Tag Archives: Calder Valley

Sowerby sojourn.

20 Saturday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Food and drink, Musings, Sowerby Bridge, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Well, the apocalyptic weather forecasts of heavy rain were rather wide of the mark. Apart from a morning of drizzle, we’ve had a dry day. The skies are still threatening and from our bedroom window I’ve seen the odd shower across the valley but the wind’s so strong that nothing hangs around for very long. Because of this I’ve been able to take breaks from editing pictures and staring at screens to enjoy a couple of long walks through our local woods to get some exercise, burning off some calories before we go out for a meal with friends tonight.

Right now I’m taking a break on the promenade high above the valley to enjoy the views and watch the clouds roll by. I do enjoy coming up here because you can see for miles, as you can see from this picture looking down over Sowerby Bridge.

I can understand why the painter Ashley Jackson likes Yorkshire so much, the weather and the light’s constantly changing. Here’s the view nearby yesterday.

As I sit here now I can see sunlight and shadows constantly scudding across the fields, creating a myriad of patterns, most of which are gone in an instant.

It’s a glorious escape from the political insanity that’s engulfed us. But, like all escapes, it’s only temporary…

16:15.

I can’t believe it’s the same day! Right now I’m sunning myself in the front garden and getting a tan! The weather’s changed completely – as it so often does in this part of the world.

The wind’s still playing havoc with the plants, so I’ve had to repot a couple of the sunflowers to stop them blowing over, but it’s glorious to bask like a lizard for a little while before getting dressed up for dinner.

The changing face of rail in the Calder Valley

13 Saturday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Northern Rail, Uncategorized

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The new Northern Rail trains have been in a long time in the pipeline and their introduction’s been delayed by six months, but this weekend the new CAF built Class 195s have actually arrived – even if it is on text runs. On Saturday and Sunday the trains are on test between Bradford Interchange and Todmorden, where they reverse to head back East. If you want to see them on Sunday, here’s a link to the times they should be running at.

I managed to catch a couple of the runs today as Dawn and I were enjoying a leisurely day in the valley so nipped out to Sowerby Bridge. Here’s 195110 returning to Bradford Interchange after a run out to Todmordon.

DG328555. 195110. Sowerby Bridge. 13.7.19.crop

I’m really looking forward to these units entering service on the Calder Valley route in the next couple of months as they’re a step-change to anything we’ve had before. Here’s a look at the interiors.

DG326635. Interior. 331106. 28.6.19.crop

So, if you have time to nip out tomorrow, enjoy the sight of our new trains!

 

Rolling blog: westward we go…

12 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, I love my job, Merseyside, New trains, Northern Rail, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel

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07:29.It’s a beautiful morning in the Calder Valley today, full of sunshine and feeling like summer, but I’m already Westward bound on the 07:21 to Chester as far as Manchester. Unlike earlier in the week when this was a rammed 2 car Pacer, today it’s a 3 car Class 150+153 lash-up so there was no problem getting a seat and no-one’s been left behind anywhere.Whilst I was waiting at Sowerby Bridge a unique service passed in the opposite direction. Grand Central work an early morning service from Hebden Bridge to Leeds on behalf of Northern Rail. This calls at Sowerby at 07:17.

I’ve always wanted to get a shot of this but didn’t fancy wandering down to Sowerby Bridge at 7am unless I really had to!

07:40.

We’ve just left Todmorden and summer’s drawing to a close in front of me. There’s some humongous grey clouds towering on the horizon and it’s looking like once we pass through Summit tunnel into Lancashire the weather’s going to be a bit wet! Fortunately I’ve a folding umbrella on the camera bag but the conditions might make today’s shoot ‘interesting’ to say the least. PR shots and rain are uneasy bedfellows…I’m off to the Alstom factory in Widnes to shoot pictures of one of Transport for Wales repainted and refurbished Class 175s. I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed to share any pictures just yet, so watch this space…

08:16.

There’s fun and games at Manchester Victoria (where we arrived 5 mins late due to congestion) as a points failure at Earlstown’s having a knock-on effect. I’m now on TPE’s 08:10 to Manchester Airport which I’m taking as far as Oxford Rd. I’d normally walk but those grey clouds I mentioned earlier a currently dumping their load on the city! A sign of how much Victoria has changed in recent years was the fact that as my TPE service pulled in, all four through platforms were then in use by the TOC. It’s a far cry from just a few years ago when Northern had the monopoly on services through Manchester’s second station.

08:47.

I’m on my 3rd train company of the day as I’m now on an East Midlands Trains service from Nottingham to Liverpool Lime St as far as Widnes.

The rain’s stopped for now but the threatening, low clouds hold the promise of more at any moment. There’s just the occaissional tantalising glimpse of blue sky and sudden shaft of sunlight to tease me.

12:51.

I’m still at Alstom in Widnes. After completing a whole series of internal and external shots we’ve taken a coffee break in the hope the weather might change just enough to get a sunny external shot. After that I’ll be calling it a day. The guys need to finish working on the train at it needs to head back to Chester tonight. The bodywork looks really good as thus is a proper paint job, not just a vinyl wrap.

14:05.

Job done! Patience paid off, we waited patiently for a break in the cloud and finally a break in the cloud passed over us in the perfect place for the sun to shine upon us long enough for me to get the shot I wanted.

Now I’m heading into Liverpool to grab a late lunch (and a few more pictures) before heading back across the Pennines.

On the way in we’ve just passed Allerton depot. Talk about changing fortunes! For many years the depot was derelict. Then Northern took it over as a base for the Ex-Thameslink Class 319 electric fleet which were displacing diesels. Now the depot is full of Northern’s next generation of trains, the CAF built 195 and 331s. The picture was the same at Edge Hill carriage sidings. There’s literally dozens of new Northern trains ready to enter service over the next few months as mileage accumulation and driver training is complete.

15:39.

My, Liverpool Lime St’s changed in just a few short weeks! Not only are Class 195s much in evidence, so are some other interlopers in the shape of Transport for Wales who’re operating a new service to Chester. Here’s a couple of images.

Understandably, there are still teething problems with the new Northern sets. Two were being coupled together when something ‘fell off’. After a bit of head scratching and investigation staff on the scene told me it turned out to be nothing more serious than a spanner someone had left where they shouldn’t have! It caused a minor delay.

18:31.

After heading back into and across Manchester the same way I came I’m now on Northern’s 18:21 from Manchester Victoria to Sowerby Bridge. As it’s a 3-car and today is ‘POETS day’ (Piss-Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday) my trains neither crowded nor the passengers stressed. That said, I feel sympathy for train crew working this evening as many stations are awash with folk on their way out and expecting to have a good time, as the amount of empty bottles & cans they’ve left behind attest to!

Thursday miscellany.

11 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by in Bigotry, Calder Valley, Hs2, Musings, Politics

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Today’s been another mixed day working from home with yet another early start. I ‘commuted’ from bedroom to office before 7am this morning in order to finish finding a whole series of pictures that would allow a client to advertise their wares. It took several hours to finish but I’m glad it’s done and dusted. The added bonus is that it threw up a couple of gaps in my picture library which I can plug later this month whilst doing other work.

Freed from that chore I had time to see that the campaign to keep the HS2 high speed railway in the public eye (especially in the North) has taken another step forward with the release of another report by the High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL). At the same time, Jim Steer of Greengauge 21 had a very good piece in the Yorkshire Post newspaper. This is all a marked contrast to a few years ago. Nowadays the North is very much behind Hs2, with Transport for the North TfN and many others constantly banging the drum for the project and also Northern Powerhouse Rail, which it will form part of.It puts the failed anti Hs2 campaign into perspective. Apart from some on the Tory right who’re still trying to get Hs2 cancelled there’s little evidence of a grassroots anti Hs2 campaign. StopHs2 are very much a joke nowadays with Joe Rukin reduced to making utterly pointless videos for Facebook of him outside the Tory leadership hustings in Carlisle and Nottingham as he’s not been allowed within a million miles of either candidate!Even the few remaining antis on Twitter aren’t up to much, apart from recycling tired and trite spin & the same fake facts they’ve been trotting out for a decade now. Mind you they are good for raising a chuckle every now and then. To say that some of the stuff they trot out on Facebook or Twitter is pure tinfoil hattery is an understatement! If they’re an echo chamber, then that chamber would have been located in Bedlam!

Oh, there has been another bit of good news in the media. The pint-sized fascist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who class himself ‘Tommy Robinson’ has been sent down for 9 months. In one of those great twists of irony that his mouth-breathing supporters will never get, he wore a T-shirt to court that bore the slogan “convicted of journalism”. Yaxley Lennon’s no more a journalist than the next thug in the street. He was jailed for contempt of court, something no real journalist would do as they understand the law. So, what did his supporters do when he was sent down? They attacked real journalists reporting outside Parliament – after trashing a long established pro-EU protest down the road. Now, this is why I say that parallels with the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s are all too real. There’s little doubt that ‘Tommeh’ supporters will to a man (and woman) also be Brexit supporters and the Brexit has made fascism fashionable again. It’s let the genie out of the bottle and it’s also poisoned the body politic – to the extent the Tory party Leadership contest is dominated by it. Each candidate has to swear an oath of loyalty to a belief in Brexit Unicorns, because that’s what the tiny bunch of elderly Tory members want to hear – and damn the consequences for the country and the economy. As each day passes we look more and more like an unstable banana republic – only without the benefits of bananas (curved or straight)!

At least Dawn and I will escape the madness (even if for a few hours) tonight as we’re off to the cinema to see the new ‘Spiderman’ film. If I’ve time I’ll let you know what we think. In the meantime, here’s a picture taken earlier when I managed to get out for a stroll.

Midweek musing.

10 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Politics, West Yorkshire

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I’ve had another long day working from home which has allowed me to achieve a variety of things. Firstly, I’ve caught up with picture editing which means there’s now over 59,300 pictures on my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to see which galleries the most recent pictures have been added to. I’ve also been busy on other client based projects, one of which I can’t talk about at the moment but it involves a lot of search for particular pictures. Hopefully I’ll have this finished by the weekend. Of course there’s been the usual paperwork drudgery, plus keeping in touch with clients about jobs old and new via the wonders of email. There’s some exciting stuff to look forward to, including a job on Merseyside on Friday, but more about that when it happens.

Despite all the office based stuff I’ve still managed to get out and get some exercise by strolling up through our local woods, taking a roundabout route to do some shopping, although today the Calder Valley hasn’t exactly been basking in sunshine, just haze and a mixture of dull skies or high cloud. Compared to the fantastic summer we had last year this one’s more like the proverbial curate’s egg!

With being so busy I’ve not been following the news so I’ve escaped the madhouse that’s the Tory Leadership race to the bottom. The idea that the country, or rather a very tiny proportion of it which is Tory, elderly and believes in some batshit crazy stuff – including Brexit – is about to elect a blustering and incompetent serial liar as the next Prime Minister (yes, you Boris Johnson) is beyond madness. But that’s where we are nowadays. The country has taken leave of its senses and all the majority of us can do is watch the car-crash as it unfolds in front of our eyes. How long it will take before the first political crisis arises after Johnson’s elected is anyone’s guess, but I’m willing to bet that it won’t take long. The Tory membership may be falling over themselves at Johnson’s feet, but there’s plenty of seasoned Tory politicians who know what a disaster he would be as Premier and the potential he has to tear their party apart and/or lead it to political oblivion. I suppose that might be the only silver lining to this particular cloud but it’s a hell of a price to pay.

Right, enough political musing, I’ve got another early start as I’ve lots of work to do tomorrow and the alarm clock’s already counting down to morning…

Plotting and planning…

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, I love my job, Musings, West Yorkshire

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Today’s been one of those days stuck in the office where I’ve seen little else other than a computer screen. Most of the morning was spent editing hundreds of pictures from last week’s Network Rail jobs, but at least now they’re done and dusted so I can move on to other work, and there’s one very big job that’s going to be taking up much of this month – judging the 2019 ACoRP awards. The past few days has seem me busy going through the permutations and times of how to get myself and my fellow judge around all the stations we need to visit without us having massively long days. Luckily, Mark, the new Judge who’s joining me this year has a lot of rail experience and has been able to make suggestions I would’ve otherwise missed, so we’re gradually getting there. Tomorrow we start visiting the first stations closer to home before ending up with the more far-flung ones towards the end of the month. No doubt I’ll be rolling out some blogs about our travels. In between the ACoRP work I’ve a few interesting commissions coming up, so expect a bit of variety over the next few weeks. I’m going to be travelling pretty much the length & breadth of England, so there’s going to be plenty to see and photograph.

After the glorious weather we had for our narrowboat trips yesterday we’ve had a disappointing start to the week, the day’s early promise came to naught, gradually the day darkened as the clouds built up, culminating in a wet and dreary Monday evening, leaving me quite happy to be spending an evening keyboard bashing whilst Dawn’s busy downstairs cooking curries. The smells wafting up from the kitchen smell delicious!

Rolling blog: different strokes…

01 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Community rail, I love my job, New trains, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, West Yorkshire

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08:05.

Today’s an important one for Northern Rail as 9 of their new CAF built trains are used in passenger service for the very first time. So I’m off to do two things, get pictures of them and also visit a community rail project that involves them.They day’s not started well. The hot and sticky weather we had on Saturday has given way to wind and unexpected drizzle, which make the walk to the station fun. Northern aren’t having much luck with Calder Vally services this morning either. I’m on the late-running 07:45 which didn’t leave Halifax until 08:01. Despite the fact it’s a 3-car Class 158 it’s rammed!

08:17.

We’ve just left Bradford Interchange and it’s sardine conditions aboard now! 11 of us are crammed into the cab end vestibule and we’ve not even got to New Pudsey yet!

08:26.

We’ve just left New Pudsey and there’s now 14 of us crammed into the vestibule! There’s hardly an inch of floor left free as we’ve taken as many onboard as we can but still left some behind. The atmosphere’s stoic – and humid! I’ll be glad to get to Leeds…

09:21.

Due to the crush the train doors seemed to open with a louder pop than normal when we reached Leeds. Grateful to be in the cool I’m now on something very different – a Class 331 in public service. It’s 331106 on the 09:21 to Doncaster.

13:11.

Having visited Fitzwilliam station to see the unveiling of the new artwork on the adjacent footbridge. Here’s a sample. I’ll add the pictures I took on my camera later but it’s a great bit of work that’s full of interest as many of the windows contain pictures of the area.

Update, here’s a couple of camera pictures.

DG326932crop

DG326948crop

Afterwards I headed back to Leeds to grab a few more Class 331 pictures before heading across the Pennines to Manchester to catch the Class 195s in action. We’re just approaching Manchester Victoria now. The weather’s a bit better over here in the the clouds are interspersed with blue sky and sunshine. Most of my time on the train was spent editing the pictures from this morning, so I had little time to enjoy the views.

14:07.

I’m now in position on the corridor linking Piccadilly and Oxford Rd stations as it’s an interesting backdrop to the railway and all the Class 195 diagrams are filtered through it. So far I’ve managed to capture two Northbound units, one Barrow bound, the other off to Liverpool.

16:12.

Time to go home! I’ve had a successful day in Manchester as even the sun played ball in some if the pictures. I’ll upload a few later. Now I’m at Piccadilly, making my way home via the Colne valley rather than the Calder.

22:25.

Sorry for the huge gap. I was hoping to stop off on the way and use the wifi in the Stalybridge buffet bar but the weather was so nice I ended up enjoying a quiet pint outside. I’ve been back at home several hours and spent the past few editing pictures, so here they are.

DG326892. 331106. Leeds. 1.7.19.

331106 waves it’s way through the maze of tracks to the West of Leeds station with a service from Doncaster. On arrival it formed the 09:21 back to Doncaster.

DG327020. 195116. Manchester Oxford Rd. 1.7.19.crop

The honour of being the first Class 195 to carry fare-paying passengers fell to 195116, which left Barrow around 5am. It’s seen here between Piccadilly and Oxford Rd stations in Manchester whilst working 1C55, the 1329 Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness.

DG327188. 195121. Manchester Oxford Rd. 1.7.19.crop

Here’s 195121 working 1U97, the 1353 Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport

Right, that’s all from me tonight folks. I’m working from home tomorrow, so expect to see a few more photos on my Zenfolio website.

 

Yet another mixed bag of thoughts and pictures.

25 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Photography, Railways, West Yorkshire

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I’ve been keeping myself occupied working at home all this week, although that will change soon. Today’s been busy with scanning old pictures and digging other bits out of the archive for a client as well as nipping out for a couple of hours to stretch my legs and meet up with a friend from Twitter who’s travelling round this neck of the woods during a trip over from Ireland.

After all the sunshine we had over the weekend, we’ve had a very mixed week, it’s almost like the traditional bank holiday weather arrived a couple of days too late!There’s been some incredibly moody skies, heavy showers and even one huge clap of thunder this afternoon. I try and take a daily walk through our local woods up to Albert Promenade, which offers superb views across and along the Calder valley. Here’s what it looked like a couple of days ago.

I love the views from here because of the way the light’s always changing depending on the clouds and also because we’re looking Southwards, so the sun backlights them, adding to the effect.

Back at home I’ve cracked on with more post-scanning picture editing before sticking them onto my Zenfolio picture website. Here’s a taster of what you can find.

5316. 47361. Very tatty. Didcot. 21.8.95crop

People sometimes forget how tatty trains could look in the BR era. He’s a Class 47 looking rather sorry for itself whilst stabled at Didcot on the 21st August 1995. The old blue paintwork can be seen through the peeling and faded Railfreight livery. 

I’ve now finished scanning the album from 1995 and leapt forward to April 2000, which is when this next shot was taken. The rest are in the queue for scanning…

7610. 90009. 14.35 to Glasgow Central. Euston. 10.4.2000crop

On the 14th April 2000, 90009 ‘The Economist’ still in BR ‘Intercity’ livery waits to leave London Euston with Virgin West Coast’s 14.35 to Glasgow Central service. Loco-hauled would last for another 4 years before the new Pendolino’s arrived. Afterwards, 90009 found a new home working trains from Liverpool St to Norwich. A service they’ll soon be displaced from by the arrival of new trains from Stadler. Meanwhile, Euston is in the throes of redevelopment due to the construction of HS2, so in a few years this scene will look very different indeed. 

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I should be out and about, so expect a rolling blog from my travels.

 

Calder valley interlude

13 Saturday Apr 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

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After spending much of the week travelling the country I’m having a weekend at home in the Calder Valley. We’ve had a pretty relaxing Saturday morning, although I have done some work and set up the next batch of old slides from 1995 ready for scanning. It’s a boring process. Each pictures has to be broken out of its original plastic frame and remounted in a new Gepe glass covered mount ready to be scanned. The glass mounts ensure that the film is perfectly flat so there’s no danger of parts of it being bowed and out of focus after it’s been through my Nikon Coolscan. The Gepe mounts have to be kept dust free, which adds to the length of time the process takes. Here they are on the lightbox, all ready for scanning. The sharp-eyed might spot that the last few are of the old Dover train ferry used before the channel tunnel opened.

Right now we’re off for a walk across the valley and up to Norland Moor, no doubt we’ll pop into the Moorcock Inn whilst we’re there as it’s a chilly day here and their log fire will be a welcome sight, so expect this blog to be added to whilst we’re out. See you later!

16:16.

Not bad weather for a stroll. That’s the Calder Valley looking towards Halifax behind us.

Another mixed bag…

11 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Railways, West Yorkshire

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It’s a gorgeous day here in the Calder Valley but I’ve had no time to get out with the camera as I’ve been too busy sorting out yesterdays pictures and also stuff at home as I’m off again tomorrow. I’ll flesh this blog out shortly, but first I wanted to add a couple of pictures taken in Burnley yesterday. The first shows the view across the town seen from just above Manchester Rd station with a Northern Rail ‘Pacer’ working from Colne to Blackpool South crossing the viaduct. The second shows the power of a zoom lens as it was taken from exactly the same spot!

DG320951crop

DG320950. Northern 142 crosses the viaduct. Burnley. 10.4.19.crop

You can find the full selection by following this link to my Zenfolio website.

After sorting out yesterday’s pictures, plus the latest batch of old slides from 1995 I went for a lunchtime constitutional by walking up through Scarr Woods to a local viewpoint.

See, I told you it was a beautiful day!

Right now I’m sat in our local pub, the ‘Big 6’ as a group of us regulars are off whisky tasting this evening with the Wright wine company over in Skipton. Here’s tonight’s entertainment;