hoarding for years but never looked at for decades – and certainly not since I left London. You see, this month hold a rather significant birthday for me. It’s my 60th, and it’s make me somewhat introspective. When you’re younger you collect all sorts of ephemera and stuff you physically clutter your life up with. I’m now of an age where I’m thinking “do I really need this stuff anymore? What value is it going to add to my remaining years”? It’s not as if I haven’t got enough to keep me occupied with all the pictures that I still need to scan so that they see the light of day after decades of sitting in albums. Some of this decluttering is actually a catharsis, allowing me to focus on what’s really important.
Tomorrow all this changes as we escape the valley and me the office to head down to Telford for the ACoRP awards. The weather forecast promises something other than continual rain, so I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get a few library shots to add to the collection as well as everything else. No doubt there’ll be a rolling blog or two coming your way at the same time. In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures from last years awards which was held in Glasgow.
Compare Richard Salkeld (left) of LNER with Scotrail MD and awards presenter Alex Hynes.
Enjoying the drinks reception before the serious business of the night starts – the awards themselves.
Where the hell did September go? One minute we’re chugging slowly and sedately towards the end of summer with some cracking days full of sunshine, the next it’s full-blown autumn, with the leaves already beginning to fall in their droves, encouraged by the torrential rain and gales that have been an on and off feature of the month.
Mind you, it’s not just been the weather that’s stormy. The political scene’s been pretty tempestuous too as Boris Johnson continues to both wreck Britain’s political standing in the world and make the country ungovernable in his hell for leather pursuit of a no-deal Brexit. No lie is to large for the man to tell it and no scenario too preposterous. Parliament’s fought back and now we find ourselves at a political impasse and the party conference season. The bits that I’ve seen of the Tory conference make it look like a cross between the Benny Hill show and a zombie movie, as this little gem shows. Add some batshit crazy speeches from a few clueless Cabinet Ministers and you can’t help but wonder what our European neighbours make of this mess when they see the scandals around Johnson unfold and hear the bonkerssruff coming out of the mouths of his Cabinet. It’s no wonder so many delegates are choosing to take a nap…
Tomorrow October arrives, which is going to be a pretty full-on month. On Wednesday we head off to the Community Rail Awards in Telford for ACoRPs annual celebration of everything that’s best about the sector. It’ll be a busy time but also a great opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues from around the country. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us as there’s a couple of ‘jollies’ included in the programme.
I’ve had little time for blogging today as (for once) we actually had a lie-in. After a week of getting up at 06:00-07:00 it was lovely not to have the alarm set. Mind you, we also had a fairly late night as a small group of us went to a friends for a meal last night. Forget the Tories Brugges group, this was a chance for a select six of us to get together and have a lovely meal at Tony Allan’s and chat about our own visit to that fair city.
We had a lovely evening and didn’t miss much by getting up late as the morning was (literally) a washout due to the weather. It’s yet another day where it’s chucked it down, so much so that I didn’t get out for my constitutional stroll until this evening when the wet weather abated. Instead, the pair of us have spent most of the day getting on with chores, not exactly the rock and roll lifestyle, but when needs must…
What I have had chance to do is catch up on the news and seen that the much hyped anti HS2 demonstration led by Chris Packham at Euston yesterday failed to set the world on fire. Sure, it got media attention because of Packham but only a few dozen people turned up. Most of the media photos are tightly cropped to show Packham and a couple of demonstrators with him. The ones that zoom out show just how few folk actually bothered coming along. Of course, all this is a sideshow, the main event is up the West Coast Main Line in Manchester where the Tory party conference is happening. What’s not happening is any StopHs2 presence. Several years ago they would have had a stall inside all the party conferences. Now their campaign’s on its uppers they can’t even be bothered to turn up and leaflet outside.
This evening, whilst Dawn’s been cooking some fabulous Indian curry I’ve been busy delving through the picture archives thanks to a friend who jogged my memory . Earlier today Anthony Roberts posted a picture from Belgium showing one of their Cass 62 diesel locos. This set me thinking, and searching my Zenfoilio site. I realised that I’d never added old pictures from some Belgian tours I did back in 2006. I used to have them on my old Fotopic website, but when that went tits-up I lost a lot of caption details as I’d never added it to the original files (which I still have). So this evening has been spent hunting down info to try and rebuld the collection on my Zenfolio site. You can find the resurrected gallery here. Thank God for websites like six bells junction, which has allowed me to check the details of the tour. I’ve more pictures to add but that’s going to have to wait until later in the week. It’s taken me 8 years, another few days won’t make any difference! Here’s a couple of samples. I must admit these pictures have triggered a real bout of nostalgia for what were some wonderful times with a great bunch of people. I used to go over on these tours with a group of friends from the Gloucester area under the banner of Pathfinder railtours. You’ll see some of them in the pictures.
The view from the cab of Class 62 no 6250 as we travel across HollandA line-up of Railion Class 204 locos at Terneuzen. Holland. 4.11.06.
Today I’ve escaped the confines of the Calder Valley to head across the Pennines to Manchester. My plan is to pop in at a charity coffee morning being held at Manchester Piccadilly before working out my itinerary for the rest of the day which will very much depend on the weather. Yes, I know I talk about the weather all the time, but in my work as a photographer it’s a vital component that has enormous influence over what I do – as well as where and when!
I’m hoping to be able to get some library shots of the new trains that are entering service with Northern and Trans-Pennine Express, and possibly an old Pacer or two before they take their final trip to the scrapyard.
Things haven’t got off to a very auspicious start. We’re just pulling out of Stalybridge in the middle of a shower with the wind pushing in low clouds from the West, promising more rain to come. Let’s see how the day goes and where I end up…
12:06.
The coffee morning at Piccadilly is a great success and a fantastic example of the railway family coming together to help a charity. Cakes were baked by (and the stall staffed by) volunteers from Network Rail, Northern Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester and ACoRP station adopters as well as staff from Macmillan cancer care, the charity funds were being raised for.
12:18.
I’m on the move again as the weather in Manchester’s living up to its reputation and chucking it down! I’d moved on from Piccadilly to Oxford Rd where, despite the weather, I managed to get several shots of both the CAF units for Northern and one of the TPE mark 5 sets. Sadly, not side by side.
14:49.
In an effort to escape the rain I headed West, over to Liverpool aboard one of the new 195s. Initially, it was to no avail as the rain was bucketing down when I arrived, but just before I left the skies began to clear and the sun appeared. Whilst I was at the station once of those one chance in a million events occurred. As the rain was so heavy I changed my mind about nipping out of the station to grab a sandwich and decided to get a last couple of shots first. As I walked past passengers waiting for the London train a woman waved at me. At first, I didn’t recognise her. As I got closer I realised it was Annette, an old friend from Southport whom I shared a flat with in when I lived in London’s East End from 1986-96. The pair of us haven’t seen each other for maybe 15 yrs! We ended up chatting for quite a while, catching up on all the events in each others lives over the past few years. It was both a nostalgic and bittersweet experience as it made me think about how many things have happened in my life since the day we picked up the keys to that flat in Bromley-by-Bow back in July 1986…
16:33.
After bidding adieu to Annette I grabbed that sandwich and a few more pictures before leaping aboard one of Northern Rail’s new 3-car electric trains which was working to Blackpool North via Wigan. This was one of the more numerous 3-car varients of the Class 331 that I’ve spent time photographing around Leeds and the Aire Valley. The unit was packed but I managed to find a tip-up seat in the vestibule that was free. By the time we got to Wigan we’d caught up with the rain and I was treated to several heavy showers. The rain was so torrential that some Wigan – Southport trains were cancelled due to the line flooding. Once I’d managed a few shots of the new trains I caught a Wigan North Western -Stalybridge service made up of avpair of Class 150s, one of which is a unit (107) recently cascaded from London North Western. As you can see, the skies above don’t exactly look inviting…
17:27.
Having left Wigan and constantly criss-crossed out of weather fronts I pitched up in Manchester to change trains once more. Now I’m heading back across the Pennines aboard a busy commuter service, the 17:19 to Leeds which is worked by Class 156/153 combo. The atmosphere aboard is quite subdued. There’s little sign of people looking forward to the weekend, more a like a lot of knackered folk thinking “thank God it’s Friday!”
18:40.
Back in Halifax I’m meeting up with Dawn for an evening at the pictures and something the English do far better than dealing with the present or future: nostalgia. We’re off to see the ‘Downton Abbey’ film…
As I predicted, there were angry and heated scenes in Parliament yesterday. MPs from all sides expressed their disgust at the behaviour of Johnson and his Cabinet coterie. Some, like Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman (a man I normally have little time for) didn’t mince their words.
The whole proceedings were a deeply unedifying spectacle, more so because of the complete contempt Johnson and his clique showed for both Parliament, the Judiciary and democracy itself. The final straw for many was Johnson’s clear disdain for female MP’s worries about him stoking up tensions and his attempt to co-opt the spirit of the murdered MP for Batley and Spen, Jo Cox, by claiming enabling Brexit would honour her memory.
I met Jo Cox once. At a station adoption event in Batley. Jo was very kind and helpful to my wife Dawn as it was Dawn’s first public speaking event representing her company, ACoRP. After that meeting I was convinced Jo would have gone far, maybe even all the way to the top. She was clever, witty and engaging. She also knew how to make things happen. What I do know is that Jo would have been horrified by Brexit and done everything she could to fight it. Johnson using her is typical of the man. Let’s face it, he has a long history of using and exploiting women. He has no moral compass whatsoever. The only thing that matters to him is his own ambition.
But don’t fall into the trap of thinking Johnson’s unapologetic performance and stoking of outrage yesterday was accidental. It was anything but. It was straight out of the Steve Bannon playbook, the one Trump keeps under his pillow.
Johnson’s trapped himself. His arrogance, willingness to lie fluently and lack of a moral compass have got him (and us) into this mess. Politically he’s a dead man walking, caught in a mire of his own making. He’s impotent as he has no majority so he’s at the mercy of others. He’s swinging in the wind like the famous picture on that zipwire. The only way out of it that he sees is to trigger an election – hence his behaviour. He wants a vote of no confidence – anything that will trigger an election that he thinks he still has a chance of winning. That’s why he’s trying to goad everyone, be they Labour, women MPs or even his own backbenches.
But remember the old Chinese saying. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. Johnson’s problem is that others remember that saying too and are happy to give him enough rope…
Postscript.
Since I wrote this Parliament has voted to refuse to suspend itself during the Conservative party conference. It’s yet another humiliation for Johnson, who’s faced with being at the conference or in Parliament. Ten of the former Conservative MP’s Johnson withdrew the whip from voted against the motion. Remember what I said about revenge?
I’ve already had a varied day at home, sorting out a selection of pictures for my show at tonight’s Bradford Railway Circle title “from contraction to expansion” which will take a look at the way the railways fortunes have changed in the last few decades. I’ve also been sorting out pictures for a couple of clients. Now it’s time to escape the house for a few hours as I make my way over to Bradford. After the torrential rain we had yesterday things are brightening up, we’ve actually got some sunshine to keep the dark clouds that are looming company. Hopefully, I might even be able to get a couple of decent pictures on my travels.
It’s not just over the Calder Valley where the weather’s stormy. I’ve just been watching some of the proceedings in the reconvened Parliament. To say that some MPs are angry is an understatement! I expect more thunder and lightning when Johnson appears at the Dispatch Box later this afternoon. This would make great theatre if the consequences for the rest of us weren’t so damned serious. All will be revealed later, but don’t expect Johnson to have any answers, or apologise for breaking the law.
15:56.
It looks like I made a mistake in trusting the weather forecast, which said we’d be getting some sunshine this afternoon. This was the view as I headed up the hill from home earlier. That’s more rain heading my way, not ‘sunny spells’! I managed to walk to the station without copping for more than coating of drizzle, but this is hardly ideal weather for photography…
17:00.
As often happens, once I left the valley behind the weather picked up. Not so much in Bradford, but I decided to sally forth to Shipley once more to kill some time and add to my gallery of CAF built Class 331 shots. For once, everything fell right with the two sets in traffic following each other on Skipton services, one from Leeds, the second from Bradford.
Now I’m making a move back to Bradford to try and grab a few more shots before heading out to my show. If only the weather was like Saturday, when for a few brief hours we returned to the summer!
18:10.
I’ve managed to bag a few library images. Nothing special as the weather wasn’t playing ball, but useful nonetheless. I also had the opportunity to see how recent track alterations have cut out conflicting movements to allow trains from Leeds and Halifax to arrive simultaneously. Now I’m waiting for my train out to Low Moor, the sole station between Bradford and Halifax that reopened in 2017. I’ve never visited before but now I have an excuse as it’s the nearest station to tonight’s venue.
18:32.
My train to Low Moor is being worked by my old friend, the e-Pacer!
23:21.
The show seemed to go well, although it’s always slightly unnerving when you have such a famous railway photographer as Brian Morrison in the audience. No-one fell asleep, there were several questions and I was invited back! I’m very lucky that my line of work gets me to places the public don’t normally see, so it’s always great to be able to share the pictures and anecdotes with aporeciative people. Heading back from Low Moor the e-Pacer arrived again to take me back to Halifax and I’m now home and ready to call it a day.
There’s another busy day ahead of ne tomorrow, plus an early start in order to fit everything in. Watch this space…
As if three and a half years of putting up with the brexitshambles wasn’t enough! Seeing our once proud country descend into third-world levels of political incompetence and corruption, whilst our two main political parties are run by a coterie of politicians whom you wouldn’t trust to run a bath, never mind a country. Whoever suspected that such an old democracy as our could fall into this state so easily? But that’s complacency and being stuck in the past for you.
Today, we’ve reached peak shambles. The Supreme Court’s 11 judges have unanimously ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful. In a pitiful response, John accused the judges of trying to ‘frustrate’ Brexit – completely forgetting his own narrative that prorogation was absolutely nothing to do with Brexit in the first place. In just a couple of months in office, Johnson’s lost his first six Commons votes in a row, broken the law by suspending Parliament and misled the monarch. Even some die-hard Tories must be wondering how on earth they managed to back someone who is so clearly incompetent, but then they ignored the fact the man was a proven serial liar in the first place. To make matters worse, another scandal has broken over Johnson’s relationship with a former American model, Jennifer Arcuri, when he was Mayor of London – only this time it’s not just about illicit bedroom activities, this is about real allegations of corruption, the abuse of office and also misuse of taxpayers money. This is serious stuff.
Meanwhile, the cult of Corbyn has made a resurgence at the Labour party conference where it’s like a revival of the 1970s. Composite votes that are passed (or not passed, the result kept changing) by a simple show of hands look bizarre in the 21st century. The end result was to pass a Brexit policy that will have Remainers abandoning the Labour party in droves. It was a classic political stitch-up the hard left have practised for years. This wasn’t the longest suicide-note in history, but it was certainly written on the same paper! Anyone thinking Labour may just have been rediscovering a semblance of looking like a party fit for Government has been sadly disabused.
God only knows what our friends in Europe are thinking as they watch this shit-show unfurl. We’re beginning to make Italy look like a model of political stability. Where the hell is this going to end? I have no idea. I’m no lover of Johnson, but even I didn’t think he could be this politically inept. His predecessor, Teresa May, was the first Prime Minister to be found in contempt of Parliament. Johnson’s gone “hold my beer” and has been found to have illegally shut-down Parliament – and misled the Queen! And, he’s still saying he’ll break the law to crash us out of the EU without a deal on October 31st!
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow has announced an immediate recall of Parliament. I suspect we’re going to see a lot of angry scenes in the chamber when it is, and I can’t imagine Johnson having anything other than a very rocky ride from all sides of the house. He won’t be able to cope. His lack of attention to detail and the fact he lies so easily (despite the consequences) will ensure that.
We’ve now gone from a fiddled referendum into the brexitshambles and now added a full-on constitutional clusterfuck to the mix – and no-one looks like they’re in any position to pick up the pieces.
