Tag Archives: Architecture

23rd September picture of the day…

23 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by in Architecture, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day

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It’s a been a very quiet day here in Bigland Towers, mainly because I’ve been the only one here. Dawn’s been back in the Community Rail Network office in Huddersfield, which would normally leave me and the moggie. Only now there’s no moggie, and the place seems very empty without him. Jet always used to wander into my office to see me when I was working if he needed food, or just attention. He was happy to sit on my lap whilst I scanned pictures or typed, only now he’s no longer around and I have to admit I really miss him.

Empty home aside, I’ve been kept busy writing about my ‘3 peaks by rail’ adventure for magazines, so the day’s passed quickly. I did manage to get out for my daily constitutional and pick up some shopping, but then it was back to the grindstone. Not that I’m complaining, I have work, a roof over my head and lots to look forward to – unlike some…

I’m looking forward to having these few days at home before travels commence once again. Next week I have a press trip lined up, a funeral and then a holiday. Well, two out of three ain’t bad – as the old Meatloaf song goes.

So, on to the picture of the day. As I’ve not been scanning any old slides recently I was in a quandry over what to use, so I decided on this, which is a shot of how the urban realm can be vastly improved when we make the decision that people come before cars. This is the recently revamped station forecourt at Doncaster. Previously it had been dominated by the motor vehicle. Previously, most of the area was a car park. Now it’s been transformed into a place for people – and art (hence the railway themed sculptures to the right). If only more of our towns an cities followed suit…

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/

Thank you!

The Friends of Mytholmroyd station celebrate once more…

03 Friday Sep 2021

Posted by in Architecture, History, Mytholmroyd, Photography, Railways, West Yorkshire

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Yesterday it was my pleasure to attend yet another celebration at Mytholmroyd, where the station friends and guests were unveiling a plaque celebrating the restoration of the 1871 station building winning a Railway Heritage Trust conservation award in December 2019. Sadly, the Covid pandemic postponed any chance to celebrate the award or mount the plaque until this year. Ironically, the postponement meant that the plaque was unveiled this year, which is the 150th anniversary of the building’s construction. The present building replaced an original timber structure from when the line opened in 1847. Records show that the contract to construct the building was let by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in May 1870 to a “Mr Wilkinson, contractor of Mytholmroyd”. In June 1870 construction was suspended due to excavations causing part of the embankment under the Down line to subside. Work resumed at the end of September 1870 and the new building opened in December 1871*. You can find a full selection of pictures of the interior of the refurbished building in this blog. Here’s how the building looks from street level. Passengers on passing trains don’t appreciate the sheer size of the building as they only see the top floor.

Here’s a selection of pictures from yesterday’s unveiling.

The plaque revealed!
The participants from L-R. Craig Whittaker, MP for the Calder Valley. Geoff Mitchell (Friends of Mytholmroyd). Andy Savage, Railway Heritage Trust and RHA Judge. Sue Mitchell (Friends of Mytholmroyd). Chris Harris, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. Bob Freeth, Mayor of Hebden Royd Council. Theo Steel, Railway Heritage Trust.
The plaque.

Work will soon begin to outfit the interior of the building ready to accept its first tenants. No doubt when that happens I’ll be bringing you more updates!

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/

Thank you!

*Thanks to Michael Allen of Mytholmroyd for providing me with the historical information on the station construction

24th April picture of the day…

24 Saturday Apr 2021

Posted by in Architecture, Picture of the day, Railways, Southport, Travel

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I’ve not displayed a picture of the day for while now as I’ve been busy concentrating on contemporary shots and making the most of the slow release of the lockdown rules to visit Merseyside which has been quite an eye-opener after being cooped up for so long. The fact it’s combined with a run of glorious weather has been fortuitous to say the least! This has been great, both for photography and my vitamin D levels! Oh, and people-watching as so many folks are out and about again. Having been (mostly) confined to small towns visiting a city like Liverpool has been a delight for the sheer variety of people and activities. I’m optimistic that this is the start of a return to a normal life – as long as the inoculation programme continues apace and the few covidiots around (such as the demonstrators in London today) don’t screw it up for us.

As well as the railway shots I’ve redeveloped an interest in urban dereliction photography. Well, let’s face it – there’s no shortage of subject matter in Liverpool/Birkenhead but I’ll be blogging about that another time. Tomorrow I head back to West Yorkshire to catch up on lots of other projects for home and work.

Now, what to choose for todays picture? One from the archives or a new shot. I know, let’s have a new image that combines two of my interests – railways and architecture…

This is the new station building at Ainsdale in Southport that opened in 2018, replacing an old and knackered wooden building. Whilst it reflects the seafaring heritage of the area the building is bang up to date, being complete with solar panels, low energy LED lighting with smart controls and rainwater harvesting tanks to serve the toilet facilities.

The design achieved a CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme) rating of ‘Excellent’ in recognition of its green credentials.

This picture’s one of many taken over the last few days which will make it onto my Zenfolio website next week.

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/

Thank you!

24th February picture of the day…

24 Wednesday Feb 2021

Posted by in Architecture, India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Busy, busy busy – with lots of different things. Although the old canard is that men can’t multitask that’s certainly what I spent most of the morning doing! I had a batch of slides all mounted, ready for scanning so whilst I went through that mechanical process I was tuned into the the National Rail Recovery Conference listening to a series of excellent presentations from speakers about the future of the railways – from how to recover passenger numbers post Covid to how the railway can decarbonise and also how the network can cope with climate change. All three are complex subjects but the speakers really helped to nail the issues. You can find a copy of today’s agenda and details of the speakers here. I could dedicate to whole blog to the conference but time’s short and there’s one more day to go. What I will say is that the conference dispelled many of the myths around how working from home (WFH) is supposedly cutting pollution and the need to travel. In some cities pollution’s increased as people have abandoned public transport and taken to the car – even if they’re working from home. As usual, the simple soundbites you hear from people like those opposed to HS2 simply don’t stand up to the facts. The conference also confirmed my opinion about just how out of touch with the realities surrounding transport and climate change much of the UKs ‘green’ movement really is. So much so that they’re actually hindering, not helping, us tackle the real issues.

The third part of my multi-tasking was (finally) producing my new blog on progress with building High Speed 2, which I finally finished and published this afternoon. All in all – a productive day. I even managed to get out for a walk and get my quota of exercise but managed to time it badly so received a soaking on the way home! Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow…

Ok, on to the picture of the day. I’ve now amassed a whole heap of scanned slides that are in the queue to be checked in Photoshop. Due to their age (taken in 1993) and the fact the harsh desert conditions of Western India were never easy on film or film cameras – many slides need retouching to remove surface scratches or blemishes. The worst examples will have to be filed away until I have time to put in the hours to make them presentable. Others only need a few marks, blemishes or shallow scratches removed or contrast and colour balances adjusted. Here’s one such example. I took this shot in November 1993 from atop the magnificent Merangarh Fort that dominates the town of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India.

Sitting on the battlements of the fort gazing down on the town some 400ft below is quite an experience due to the fact the sounds of the town can be heard really clearly due to the atmospheric conditions that allow them to carry upwards. The blue of the houses? I’m told that’s to show the homes belong to high-caste Hindus (Brahmins) although I’ve seen other reasons given. Whatever the truth is, they make for a colourful sight.

When all the pictures are scanned you’ll be able to find them here.

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/

Thank you!

23rd February picture of the day…

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in Architecture, India, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Another busy day scanning and scribbling – although the results of either of these activities won’t see the light of day until tomorrow – apart from this taster. I’ve finally got my teeth into a blog catching up on what’s going on with construction of the High-Speed 2 railway, but whilst I’ve been engrossed in that I’ve also been juggling my time with taking part in RAIL magazine’s online National Rail Recovery conference which is on until the 25th. There’s still time to sign up to the next two days sessions if you follow the link. One of the other juggling balls was keeping an eye on the unfolding eviction of yet another anti HS2 protest camp. This time it’s the one at Poors Piece near Steeple Claydon. Of course there’s only ever going to be one outcome – and I’ll be blogging about the latest failures of HS2Rebellion as a follow-up to my HS2 progress report.

Meanwhile, the slide scanning has taken me back in time to India in December 1993, when I took this shot at the Bada Bagh gardens outside Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Here’s a picture taken from amongst the Chhatris…

There’s several hundred pictures from India to add to my Zenfolio website which I expect to take a couple of weeks. The first ones have started appearing here and I’ll try and add batches on a daily basis.

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/

Thank you!

20th February picture of the day…

20 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by in Architecture, Musings, Picture of the day, Scotland, Travel

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Apologies for the lack of blogging these past few days but I’ve simply not found the time to do any! Instead, I’ve been scribbling for a living, writing my latest article for RAIL magazine which will be appearing sometime in the next few weeks. The article’s not on my usual subjects but about a mental health and crisis charity based at Huddersfield station. I’ll say more bout that when it’s published.

Besides scribbling I’ve continued scanning old slides and finished off yet another album. The last one contained a plethora of pictures from around the UK taken in 2000-2001 which has provided me with a rich back-catalogue for picture of the day, as will the next one in the queue. The latest album goes further back in time – to 1993-94. It starts off in India, then back to the UK before moving on the Denmark, then Bali, Indonesia. There’s some wonderful memories locked into these images but also sad feelings because so many pictures feature Lynn, who died 8 years ago now, in 2013. Even so, it’s lovely to look back and remember, especially now that my wings are clipped by Covid and our virtual ‘house-arrest’! At least I have the pictures to remind me what the wider world looks like – as well as give me inspiration for places I want to return to when lockdown is finally released and life starts to return to normal. In the meantime, I’ll keep occupied and wait for my turn to be vaccinated. I’m not one of these people worried about possible side-effects of the vaccines. They’re mild compared to the possible side-effect of catching Covid: Death.

You may be wondering why this blog’s appeared so early in the day. Well, today’s my mother-in-Law’s 80th birthday so Dawn and I are cooking a meal for Norah and John. We’ve been in a bubble with them since lockdown began and – as Norah can’t have a party or celebrate such a landmark birthday in the way we’d like, we’ve arranged something a little more intimate – along with a little surprise…

Norah’s birthday means I won’t be around until late, so – without further ado, here’s the picture of the day.

I took this shot in Glasgow on the 21st March 2001 when I was on tour to get pictures for a forthcoming Lonely Planet guide to Scotland. This is the magnificent University of Glasgow building at Gilmorehill in the city’s West End. Built in 1870 it was designed in the Gothic revival style by George Gilbert Scott (who also designed St Pancras Station in London) with other features such as the spire to the belltower added by his son Oldrid in 1887.

You’ll be able to find this and many more pictures from Scotland (and elsewhere in the UK) in this gallery on my Zenfolio website after tomorrow. You can even buy copies.

I’ll be back to blogging tomorrow as I’ve a host of things to write about. I’m hoping to (finally) produce my much-delayed blog on progress with building the new HS2 high-speed railway…

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/

Thank you!

16th February picture of the day…

16 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in Architecture, London, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Life today could best be described as ‘plodding’. That doesn’t mean it’s been a bad day – far from it but excitement and surprise don’t really feature much in these Groundhog Days. Instead there’s slow progress in this, that and the other, but nothing that inspires or really makes the heart sing. Still, I shouldn’t complain as our cage is gilded compared to many and there’s no shortage of (repetitive) things to do. Funny old world though, isn’t it? Who would have thought that one day we’d all be looking forward to the day we can go to a clinic to get a jab and it would be a highlight of your year and news of its reception something you’d proudly share with friends on social media?

So, anyway – here’s the picture of the day to brighten things up. It’s taken from the latest batch of slides scans. This particular image was shot on the 5th March 2001 and shows the wonderful exterior of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London. I have a passion for architecture and architectural photography, although this was one of a series from a list of pictures wanted for a Lonely Planet guide to London.

Built in the 1870s in the Romanesque style the exterior makes wide use of architectural terracotta tiles which helped protect the building from the city’s polluted atmosphere. They also make it gorgeous to look at and feature many relief sculptures of flora and fauna to add to the attractions. As usual, you’ll be able to find the full selection of pictures from London in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

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/

Thank you!

25th September picture of the day…

25 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by in Architecture, Picture of the day, Sri Lanka, Travel

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No politics today, my spleen may still need venting but I’m giving it a day off. Instead I’m happy that I’ve finished the first in the trilogy of articles I’m writing for RAIL magazine about my week long trip around Britain by rail. Part one covers three days, so to me it feels a little rushed. Trying to describe all my experiences in 4000 words is always difficult as there’s so much stuff that I have to leave out – which is the hardest part of writing them. A week travelling around the UK by rail is enough to fill a book, never mind a series of magazine features. Hopefully people will enjoy it anyway.

I’m now going to have the weekend off to concentrate on other things. So – without further ado – here’s the picture of the day, which was taken on the 2nd February 2016 in Galle old town, Sri Lanka.

I’ve always enjoyed Art Deco architecture and this restored house really caught my eye. I’d have loved to have seen if the inside matched…

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/

Thank you!

Not a (real) train in sight…

26 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by in Architecture, Brexit, History, Politics, Railways, Travel, Worcester

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After the past few days gallivanting around the country today’s been a time for consolidation at home. I even treated myself to a lie-in and didn’t switch on the computer until 07:30! Mind you, it had been a hot and humid night – hardly the best for getting a good night’s sleep. The really hot weather had departed by the morning, leaving us with an assorted bag of cloud cover and the occasional bit of sunshine to help dry out the effects of the overnight showers. Much of the day has been spent editing pictures of railways rather than travelling on them, but that will change again tomorrow. I’ve added over 100 pictures to my Zenfolio website, which you can find if you follow this link to the ‘recent’ section of the website as it’ll show you which galleries they’ve been added to. Here’s a couple of samples just to whet your appetite.

These are the beautifully restored station waiting rooms at Worcester Shrub Hill. They’re unique and are constructed out of cast iron and tiles, having been built around 1864 by local companies.

DG329521. Restored waiting rooms. Worcester Foregate St. 25.7.19.crop

A plaque nearby lists the details of these extraordinary structures.

DG329525. Restored waiting rooms. Worcester Foregate St. 25.7.19.cropWorcester Shrub Hill is an anachronism in several ways. Not only does it have these waiting rooms, it also has some of the finest surviving examples of Great Western Railway lower-quadrant semaphore signals. The fact these control the very latest generation of high-speed trains built by Hitachi is quite something, as you can see from this picture. In the foreground is a two car Class 172 which has recently been transferred from the Gospel Oak-Barking line in London to become part of the West Midlands Train fleet. In the background is 800322, a 9-car Hitachi built Class 800 operated by GWR. The variety of GWR signals is evident.

DG329539. 172003. 800311. Worcester Shrub Hill. 25.7.19.crop

Having loaded up the pictures the rest of the day’s been spent catching up on less exciting matters – paperwork. My desk seems to be awash with ACoRP marking forms receipts and bits and bobs. So much for the ‘paperless office’! At least it’s not like the old days when it would’ve been piled high in slides, negatives and prints too…

Finally, late in the day I managed to get out for a stroll and get some exercise away from a screen. As the weather has cooled down I didn’t need to head straight for a shower either, which was a relief. This evening will probably consist of much of the same as we’re off to Liverpool for a weekend in the city with some friends. If I’m lucky I might be able to do some scribbling whilst I’m there. One thing I will be doing is taking a break from watching the unfolding political disaster that’s Boris Johnson’s new Government. It’s truly depressing to see the people he’s actively courting. It’s the most right-wing and dangerous bunch of any Tory Government I can remember. There’s a toxic mix of former Leave campaign members, the right wing-press and lobby groups like the Taxpayers Alliance. My one hope is that there’s so many big egos there with dodgy pasts and flexible morals that it can’t be long before the whole thing starts to fall apart when it become painfully obvious they can’t deliver on the lies they’ve told over the years. But what damage will they do in the meantime?

 

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 8. Napier to Wellington.

05 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by in Architecture, New Zealand, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel

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After a very pleasant 24 hours exploring the Art Deco delights of Napier we’re on the move again. This time we’re taking the Intercity bus all the way to Wellington, our final North Island stop on this part of the trip. It’s a long-haul on a sold-out double-deck coach. That takes almost 6 hours. We’d have liked to have seen more of Napier and the adjacent town of Hastings (which also has some lovely buildings) but when you’ve only got a month…

Anyway, here’s a few shots from Napier.

dg315598. art deco arctitecture. napier. new zealand. 6.1.19crop

dg315603. art deco arctitecture. napier. new zealand. 6.1.19rop

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The town has a lovely, laid back atmosphere which makes it a very pleasant place to while away a few hours, admiring the buildings, or just sitting outside one of the many cafes to watch the world go by. In February Napier hosts an Art Deco festival, which sounds delightful. With all the palm trees and wall to wall sunshine, the place reminds me more of California than Cleethorpes! The shops are more upmarket too. Dawn was impressed with the quality of the clothes shops and I noticed the organic grocery stores and music shops – not to mention the business dedicated to Art Deco memorabilia. The theme pervades to the town, but not in a tacky, commercial way, more in a celebration of the design. This manifests itself in carefully designed shop signs, or even displays of old wireless in some of the bars. Talking of bars, that’s one thing that’s missing – a proper brew pub! Instead, the town suffers the curse of the ‘plastic Paddy’Irish theme bar – although one of the main ones has closed down – leaving a site ripe for development in the way I’ve mentioned.

15:52.

We’re well on the way to Palmerston North now, having passed through a series of small Kiwi towns en-route. As before, they feel more American than English, mostly because they’re resolutely low rise and many of the smaller building are constructed from timber. The scenery’s another matter. This is Scotland in all but name.

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17:01

We’ve just had a half-hour break in Palmerston North, which would’ve been lovely if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Sunday, so the place is closed! It’s a large town too, but the centre of town around the bus station’s deserted. We managed to find one cafe nearby for a quick drink and a loo stop, but it was all a bit rushed. Whilst we were sitting there I spotted this sign in the window, which was slightly disconcerting.

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Heading on from Palmerston we followed highway 1 down the coast to Wellington. It was a lovely drive as the road hugs the coast before weaving & winding its way through the hills that surround Wellington. I’d forgotten just how rugged the landscape is around the city. The roads were remarkably quiet, despite it being the end of the summer holiday for many people.

On arrival at Wellington we were met by an old friend of Dawn’s. Although originally from Yorkshire, Helen has lived over here for many years.  The three of us had a lovely evening at Helen’s home, chatting whilst sharing  Shepherds pie over a glass of wine. The two hadn’t seen each other for 25 years, so I left them to do some catching up and retreated to do a spot of picture editing, so here’s another selection of shots from Napier.

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Napier’s main beach is dark shingle and the power of the sea makes it unsuitable for swimming by the inexperienced, but it is beautiful to walk along and watch.