Tag Archives: Architecture

15th August picture of the day…

15 Monday Aug 2022

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

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Another week and another day spent chained to a desk, but hardly in a bad way. The weather forecast was threatening rain and even the possibility of thunderstorms so it seemed like a good day to be at home. Neither rain nor thunder materialised, all we had was a few desultory spits of rain which didn’t even wet the pavement.

Away from the weather my time was spent productively. I’ve a lot more of next weeks around Britain trip and now have an idea of where I’ll be ending the week as I’m not going to try and return home on the day, it would cramp my style too much and mean too much retracing of steps. I’ve not finalised everything as I’m waiting for a few temporary timetables to either be confirmed or cancellations be announced. I may have to be flexible on the Saturday as a result. Even so, it’s going to be quite a trip!

Another project that’s taken up a lot of my day has been preparing another batch of old railway slides and sundry memorabilia for sale on eBay. I’m hoping to have many of the articles added tomorrow and released for sale in the evening. There’s a mixture of UK pictures going back to the mid 1990s plus a selection of Sri Lankan railway images dating from 2003 which feature some old British built locomotives.

One unexpected diversion today was the return of an unexpected visitor. On Friday a racing/homing pigeon put in an unexpected appearance. The poor thing was suffering from exhaustion due to the heat and crash-landed at the back of the house where I found it voraciously chugging water out of an old flowerpot. I managed to save it from the local cats and put it in our outhouse with a supply of food and fresh water for the night then released it successfully the next day and watched it fly away. Well, it seems it enjoyed its holiday a little too much. This afternoon I was looking out of the office window and noticed it perched on the wall opposite, almost as if it was watching me! This time it was a much closer call with the cats who were already stalking it – but now it’s back in the outhouse. This time we checked the rings on its legs and found a phone number – which is local! I’ve rung the chap and he’s going to collect our feathered friend tomorrow. Let’s hope this time it decides it’s given me enough stress! Besides, I don’t want to fall out with the cats…

OK, time for today’s picture. This one’s from my recent jaunt to Manchester and features the Edwardian baroque magnificence of the Midland Hotel. The hotel was designed by Charles Trubshaw and constructed between 1898 and 1903 for the Midland Railway Company at a cost of more than £1 million. It’s coated in a variety of terracotta and granite and it looks stunning!

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5th August picture of the day…

05 Friday Aug 2022

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

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After the past few days exertions and travels I’ve enjoyed having a day at home sans camera bag. If nothing else it’s allowed my skeleton to begin to re-assemble itself in some semblance of a correct posture without any compression. Oh, I also had the luxury of a lie-in! Beyond that most of the day’s been spent wading through the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken over the past few days and getting the early edits out to a magazine whilst dealing with a completely different picture request from another. This has led me to being chained to my desk for much of the day, not that I’m complaining as the weather’s been as predictable as the national lottery! Come late afternoon I’d had enough and broke free to head out to our local pub for the Friday quiz with friends. Poor Dawn was even busier than me so remained home working.

The pub was an entertaining interlude. The quiz exercised the little grey cells whilst the humour that flowed as a consequence gave the chuckle muscles a work-out too! Oh, and the beer (in my case Salopian brewery’s ‘Lemon Dream’) helped lubricate both. Now I’m back at Bigland Towers. There’s been no need to cook tonight as we’re living off batch cooking spaghetti bolognaise tonight so we can relax with a film and ease ourselves into the weekend – although in my case that means captioning hundreds of pictures in the morning!

Talking of pictures, here’s today’s picture which is from my stay in Banbury earlier in the week. I saw this decoration on a building called the Old Wine House, which made me do a double-take as it says it dates from 1537. What fascinated me was the design is a representation of what appears to be Indian Hindu god or even a Buddha. Look at the posture, the arms positioning and the fact they’re sitting on what appears to be a Lotus flower, yet the British didn’t come to India until the 17th century. The East India Company started in the year 1612.

All is clearly not what it seems. The building is listed Grade 2 and listings details give away the fact that – whilst this was a house that dates from the 15th century it’s been much knocked-about and altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mystery solved! Well, sort of…There’s still no explanation of what an image of an Indian deity is doing on an old English building called the old wine shop.

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

20th March picture of the day…

20 Sunday Mar 2022

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

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A very short blog from me tonight as I’ve had a very busy few days with no time to write as spending time with family and friends has taken priority. That said, I have had a little time to catch up with editing some of the hundreds of images that I took earlier in the week – hence today’s picture.

Whilst in London I commented on how much the city’s skyline’s changing. Here’s an example. I’d not taken pictures from this spot (St Johns station) in South London since 2015. The backdrop’s changed completely. Welcome to yet one more of London’s satellite skyscraper districts, the ‘megapolis’ of Lewisham. The tower cranes give away the fact that this is just the start. Come back in another couple of years…

Back in 2015 there was just a single high rise on the horizon in my pictures. What I can’t work out is who exactly is going to be living in all this speculative (but certainly not cheap) building.

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Thank you!

15th November picture of the day…

15 Monday Nov 2021

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

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I had to nip out for a few hours today in order to amass a few pictures for a forthcoming article. Tempting as it was to do a rolling blog I decided not to put myself under any pressure in order to enjoy the trip and exploring. Having travelled via Bradford and Leeds I arrived at my destination – Wakefield. Although I’ve passed through the town many times and had one night out there with a bunch of friends when we were on a canal holiday many moons ago – I can’t say I really know the place. So, having bagged the pictures I needed I had a wander – and was quite surprised at what I found. Normally, I’ve passed through the town in transit between the two stations Westgate and Kirkgate and never really deviated from the route. Today I explored further by taking random turns just to see where I’d end up. Despite suffering from the problem every UK town has nowadays (a surfit of empty shops) I was pleasantly surprised to see how much of the centre has been pedestrianised. It makes a huge difference to the feel of a place. The scale of the new developments around town surprised me too. Not just around Westgate station – although that impressive enough, but also the area now known as the Trinity Walk shopping centre. Now shopping’s really not my bag, but I have to say that for anyone who does indulge, Wakefield seems a good choice. Modernism aside, I love some of the older buildings and the narrow streets and alley’s between them. There was always something to see – from tucked-away pubs to old stables. The local Civic Society have provided plenty of blue plaques that record a buildings provenance, which was both useful and informative. I’d certainly pop back again with the camera.

Having enjoyed my perambulations I headed back home, retracing my steps via Leeds, but this time detouring to take the train to Bradford Forster Square in order to walk across town to Interchange. I love the buildings of Bradford. It’s another place I keep meaning to have a day out in, just looking at the architecture. The area known as ‘Little Germany’ sounds fascinating, but I’ve only ever skirted the edge of it. Maybe it’s a project for the winter…

Now, back home I’m editing today’s pictures ready for a busy day tomorrow. So here’s a snippet from Wakefield. Sadly, this grand-looking pub which is adjacent to Wakefield Westgate station has closed. But the city has a habit of reusing these buildings, so who knows what its next incarnation may be…

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Thank you!

25th October picture(s) of the day…

25 Monday Oct 2021

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

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It’s been a quiet start to the week here in Bigland Towers as the pair of us have been slaving over hot computers, ploughing through work that needs to be done. It was a shame as the weather was far better than was forecast. I could have been out with the camera working on another project I need to complete – but ho hum. What matters is that things are getting done as I need to clear the decks (and my desk) before Friday. To that end, scanning old slides is having to take a backseat once more, despite the fact I’ve only a handful of pages left to scan in the present album in the queue. Writing for money has to take precedence!

That means tonight’s pictures are last trip down memory lane for a little while, but I think it’s a good one…

Today’s pictures were taken in East London way back in 1993. This anonymous house, the last survivor of its terrace was number 193 Grove Road. The chap who resided there was a retired docker named Sydney Gale who’d lived in the property since 1939 and he wasn’t happy with the council, who were rehousing him in order to demolish the property to incorporate the land into a new park – hence the protest placard across the top windows. I was developing an interest in the changing face of the East End, housing issues and photography, and so one day in April I stopped to document the house. Little did I know just how famous, or contentious, the building was to become….

When Sydney finally departed a temporary lease was granted by the council so that a little-known artist could turn it into a temporary, full-sized sculpture. The artist was called Rachael Whiteread…

Whiteread made a full-sized cast of the inside of all three levels of the the property using thin, reinforced concrete, then tore down the original building to leave the cast of the interior still standing. ‘House’ as the sculpture was simply titled was unveiled to the public in October 1993 and generated a huge amount of publicity, both positive and negative. It was loved and loathed in equal measure. I stopped by one foggy morning in November to take these pictures. The fog seemed to make the building even more poignant.

‘House’ was always intended to be temporary, but there was a petition started to save it and even a motion in the House of Commons, but a prominent local Councillor hated it. ‘House’ won Whiteread the Turner prize on the 23rd November 1993. The very same day the council voted to demolish it. It was flattened in January 1994 and no trace of it remains. You can read more about ‘House’ here.

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Thank you!

24th October picture of the day…

24 Sunday Oct 2021

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

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The pair of us have had rather a lazy day today, indulging ourselves for once by not watching the clock or setting ourselves targets to let the day unravel at its own speed. Having served coffee and breakfast I still managed to be productive workwise by wading through a morass of picture editing and paperwork before lunchtime. Oh, the joys of freelance life!

The weather here in the Calder Valley remains mild and mostly dry, so we also managed to get out for a late afternoon constitutional, walking through our local woods where the trees have attained their panoply of autumn colours to look stunning. Heading downhill to the valley bottom we joined the canal for an easy stroll into Sowerby Bridge and a short interlude in Williams Bar where we enjoyed a quiet drink away from the masses. Well, what passes for ‘masses’ in Sowerby Bridge on a Sunday in October! I indulged in a pint of Arizona from our late friend Tony’s Phoenix brewery whilst Dawn pushed the boat out with a diet Coke!

The steep walk back uphill is always a little harder after adding some extra liquid ballast but we’re used to that. Now we’re home Dawn’s busied herself in the kitchen whilst I’m ensconced in the office looking at hotel options for my forthcoming trip to Scotland. I know what place that I won’t be staying! I stumbled across this ‘gem’ during my research. Clearly, some people are ‘extracting the urine’ when it comes to charging for accommodation thanks to the forthcoming COP26 conference!

I’ll leave you with a picture of the day which is far removed from Scotland or Yorkshire. I took it in Watchbell St, Rye, East Sussex earlier this week. I love this style of building, but I’d hate to think how much they cost to maintain. We live in a stone-built cottage that dates from the 1850s and that’s bad enough…

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is dg359120.-old-building.-watchbell-st.-rye.-sussex.-england.-19.10.2021.crop_.jpg

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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!

12th October picture of the day…

12 Tuesday Oct 2021

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

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We’ve had a quiet but busy day here at Bigland Towers. I’ve been whittling down a list of ‘things to do’ both business-wise and socially, whilst at the same time lining up some jobs for the future with varying degrees of success. During the process I received a phone-call from a work-colleague of 12 years standing who’s become more than that as we see each other as good friends. She wanted to let me know that she’ll be leaving her job by the end of the year but wanted to tell me herself rather than me find out on the grapevine. I was delighted for her as she would be crazy to turn down the opportunity she’s been offered, but also sad that we probably wouldn’t work together again as she’s leaving the industry completely. Such is life, when you’ve been around for so many years as I seem to have been now you often see people come and go. Some of them you miss, others not…

Apart from that note of sadness it’s been a positive day. The weather’s been kind I’ve managed to bump up my exercise regime as a consequence and still get a lot done. Oh, there’s several blogs in preparation too – all I have to do now is find the time to root out the pictures for them.

As well as everything else I’ve also managed to get around to scanning a few more old slides. Not a huge amount, but the logjam is starting to be cleared once more. When the photographic work quietens down again (as it normally does in December-January) I’ll be rattling through slides at a much faster rate. Normally, January would be our big holiday. Dawn and I would get away for at least a month in SE Asia and I’d often stay away much longer, but Covid’s put paid to those plans, at least for now. Instead, I’ll be clearing the decks of various projects here in the UK. But, in homage to warmer climes and those long trips to exotic locations that have been the mainstay of my life for so long – here’s the picture of the day from today’s scans. I took this picture (on slide film) on the 14th December 1993. This was my hotel in India – honest!

The building you see is the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The palace was begun in 1929 as a job creation scheme as the area was suffering from a severe drought that deprived many farmers of their living. It was commissioned by Maharaja Umaid Singh and designed by the British architect Henry Vaughan Lanchester (a contemporary of Edwin Lutyens). The Maharajah’s ancestors still occupy the majority of the 347 room building, but when I was there part of it had been converted into a hotel. Lynn and I hadn’t planned to stay there, but it was Lynn’s first time in India and we’d had to sleep in the luggage racks of a packed overnight train from Delhi, so I thought a bit of luxury was in order as a commiseration. Of course, in 1992, the cost of luxury was very different to what it is today and the room we had was actually quite reasonable! That evening we sat out on the balcony you can see here, sipping cold beers, watching peacocks wander the lawns and through the bougainvillea bushes. Then at sunset, a sitar and tabla player appeared to give us our own personal performance. Magic! If you want to see more pictures that I took at the palace, you can find them here.

Oh, to be able to have the freedom to do these things again…

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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!

11th October picture of the day…

11 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by in Architecture, Musings, Photography, Travel

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The pair of us are starting to adjust to the idea of being back at home and work after a much-needed break in Shropshire. The positive note was that we came back just in time to catch some lovely autumnal weather which has stayed with us today – even if we only got out to enjoy it this evening as the day’s been full on for the both of us, catching up with work commitments as well as planning the next few weeks. I’ve got some interesting events coming up over the next few weeks, plus some new opportunities in the pipeline. Dawn’s been occupied catching up with her colleagues at Community Rail Network, one of whom pointed out that it’s only eight weeks until we’re down in Southampton for the Community Rail Awards! This year seems to be flying by, despite the continuance of the fallout from the pandemic, lockdown and all the other stuff that made 2020 feel to drag. To be honest, I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see the back of 2021 in the hope that 2022 will finally see a return to near normal and I can get away from ‘plague island’ for a while.

The change in the seasons are becoming very obvious in our local woodland, where the leaves are developing their autumnal palette, far more so than the trees we observed in Shropshire which are clinging on to their summer greens. I’m praying we get plenty of bright, sunny days before the final leaves are shed as it’s a glorious time of year to be out with a camera. But first, I have a few other jobs to do that involve cities, not countryside. Although not all will involve such architectural gems as the picture of the day…

Today’s image was taken on our Shropshire sojourn during a visit to Ludlow, a fantastic old market town full of Tudor and other era gems. This is the frontage of the wonderfully wonky Feathers Hotel.

The frontage of the building was completed in 1619 although the core is earlier. The hotel is three storeys high excluding the cellar and has a three-bay plan, with bays which are moulded and carved mullions and transoms, with cast diamond glazing. It was built by Rees Jones, an attorney from Pembrokshire who had come to Ludlow to pursue his profession at the “Council of the Marches”. Clearly, the legal profession was a wealthy one in those days. Nowadays it’s a grade 1 listed building that’s been a hotel for many years.

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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!

23rd September picture of the day…

23 Thursday Sep 2021

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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…

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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!

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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