Tag Archives: Manchester

Rolling blog. More Mancunian meandering…

30 Tuesday Apr 2024

Posted by 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…

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/

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

29th April picture(s) of the day…

29 Monday Apr 2024

Posted by in Derbyshire, Manchester, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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Today should have been a rolling blog sort of day, but to be honest, my heart wasn’t really in it. So, although I’ve been on my travels this afternoon after working from home this morning, I gave myself the afternoon off. Instead of blogging, I simply enjoyed getting out and about – even though the weather did a volte face. Recently, we’ve had wet morning and lovely afternoons/evenings. Only – as I was travelling – the weather Gods pulled a fast one on me and reversed that!

Not that it mattered too much. I’d headed over to the South-East side Manchester to check out some locations for future pictures. This took me out on the Buxton line as far as New Mills Newtown where I walked across the village to New Mills Central to head back along the route via Romily. It was just as well I wasn’t planning to head further into Derbyshire as the line From New Mills towards Chinley and on to Sheffield has been closed for several days due to track defects. This means trains from Manchester are terminating at New Mills Central, then running ‘bang road’ (wrong line) back to Marple where there’s a crossover that allows them to access the correct running line.

Having deposited me at New Mills Newtown a pair of Class 150s continue their journey to Buxton. As you can see, spring has very much sprung here in Derbyshire.
All change! A pair of Class 156s from Manchester wait time at New Mills Central before running ‘bang road’ back to Marple.
Haven’t I seen you somewhere before? One of the former West Midlands Class 323s that are being cascaded to Northern is seen at Manchester Piccadilly before working a service to Crewe.

Maybe I’ll have better luck with the weather next time…

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/

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

27th April picture of the day…

27 Saturday Apr 2024

Posted by in Food and drink, Manchester, Photography, Travel

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The pair of us decided to take a trip into Manchester this afternoon for a spot of clothes shopping and a bite to eat. Personally, I’m not a great internet shopper when it comes to clothes. I much prefer to be able to touch and feel things first, examine the quality and try things on for size whilst also checking for defects. In recent years I’ve found sizes don’t seem to conform to reality and the same measurements can vary considerably depending on who’s making something.

We took the train over to Manchester from Sowerby Bridge. The 3-car set was busy but after stopping at Rochdale it was packed – a portent of what was to come as Manchester city centre was heaving! Neither of us had expected it to be as busy as it was – or as noisy. In Market St various buskers with portable amplifiers competed for attention with the ‘God Squad’. Both Christians and Moslems had stalls pitching their own brand of salvation in the hope of signing up a few more folks to their respective faiths. Add in delivery cyclists whizzing through the milling crowds and you really had to keep your wits about you. Oh, and the occasional shoplifter doing a runner and bulldozing people whilst being chased by shop security guards! This was the human zoo in all its diverse glory!

After a couple of hours the pair of agreed to call it a day. The place was just too busy. Instead we adjourned to the Old Wellington pub in Wellington Square for a drink whilst and kill some time before the table we’d booked in a nearby restaurant became free. Sadly, sitting outside the ‘Wellie’ led to suffering another aural assault as someone nearby had set up a PA which was playing repetitive ‘boom boom’ music that might be fine in a dance club but is hardly conducive to enjoying a quiet drink. So, rather than stay for a second we adjourned to the Victoria Tap in the nearby railway station. They had music in there to, but it had lyrics, a tune, was melodic – and didn’t make your ears bleed or your table vibrate. They also had decent drinks at decent prices. Oh, and some lovely old black and white pictures of the station back in BR days, like this.

Soon it was time to eat so we headed over to the old Corn Exchange building and the restaurant we’d booked ‘Mowgli’ which bills itself as Indian street food. That’s a slight exaggeration as some of the dishes it serves you certainly wouldn’t find as street food in India. That quibble aside, the food is really very good. The restaurant’s spread over two floors and is clearly very popular. Dawn tells me the creator (an Indian woman from Ormskirk called Nisha Katona) has been a guest on some TV cooking programmes. I’d no idea, I just liked the sound of the place.

Served Tapas style, we ordered several different dishes, starting off with chat bombs – crispy balls stuffed with spicy yoghurt and chickpeas. Our waiter advised us to pop a whole one in our mouths as biting into then could cause a messy explosion! Our main courses consisted of the house chicken, which is cooked in coconut milk, Keralan style. The spicy house lamb, slow cooked and spicy and the Goan fish curry with Tamarind and Ginger. All the dishes were served in classic stainless-steel tiffin tins. As an accompaniment we ordered rice and roti.

On the left is the Goan Fish. Centre is the Lamb, with the chicken on the Right.

We don’t often eat Indian food when we go out as it’s something I cook a lot of at home. This was a worthy exception to that rule. All four dishes were delicious, each had its own unique blend of spices, flavours and textures. It’s worlds apart from the bog-standard dishes you’ll get in your average high street Indian restaurant. India has some fantastic regional cuisine that rarely makes its way onto ‘normal’ Indian (in reality, actually Bangladeshi) restaurant menus.

My food was washed down with sparkling water whilst Dee enjoyed a coke with hers. The bill wasn’t cheap. With a tip included in plus a £1 donation to the charity of their choice it came to £55 for the pair of us. But as a treat it was worth it. Besides, I’d half expected to have shelled out on a new suit but only bought chinos, so I felt I was ahead!

Suitably stuffed we made our way back to the station for a last drink before heading home on the 18:21 – which was absolutely rammed. It’s good to see so many people out and about again, it’s good for the railways, it’s good for Manchester and it’s good for the wider economy.

Now we’re back at home, enjoying the peace and quiet after a busy day – with more to come as we’ve work to do around the house. We’re not eating out on Sunday. Instead we’ve acquired some stewing beef from our local butcher. This is going into the slow cooker along with a selection of veg – and some red wine – to be transformed into a stew that can cook whilst we work. See you tomorrow…

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

Rolling(ish) blog. Best laid plans…

22 Monday Apr 2024

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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11:15.

I was full of good intentions today. Dawn’s away on Platt family duties down in Surrey whilst I’m at home in West Yorkshire, so the idea was I’d be up and out at ‘sparrow fart’ and exploring with the camera. Then, last thing last night, I saw the weather forecast and thought ‘uh-oh!’. Still, I set my alarm for 06:45 with the optimism that things might get better. Only my alarm didn’t go off. I was woken at 07:00 by a phone-call from Dawn, who’d been woken early by the sunlight streaming through her window. In contrast, I was woken up to this view from our bedroom window.

Sowerby Bridge, literally under a cloud…

Bugger! Why didn’t I go with Dee when I had the chance?

So, instead of being out and about I’m having a morning at home, catching up with some bits and picture editing. I was out yesterday when the weather was very different – as this shot from Todmorden shows. Blue skies and cherry blossom. What more could you want?

This afternoon I’m going to head over to Manchester regardless as I’ve arranged to meet up with an old friend (Hassard, who you’ll have seen mentioned in many previous blogs) who’s up her from London for work. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a few useful pictures and find a few things to blog about. Feel free to pop back later to see what I get up to…

13:05.

Finally, I’m on my way. As you can see from this picture, the weather hasn’t improved here in the Calder Valley. The Wainhouse Tower in the background (we live just beneath it) is disappearing into the clouds. I can only hope traversing the Pennines does it’s usual trick to bring better weather.

14:10.

I stopped off at Todmorden en-route in order to grab something to eat before catching a different train. To be honest, ‘Tod’ as it’s known to locals, deserves a blog all of it’s own. It’s a curious little place full of contradictions that I haven’t got time to describe now. I nipped over to the market but as it’s Monday the only things that were open were the coffee shop and this little bar, which looks to have amazingly cheap prices. I’ll revisit soon.

The Market Tavern, inside Todmorden market hall.

Managing to source a sandwich from a local supermarket I made it back to the station in time to catch the 13:54 towards Manchester. It should have been working Headbolt Lane (Kirkby) to Blackburn was was terminated at Todmorden due to late running. Apparently, there’s been a bridge-strike somewhere which is causing quite a few delays.

This is a Class 150/156 lash-up. The Class 150 has been cascaded to Northern from another operator. You wouldn’t know unless you’re sharp-eyed as there’s one tell-tale in this picture.

16:10.

Sadly, the trick of crossing the Pennines into better weather has failed today. There’s rain-filled, leaden skies here too. Even so, I decided on a little side trip to visit a station I’ve been meaning to stop off at for years. Bromley Cross, on the line from Bolton to Blackburn. I’d have got there yesterday, but the train from Blackburn was rammed with pissed football supporters. Testosterone, Tribalism and alcohol’s a heady mix, so I decided to wait for another day. Unfortunately, that day’s been a rainy one!

As well as retaining one of its old station building Bromley Cross possesses one of the few working signalboxes in the North-West. Nowadays it’s kept to protect the station’s foot-crossing as there’s no footbridge.

21:20.

Homeward bound. Having returned to Manchester to meet up with Hassard the pair of us had a fun few hours catching up whilst sampling some of Manchester’s ale houses. Like this one in the Northern Quarter.

Now I’m heading back across the border into West Yorkshire to prepare for another adventure tomorrow. Hopefully, one where the weather plays ball…

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/

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

OK, who’s going to tell them?

21 Sunday Apr 2024

Posted by in Aircraft, Fake News, Mediawatch, Photography, Social media

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As a photographer and journalist I’m used to seeing bloopers of various kinds in print. You’d have thought that nowadays, with people having access to the sum total of human knowledge via the click of a button and access to the internet, it would be easy to find what you wanted. But, that requires having a rudimentary knowledge of the subject, an enquiring mind and the ability to say “really”?

Today, the Manchester Evening News failed on all those front. Whoever was doing their picture research for this puff piece will have outraged the country’s aircraft enthusiasts, historians and general anoraks in one go. Earlier, as I was checking news pages, this flashed up on my screen.

A ‘Spitfire‘? Really? Umm, no. That’s an equally famous but very different four-engined heavy bomber called the ‘Lancaster‘. Still, it’s from the same era (World War 2) so that’s alright then!

Actually, it gets worse, as David Wilding pointed out on Twitter (Bugger you Musk, there’s no way I’m calling it X).

Oh dear! Quite why a ‘court reporter’ is churning out puff-pieces like this is a mystery. But then so many newspapers have such limited staff these days people are expected to produce copy that’s why outside their experience. In many cases they’ve little knowledge of the subject that’s meant to be their specialism. Is it any wonder the public are so let down by the media nowadays? If those tasked with informing us can’t get the basics right, what chance do their readers have?

Oh, for those who know nothing about aircraft, here’s what a Spitfire really looks like. As you can see *cough* – it’s very easy to confuse with a 4-engine heavy bomber!

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/

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

12th July picture of the day…

12 Wednesday Jul 2023

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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After yesterday’s photographic excursion to Manchester where I met up with an old friend for a few drinks I’ve had a quiet day here at Bigland Towers. The weather’s hardly been conducive to getting out as we’re back in the cycle of low cloud and persistent showers. There was plenty of rain yesterday but that was made bearable by some dramatic skies and pools of sunshine that made for interesting photographic opportunities. Hassard, being London-based, had never ventured out to Glossop before so I took him out on the old Woodhead railway with the intention have having a wander and couple of pints before heading back. Fat chance! Just before we arrived we found out that the next two trains were cancelled, leaving us 10 mins to have a swifty in the Star Inn across the road from the station before catching the same train on its return from Hadfield. Talk about a flying visit!

Today we’ve had gloomy weather which hid the valley from view for much of the day so I’ve been happy to be desk-bound, edit all of yesterdays pictures and get on with other work – including adding yet more rail memorabilia to my eBay account. Here’s a sample – one of the goodies that Alstom/Virgin trains produced to celebrate 100 years of Oxley depot in Wolverhampton. You can find yesterday’s picture selection by following this link to the ‘recent‘ page on my Zenfolio website.

I’ll leave you with an example of yesterday’s pictures which illustrates what I mean about Manchester’s moody skies.

Dark skies over Manchester Piccadilly were leavened by short bursts of sunshine, like in this scene of two of Northern’s new CAF built units approaching the station. On the left is a Class 195, the diesel version whilst on the right a pair of electric-powered Class 331s arrive from the Airport.

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/

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

24th May picture(s) of the day…

24 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by 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…

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/

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

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Awayday…

15 Monday May 2023

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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13:15.

Well, more like ‘half-day away’ really but that doesn’t have the same ring to it!

Monday’s dawned bright and sunny here in the Pennines. I apent the morning working from home but at lunchtime I had an appointment at our Doctors in Sowerby Bridge to have blood taken as part of a regular personal MOT. Being thorough, my GP had arranged for a panoply of tests so when I saw the nurse she wanted four different vials. Not quite Tony Hancock’s famous armful, but still…

I was in and out in no-time so decided to make the most of the weather by heading over to Manchester to get some pictures, including Transport for Wales new Class 197s which are starting to appear on a regular basis. You may have read the recent train test that my old friend Pip Dunn and I did in RAIL magazine. Our opinion? They’re good units and certainly an improvement on some of TfWs ex-BR fleets.

Right now I’m on one of those old BR sets which is still working for Northern. 3-car 158757 is on the 13:02 Sowerby Bridge to Wigan Wallgate.

Pre Covid you’d have been more likely to find a 2-car ‘Pacer’ railbus on this diagram. Now we have the luxury of a 90mph air-conditioned train with tables and USB chargers! OK, call me weird but I admit – I do miss the railbuses!

14:25.

Having taken the ‘scenic’ route via Salford Crescent to change trains I’ve wended my way via acres of new multi-story developments to arrive at Manchester Oxford Rd where this beast was sitting in the bay in-between working services to Southport. The ex-Thameslink Class 319s (and those converted to bi-mode Class 769s) have worked Northern services for nany years now but I still can’t quite get used to the fact after spending over two decades travelling on them around London.

16:45. I’ll catch-up with blogging shortly but I’ve been on the move quite a bit so writing’s been rather difficult. Right now I’m taking a quick break in the city centre to upload a couple of camera pictures before returning to Piccadilly. I realised I’d not really spent much time at the station in recent years as I’m normally just passing through. Today’s chance to make amends. The variety of units has certainly changed as Northern’s new CAF built trains have taken over many services, plus, there’s these new arrivals for Transport for Wales…

197002 works a Manchester Airport to Llandudno service at Manchester Piccadilly
TfW’s 197009 heads in the opposite direction shortly afterwards.

22:00.

I’m now relaxing at home after a few hours in Manchester watching the new trains go by. As I mentioned earlier, the rail scene at Piccadilly has changed due to so many of Northern’s CAF built diesel and electric fleets usurping older traction. You can still find the older BR built Class 150 and 156 diesels, and the electric Class 323s, but the 319s were noticeable by their absence – as were the Transport for Wales Class 175s but that’s mainly because so many of them are out of service now. Instead, TfW are sending older Class 150s on epic journeys from as far away as Milford Haven! The new Class 197s seem to be confined to Manchester Airport – North Wales coast services – for now, anyway.

Here’s another couple of shots to reflect the contrasts.

From left to right. One of the old stalwarts in the shape of Hunslet built Class 323 number 323233 heading for Glossop passes a CAF built DMU (195113) whilst an identical (bar the fact it’s electric, not diesel) CAF built 331023 heads for Manchester Airport.
Here’s another CAF product, this time it’s one of Trans-Pennine Express’ Class 397 ‘Civity’ fleet in the shape of 397008 heading for Manchester Airport with a service from Glasgow Central. First Group will lose TPE from May 28th when the operation will be taken back ‘in-house’ by the Dept of Transport, who will run it via their ‘operator of last resort’ – Directly Operated Railways (DOR).

I’m hoping to get out and about again tomorrow, only this time head further East. Watch this space…

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/

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

Thank you!

4th April video of the day…

04 Tuesday Apr 2023

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Only a short blog from me today, but I hope you enjoy it. Today was another one of those that didn’t quite go to plan as I was busy slaving away in the office this morning then thought ‘bugger it, this weather is too good to waste’ so I packed my kit and headed over to Manchester via the Calder Valley to catch some of the last Stalybridge blockade diverts and also visit Stalybridge itself – which was a bit of a time-consuming faff on rail replacement buses. On the bright side I got to see parts of Manchester I’ve never seen before – and some that I never want to see again!

I’ll write more about this at a later date. But the most surreal part of the trip was when I stopped off at Todmorden on the return. As I wandered along the Leeds bound platform I heard a quacking noise from the other side of the platform fence. When I looked I realised I was being accosted by two ducks. Said ducks then stuck to me like glue all the way along to the end of the platform. They wouldn’t leave me alone and even started pecking at my boots through the fence. I get the impression that some kind soul has been feeding them and now any passenger is seen as a meal ticket! In all my time travelling the railways I’ve never seen anything like it! So, here’s a short video of my two feathered assailants…

If you ever go to Tod’ – take food!

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/

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

Thank you!

Rolling blog. An impromptu day out…

18 Friday Nov 2022

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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10:37.

My original plan to work at home today has been altered by a change in the weather. The forecast for the next few days is lousy but today (so far) has bucked the trend – and the forecast – so I’m heading over to Manchester for a couple of hours in the hope of checking on progress on Trans-Pennine electrification and return clothes I bought from Uniqlo the other day. I’m flattered to say that ‘medium’ size is just too big!

Right now I’m on the train from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester Victoria. It’s a Chester bound service operated by a pair of 2-car Class 195s which is pretty busy for the time of day although I had no problem bagging a table seat to set up the mobile office. This is a lovely time of year to be traversing the Calder valley as the colours in the remaining leaves on the trees are glorious and the low winter light shows them at their most intense. I only hope the sunshine I’m seeing now stays with me. Let’s see. Expect some pictures soon…

11:15.

Neither my luck nor the weather’s held, so it’s time for a different mode of transport to Shank’s pony…

13:50.

That was an interestinginterlude! I caught a couple of trams out to Ashton-Under-Lyme which turned out to be a good idea as the rain persisted until a few minutes after I arrived. The plan was to have a look at progress electrifying the line from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge. This should have been completed years ago but it was one of the schemes delayed by political dithering. Now it’s well underway. Now, most of the masts and stanchions are in place.

802206 speeds through Ashton-under-Lyme en-route from Liverpool Lime St to Newcastle whilst the masts march towards Stalybridge.

16:00.

I chose to walk between Ashton and Stalybridge in order to check out the views from various bridges on the way. It was an interesting trip as it took me down all sorts of streets I’d never explore otherwise. The area’s a maze of brick-built, late Victorian terrace houses with patches of much wealthier properties. But not all’s well. In the space of a couple of hundred meters I passed three closed pubs. One was derelict, one was ‘closed until further notice’ and the other was up for sale.

I find derelict pubs terribly sad buildings as I can imagine all the happy times people must have had there in the past. They were community centres, but now they’re dying.

I arrived at ‘Stalyvegas’ station just as the rain did, so ended up with a soaking, but I dried out on the train back into central Manchester, where I am now, indulging in my least favourite activity. Shopping!

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/

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

Thank you!