I felt sorry for the Rushbearers this morning. After having topped up the deficit to my sleep bank these past couple of days I was in the office at 8am – even though it’s a Sunday. The lack of light due to the gloomy skies outside would have convinced me that it was before dawn. Then the heavens opened – and stayed open for quite some time. I’d planned to do some work outside the cottage but there was no chance of that. Instead, most of the day’s been taken up stuck in the office, editing hundreds of the pictures I’ve taken over the past week. There’s far too many to post links to individual galleries, so here’s one to the ‘recent’ section of my website which will show you which galleries have been updated.
Finally, the rain eased but the clouds never released their grip on the valley. By this evening I was goggle-eyed so I sought refuge in cooking a new Indian vegetarian recipe, then getting out for a walk and a quick pint in my local – hence today’s picture.
Tomorrow’s the start of another week. Whilst Monday may be more of the same, on Tuesday I’ll be doing something completely different and a first for me. Watch this space…
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As the old song says – what a difference a day makes. Yesterday I was basking in the sun as I explored the railway highways and byways of Manchester. Today? Most of my times been spent sheltering from weather conditions that are more suited to October than the first day of September. So much for our plans to enjoy the great outdoors – most of what we’ve seen is the not so great indoors. Dawn’s kept her self occupied with work, family business and knitting whilst I’ve been wading through the mountain of pictures from yesterday, where the blue skies in each image have just added insult to injury!
Ah well, tomorrow’s another day – although I’m not sure how that’s going to play out as I’ve a lot of things to juggle in my diary. Until then, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which was taken earlier this afternoon as I walked home from my daily perambulations…
Nice view. Shame about the weather. Looking across the Calder valley (taken on a phone I’m afraid)…
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After yesterday’s travels and exhausting time today’s been a quiet one here at Bigland Towers. I’ve remained home-based. Scribbling for a living as well as editing many of the pictures from yesterday’s travels. You can find a selection of those images in the following galleries.
The HS2 site visit pictures remain in the editing queue. Hopefully they’ll get done at the weekend.
The weather’s picked up here in the Pennines with temperatures climbing and the sun returning, which has been rather frustrating when I’m stuck behind a desk but that’s life. Hopefully I’ll be free of the office again shortly as I need to catch up with some commissions as there’s a lot going on at the moment.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with another picture from the visit to the HS2 tunnel site at Bromford, which might appeal to construction geeks.
What is it you might ask? Well, it’s a mobile shuttering system. This is used as formwork to allow the baffles around the rail tracks that will mask and dissipate the piston-effect and noise from the high speed trains as they exit the tunnel. It runs on rails so can be moved along once it’s cast a section of the baffle. Clever, eh?
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/
Bank holiday over it’s back to the grindstone, although I have to admit I’ve not been feeling that energised today. Perhaps it’s the weather, which has remained miserable. Summer was all too brief. It seems to have consisted of a few days whilst I was away on my rover – and that was it. Today’s best described as dismal. That mixture of low light and scattered showers where you really can’t plan much – especially in this part of the world where national forecasts fall foul of local conditions.
Still, I’ve managed to get some stuff done – including getting my daily exercise, household chores and writing a few words, plus preparing for tomorrows trip to the West Midlands, although that’s going to be an exercise in itself. I have to be East of Birmingham by 09:00, which is a bit of a stretch from Halifax. It means I’ll be on the first train of the day at 05:45. That should be fun…
As I’ve got to be up at sparrow-fart I’ll bid you adieu. Expect a rolling blog tomorrow and ‘behind the scenes’ pictures from a visit to an HS2 construction site, plus all the usual travails getting to and from anywhere on the national rail network. Never let it be said that I gloss over the realities.
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. I won’t have chance to re-acquaint myself with this particular Tunnel Boring Machine (seen here in 2022) but I will be seeing what it’s up to – and how far it’s got.
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/
In true bank holiday style the weather here in West Yorkshire has been a bit crap. You’d think it was the spring bank, not August holiday – although to be fair, it’s not been as wet as the forecast predicted.
Not that it mattered much this morning as we had a lazy day here at Bigland towers, enjoying copious cups of coffee whilst we relaxed and decided what to do. There was no point in venturing far so we opted for a local stroll around woods and parks before picking up some food shopping. Supermarkets on a Sunday are quite bizarre. Because they shut at 4PM there’s always a frantic rush of people, as if they’ve not already had 6 days of the week to plan their shopping and someone’s suddenly declared Monday’s going to be the start of the Zombie apocalypse, so they need to stock up.
We picked up the few bits we needed, which was more as an excuse to get out than anything else. A quick pitstop was made at the Big 6, where the 72 pint barrel of Thornbridge Jaipur that went on last night had already been supped, only to be replaced with another ale with a kick. Roosters “Blame It On The Tetons” IPA which comes in at a healthy 6.3%! As befits a Sunday, the pub was busy, but not overly so, with a mix of regulars and people on holiday who’d heard of its attractions and ambience. Another of the changed beers on offer was this, with a delightfully daft name and pump clip.
Strolling home we took the long way round through Savile Park and Manor Heath park, where we were surprised to see a number of trees that had really suffered in the gales. One especially, which had almost been split asunder. It was part of a small group which provided shelter for a number of park benches. Thankfully, no-one was around at the time, otherwise there would have been casualties.
Now we’re back at home, relaxing and watching the grey skies close in across the valley. Whilst I’ve been pottering around catching up an a few bits Dawn’s been busy in the kitchen where she’s come up with this soul food. Home-made meat and potato pie with mushy peas and gravy. Ideal for weather like this…
Will we venture further afield tomorrow? That depends on the weather Gods…
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It’s been a funny old day here in West Yorkshire, mostly because the weather’s been anything but summery. Temperatures are low whilst overnight we had gales that have shredded the nearby trees, leaving roads, pavement and gardens littered with succulent (but dying) leaves and small branches. The winds have abated somewhat, but rain’s appeared on their coat-tails, making the day feel more like October than August. To be honest, apart from the first few days when I was touring the UK on my RAIL rover we’ve had a miserable summer – especially up here in the Pennines. Depending on which forecaster’s you listen to – things are meant to improve in September, but I’m not going to hold my breath especially as the next thing we have to look forward to is storm ‘Lillian’, which is due to batter much of this neck of the woods tomorrow.
Whilst the weather’s frustrating, I’ve plenty to keep me occupied working from home. Today’s been spent sorting out pictures for my website and magazines as well as writing for a living. Here’s a few links to new pictures, listed by gallery – either train company or subject.
As the weather’s meant to be crap from the early hours on Friday another day working from home is in prospect. I’ve thousands of words to write so there’s plenty to do, although I hope to get out in the evening to join friends at our local pub for the Friday quiz. I’ve not been able to make it for several weeks, so it would be great to enjoy fine beers and company.
The weekend’s going to see the pair of us busy around Bigland Towers on various projects both domestic and DIY – although if the weather does pick up we may be able to enjoy a stroll somewhere, sometime. Then there’s the bank holiday…
The week after’s going to see me back on my work travels. I’ve another HS2 press visit arranged, this time to a location I’ve not visited before. More on that when it happens. Plus, I’ve several days work in the Manchester area to fit in – weather permitting.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is from my local. We don’t just enjoy regional Yorkshire ales up here.
One of the delights of my local (The Big 6) is the ever-changing real ales. There’s always something different to try, often from breweries you’ve never encountered before. Right now there’s two from the Three Acre brewery which is based in Uckfield, Sussex.
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/
We’ve had another busy day here at Bigland Towers. One that’s involved looking at the future as well as the present. The ‘here and now’ has involved the pair of us getting an early morning walk in to eat up the miles and try to stay dry as the weather here in the Calder valley’s been changeable to say the least. Whilst the weather’s been hot and humid down South we’ve had very different conditions around here. When the rain arrived it was initially fitful and desultory, hardly worth putting up umbrellas for. That changed just before we arrived back home, leaving us glad we’d taken time to get out when we did.
The rest of the day’s seen us both staring at screens as we caught up with work. My plans changed as yesterday I had enquiries about two commissions, one of which was booked very quickly. Now I’ve a several days work around Manchester to fit into my schedule in short order. It’s weather dependent, which could make things interesting. Another job remains in the pipeline…
One more task was sorting out picture captions for my next RAIL magazine feature. I was sent a PDF of the finished piece to add captions to the article on the new HS2 Thame viaduct which will be appearing in issue 1017 which will hit the news-stands on September 4th. Now all I have to do is finish four more large articles over the next fortnight or so – as well as fitting in another HS2 site visit next week – and the Manchester commissions!
Meanwhile, here’s today’s picture, which illustrates how the weather’s been here in’t valley. This was the view from our bedroom window late this afternoon.
Looking down over Sowerby Bridge as storm clouds approach over the valley.
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/
It’s been another day of staring at computer screens for me as I continue my picture editing marathon ready for my next series of articles. I’ve also managed to clear the decks of some slightly older pictures to go out to another client – and add a few dozen images to my Zenfolio picture website. You can find which galleries have been updated by following this link. Mind you, the weather’s been pretty naff today, so being stuck indoors hasn’t been too much of a hardship. Whilst temperatures have been reasonable we’ve had grey skies and enough hours of rain to make you think twice about venturing anywhere. On the bright side – at least I haven’t had to water the garden.
This evening I’ve been catching up with the news of the aftermath of the riots. I’ve refrained from commenting on them so far as they happened whilst I was away and I had other things to talk about. I’ll admit to a personal interest. I grew up in Southport, where the horrible murder of the three children were used as the excuse the far-right had been waiting for to kick-off. I know the Hart St area well. I went to school nearby. I had an aunt who I’d stay with who lived on Hart St.
I share the opinion of others that this was a concerted effort to destabilise the new Government, only that hasn’t gone as planned. What we’ve seen since has been a Government of experienced adults who didn’t let things run away with them. Entirely the opposite, when you consider our current Prime Minister is a former Director of Public Prosecutions. Instead, the government moved quickly to ensure the police and courts had the resources to mete out swift justice to rioters and looters.
There’s another side to it too. The people who were intent on stirring up trouble, the Farage’s, the Tommy Robinsons and the right-wing journalists and ‘social influencers’ overplayed their hand and the backlash was swift. Revolted by what was happening, ordinary decent people came together to clear up the mess and protect their own communities from what was a tiny gang of racists who’d wildly overestimated how much support they had. They’d fallen for their own rhetoric and assumed that all those social media bots and trolls were actually real and would join them on the streets. You could see the bemusement in the faces of the handful of people who turned up in Brighton, Blackpool and elsewhere, only to find themselves vastly outnumbered. Now the prosecutions are well under way. There’s been nearly 500 arrests already and the first (tough) sentences are being handed out. 2-3 years, and there’s many more to come. What’s also been revealing is how many of those sentenced already have convictions for other offences. The Metropolitan police reckon it’s roughly 70%. These are no ordinary citizens, supposedly outraged at the senseless murder of three children, these are career criminals and racists, who’ve followed the call of Farage, Yaxley-Lennon and Co.
Now the rabble-rousers are starting to get arrested too. The woman (Bernie Spofforth)* who started sharing the claim that the murderer was a Muslim ‘asylum seeker’ has been arrested. She won’t be the last – hence the frantic rowing back of the likes of those involved, including Yaxley Lennon (aka ‘Tommy Robinson’), Farage and some of the mainstream media. Suddenly, the Daily Mail, a newspaper that’s spent decades running scare stories about immigration – is praising the counter-demonstrators! The Editors of certain national newspapers shouldn’t be let off the hook here. They’ve spent decades fearmongering about immigration and asylum seekers, making the phrase ‘illegal immigrant’ commonplace. Their reach is far larger than a few people on Twitter, or Facebook. They’re just as complicit in this.
My hope is that the prosecutions for incitement and posting hate continue and they don’t stop with Spofforth. I’d like to see some more well-known names be charged and convicted too. Then (maybe) some of those poisonous voices in the mainstream media (as well as on social) media will learn that the old adage ‘fuck around, find out’ (FAFO) should never be forgotten.
Right now, it looks like the rioters teeth have been pulled. There may be one or two more ‘events’, but the arrests, prosecutions and convictions will continue – and continue to deter. A lot of people are going to be jumpy every time there’s an unexpected knock on their door for quite some time yet…
Anyway, away from all that, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which relates to a rather important sporting event that’s going on right now. The Olympics. When I passed through Hertford last week I saw these knitted postbox covers in several locations across the town, made by locals to celebrate the medals being won by the UK team in Paris.
*Spofforth is no random member of the public who just shared something. She’s a long history of climate change denial and opposing Covid restrictions and has appeared on right-wing ‘talk’ TV channels espousing her views.
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/
Home sweet home! After all my travels it’s been lovely to kick back at home and not have to rush around after trains, worry about making connections or walk miles up and down railway stations – I kid you not, I covered over 77 miles on foot last week, nearly all of it carrying a camera bag!
Today’s been spent at home, catching up on some sleep and recharging my batteries. I’ve not switched off completely as I’ve too many pictures to edit and notes and spreadsheets to catch up on, but that’s all been done from a sedentary position. I’m back to fasting too, having spent the past week living on sandwiches or other food to go. Now I can have food that’s hot – and spicy, just not a lot of it.
I doubt I’ll be doing much travelling for the rest of this week as I’ve got several articles to write and need to get them done as soon as possible to clear the decks for other work. Watch this space…
Meanwhile, here’s today’s picture, which come from my travels.
A study in front ends at Glasgow Central, where a trio of Hitachi built Class 385s sit between turns.
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/
Another week begins here at Bigland Towers, where it’s been a mixed sort of day. Summer seems in retreat again. It’s been warm, but gloomy skies, threats of rain – and gusting winds have rather taken the edge off things. You just don’t know how to dress for this weather. One minute you need a fleece, then the sun comes out, the wind drops and you’re roasting.
Not that I’ve seen much of the great outdoors until I went for an evening stroll. Most of my day’s been spent glued to a scheme, picture editing and planning. You can find the latest tranche of pictures that I’ve added to my Zenfolio site by following this link. The updated galleries will appear at the top of the page.
Besides editing and getting on with some household chores I’ve also been planning my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine. I should have done the trip already, but I had to move it back a couple of weeks for various reasons. Instead, I’ll be starting off next Monday. There’s still a lot of details to firm up as there’s so many things I want to try and include on the itinerary due to the way the railways are changing. The system looks very different to how it did on my first odyssey back in 2004!
Something else that’s kept me occupied has been meal planning. After the holiday I returned to my two day a week fasting routine (you’re allowed 600 calories per day max). The first couple of weeks I winged it with a very unadventurous diet as I’d no suitable recipes. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to live on meals consisting of beetroot salad or baked beans every week! Thankfully, Dawn’s come to the rescue with a book she had on her Kindle, so tonight I had an excellent Thai-style veggie stir-fry which was well within my calorie budget and also delicious! Tomorrow’s a ‘normal’ day, so I can be a little more free and easy, although I’m trying to cut down my portion sizes as it makes fast days easier. Mind you, I may venture out tomorrow if the weather’s good, we’ll see…
For now, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is of tonight’s big (and moody) skies over the Calder valley.
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 