Rolling blog. More Mancunian meandering…

30 Tuesday Apr 2024

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Greater Manchester, History, Manchester, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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11:45.

As the weather’s picked up and we’re being treated to some blue sky today I’ve journeyed back to Manchester to pick up where I left off yesterday by exploring the rail lines to the East of the city in order to get shots of some of the trains, but also the stations they serve as community rail volunteers are very active in this area. They’re doing some great stuff, both with gardening and artwork. So, here we go – on the train from Piccadilly to Marple…

14:00.

Phew! Back again. I’ve been doing a lot of walking and exploring since my last update. Getting to Marple was the easy part. But, as the line’s closed beyond New Mills services are restricted and I really wanted to get a shot of the return train working ‘bang road’ – a railway term I’ll explain later.

Having an hour to kill gave me time to explore and take pictures around Marple. Did you know that the place is famous because of the writer Agatha Christie? She visited snd decided to name one of her most famous fictional Detectives after the town. The station contains history boards which tell all about it the connection – and more. I’ll add pictures later.

14:45.

Right now I’m back at Piccadilly, basking in the sun (yep, sun, In Manchester!) after heading back from Rose Holl Marple via a stop at Romily – another station with some fascinating and informative history boards. Some are railway related – others not.

Did you know this about sign language? No, neither did I…

Here’s something a little more railway related fom Romily…

18:45.

Back again! I’ve been busy. After leaving Romily I headed back to Piccadilly in glorious weather. The sun was shining and temperatures were in their mid teens for the first time this year. It actually felt like spring for a change. I took a break at Picc in order to grab a bite to eat, get a few pictures and spend 30 minutes doing my best basking lizard impression at a platform end. Suitably rejuvenated I headed abck down the Buxton line, changing trains at Hazel Grove before arriving back at New Mills Newtown. Unlike yesterday I disn’t cross between stations. Instead I headed back to Woodsmoor in order to get pictures of the station artwork. Realising I’d 30 mins to wait for a train but the next station was only 25 mins walk I elected to explore and walked between the two through the leafy backstreets that make up these affluent suburbs.

When I got back to the city it was rush-hour and a good time to think about heading home. I wore out some more shoe leather walking from Picc to Vic where I was in time to catch the 18:21 to Leeds. Right now I’ve got my feet up, relaxing before the last leg from Halifax to home.

22:30.

I’m home and editing a few pictures which give more of a flavour of today. Here they are.

One of the history boards at Marple station explains all about Agatha Christies links with Marple, the North and also railways…

195125 arrives at Marple, working ‘bang road’ from Mills Hill Central.

A lovely bit of whimsy from the friends of Rose Hill Marple station.

I’ve lots more pictures to edit, so that’s tomorrow’s working from home sorted out…

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20th March picture of the day…

20 Wednesday Mar 2024

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Photography, Picture of the day, Wales

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There was no blog from me yesterday as we were too busy recovering from Monday’s Community Rail Awards and travelling back home from Swansea. Ourselves, the rest of the CRN team and the 440 people attending the event enjoyed a great night with some richly deserved awards presented, followed by fun in the main hall where a band kept people entertained (and dancing) until late in the evening, followed by a mixture of staff and attendees adjourning to our hotel bar until the small hours.

However, my job wasn’t over as I spent most of the train trip back slaving over a hot laptop, editing the pictures in order to get them ready for circulation and out to the winners themselves. Today’s been spent catching up with other work and clearing the decks as tomorrow Dawn and I are taking a break for a few days. We’re heading off to the Whitby area of North Yorkshire to recharge our batteries and enjoy coastal walks, good food and the odd real ale. There may even be time for the occasional bit of blogging…

In the meantime, here’s today’s picture, which is from Swansea.

The beach and breakwater at Swansea with Port Talbot steelworks in the background. It’s hard to imagine, but at one time, millions of tonnes of Welsh coal in hundreds of ships of all sizes was shipped from this harbour every year. Huge quantities of Tinplate were shipped in the Edwardian era whilst millions of tonnes of oil from refineries at Llandarcy and Baglan Bay left here right up until the 1990s. Now the harbour sees mostly leisure traffic. The steelworks at Port Talbot is also being reduced in size and importance.

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Rolling(ish) blog. The Community Rail Awards 2024…

18 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Swansea, Travel, Wales

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09:30.

The wet and dismal day that greeted us when we woke up this morning has morphed into something far more pleasant as blue skies and sunshine have appeared to brighten the day. We’ve been up early and breakfasted as the CRN team will be off to the venue shortly, preparing for tonight’s event. It promises to be a brilliant evening. The Community Rail Awards don’t have the pomp or stuffiness of some ceremonies, they’re much more relaxed. I’ve been roped in to help with some of the prep so I’ll be heading over to the arena for a couple of hours too. Obviously I’m not going to be blogging and spilling the beans about what people can expect, but later on I’ll have chance to have a wander around Swansea to get a few pictures and check out the Maritime museum and marina. Expect some thoughts and pictures later, and then some of this evening’s highlights…

16:30.

Today’s not exactly gone to plan blogging wise as I’ve been roped into several different things and haven’t had time to blog. However, I did get time off to visit the Maritime museum – which is about much more than just the sea.

From old motorcycles to a solar car that travelled from Athens to Lisbon…

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Rolling blog. Swansea shenanigans…

17 Sunday Mar 2024

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community Rail Network, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport for Wales (TfW), Travel, Wales

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08:25.

We’ve been up since 07:00, not a time we’d normally expect to be supping coffee on a Sunday, but today we’re heading to Swansea for tomorrow’s Community Rail Awards. This could be an interesting trip. First we head to Manchester to meet up with other members of the CRA team, then we catch a Transport for Wales service all the way to Cardiff, which takes 5 hours. That could be the first ‘fun’ bit as (having checked) I can see that it’s worked by a two-car class 197, so it could get cosy! It being Sunday, the line from Cardiff to Swansea is closed for engineering work to take place, so it’s the dreaded ‘bustitution’ for the rest of the way. Just what you need when you’re carrying all the kit you need for an awards ceremony and a couple of nights away!

Feel free to pop back later and see how the journey unfolds….

10:00.

We’re on our way on our first train of the day – Northern’s 09:50 from Halifax to Manchester Victoria. As it’s early on a Sunday and it’s a four-car there’s no problem in finding a seat.

10:30.

We’ve left the wet weather behind by crossing the Pennines into Gtr Manchester. Whilst our train filled up after calling at Rochdale the journey’s still relaxed. Next stop is Victoria…

10:45.

Ha! I should’ve known better. We’re in Manchester, so of course it’s raining! Not that it natters as we’ve just joined a packed TPE service bound for the airport which will deliver us to Piccadilly.

11:40.

Half A dozen of the team have met at Piccadilly and joined TfW’s 11:29 to Cardiff. Thankfully, it’s one of the new CAF built Class 197s and we’ve managed to secure a couple of tables behind the cab despite the usual scramble for seats. Now the tables are awash with laptops and mobile phones as folk make final preparations for the awards and a few days away.

13:40.

We’ve had a surprisingly good journey so far. At one point we were losing time to Shrewsbury but now we’ve mad that up on the approach to Hereford. The biggest surprise has been the amount of flooded fields around Moreton-On-Lugg. It’s horrendous. Fields have become vast lakes and some roads look like they’re impassible unless you have a 4X4. I really feel for the farmers as the rivers draining the area clearly can’t cope, so planting anything is impossible.

17:00

Made it! All in all, that’s been a very good journey. We were into Cardiff on time and the dreaded ‘bustitution’ worked like a dream. We were off the train and after a toilet stop we were straight onto a coach for the rest of the trip to Swansea. The group’s now checked in at our hotel on the Tawe Basin, right by the Swansea seafront. A short walk away is the National Waterfront Museum (which I’m hoping to have time to check out in the morning) and the venue for tomorrow’s awards (Swansea Arenea) is 5 minutes walk away.

19:01.

Time for the team to dine – at…

22:30.

Well, that was a great (if different) night, but one that had to end early as some of us have to be on duty tomorrow. After the meal where we were joined by old friends such as Richard Salkeld – ex LNER and now ‘Lumo’ – when the wit and laughter was flowing, a few of us met up with other community rail colleagues and ‘newbies’ such as train driver Bessie Matthews, who’s written the Arlo adventures books at a Gin bar called Hogarth’s. Now, you wouldn’t normally find me dead in a karaoke joint, but as I was with friends it turned into an interesting exercise in people watching and insight into Swansea on a Sunday. After all, the Welsh have a reputation for singing, don’t they? True enough. The place was mostly men, and some actually knew how to sing – as did one of our own group – Karen Bennett – who bashed out a great rendition of a Bonny Tyler number whilst getting support from the audience!

Now it’s time to call it a day. I’m looking to seeing more of Swansea in the morning…

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14th November picture(s) of the day…

14 Tuesday Nov 2023

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Nottingham, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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We’re back at Bigland Towers after a busy day in Nottingham which began early as we were staying in the hotel where the CRN conference was being held. The pair of us rate the Crowne Plaza, having stayed there several times now. The rooms are comfortable, the conference facilities ideal. The food’s also very good and the staff are both friendly and very helpful. Having risen at 07:00 I had time for a hearty breakfast whilst Dawn opted for a light one as she was working the conference reception desk. So I snaffled a selection of jams, toast and pastries for her to eat on the go. The conference started before 09:00 with a couple of informative presentations from Jools Townsend, CRN’s Chief Exec, followed by Cat Chrimes from GM social investment.

I found this really informative as one of the projects Cat’s organisation has been working on is Broadbottom station which I’ve written about recently. What I didn’t previously know was that around £1m has been raised to bring the building back into use with a range of uses, including a microbrewery! Next up was Shuna Baggaley from contractors SKANSKA, one of CRN’s corporate partners. Shuna has been working on HS2 at Euston, but that wasn’t what she’d come to talk to us about, it was corporate responsibility. After the talks and Q and A the rest of the conference programme was devised by the delates themselves, who decided what they wanted to talk about with a little help from CRN staff. Here’s the programme they devised.

There were some fascinating and informative sessions although I didn’t get chance to listen to more than snippets as my job was to visit each session to photograph what was going on. Here’s taste;

Unfortunately, due to disruption to rail services around Leeds and the cancellation of the train we’d intended to travel home on a few of us had to leave early, which was a shame as the conference (despite the ‘risky’ format) was a great success.

Our ride home from Nottingham to Leeds being admired by a member of the local canine community.

On the way home we bumped into a friend and colleague from Northern who’d intended attending the conference but he’d been diverted in order to help out with today’s service disruption. Meeting Richard changed my plans for tomorrow. I’d planned on working from home. Instead, I’ve been invited to join some of the Northern management team in Bradford tomorrow morning on their annual Interfaith & Cultural Awareness Event. We’ll be visiting a Hindu temple, a Mosque and a Sikh Gurdwara. It promises to be an interesting session. I’ll blog about it tomorrow…

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Rolling blog.Conference time…

13 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Nottingham, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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10:20

This morning the pair of us head to Nottingham for the annual Community Rail Network conference. Today and tomorrow station friends, Community Rail officers, rail staff and others will congregate to listen to updates on the world of community rail, share best practice and network.

Thankfully, although we’re in the midst of storm Debi, last night’s winds and todays heavy showers haven’t caused any disruption to our travel plans. We’ll be heading to the station shortly to begin our trip South. Let’s see how things go…

12:00.

We’re on our way to Leeds on Northern’s late running 11:37 from Halifax. Railhead conditions can’t be good as the latest storm’s brought down tons of leaves overnight.

I’m being kept entertained by following the latest political farce following the sacking of Home Secretary Cruella Braverman.

I mean – who on earth saw former PM and MP David Cameron returning to government as Foreign Secretary! The man whose biggest political failure was in the area of foreign policy. The man who called the Brexit referendum to appease warring Tory factions and ended up dragging us out of the EU, leaving us an international laughing stock to precipitate another 8 years of Tory fueding that’s dragged the country down even further!

What on earth was Sunak thinking? What’s the Tory party thinking? There’s 350 Tory MPs and Sunak’s just admitted not a single one of them is fit for elevation to high office! I bet that’s rankling on the back benches! And there was the Brexiters complaining that we were governed by ‘unelected bureaucrats’! Who’s elected Cameron?

13:20.

Leeds was fun for all the wrong reasons – bar this one. One of TPE’s class 68s working a Manchester – Scarborough service with just weeks left to run.

When I’d checked before leaving home this morning everything was running well with just a few delays due to railhead conditions. Things had changed when we arrived at Leeds to catch our train to Nottingham. A landslip towards York, overhead wire damage near Wakefield and a broken rail in the Aire valley were causing many delays and cancellations. Thankfully, our 13:08 was running and left on time – albeit it’s a 2-car, which is ‘cosy’…

16:10.

And relax! Well, for a few minutes anyway. We’ve made it to Nottingham, with our little 2-car picking up various members of the community railway family on the way. The weather improved as we passed through the storm front which was travelling in the opposite direction to us. It’s actually a balmy 13 degrees here in the city centre – hardly what you’d expect. Our first stop was to admire the work going on outside the stations where East Midland Railway’s community rail team have arranged for a new street-art mural which is being spray painted over the next few days by artists from ‘Image Skool‘. Completion date and unveiling is planned for Friday.

Having elected to walk to the hotel we’re now unpacking at the Crowne Plaza hotel before the staff briefing and preparing to meet and greet the bulk of the delegates who’re still in transit. Later there’s a drinks reception and buffet supper when delegates will discuss and decide on what topics they want to see the conference cover tomorrow.

Here’s a few shots from the reception, after which a couple of groups headed off to explore some of the local hostelries to sample local real ales…

Members of the Penistone line partnership, including Chair Neil Bentley (left) at the reception.

Michel Lintermans from Cooperatie Stationspark Deurne in the Netherlands, a regular entrant to the Community Rail awards.

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2nd November picture of the day…

02 Thursday Nov 2023

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Derbyshire, Musings, Picture of the day, Railways

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After a wonderful couple of days away thanks to my wonderful wife who arranged a special treat for my birthday we’re both back with our noses to the grindstone. Whilst Dawn’s been busy playing catch-up with her day to day work for Community Rail Network I’ve slipped on my CRN judges hat to spend all day wading through the entries for their 2024 awards. To be honest, it’s a pleasure rather than a chore as I get to learn about so many fabulous groups and the amazing stuff they’ve been up to over the past 12 months and more. There’s some really inspirational groups out there and the work they do is amazing. Judging them is really hard as the standard’s so high. In many cases there’s really not much in it, but we have a points based system spread over four categories, which makes life easier for myself and my fellow judge for the ‘It’s your station’ category – Mark Barker.

Now the first sift is done and all that remains is for me to fill out the awarded points on the spreadsheet and crunch the numbers. Then, in a few days time when both judges individual scores are combined we’ll meet to talk through the results and agree the final marks and winners of the four rankings (Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze). My work isn’t entirely done. I still have the shortlist for the photographic competition to select, this time with fellow judge Alice Mannion from CRN. The winner will be chosen from the shortlist by public vote.

Today’s been a good day to be stuck inside as the weather’s been awful, nothing but grey skies, mist and rain – although (so far) we’ve escaped the latest storm that’s battering the South coast. It’s heading our way but we’re expected to miss the worst of it as it passes through overnight. However, I’ll see how the weather is tomorrow morning before I make any plans. There’s still plenty for me to do at home if it’s not up to much.

Tonight I’ll leave you with a picture that illustrates the work of the community rail. The work the volunteers (and staff) carry out around the network is amazing. It’s not all station gardens or posters either. There’s restored buildings, station cafes, food banks, fetes and much, much more. Here’s on example from the friends of Buxton station who had ‘Joe’ made from scrap railway items donated from the site of the old Buxton locomotive depot. You can read all about the brilliant work this group are involved in here.

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Rolling blog. Community roving…

26 Friday May 2023

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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07:30.

Apologies for the lack of a blog yesterday but it was my wife’s birthday so we had a lovely day away from screens and keyboards. Today I’m back on the road. I’ll try and make this a proper rolling block after the the other day’s failure to communicate. This should be easier as I’m not venturing out into the wilds where’s there’s no wifi or phone signal!

Right now I’m on Northern’s 07:07 from Halifax to York as far as Leeds which is worked by one of their 3-car Class 195s. It’s early enough in the day that it’s not packed so I’ve found a free table where I’ve been able to set up the ‘mobile office’. We’ve yet another beautifully sunny morning here in West Yorkshire and I’m hoping the good weather will stay with me as I traverse the country. I’ve a fair bit of travelling to do today and this is just the start.

I don’t know about where you live if you’re reading this in the UK but here the countryside is alive with Hawthorn blossom. For some reason the flowers seem really intense this year and really stand out against the lush greens of the countryside. I’ll see if I can get some pictures later as my job will be finished by mid afternoon…

08:25.

Oh, joy! My Cross-Country train to Derby is now running 15 plus minutes late after getting stuck at Garforth for some unknown reason. That means its now lost its path and will accrue even more delays so my connection at Derby to Beeston is looking lost. When a TPE service running in the opposite direction occupied our platform (15a) there was a mad scramble as knowledgeable folk twigged the problem and looked for updates. There were none on the screens and it was only because a member of platform staff had the gumption to ask some of us if we wanted the Plymouth train that we found it had sneaked in on platform 12c. We left a few minutes afterwards and I suspect some less savvy travellers will have been left behind.

08:55.

The 08:11’s a busy 4-car Voyager, so I’ve taken up position in the former shop area in coach D where I’ve set up the ‘mobile office’ on one of the luggage shelves. I may have to stand and there’s no power socket, but it’s better than being jammed in the saloon. We’re currently 17 late which means that unless we make up some time I’ll arrive at Derby after my Beeston connection has left. But, we have Sheffield to get through and train drivers don’t call it ‘the crucible’ for nothing (you have to get a red before you get a green). On the bright side, the trains CSA has just come through with the trolley, so I have coffee. He’s an affable Geordie who told me the issue at Garforth was with a Northern unit having electrical problems. This train was 2nd in the queue behind it, so was stuck until the Northern unit was fixed.

Now, having left Wakefield, I wait to see what happens at Sheffield…

09:20.

We left a bright and sunny Sheffield 18 minutes late, so unless there’s a warp drive that’s been fitted to this Voyager there’s no way we can make up enough time to catch my connection in Derby. However, I had a cunning plan – I’ve time in the bank as the train of last resort doesn’t leave Derby until 09:50, I was simply hoping to get to Beeston earlier.

09:50.

The irony! I made it to Derby only to find the Beeston train’s also running late, albeit only by a couple of minutes. So, I’m now back on track…

10:50.

– and to work! I met some of our East Midlands Railway and station friends groups on the train to Beeston where we all decamped to be welcomed by others. Beeston’s a lovely old station (with a fantastic pub next door, but that’s another story). The local friends group in conjunction with local authorities have done a splendid job in transforming previously overgrown areas like this.

The group listening to Sarah Hampton from the station friends explaining what the group’s been involved in.

17:30.

Finished! Our trip to Matlock Bath by train proved to be a grand day out. Participants were given leaflets and a running commentary that described the scenic line from Derby to Matlock and included the history of the line as well as famous historical sites along the route. At Matlock Bath we detrained to enjoy an excellent buffet lunch laid on by CMAC, one of Community Rail Network’s corporate sponsors which was served in one of the old station buildings which is now a centre for the local Wildlife Trusts. A few short speeches followed, after which, participants could either return by train or enjoy a few hours exploring Matlock.

My job done I retraced my steps to Derby only to retrace them again to head North to Sheffield. Sadly it’s no longer possible to change trains at the most logical place (Belper) as for most of the day it’s only served by Matlock line trains.

19:00.

My stop at Sheffield was brief. I’d intended to stay longer but cloud cover started to roll in and a combination of the wrong trains and the wrong weather made me adjourn to the Sheffield Tap for a ‘swifty’ on the way home. Besides, today’s ‘poets day’ (Piss-Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday). I may have lived by that in my day as a Government employee but it doesn’t really apply in the world of the self-employed. Still, the day’s been long – so a pint was in order…

19:15.

My Cross-Country train from Sheffield to Leeds was a double-set so there were seats aplenty. Most of the folk in my car seemed to be young people heading for a night out in Leeds. The Northern service I’m on now is a different matter. OK, it’s only a 4-car but it’s busy but it shares a characteristic with my previous train – it’s full of folks on a night out. What I find interesting is their destinations of choice are Halifax, Hebden Bridge and….Rochdale! I’m sharing a vestibule with a group of young Asian girls heading for Hebden Bridge. Next to me are some middle-aged folk talking about going to Rochdale and Halifax. God knows where everyone else is going but I’ll be fascinated to see who gets on/off in Bradford…

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24th May picture(s) of the day…

24 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by Paul Bigland in Calder Valley, Community rail, Community Rail Network, Manchester, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Yet another day when (thanks to the glorious sunshine) it’s been anything but grim up North! T’was even cracking the flags in Manchester!

My day started pottering around at Bigland Towers before catching the train from Sowerby Bridge to nearby Mytholmroyd station to join in the Community Rail week fun with our old friends Geoff and Sue Mitchell, some of the other members of the station group plus visitors from the Calder valley Community Rail Partnership, Transport for Greater Manchester, Network Rail and others who came along to enjoy a guided walk from Mytholmroyd to nearby Hebden Bridge.

The event was meant to kick off with tours of the restored station building, but that nearly didn’t happen due to one of those black comedy moments that we can laugh about now, but at the time could have been far less funny. Since the building’s been restored it’s always been assumed there was no water supply. Today that turned out to be untrue, as when some protective coverings were being moved a pipe was exposed which then blew its plastic coupling to release a high pressure jet of water across the ground floor. Poor Geoff and Sue and another of their colleagues got absolutely drenched trying to reattach the pipe to stem the deluge, but if you’ve ever tried such a maneuver you’ll know it’s next to impossible. In the end, all we could do was open a drain in the floor, dam and divert the flow into it and wait for the water company to come and access the stopcock buried in the pavement outside. Thank God it was a bright sunny day and not January!

The irony? The door in the picture is equipped with flood protection – but only from the river outside…

Still, it provided some amusement for the visitors, who were still able to have a look around the upstairs of the old building. Tours over, everyone assembled for short welcome speech from Geoff before Sue (who’d dried out somewhat) led the walkers off on their exploration of the valley. Poor Geoff was left behind to dry off in the sun and wait for the water company!

“Can anyone hear running water”? The gang gathered outside the station building in Mytholmroyd before setting off for Hebden Bridge.

Having done all I could to help, and taken pictures of the event I headed off into Manchester for the rest of the afternoon to do some shopping and grab a few pictures. In many ways I’m still a city boy at heart, so it was lovely to be able to spend an afternoon exploring and people-watching, as well as stocking up on bits I needed that are hard to get elsewhere. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the weather, the city was very busy with many people taking advantages of the centre’s open spaces to relax or work outside.

Manchester’s old Midland Hotel basks in the sunshine.

Now I’m back at home ready for a day with a very different focus tomorrow. It’s someone’s birthday…

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Rolling blog. Variety’s the spice of life…

23 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by Paul Bigland in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Photography, Railways, West Yorkshire

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08:50.

I’m already in ‘Bratfud’ as the locals pronounce it, waiting for the Community Rail Network and other teams to turn up for today’s assignment. A party of schoolchildren are being taken by train from Forster Square station to Ribblehead on the Settle and Carlisle railway. They’ll learn about the railways and local history en-route. Other projects are lined up for them at Ribblehead.

Getting here was a breeze. I walked down to Halifax in plenty of time to pick up the local Huddersfield-Bradford Interchange shuttle. The old Class 150 chugged its way up the hill to the other side of Bowling tunnel without problem. Hopefully we’ll have something less pedestrian to take us to Ribblehead.

Right, time to go to work. More later…

21:30.

Well, that was a crap ‘rolling’ blog – apologies! I ended up being really busy then losing mobile reception once we got onto the Settle and Carlisle, so there was no time to blog during the trip. We met up with the children at Shipley station for the trip up the S&C. Fortunately, volunteers from the friends of the S&C line had reserved half a carriage for us on the 3-car train, so we were enable to hold the STEM class on board with the kids ticking off various aspects of railway operations and equipment that they observed on the way. All along the route they were treated to a commentary about the line, the towns it passed through and features of the countryside, like the Yorkshire 3 Peaks.

At Ribblehead the kids were spilt into two groups. One group visited the famous viaduct and learned about its construction whilst the second group got to grips with building their own viaduct in one of the station rooms before the two groups swapped over. My job was to document the day, which was a challenge when one considers the restrictions that are sometimes imposed by the needs of child protection. Even so, I managed some great interactive shots both on the train and at Ribblehead. Here’s a shot of some of the happy band at the viaduct along with teaching staff, representatives from Community Rail Network, Northern and Network Rail.

The great outdoors. Not an environment many of these children are used to visiting. A large proportion had never even been on a train before.

As we walked back to the station this heavy stone train passed us heading North, the 20 wagons and locomotive fitting neatly onto the viaduct. Many of the children were rather impressed with the sight and surroundings.

We returned on a regular service to Leeds so there was no chance for a reserved coach (or more pictures). I stayed with the group as far as Bradford Forster Square which gave me chance to download and edit all the pictures to go off for websites and publication before one last farewell group shot – after which, my job was done. Well, apart from editing all the rest of the pictures – but that doesn’t have the same urgency!

Having a couple of hours on my hands and in glorious weather I made my way back to Skipton for some mobile office time, then took a break in the lovely market town to peruse some shops, grab a bite to eat and add a few more library shots to the archive.

CAF/Siemens built Class 333016 arrives at Skipton with a service from Leeds. Note the old stop boards for HSTs by the adjacent track. I’m not sure if these are still relevant to the Hitachi ‘Azuma’ fleet which have taken over LNERs Skipton to Kings Cross service.

The ‘new order’ at Shipley, where CAF built 331108 arrives with a service from Leeds to Bradford Forster Square.

Now it’s time to kick-back at home. Having walked over 27,000 steps (12.59 miles, apparently) I’m happy to put my feet up before another (easier) outing tomorrow…

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

Thank you!

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Paul Bigland

~ Blogging on transport, travel & whatever takes my fancy.

Tag Archives: Community Rail Network

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