Tag Archives: Down memory lane

A 2001 trip down railway memory lane…

12 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by in Down memory lane, Photography, Railways

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I’m just about to come to the end of scanning my old albums full of UK rail slides as I’ve less than 60 pictures left to go. By chance, the final album is from the years 2000-2001 (I went digital in 2004 but the other albums jumped the queue) and it’s been quite an eye-opener because whilst many of the pictures remained fresh in my mind, a couple were real surprises. The picture they paint is of a railway industry that was still in the early stages of privatisation, with many old train fleets still in service, but also new routes that were attempted but that never survived, either because they were developed purely as ORCATS* raids to poach fare revenue from other operators, or because the trains and the routes they were used on made little commercial sense in their own right. Here’s a couple of examples which I scanned earlier today.

Until I scanned this picture earlier I’d forgotten this service even existed! This is a West Yorkshire PTE liveried Class 158 at Glasgow Central on the 27th March 2001, prior to working the 14.10 to Leeds via the West Coast Main Line to Carlisle, then down the Settle and Carlisle. That’s a long way to go in a 2-car, 90mph diesel unit that wasn’t fitted out to Intercity standards! The service was introduced by the Arriva Trains North Franchise in September 1999 but only lasted a few years before the franchise was broken up. The long-distance routes were hived off into the Trans-Pennine Express franchise, but this one didn’t survive.

Here’s another one from the same year that didn’t last long either.

Thames Trains 165134 stands at Bristol Temple Meads before working the 12.30 to Oxford, which used the Didcot West Curve. Introduced in 1998 but withdrawn in 2003 at the request of the Strategic Rail Authority (90mph units on a 125mph main line weren’t a good use of capacity) these were the only time ‘Thames Turbo’s’ were seen in Bristol until recently. Thames Trains were merged with the Great Western franchise in 2004. Now these units are a common sight around Bristol as they were cascaded to the area following the electrification of the Great Western Main line between Paddington – Reading – Newbury.

Back in 2001 there was a lot of old stock eking out their twilight years a long way from the routes they’d been built for. Here’s another one from Scotland.

305519 stands at Edinburgh Waverley ready to work a service to North Berwick on the 26th March 2001. Built in 1959 at Doncaster works for the former Eastern region these units worked services out of London Liverpool St before many of them were displaced by the Class 315 units built in 1980 onwards. Several ended up being reduced to 3 -car sets working in the North-West operating service out of Manchester Piccadilly to Dinting whilst 5 4 -car sets were sent to Scotland to operate the line to North Berwick which was electrified in 1991. They survived in service until January 2002 when they were replaced with Class 322 ‘Stansted Express’ units which were also cascaded from services out of Liverpool St!

It wasn’t just regional services that were changing either. The Cross-Country network was about to see see a major shake-up as loco-hauled trains were going to be replaced by ‘Voyagers’…

Virgin Cross-Country’s 47844 hauls a service bound for the West Country past the site of Malago Vale carriage sidings in Bristol on the 1st April 2001. With the decline in loco-hauled Intercity fleets and demise of parcels trains many sidings like Malago Vale were redundant. Today the site is covered in houses.

Many old BR built locomotive fleets were in decline with hundreds stored around the country before being stripped for spares and sent for scrap. Sights like this one at London’s Old Oak Common depot were common.

On the 14th April 2001 the former ‘Coronation’ and Van sidings adjacent to Old Oak Common diesel depot are full of stored locomotives, electrification maintenance coaches and Freightliner container flats. From nearest the camera locomotives include. 47535. 33205. 47492. 73132. 73138. 73119. 73141. 73110. 73107. 73114 and several Class 31s. This area is now the site of a mass of electrified stabling sidings for Crossrail trains as well as empty land where the new High Speed 2 railway station is being built.

As you can see from just this small selection, scanning these slides has been an interesting look back nearly 20 years, showing how much has changed in that time. Of course this isn’t the end of the story, I’ve still got albums of foreign railways to scan, including a large collection of Indian steam pictures. Then there’s all the travel shots going back decades – so expect plenty more trips down memory lane!

* Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services

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The changing railway background. Where have the gasometers gone?

07 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by in Down memory lane, History, Photography, Railways

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With Covid clipping my wings I’ve been spending a lot of the year scanning old railway slides going back 30 years. This process made me realise how something that was a landmark in the background at several locations (some quite famous) has gradually disappeared over the decades. Gasometers.

I grew up in Southport on the West Lancashire plain. With it being flat there were very few landmarks but one was a huge gasometer near my Grandmothers house where I spent much of my pre-school years in the early 1960s. She lived just down the road from something that used to be commonplace, the local town gasworks. Younger readers probably don’t know this but before natural gas was discovered in the North Sea towns and cities used to manufacture their own gas from coal. Many of these gasworks were near to railways which brought in their supplies of coal. Southport was a good example. It had a branch line that ran down the side of the street. Here’s an aerial picture of Southport gasworks taken in 1938 which is on the excellent ‘Britain from above’ website.

The railway to the gasworks runs along the street (Crowland St) on the right of the picture. My Grandmother’s house is just off the picture to the bottom left. Town gasworks were strange places to live near because of the smells that used to permeate the area as coal was cooked to release the gas. A by- product of the process was coke. I remember going with my dad to buy coke from the gasworks as it fuelled a boiler in our cellar which powered the central heating system he’d installed himself. I remember the sound of the gasworks whistle which signalled the lunch break and start/finish of work. The gasworks closed in 1964 but the gasometers remained and were joined by a much larger one which was built in 1969. 277 feet tall it dominated the skyline and could be seen for miles around (as you’ll see in later pictures). It was decommissioned in 2008 and it and its smaller neighbours were demolished soon after. Having lived so near to one of these monsters it’s probably no wonder that I’ve always noticed them in my pictures. So, here’s a selection of pictures where they feature, and the first one’s from – Southport!

On the 26th January 1997 Merseyrail liveried Class 150201 threads its way out of Southport Chapel St station through the dereliction of what was once a large railway complex. So much in this scene has now disappeared. The old excursion platform to the left and the railway yards beyond (which included the ‘Steamport’ railway museum) are now an industrial estate and supermarket, whilst on the horizon are the unmistakable shapes of the gasometers of the old gasworks.

Here’s another view of Southport taken 10 years later on the 4th October 2007 when the smaller gasometers had already disappeared.

Class 150218 heads for Meols Cop and is about to pass the site of St Lukes station which closed in 1968. The vans to the right are parked on the formation of the direct line via Blowick which closed in June 1965.

Here’s another example from the North-West, this time at St Helens..

On the 12th March 2001 142010 arrives at St Helens Central on the Wigan North Western – Liverpool Lime St service. Nowadays the former Down sidings behind the signalbox are a forest of Silver Birch trees.

Another example from the North-West, this time it’s Wigan.

87001 arrives at Wigan North Western from Euston in typically dull Wigan weather on the 5th April 1991. The gasworks was just the other side of the line running into Wigan Wallgate station. Now, both the gasometers and the MFI outlet are history.

Meanwhile, down South..

This is a view of the Eastern approaches to Reading station taken on the 29th March 1991 with the skyline dominated by three different gasometers. Now, only the frame of the one on the right hand side of the picture remains, but that can no longer be seen as new office buildings block the view. Of course, now the Great Western Main Line has been electrified, so this view is a sea of masts, portals and overhead wires. I must get a comparison shot just to show the difference.

Further down the Great Western Main Line and a few years later..

Here’s Didcot station on the 19th February 2001, almost a decade on from the last picture and what’s on the skyline? Mind you, whichever direction you look in the skyline’s changed here! Behind me were the massive chimneys and cooling towers of the old power station which have also disappeared! Meanwhile electrification masts make this picture impossible now.

The Great Western main line seemed to be blessed with these monoliths as there was another at Southall in London.

Sadly, I never got a shot of the Southall monster in all its towering glory. but you can see it in the background of this 1995 shot of 60099 sat in Southall Down Yard.

Meanwhile, over in South London…

Here’s a real embarrassment of riches! On the 15th March 1996 456022 heads for London Victoria on a service from London Bridge. In the background is the massive gasometer at Battersea Park whilst on the right is the iconic Battersea power station.

The Battersea monster could be viewed from several stations. Here’s how it dominated Battersea Park station – as seen on the 24th June 2009…

Next to the beast of Battersea was one of the older gas holders which had the classic frame structure surrounding it. In this case it was decorated with the shield that forms the centerpiece of the City of London coat of arms.

On the 24th June 2009 a SET ‘Networker’ threads its way between the gasholders and Battersea Dogs home. Nowadays the site is covered in high-rise housing.

Od course, the classic example was over in North London, between St Pancras and Kings Cross stations.

On the 22nd October 2001 the gas holders at St Pancras were being dismantled to make way for the Eastern extension to St Pancras station which would eventually become the Kent high speed platforms.
Here’s how they’d looked a few months earlier. I took this picture on the 24th July 2001. Fortunately, they’ve been preserved and one has become the framework for a novel form of new housing.

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3rd November picture of the day…

03 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by in Down memory lane, Musings, Railways

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What with everything that’s been going on a events of the past couple of days last night wasn’t a vintage one for sleep. In fact, I ended up getting out of bed at 4am and retreating to the office – wide-awake – so as to make the most of the day and not disturb Dawn, or ‘Jet’, our moggie, who was curled up on the bed with us.

I crept around to make some coffee then settled down to a long bout of slide-scanning. I’ve neglected that project of late but I’m determined to get the railway pictures finished before our bout of ‘splendid’ isolation’ as at least then I can venture out during the plain vanilla lockdown that follows.

With a couple more bouts of insomnia I reckon I can have the job done within a couple of weeks tops – which will feel like an achievement after all this time! Of course that doesn’t mean the project’s finished – just what facet. I’ve still got thousands of travel pictures to scan. Mind you, looking at the Governments handling of the pandemic that may be done bad thing. At least it’ll give me something to do during any lockdown Mk3!

Right now it’s after eight o’ clock and they day’s started catching up with me. I’m not going to stay up and watch the US Presidential elections. I’d rather go to bed fearing the worst whilst hoping for the best with the possibility of waking up in the morning and finding that the populist political bubble’s finally burst. One can but hope…

Sadly, I can imagine things getting ugly and rancorous if it looks like Trump could lose, so I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the result’s contested if it’s close. Trump’s supported have already been framing that narrative and some of us will remember when the word ‘chad’ (either hanging or swinging) entered the political lexicon. I dearly hope I’m wrong and that Americans have had enough of the Tango’d Tw*t, but with the weapons-grade levels of social and other media manipulation I really don’t know.

Meanwhile, here’s the picture of the day, which is from the batch of slides I’ve spent the day scanning. This scene is unrecognisable today. I took this picture at Reading station on the 9th February 2001. All you see in the picture’s disappeared. In the past decade Reading station has had a £1bn rebuild and upgrade, whilst some (but not all) of the routes have been electrified. The old HST’s like this have disappeared although this particular power car has found a new lease of life working for Scotrail North of the border.

You can almost hear the power car scream as this old Valenta engined HST accelerates away from a stop at Reading on its way to London. The low sun backlight the trains ‘flying fag packet’ livery as this particular version of the company colours were known as.

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Rolling back the years. RIP Mike Smith.

19 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by in Down memory lane, Southport

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Yesterday I got a phone call out of the blue from Pat, a longtime friend from my days growing up in Southport. Pat rang me to tell me that the funeral of an old friend from those days who’d died back in May was being held tomorrow (Thursday). I’d not seen Mike Smith for a very, very long time. Our friendship waned when I moved to London back in 1986. I only saw him a couple of times after that on the odd occasion when I popped back to see my family. Mike was best described as an eccentric who became increasingly eccentric as the years went by!

I first met him in Liverpool back in 1979 when I was involved in some political campaigning. I was put in touch with some like-minded souls in the city and Mike was one of them. At the time Mike lived in West Derby but would often come over to Southport along with another old Scouse friend, Glen Bowker (who was one of a trio of us who moved to London where we shared a flat for many years). Eventually both Mike and Glen moved to Southport, which became his home for the rest of his life.

I rarely think of those days now – it all seems so long ago and so far away – over 40 years. But Pat’s call made me think – and remember. What I remember is the laughter, something that seems in rather short supply nowadays. Back then we were all young, and care-free, with our futures ahead of us. Our social life revolved around a pub called the Old Ship Inn where you’d find many of us most evenings. It was a large community of like-minded souls and boy – did we have fun! Mike’s humour was plentiful and dry so the jokes and banter would fly. It was the sort of laughter that left your stomach aching – remember that?

How times have changed. Many of those people are no longer with us, including Mike, who died of prostate cancer at the age of 64. My eldest sister Ruth is another one, cancer took her when she was in her 40s. I can think of a long list of other names who’ve gone too, many of them at no great age – and no doubt there’s many I don’t know about as I’ve lost touch with people. Even the pub has gone now. It was badly refurbished back in the early 1980s and it lost a lot of its character and custom. Last time I went back the place was closed and boarded up, but then closed pubs are hardly novel nowadays.

I remember one time the pub had a fancy dress competition. I can’t remember what the theme was now, but Mike came dressed as another of Southport’s eccentrics – the ‘purple lady’ (so named for the colour of the voluminous shirts and shawls that she used to wear in her wanderings around town) – he even had the carrier bag! Needless to say, he won.

Pat’s phone call made me look for some old photos of Mike. These are what I found – all taken on a mickey-mouse little Instamatic on grainy 110 film, but it’s all I have….

Mike Smith in 1981, holding a bong containing, illicit smoking material.. Mike was always smartly dressed and normally sported a tie or bow-tie. His diminutive frame meant he could often pick up bargains from the kids section in charity shops!
Mike in the same year, when he’d just moved to Southport where he’d got a bedsit in a house on Scarisbrick New Rd. He’s riding my mums bike and carrying a bamboo plant we’d dug up out of my parents garden. The house became something of a social centre as my sister Ruth also moved into a flat there. I remember one Christmas the house got together for a jojnt Xmas dinner with people cooking different part of it in their baby Bellings, then coming together in Mikes room. We didn’t have a dining table so we used an old advertising hoarding ‘borrowed’ from somewhere, and a couple of trestles!

Some of the crowd from the Old Ship seen on the 17th May 1982 when we’d been to the wedding of Sparks and Vicky. It’s an awful photo, but Mike is at the front, sporting a bow-tie and blazer. 2nd to his left is my late sister, Ruth. I’m second from the end on the right.

So, tomorrow I’ll be journeying to Southport to attend Mike’s funeral at Southport crematorium at 10:00. Mike was always a bit of a hypochondriac but in his later years his imaginary illnesses became real and he became increasingly frail. I spotted him from afar once, walking around town using a Zimmer – hardly an unusual sight in Southport which always had a reputation as one of God’s waiting rooms! His infirmities, and the fact people don’t bother going to pubs as much nowadays meant he became more isolated so his funeral won’t be a big affair. Pat (who Mike effectively made his next of kin) reckons there’ll be a dozen of us at most. There’ll probably be more people I know whose ashes are scattered around the ‘crem than there in person – but I wanted to be there, just to say goodbye – both to Mike and to those long gone days in Southport…

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Lockdown-ish. Day 75 (Saturday)

07 Sunday Jun 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Down memory lane, Lockdown, Photography, Railways

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Our routine changed today as we we’d another Red Cross run booked for Dawn’s parents by picking up various items of food shopping for them. So, once we’d got our acts together, swigged some coffee and had breakfast, we drove over to Huddersfield. The roads were busy, but we couldn’t work out where folk must be going as pretty much everything is still shut! Our first port of call was the Marks and Spencer’s food hall at Waterloo, out to the East of the town centre. Huddersfield lost its town centre M&S store last year when the whole shebang closed down – including the popular food hall. Now it’s quite a schlep to drive out to the surviving one as it’s 2.5 miles from the centre.

Still, we found out where a lot of vehicles had gone – the car park of the shopping estate was rammed! There was no point in the both of us going in so Dawn did the shopping whilst I caught up with some emails via my phone whilst staying with the car. Dee was back surprisingly quickly. Last time we’d been here the queue was extensive, but now people seem to have spread their timings out.

Our next port of call was the railway station and the Water Tower offices of Community Rail Network – just so Dee could check it was OK. The station area was still eerily deserted. No football crowds, not Rail Ale Trailers – nothing. It takes some getting used to. This is not how Saturday in Huddersfield should be!

Moving on we headed up to the farm shop at Bolster Moor, which nestles in the hills above Slaithwaite (or ‘Slawit’, depending on your pronunciation peccadillos). The quality of their produce is excellent and their pork pies are legendary, so we couldn’t resist buying a couple. They’re succulent, subtly spiced and with a gorgeous pastry casing. Neither of us are big red meat eaters (we can go weeks without) so a Bolster Moor pork pie’s a rare treat.  Dawn shopped for her parents and I shopped for us, so between us we left laden with edible goodies. There’s so many things you can’t do at the moment because of Covid, so appreciating good food becomes more important.

After we’d dropped off John and Norah’s shopping we headed home. The weather was on the turn again with dark, gloomy skies threatening yet more rain, so there was no incentive to hand around or take any detours. Once back at Chez Bigland we both got busy. Dee took over the kitchen whilst I retreated to my office to finally finish scanning yet another album of old railway slides. This seems like it’s taking a lifetime, but I am seeing the end in sight soon. There’s only a couple of railway albums to go now and I’ve been busy editing down the travel albums so I can see the scale of the next task ahead – which makes it feel less daunting.

Work and cooking done, we did manage to get out for a stroll and get our steps in too – which felt like an achievement. With it being late in the day the weather had picked up. It was still a lot cooler than it has been but the skies cleared enough to allow for a lovely still evening with some late sunshine. So much so that when we got back I sat on the front wall for a while and just took in the peacefulness of it all, which was only interrupted by birdsong.

Ok, it’s picture time now. I’m going to be busy with writing projects for the next few days which means there won’t be the same flow of old pictures being scanned as there has been recently. So here’s one of the last batch of rail slides for your delectation – plus a new feature…

07451. 47709. Regency railtour Ex-Newcastle. ECS to Bounds Green London Kings Cross. 16.12.1999crop

On the 16th December 1999 a Regency Railtour from Newcastle to London stands at the buffer stops at Kings Cross station. The locomotive is Fragonset Railways Class 47709. Fragonset had a chequered history from their formation in 1997. In 2005 they merged with Merlin Rail to become FM rail but they went bust the following year. 47709 was bought by Direct Rail Services (DRS) in 2007 and lasted in service for several more years before finally being scrapped at Eastleigh in September 2012. Now for my new feature.

Picture of the Day

From now on I’m going to add a random shot from my archive to each day’s blog. The picture could be from any category on my Zenfolio website but each one will be newly scanned from my slide archive. It could be of railways, travel (from anywhere in the world), social issues, personal or flora and fauna – there’s still 1000s to chose from. Each one will have a little story attached. Here’s No 1.

T9210. The Windmill. Cley next the Sea. Norfolk. England. 29.08.1999. crop

This is the old windmill at Cley next the sea in Norfolk, taken on the 29th August 1999. Lynn and I often used to go cycle touring and the North Norfolk coast was in easy reach of London by train to places like Kings Lynn, where we’d then hop on our bikes and explore. Norfolk may have a reputation for being flat, but I can assure you North Norfolk is anything but. We also joked that this place should have been named ‘Cley nowhere near the bloody sea!’. I’ve some very fond memories of this part of the world and you’ll see more pictures in the future.

A grade 2 listed building, built in the 18th century, the windmill is now a hotel – although its closed because of Covid right now. Here’s their website for future reference. At one time the mill was owned by Colonel Charles Blount. You probably haven’t heard of him, but you will have heard of (and from) his son. He’s the singer, James Blount.

 

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Lockdown-ish. Day 74 (Friday)

06 Saturday Jun 2020

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The end of another working week, although that doesn’t really mean much nowadays, especially in my line of work. It’s a very long time since my week was Monday – Friday, 9 to 5. September 1997 to be precise…

The weather here in the Calder Valley has turned stormy. The temperature has really dropped but the wind has gained in strength, gusting across the valley, leaving me in fear for my garden where the Lupins are looking lovely but exposed. It’s quite entertaining in one way – watching the wind battering the trees and bushes I can see from my back office. The Blue and Coal tits are still managing to land on the bird feeder outside the window, but some of the bigger birds are starting to struggle as the gusts catch them.

Today’s not been the best of days. Emotions and feelings can be a bit of a roller-coaster during lockdown (or what approximates it now) and that’s how I felt today. Sometimes it’s hard to remain optimistic in the face of everything that’s happening and the feeling that – politically – we are going through extraordinary times. America is in flames due to riots over the latest death of a black American at the hands of the police and the ‘President’ is both utterly useless  – and fanning the flames.  Meanwhile, we have our own Clown in charge. How on earth did it come to this? Still, Johnson’s ‘proud’ of the fact we’ve the highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe so who are we to question his judgement (when he actually turns up for work).

I suppose I’m feeling a little put out as today a group of us should have been flying to Berlin. After we had such a great time in Belgium the ‘6 from the 6’ had booked a few days in the German capital. It’s a city I really enjoy (especially the old East) so I was really looking forward to it. In fact, I would have been back again a few months later for the bi-annual ‘Innotrans’ rail fair but that’s been postponed until 2021. As things stand at the moment I’m not sure I’m going to make it out of the ‘septic isle’ before the end of the year – or whilst we still remain part of the EU. Oh, yes – remember Brexit? That’s still unresolved…

So, instead of enjoying Berlin with friends, I’m kicking my heels at home, staying safe and wading through more old slide scans. Ho hum…On the bright side. I’m nearing the end of phase 1 of that project, which feels like it’s taken forever. This weekend I’ll have the 1999-2000 rail album done, which only leaves me with (I think) two to do. Away from all this we did have a pleasant interlude as Friday night is quiz night when a group of us from the ‘Big 6’ have an hour together pretending we’re back in the pub! With the weather being rather less than favourable everyone was Zooming in from indoors this week. Even so, it was a lovely interlude that stretched the little grey cells (as an Agatha Christie character was wont to say) and gave us all a bit of welcome social interaction.

OK, forget all the other stuff, it’s picture time. Here’s one of the latest scans and another trip down memory lane – although it won’t mean a lot to many people. This is the old steam locomotive depot at Southport shortly before demolition back in 2000 after the museum had closed. Back in the very early 1970s I was one of the founder members of ‘Steamport’, the society which got together to save the 6-road depot and turn it into a museum. Many of us put a lot of time and effort into trying to make it a success but it never took off. On the bright side, we did buy the land which was sold years later for a tidy sum when the museum moved lock, stock and barrel to Preston, so our efforts weren’t all in vain. Here’s a potted history of the depot and the project care of Wikipedia.

07520. Steamport closed and awaiting demolition. Southport. 09.01.2000 crop

See those red doors on the front of the shed? They’re not original. The old shed never had doors. The ones you see came from the old Meols Cop car sheds – a railway works a few miles away. A few of us towed some of those through the streets of Southport on old metal wheeled railway parcels trollies after we’d gas-axed them off the derelict shed! Funny what you remember, isn’t it? I vividly recollect pulling/pushing one of those doors on the trolley with a few other stalwarts, partly because I remember coming down with a really sore throat!

Memories…

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Lockdown-ish. Day 73 (Thursday)

05 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Down memory lane, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

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Our most diverse day of the week began slightly later than planned as neither of us got a great night’s sleep due to the moggie being on the bed –  as is usual nowadays. He’s slowly recovering from his illness but knows how to play his cards right. We don’t have the heart to kick him off the bed now and he knows it!

Getting up later meant that we took our time getting ready for our weekly mercy-mission and caretaking call over to Huddersfield but then we weren’t in any real rush. It’s not like we’ve got tickets to the Theatre or anything…

The trip out of the Calder valley was easy, although the roads do seem to get busier each time. Even so – it’s still anything but normal. I get the distinct impression that if people can stay at home – they will – with the obvious exception of a few Covidiots, of course. As usual, our first port of call was Sainsbury’s where the pair of us split to do different shops. There was hardly any queue and the place seemed pretty quiet. I’m assuming the weather had kept some folks at home. Afterwards we called in at Dawn’s work, the watertower at Huddersfield station. Whilst Dee sorted out some stuff I went for a mooch around town, just to see how things were developing as see if there were any photos to be had. Things seemed little changed since last week. No more shops were open, the queues were still outside the banks and the local street drunks were still doing what drunks do – shouting and arguing with each other.

I did grab a couple of record shots by the station but nothing remarkable. The skies were leaden with heavy clouds that threatened rain but never actually delivered. The one difference I dis note was that now Northern have ditched all their Pacer trains the Huddersfield – Sheffield service was worked by a former top-link 90mph, air-conditioned Class 158. Oh, the luxury!

DG342285crop

Heading up to Dawn’s folks we dropped off their shopping and hung around just long enough for Dee to sort out their Netflix access which they’d not been able to use since my account was hacked some weeks ago. This meant Dawn had to go into the house, whilst I stayed in the car. Funny old world, isn’t it? Some people have aspirations and hack bank accounts or global companies, others Netflix accounts!

Our drive home was across country on roads that still weren’t very busy – which was great. Bak at the ranch the pair of us settled into our usual work routine and just ploughed on with stuff. I was keen to get as many old slides done as possible as earlier in the day I’d been in discussions with RAIL magazine about some articles. I’ve now been commssioned to write two very different pieces which will appearing the next couple of months – which is going to keep me busy as both require the same levels of research as the East London line article published last month. Not that I’m complaining. It keeps me occupied, I learn something – and it pays a few bills.

This means that scanning old slides will be taking a bit of a backseat once the current album from 1999’s done (hopefully by the end of the week). Here’s a sample from the latest batch as I’m about to turn the millennium from 1999 to 2000…

07385. 142037. 14.35.Liverpool Lime St - Wigan North Western. Prescot. 08.12.1999crop

It’s the 8th December 1999 and 142037 is arriving at Prescot on Merseyside whilst working the . 14.35 Liverpool Lime St – Wigan North Western. The low winter sunlight (coupled with Fuji Velvia slide film) adds some warmth to the picture and makes the place look quite attractive – which is no mean feat as the area was notorious for vandal attacks on the railways! Times have changed and this stretch of railway was electrified in 2014-15.

In the evening I indulged in a spot of cooking as therapy as I’d finally managed to buy some Risotto rice today. It’s been as rare as rocking-horse shit during lockdown and we’d used up the last of our supplies the other week, but I managed to grab three boxes today and celebrated by using one to make a seafood risotto which contained a lovely mix of home-grown herbs that included Tarragon. It’s a new recipe on me but I have to say it was delicious!

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Lockdown-ish. Day 71 (Tuesday).

03 Wednesday Jun 2020

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My weather forecast turned out to be 24 hours premature as this morning we woke up to yet another stunning day with wall to wall sunshine across the valley, so I decided to make the most of it in yesterday’s fashion. Dawn and I were up early and after a meditation and unhurried breakfast we both cracked on with the day. I kept to the pattern of yesterday, mixing picture scanning with regular breaks to exercise with a brisk circuit around the local roads. It’s not as exciting or as scenic as venturing further, but I’m achieving what I want – a combination of work and exercise with the promise of being able to have some time relaxing in the garden and baking in the sun as a reward.

Of course I’m still catching the rays as I’m strolling and the strength of the sun is really noticeable right now. I’d love to know if lockdown and the lack of vehicular pollution’s making a difference to the intensity of Sol’s rays. It certainly feels that way sometimes.

Because there was no reason to go shopping or travel anywhere it was very much a binary day. For me, Work/Walk was what it was all about. I wonder, is this what it’s like when you’re incarcerated and you become a model Prisoner by embracing the routine?

What wasn’t routine was keeping a watchful eye on events in Parliament and the embarrassing pantomime that was being played out. It made the Victorians look cutting edge. The Government – in the shape of the MP for the 19th Century – Jacob Rees Mogg had decided that MPs couldn’t vote electronically and had to turn up in person to vote. It was a farce, an utter farce, and it made us a laughing stock in more modern countries where electronic voting is part of politics. Rees-Mogg is everything this country shouldn’t be. He’s the modern embodiment of Sourdust from Mervyn Peake’s ‘Gormenghast’. The role could almost have been written for him.

The result of this planned farce was that many MPs were disenfranchised as they were either self -isolating or in one of the vulnerable groups! And the only reason for this? Forget the excuse that it was about ‘democracy’ it was anything but. This was so that our Prime Minister didn’t have to face the Leader of the Opposition on his own! Gone are the days of useless Corbyn. Now Johnson’s having to face his worst nightmare – Keir Starmer, a man with the intellect and arguments to hang him out to dry. Time after time Johnson trips himself up with his own empty promises and vacuous rhetoric – and Starmer skewers him with it, so Johnson need a baying back-up on the benches behind him to attempt to disguise the fact he’s the Emperor with no clothes.

Suffice it to say that If I really wanted to describe the dangerous political farce that’s been inflicted upon us by this shower of shits my invective would be off the Richter scale. I can no longer be bothered. I’ve come to the conclusion that the only antidote to Emglish exceptionalism is a hard dose of reality. The difference being – I’m prepared for it. Some poor suckers think that it’s all hunky-dory and we really did ‘take back control’.

So, my world feels almost schizophrenic at the moment. I’m watching these surreal events in our body politic unfold whilst immersing myself in reliving 1999 and the build up to the millennium in pictures. God, what a different place the country felt then! The optimism of Tony Blair’s first term. I could go on at length, but now’s not the time…

With the stunning weather staying with us for the day I was glad to be able to take a break from the past and the present to just sit in the garden and ‘be’ – listening to the birds, hearing the wind in the trees and feeling the sun on my skin. Simple pleasures but ones that mean so much as they can’t be taken away from you.

I’ll finish with just a taster of all the old slides I’ve been scanning. Because I was living in North London at the time that was the focus of many of my pictures. Here’s one…

07274. 37047. 37055. Sandite train. Harringay. 03.11.1999crop

It’s autumn leaf-fall season and a pair of Class 37s were working one of two trains that patrolled the London end of the East Coast Main Line to blast leaves off the line with water or apply a substance called ‘sandite’ to stop trains slipping. Here’s 37047 and 37055 reversing at Harringay, which was 10 minutes walk from where I lived for many years.

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Lockdown. Day 56 (Monday).

20 Wednesday May 2020

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After yesterday’s slight hiccup the two of us faced a new week with renewed determination that the next seven days would be productive! It certainly started well. Dee was up just after 6 to begin her daily exercise regime. I stayed in bed a mite longer but made the most of it by working on the laptop whilst I sipped my coffee and kept the moggie company. He’s decided our bed’s his now and won’t take no for an answer. Trying to remove him’s like trying to throw away a boomerang!

I did join Dawn in time for a morning meditation which put us both in a good frame of mind for having a positive day, whatever life threw up.

Suitably balanced we retreated to our separate workplaces and cracked on. I’d already got a queue of slides ready for scanning and had a pleasant trip down memory lane, meandering back 27 years to the summer of 1993. I’m still amazed at how many of the pictures I remember taking although every so often one foxes me, leavng me thinking “what was I doing there, then”? The fact the individual slides are still unblemished and undamaged after over a quarter of a century is a relief too. There’s the odd one with a bit of surface scratching but I was meticulous about keeping my camera clean after having some travel pictures from India so badly scratched by grit on the film plane back in 1991 that vowed never to make the same mistake again.

Whilst I was busy scanning I did keep one eye on social media and the latest pathetic antics of ‘Extinction Rebellion’ as their tiny band of protesters pretend they can stop HS2. Quite how holding up a some banners outside a couple of worksites long enough to get pictures to post on social media before buggering off again is meant to stop HS2 is a mystery. All it does is fool a few gullible voyeurs sat at home watching into donating their money, but presumably that’s the idea. I notice a lot of the bluster has died down now. XR’s supposed ‘protectors’ have gone from claiming they’ll stop HS2 to saying they’re there just to record ‘wildlife crimes’. Only problem is – despite all their cameras – they’ve failed to capture a single ‘crime’! So we have allegations thrown around like confetti, but not a single arrest, much less a prosecution or conviction.

It is laughable that people who can’t even stop themselves being evicted from any of their tiny camps claim they’re going tostop the biggest construction project in Europe. Talking of evictions, many of the remaining protesters at Harvil Rd (and some of their associates) have been served with writs and are up before the High Court on Thursday this week!

I finally took a break from scanning to take some exercise and stop my legs ossifying. The weather’s the worst it’s been for some time – cold and windy with occasional, desultory rain showers so literally took a walk up the road with the hope that conditions will improve later. My determination that this is going to be a good week extends to getting my daily 5 miles under my belt every day – but it does prove difficult sometimes when juggling so many things. Today was no exception. With the pair of us at full slog throughout the day it was after 18:30 pm that we went out together and did our local circuit through woodland and park before getting home in time for the weekly Platt family ‘Zoom’ call. 

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Zoom is a good stopgap for face to face contact in these troubled times, but will it replace it? You have to be joking!

Afterwards I had a last hour in the office editing today’s scans and getting them onto my Zenfolio website. You can find them in this gallery. 

I added to my health ‘brownie’ points by also having an alcohol free day so I felt very virtuous by the time I climbed into bed that evening. As for all those scanned slides – here’s a sample. 

03390. 86634. 86637. Stratford. 01.07.1993crop

On the 1st July 1993 Class 86s No’s 86634 and 86637 haul a Freightliner train bound for Ipswich through Stratford in East London. Built for the West Coast Mail Line electrification in 1965-66 these locomotives were 23 years old when this picture was taken. Remarkably 86637 remains in service today, 27 years later – although not for much longer! Freightliners remaining Class 86s are about to be replaced by Class 90s displaced from Liverpool St – Norwich services. The 90s have been rendered surplus by the introduction of the new Stadler built Class 745 units. 86634 lasted in service until May 2002. It was scrapped at CF Booth, Rotherham in 2005.

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Lockdown. Day 46 (Friday)

08 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Down memory lane, Lockdown, Photography, Politics, Railways

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Christ, if this is what life’s like when we’re meant to have loads of time on our hands due to lockdown, can I have my old one back, please?

My best intentions of getting up early went out of the window this morning and for the first time in ages I didn’t get out of bed before 08:00 which was a bit of a surprise as I distincly remember being awake at 06:00 and thinking ‘I’ll just have another half an hour’. Damn those snooze buttons! I wouldn’t mind but it’s not even mine as Dawn has control of the alarm clock/radio.

Once the day started it was a busy,- if slightly different one. Dawn’s on her ‘virtual retreat’ for the next few days, so I’m doing everything I can so facilitate and support her doing it but it does mean we’re living rather separate lives for the next few days. Dee printed out her schedule activities and stuck it on the fridge in the kitchen so that I know what she’s up to and when so that I don’t disturb her at a crucial moment, like meditation. This means that the living room is very much ‘her space’ and I’m relegated to using the back door to come in and out, not that it’s a problem.

Yet again we’ve had another beautiful day, weather wise. I shadowed Dawn on her morning walk, which meant that I got a lot of steps in early which makes a change. Recently I’ve taken to getting in an evening stroll to boost my exercise. Whilst it’s technically breaking the guidelines it’s not a problem here as our road is deserted at that time of day. I can walk for half an hour and not bump into another soul or even see a car as everyone’s stuck indoors. Why wouldn’t they be – there’s nowhere else to go!

Back at home I disappeared into the office to spend several hours scanning more old slides, The job’s no less tedious but at least I’m slowly making progress, although it is rather frustrating being stuck inside when the weather’s so good! I’d love to be out and about with the camera, but discipline’s required right now and it means I’m getting something positive out of lockdown.

Once immersed in scanning the day soon flew by. I’ve both laptops on the go at the moment so that whilst I’m scanning with one I can be watching Netflix or the BBCiPlayer with half an eye on the other. Sometimes the distraction’s provided by birds visiting the feeder hung outside the office window as it sees a constant stream of Tits who come to plunder the sunflower seeds I keep it filled with. I avoided the VE celebrations on TV, preferring to remember those who fought and lost their lives in my own way rather then join in what was starting to feel like a jingoistic celebration rather than a reflection on events. No doubt many would disagree with my interpretation, but then there does seem to be a coercive element to these things nowadays, rather like the ritualistic clapping for the NHS on Thursdays. When people are shamed on social media for not taking part, you know that things have gone too far. This pressure is also being used to stifle criticism of the way the Government’s handling the Covid pandemic, with some claiming that it’s somehow unpatriotic to criticise as it’s a national emergency and we should all be ‘pulling together’ (whatever that’s meant to mean in this context). This authoritarianism and herd mentality worries me. It’s too close to the right-wing media and political parties tactics of labelling people ‘traitors’ for opposing Brexit. We seem to be sailing far too close to an Orwellian totalitarianism nowadays, and it’s disturbing how easily some people embrace it.

I knocked off slightly earlier than usual as it is Friday after all. I migrated to the bench in the front garden and sat with a beer, enjoying soaking up the glorious sunshine for a while until 6, when it was time to join the gang from the ‘Big 6’ for our weekly quiz session held on Zoom. Eight of us played this week, many of the gang joining from their respective gardens as they’d got the same idea as me. After weeks of lockdown and barely talking to a soul other than Dawn it’s great to have a semblance of normality restored by joining in the laughter and brain-teasers in the quiz, although I’m looking forward to the day we can restart this where we should be – in the pub!

The rest of the evening passed off quietly at home with the pair of us keeping occupied in different ways. I managed to upload more of my haul of edited pictures to my website, so felt the week ended well. Here’s a couple as an illustration. It’s a tale of two London stations…

3120. 47350. London Kings Cross. 02.02.1993crop

Here’s London Kings Cross on the 2nd February 1993. As it used to look before the recent refurbishment and when Mail trains still ran. It was far dirtier and more cluttered than nowadays, with lots of rubbish deposited on the oil-stained tracks. Railfreight distribution No 47350 stands at the head of a rake of vans carrying mail to the North. Class 47/3s didn’t normally operate these services as the locomotives had no train heating, so I’m assuming the booked engine had failed.

03137. 47853. 43072. Class 47 ex Nottingham. Class 43 is 16.00 to Sheffield. London St Pancras. 09.03.1993crop

Here’s London St Pancras on the 19th March 1993, with a Class 47 which had arrived on a service from Nottingham standing next to an HST set which is waiting to depart as the 16:00 to Sheffield. It’s safe to say that the station doesn’t look like this anymore! This area is now home to Eurostars!

If you want to have a look at any of the other pictures I’ve added to my Zenfolio picture website just follow this link.

A favour…

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, but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…

Thank you!