Tag Archives: Architecture

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.

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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.

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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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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.