The weather’s really cramped my style here in Todmorden as it’s been bloody awful these past couple of days. My plans to get in some walking up on the valley tops have been frustrated by rain and low cloud that’s made it pointless. I’d have spent my time slipping around in the mist for nothing.
Instead, much of yesterday was spent working from home, editing the pictures I’d taken so far whilst sorting out others for future magazine articles and blogs. The weather’s been no better today as the rain’s been almost a constant companion. Even so, I decided to get out for the day, explore more of Todmorden and get a few pictures. Here’s the results.
I spotted these buildings at the back of some large Victorian houses a few days ago but couldn’t get pictures due to cars parked in the way. I took me a while to realise that they’re ornate sheds that combined a coal store (hence the wooden hatch) and an outside toilet. They were probably still in use as both up until the 1950s. It was only after the war that the new Labour government started funding home improvements that allowed people to install indoor bathrooms. Central heating to replace coal fires wouldn’t have been common until the 1970s.Unlike most West Yorkshire mill towns sho’s economy was wool based, Todmorden was a cotton town. It’s hard to imagine how it looked in Victorian times when there were 110 mills here! Today the daily empty ‘binliner’ from Teeside to Knowsley (Liverpool) was hauled by a smart looking 66011. I didn’t hang around after getting this shot as the weather was too miserable! Thursday is ‘tat’ day on Todmorden market with stalls selling bric-a-brac, old tools, clothing plus books and CDs. It was business as usual in the indoor market. This is our favourite butchers (one of several in the market). Nick Fielden is this butchers name. They have an excellent range of home-made sausages which we’ve been busy sampling. Their lamb Koftas aren’t bad either. We’ll be stocking up on supplies to take home with us before we leave. There’s also a cracking cheese shop nearby. Exchange coffee Co is a very popular stall with an great range of coffees from around the world. Drink in or take out – or buy in bulk…Dawson’s in a classic old hardware shop and stall of the sort men especially love to mooch around or admire. For a town of its size, Todmorden has more than its fair share of antique or arts and crafts shops, along with bookshops, making it an enjoyable place to wander around.
Sadly, tomorrow’s weather forecast is no better so I can’t see me getting into the hills at all. Instead I’ll try and get pictures of some of the more interesting buildings here. Then, once Dawn’s finished work we’ll be heading out for a couple of drinks and another excellent Thai meal. It’s a hard life!
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The pair of us have had a really good day rediscovering Chester. Despite the weather not being as good as billed (hey, at least it didn’t rain) we’ve covered a lot of ground, which started with us working off breakfast by walking along the Shropshire Union canal from our hotel into the city centre. Let’s face it, after a huge breakfast like this, is it any wonder it needed working off?
For much of the walk the canal towpath was busy with dog-walkers and runners. Hardly surprising, as it’s a linear oasis compared to walking along the adjacent A41 road, which is a congested, noisy, nightmare.
We had a couple of hours to kill before we saw Tim Peake’s show, so we indulged in a rare spot of shopping. Neither of us are great shoppers, ‘retail therapy’ really isn’t our bag. But Chester has all the shops we frequent huddled together in a very small area – and there was stuff we needed to get to prepare for winter, so time wasn’t wasted before we had to head off to listen to Tim Peake at the storyhouse, a venue we were both really impressed by. Storyhouse is a library, theatre, cinema, restaurant, bar and social space all rolled into one. It’s a real community asset. The theatre isn’t huge, making it a great place to see one person delivering a lecture – and Tim Peake packed it out. His talk on the history of space travel was riveting. He told a lot of stories that were less well known as well as covering all the historical landmarks. It was funny, exciting and inspirational at the same time and the two hour show flew by. He opened the second part of his show with a 10 minute Q&A session, answering questions texted in by the audience earlier in the show. Sadly, he ran out of time before answering the one about what happens to a fart in a spacesuit…
Afterwards we headed back to the Brewery Tap for a drink and chance to talk about what we’d heard and learned before hunger overtook us. Having eaten Indian last night we opted for Thai today. The restaurant we choose was Thai Baan, and we weren’t disappointed. We opted for the Thai tapas, sharing four different dishes accompanied by Jasmine rice. Here’s a few of the ones we chose…
Crispy seabass, lettuce, diced shallots, ginger, limes served with a spicy peanut sauce.Soft shell crab salad with peanuts and a spicy lime dressing – a real favourite of ours.Roast duck breast with thai herbs and spicy lime dressing.
Having been disappointed by our earlier trip to Chester we both agreed to revise our judgement. We’ve really enjoyed this trip and plan to come back soon – even if it’s just for a day trip. The place has a lot to offer. The architecture is fascinating plus, there’s some great pubs and restaurants. It’s a also good place for shopping if that’s your bag. Whilst the atmosphere can get a bit edgy on a Friday/Saturday night in certain areas if there’s large groups of drinkers around, it’s generally relaxed and quite cosmopolitan.
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Today, we drove over to Chester to begin a two-night stay outside the city, at a hotel and pub in the nearby village of Rowton – a 15 minutes drive from the centre of Chester. The journey across from West Yorkshire took around 100 minutes, we’d have cut at least 15-20 off that if the motorways around Manchester hadn’t been so congested. The traffic was the worst we’ve seen for quite some time, although we’ve no idea why that was.
Fortunately, we were in no rush and the glorious weather made up for any minor inconvenience. Having checked in and dumped our bags we headed into the city. We were both a little disappointed by Chester during our last visit together. The city had a down at heel air, with rubbish strewn city walls suggesting neglect of one of its most historic assets. So, on this visit we were relieved to find the place feeling somewhat improved. Oh, it still has its problems. Like any other UK city it has its fair share of vagrancy, shuttered shops and anti-social behaviour, but this was offset by a vibrant atmosphere, with the city centre buzzing with people out shopping, eating or drinking.
As it was late in the day we had little time to do much other than explore and check out some shops for later in the trip. Then it was time to eat.
We eschewed the famous names and food-chains to head for a small Indian vegetarian bistro on Brook St called ‘chai station‘, which had taken our fancy. Chai station has an excellent selection of home cooked Gujarati dishes, many of which are vegan. Dawn and I decided to order the thalis (minimum order, two people) and we weren’t disappointed. The food was really very good. We had time to chat to Bobby, the owner, who is Ugandan Indian, he came to the UK when Idi Amin through out the Ugandan Indian community in the 1970s. Bobby’s wife Anna is Kenyan Indian and does all the cooking. We’d certainly come back as there’s so many other dishes on the menu we’re dying to try.
Having stuffed ourselves we walked back into the town centre to head to an amazing old building which has only been a pub since 2008 when it taken over by Spitting Feathers brewery. The Brewery Tap (originally called Gamul House) has a long history, with parts of the building dating back to the 1500s. There’s few pubs that can boast such an impressive, high-ceilinged interior. There’s a great range of real ales on offer too.
Tempting as it was to try other venues we both decided to call it a day and head back to Bigland Towers in exile. Now we’re having a quiet night catching up on various bits (like blogging!) before a busy day tomorrow.
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I’ve not been blogging daily from here in Olhos de Água as my writing would have resembled a teenagers diary of the ‘got up, had breakfast, went to the beach, came home’ kind. The reality was far more exciting than the routine sounds. For a start, Praia do Barranco is a beautiful beach! It’s a few kilometers long strip of golden sand bordered by amazing cliffs. Once you get away from the areas lined with sunbeds and brollies where most visitors congregate it’s pretty deserted. With it being the Atlantic, the sea’s hardly tropically warm, but it’s still a damned sight warmer than off the UK and ideal for playing in the waves. Here’s a few pictures.
The studio where we’re staying is in a peaceful, well-laid out complex that has plenty of space and includes landscaped gardens with a profusion of flowers, like these.
We’ve also been fortunate to find a really good local restaurant and bar, frequented by tourists and locals alike. Miraparque serves the best Sardines and Tuna steaks we’ve had on this trip, and the prices are hardly extortionate. 9.95 Euros for a plate of 6 freshly grilled Sardines with potatoes and a side salad, whilst the beautifully grilled Tuna steak is 12.50. To make life easier there’s a really good supermarket next door, ideal for stocking up on fruit and drink to take to the beach.
Ironically, having had only one cloudy day throughout the trip we woke up to overcast skies today, which has put the mockers on our plans to make the most of the swimming pool here. Ah, well. Maybe the weather’s trying to tell us something. In a few hours time we’ll be heading for Faro airport before catching an 18:05 flight back to Leeds/Bradford. We’ve both loved out time in Portugal and fallen in live with Porto and where we’re staying now. We’re already planning on coming back.
I’ll add more to this blog later…
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Well, we’ve made it to Leeds/Bradford airport, which is a start, although it wasn’t without hiccups! We’d had a leisurely morning finishing our packing and making sure the cottage was shipshape for the friends who’ll be looking after it whilst we were away – then it was time to go. The taxi got us to Halifax station in plenty of time, but that’s where things went wrong. I’d checked train times earlier in the day when everything seemed tickety-boo. Only, in the intervening time a signalling failure had occurred, causing delays and cancellations in the area. Our train to Bradford was on time but it was sufficiently delayed en-route that we missed our bus connection to the airport. It was no big deal, it simply gave us an extra 30 mins to admire Bradford Interchange bus station!
Well, as bus stations go…
Our luck changed when we boarded the bus as the driver’s ticket machine was kaput, so we got a free ride to the airport! The A3 took us through a variety of places en-route, from the edge of wonderful little Germany, through Manningham (not so wonderful) to Shipley, Guiseley and Yeadon. It was a fascinating journey through many areas we don’t usually frequent before we were dropped right outside the airport terminal.
The airport’s undergoing a major expansion of facilities at the moment, but that didn’t slow us down. Check-in was speedy and security a breeze, despite the numbers of people here. Having the latest kit so there’s no faffing with talking laptops etc out of bags certainly helps.
Now we’re killing time airside in a bar in the new airport extension, which is as busy as the rest of the place. It’s an ‘interesting’ place to people-watch. The vast majority of people here are package or other holiday-makers heading into Europe. It’s a vary different atmosphere to an international hub like Heathrow!
18:10.
Our train wasn’t the only thing that’s late. Our plane is too – by 30 mins so far. Still, it’s going to be good to be in the air and heading for Europe.
Grins all round!
00:23.
I wouldn’t normally update a blog late into the next day. I’ll fill in the rest tomorrow, but suffice it to say our first night here in Faro has been such a breath of fresh air – and just what we needed.
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Yesterday was our second day at the seaside and one where we didn’t actually see the sea – but that’s not unusual in Southport – a town notorious for how far out the sea disappears to! We had a leisurely morning at the hotel we were staying in as there was no need to rush. The food and drink festival didn’t open until 10 so we could take out time. Typically, just as we left the hotel it started raining! The forecast had threatened showers but later in the day so we were rather glad to get ’em out of the way earlier as that promised better weather later. Sure enough, by the time us early-birds hit the festival the weather began to brighten up – although gusty winds caused a few nerves amongst the stallholders who had tents rather than more substantial structures.
I’d never attended this particular food and drink festival before so I was surprised at its sheer size. There were dozens of food stalls along with craft shops and people selling produce such as local honey. Kids were kept entertained with a selection of bouncy castles, bungy swings and sundry other devices. Victoria park covers a large area so there was plenty of space available for the ranks of stalls and associated tables.
We’d arranged to meet my niece there, but what I hadn’t realised was that she worked for the charity that arranges this and all the other major events held in the park – like the Southport flower show! We ended up spending a very enjoyable couple of hours catching up with her and her husband (who’d drifted in after work) as the park gradually filled up. Here’s a few pictures to give a flavour.
The beauty of caravans – they can’t blow away!Thai pies? Hmm…Making the most of the seating – although a lot of old hands brought their own chairs. By the time we left the place was getting very busy indeed…
The event’s obviously very popular, but I was a little disappointed at the lack of variety in the food. Yes, there were all the fast-food favorites but when it came to world food the variety and authenticity was poor. For example, one curry house was obviously amending South Indian dishes for western tastes. It meant there was little to temp us as we both enjoy cooking, so nothing stood out. In the end we plumped for a hog roast. Still, it was great to see Southport putting on such a successful event.
By early afternoon we were ready to leave and headed back across the West Lancashire plain, stopping off once en-route at the Ship at Lathom, a busy little pub on the banks of the Rufford arm of the Leeds and Liverpool canal. It’s popular with foodies, drinkers and walkers of all ages.
The Ship at Lathom
Sticking to the motorways we made it home in a little over an hour after leaving Lathom. It was an impromptu weekend, but great to catch up with some of my ‘rellies’. I won’t leave it as long next time…
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The pair of us have abandoned West Yorkshire and the Pennines in favour of a weekend by the seaside. We’ve travelled West to Southport, the town where I grew up in and where the rest of my family live – some of whom we’re seeing this weekend. It’s also chance for Dawn to discover more of what the town and surrounding West Lancashire plain have to offer. We stopped off for lunch en-route, calling in at Parbold, a village on the railway line from Wigan to Southport. It’s a pretty little place that’s bisected by the Leeds and Liverpool canal as well as the railway. There’s a lovely pub next door to the canal called the Windmill, named after the old sail-powered cornmill which it shelters in the shadow of. Both the pub’s beers and food are worth sampling. I enjoyed a decent pint of Moorhouses ‘White Witch’ and the fish and chips (which Dawn also plumped for). The fish was very good and the batter just right – as were the portion sizes. We felt stuffed afterwards!
As we’d not visited Parbold for a while we took time to explore, see the changes and (of course) get a couple of pictures at the station!
Bi-mode 769448 passes the lovely old signalbox at Parbold. The unit is working a Southport – Stalybridge service.Sadly, the attractive station building is vacant and slowly decaying.
Moving on we drove along the back roads through to Burscough before heading across the moss to Southport. Having checked checked into out hotel just off the promenade we set out to meet my younger sister for a couple of hours of catching-up on family and other news. Town was busy, but we managed to find a sunny spot outside the Bold Hotel on Lord St which was also an ideal place to watch the world go by.
Time flew. Anne had to leave to meet her partner, so Dawn and I set out to explore more of the town and for me to introduce her to some of my old haunts and childhood recollections. Talk about a trip down memory lane! My impression is that – after years of decline, there’s signs of new life and recovery in Southport. But it’s patchy. The place is no longer about shopping, it’s about eating and drinking. All the department stores are long gone and many shops remain empty, but there’s restoration work ongoing and Lord St was lined with people eating and drinking alfresco outside the many bars and restaurants.
Now we’re back at the hotel, having a quiet night relaxing before more of the same tomorrow – plus a visit to the food and drink festival, which neither of us have attended before.
Here’s a few more pictures to end the day.
The gorgeous Wayfarers arcade on Lord St. Many of the shops are vacant, but there’s signs of revival with the arcade being used for artistic eventsI couldn’t resist a visit to this pub. The ‘Guest House’ is a bit of a Southport institution. It was also my Father’s local and the pub where I learned to drink!
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The weather’s been absolutely glorious down here in Surrey today, but from what I’m hearing a lot of the UK has enjoyed the same. We’ve had wall to wall sunshine and cloudless skies throughout. The only blemishes have been the vapour trails of multitudes of aircraft heading to/from South-East England airports and beyond. Of course, that will have worked the ‘chemtrail’ conspiracy loons into a frenzy but that’s the modern world for you. Logic and reason have become so passé in the 21st century – just look at America!
Back in Surrey I took the opportunity to enjoy time in my brother-in-laws garden, producing some vitamin D whilst Dawn pottered around the house doing sisterly stuff, after which we had to head into Farnham to pick up food shopping for the next few days. The main roads in this neck of the woods were chokka, whilst the supermarket was blissfully quiet compared to back in West Yorkshire, where the fact they’re only open for 6 hours on a Sunday normally generates the sort of panic buying you’d expect if it was announced world war 3 was starting first thing Monday morning!
Back at home we dropped off the shopping but picked up ‘Tilly’, the Platt family cairn terrier who accompanied us on a long walk through Tilford and on to Hankley Common, an area of sandy woodlands, small hills and a golf course which is criss-crossed by footpaths and bridleways.
We really enjoyed the opportunity to explore and soak up the sun in the company of a four-legged friend. There was a suitable refreshment stop too in the shape of the Duke of Cambridge pub which is also home to the Tilford brewery. Sadly, the pub only had one of their beers available on hand pump, the 3.9% ‘Hankley Gold’ but that was much appreciated on a day like today!
Now we’re kicking back a Chez Platt. I’m blogging whilst Dawn’s busy in the kitchen, chatting to her Niece. But, I do have company!
A rather ‘cream-crackered’ dog…
Tomorrow, the plan is for the pair of us to have a day in Guildford, browsing the shops and enjoying a late lunch. I might even have chance to get a few railway pictures, who knows? In the meantime, here’s a few shots from today.
The sandy expanse of Hankley Common.Spring is here!For a small dog, Tilly has a lot of stamina – and she loves Dawn!
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I can’t quite believe we’re at the end February and on the cusp of March. Admittedly February is a bit od a woossy month as it doesn’t hang around for long – and it’s not a leap year – but even so. Today my times mostly been taken up by editing hundreds of pictures to get them onto my Zenfolio website. You can find the latest batch from Norway here. I’ve still a lot of stuff from the Siemens press event to sort out, then there’s all the stuff from Asia. I’m going to be busy or some time.
That said, I did take a break this afternoon in order to indulge in another passion. Cooking. I’ve not made anything for ages due to being away. This afternoon I made up for that by preparing a chicken bhuna.
The food was cooked early so that I could nip up to my local pub (the Big 6) in order to meet up with friends and do the Friday quiz. That was a very pleasant interlude until someone mentioned the televised car-crash in the White House. I had to have a look – and it was horrific. President Zelensky of Ukraine was ambushed and humiliated by Trump and his arrogant arsehole of a Vice-President (JD Vance) in front of the cameras, which carried the news around the world. Imagine, Trump – the ‘leader’ of the free world – who dodged the Vietnam war draft by getting a Doctor to sign him off with ‘bone spurs’ trying to lecture Zelensky, a man who refused to leave Kyiv when the Russians were at the gates of the city?
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin must be laughing his socks off. It’s the most shameful thing I’ve ever seen – but I can’t say I’m surprised by either Trump or Vance. What it does show is that the USA has been captured by apologists for dictators and can’t be relied on as a bastion of democracy or the free world. Europe (and the isolated UK – thanks to Brexit) needs to get its shit together. Oh, and we need to see the UKs Russia apologists (yes, you Farage and Reform) for what they really are.
I’m going to have to go right now as otherwise I’ll be spitting venom. The world’s entered a very uncertain phase. So, I’ll leave you with something less contentious. Food and beer…
It’s Friday, so as well as some excellent real ales there’s free pork pie available on the bar at the Big 6
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My first full day back in the UK has been rather busy, although this morning was the opposite through catching up on my sleep whilst adjusting to a very different time zone. Thankfully, the day produced some sunshine which lifted the spirits after yesterday’s wall to wall gloom.
I did manage to some of the morning editing pictures from my travels. Right now I’ve been concentrating on railway images from Jakarta, which you can find here. Once those are finished I’ll be moving on to other images from Indonesia then gradually retracing my footsteps through Malaysia and Thailand – although that may take a while as there’s more travels in the offing.
This afternoon we had an appointment with Dawn’s parents in order to celebrate Norah’s 84th birthday. Dawn drove over to Huddersfield to pick them up and take the four of us to a pub restaurant I’ve not visited before in its new incarnation, the Dunkirk in Denby Dale.
We had a lovely afternoon with some excellent food off a menu that offered far more than standard pub grub. Oh, they also have 8 different real ales in the bar, which was a bonus! The food was both delicious and well presented. John and I had Ox cheek whilst the ladies had the fish and chips.
None of us had much room for dessert but we did see one thing on the menu which intrigued us which was the rice pudding brulé served with home-made jam.
We ended up ordering one to share between us all. As it was a generous portion that was more than enough to give us a taste of an original dessert which was both unusual and very tasty. Whilst the others stuck to ginger beer my meal was washed down with some well kept pints of Abbeydale Deception, a NZ pale of 4.1% strength.
Now the pair of us are back at Bigland Towers having an evening to ourselves. I’ve managed to get a few more pictures edited, so all in all, it’s been a very good day. Tomorrow’s going to be more home-based as we’ve both got things to sort out, although hopefully we’ll get out for a walk although the weather forecast isn’t looking optimistic. If it’s as wet as is threatened I may just end up editing more pictures and pack ready for my return to Manchester Airport on Monday…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 