We had a quiet weekend here at Bigland Towers, mainly due to the weather (which was crap). It was so wet and windy it’s the first time for nearly 3 months that I’ve failed to hit (never mind exceed) my daily 12.5k step count. On the flip side – we both caught up on some sleep! Plus, the weekend was hardly wasted as the cottage is much more prepped for Christmas as we’ve had time to declutter, do a tip run and donate lots of stuff to a local charity shop. Those donations were tinged with sadness as they included various items that belonged to our moggie Jet, whom we lost in September 2021, aged 20.
Still, the cottage is looking better for the declutter. As we’re having our own Christmas this year I’d decided we should have a real Christmas tree, which involved braving torrential Sunday showers to visit a local garden centre to pick one. We’re pleased with the tree we chose, although I had to resist the temptation to emulate a local Yorkshire tradition by shouting “how much”? when I saw the price tag (£39.99 for those interested).
Now the tree has its own corner of the living room and we’ve dug out decorations from the loft which we’ve not used for years, along with some new ones plus extra lights I’ve bought just to keep things fresh. The tree’s not quite finished yet but it’s certainly starting to feel like the festive season here in Bigland Towers!
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What a difference a day makes! Yesterday I was out and about, enjoying autumn sunshine and the chance to explore. Today? It’s back to normal in the Calder valley with low cloud, rain and generally dank and miserable conditions. A good day for staying in the warm here at Bigland Towers in order to edit yesterdays pictures whilst planning new adventures.
You can find yesterdays pictures in these galleries on my Zenfolio website.
The local weather forecast isn’t looking good for the next few days and I’ve plenty of things to do here at home. So, whilst I *might* nip out early for a couple of hours tomorrow morning to look at some TRU work the rest of this weekend will be spent getting Bigland Towers ready for Xmas. Dawn’s got her own programme and day out arranged for tomorrow, which frees me up from cooking/teaboy duties, so I might as well make the most of it! Watch this space…
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture.
One thing I’ll be looking out for over the next couple of weeks is railway station Christmas trees. Forget this ridiculous far-right nonsense about Christmas being ‘cancelled’ – the railway has always celebrated on stations up and down the country – often with gusto! I won’t be back in London for a couple of weeks but one effort that’s always worth checking out is at St Pancras station. Here’s their 2015 tree.
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Well, here were are in the final month of the day, and in a new week to boot! What hasn’t changed here in the Pennines is the weather. It’s still wet, wet. wet – but with the added fun of high winds which are rapidly stripping last last remaining leaves off many of the trees. Winter is approaching but (on the bright side) that means the days will soon start to get longer!
I’ve not ventured out of the valley today as I’ve work to do at home, plus, there’s no point in taking the camera out in these conditions. Instead I’ve pottered around the house and begun the preparations for the festive season here at Bigland Towers. The pair of us will be having Xmas at home this year, which will make a pleasant change. It won’t matter what the weather throws at us as we won’t need to venture far and the car can stay where it is.
I’ve begun to investigate various recipes as the plan is to eschew traditional festive fayre and go mostly vegetarian instead. Our Xmas day meal will more resemble an Indian thali than anything else. I have a collection of katori and other stainless steel ware so we can make it realistic. One of the beauties of this choice is that we cam prepare many of the chosen dishes in advance, making Xmas day far less stressful and busy, so more relaxed and enjoyable. There’s going to be no panicking over getting the turkey cooked on time or any of that nonsense!
Of course, there’s still a few weeks to go yet and other events on the calendar to tick off. Tomorrow I don my judges hat for the last category of the Community Rail awards that I’m involved in. ‘It’s Your Station’ always gets a lot of entries and this year we’ve had a bumper crop. After that I’ll try and get out for a day with the camera as the forecast is set to improve, although I’m not quite sure where I’m going to go yet. Later in the month I’ll be back in London again for a couple of events, including the annual railway carols service at St Mary’s Somer’s Town, Eversholt Street (details here).
So, there’s going to be lots to blog about in December, and that’s without any wry looks at the state of UK politics! I note that today 3 former Tory MPs have moved over to join ‘Reform’, one of which is former Deputy Chairman and butt of so much well-deserved lampoonery – Johnathan Gullis, the ex-MP for Stoke-on-Trent North. Now, you’d have thought that if you were going to accept defectors, you’d be picky over who you let in, but not Reform! Gullis is a running joke and political liability, the fact he’s been warmly welcomed into Reform says a lot about their lack of political judgement. The party looks more and more like a depository for recycled and talentless Tories. What was the Reform slogan? Oh, yes – ‘vote for change’! Quite how you do that when Reform is packed top to bottom with ex-Tories is a mystery! Looking at the polls it seems the Reform bubble has already burst. This latest round of defections could assist that slide…
Anyways, on to today’s picture. One of the things I was doing over the weekend was getting involved in some cooking therapy. I’ve been making several different soups recently and wanted to return to a recipe I’ve not made for ages. French onion soup made with a mix of onions, shallots, Dijon mustard and fresh Tarragon. Here’s the preparatory stage.
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There’s been another quiet day here at Bigland Towers. Whilst Dawn has ventured out to see an old friend and work colleague I’ve stayed close to base in order to get some blogging done whilst the weather’s miserable, although not as cold as it has been, which is a small mercy as scraping ice off the car wasn’t needed.
In between type-swiping and resizing pictures for the blog I’ve been keeping and eye on the political arena, although it more resembles a bear-pit nowadays. The right-wing media worked themselves into a frenzy in the run-up to the budget as they convinced themselves and their listeners/readers that it would be an economic disaster. The reality was very different. Reeves is no Liz Truss! By the end of the day the bond markets were intact, the FTSE100 had risen by 0.85% and people’s mortgage rates remained unchanged. It wasn’t what the right had been hoping for. I’m always amazed how these ‘patriots’ seem to want the worst for the UK and its citizens. They spend all their time trying to pretend we live in an economic disaster area with a capital city so overrun with crime and foreigners it makes 1970s New York look like paradise. Here’s a good example, from the Brexiter and bankrupt Allison Pearson who writes for the Telegraph.
Actually, no – we don’t pray for such a thing as we remember what happened last time with ‘Lettuce Liz’ Truss…
The far-right and their cheerleaders in the media are an odd bunch. One minute they’re saying we should ‘look after our own’, then when Reeves lifts the two-child benefit cap, increases the minimum wage, freezes rail fares and taxes the rich more they hyperventilate that now we’re ‘rewarding the feckless’! But then hypocrisy runs through these people like the letters through a stick of seaside rock.
It would be tempting to go on to talk about the ‘fagash Fuhrer’ Nigel Farage and the latest revelations about his fascist past and his halfhearted denials, but I have other things to do. All I will say is – I’d be fascinated to know how you sing ‘gas ’em all’ so it’s not in a “hurtful or insulting way”? Then there’s the small matter of his buddy and fellow UKIP MEP Nathan Gill being imprisoned for 10.5 years for being a traitor…
Funny old thing, this ‘patriotism’ malarkey…
Anyway, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which has nothing to do with politics or economics. In fact it’s a world away from matters temporal. Some of you may have wondered where the header picture for my blog front page comes from. I took it in Kathmandu in Nepal way back in 1992. It’s a cropped version of this picture of the Buddhist stupa at Bodnath.
This amazing place is both a temple and a world heritage site. I’ve not been back to Nepal since 1998 but for some reason it keeps cropping up in my imagination. Maybe it’s time to revisit…
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I’d hoped to have had another (different) blog written and published, but today’s run away with me. I was out and about yesterday, looking at some of the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work around Mirfield and Ravensthorpe. There was a lot to see which means it’ll be a longer than usual blog with plenty of pictures. By the time I’d finished editing all the shots I’d taken, then carried out my usual duties here at Bigland Towers the day had almost gone! However, all’s not lost. I’m having another day working from home tomorrow which will give me time to get it written and published whilst still having time to sort out other work.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one image taken yesterday – which has nothing to do with railways! One of the towns I visited was Dewsbury. It’s a bit of a sad place nowadays. Like so many Northern towns the closure of traditional industries like the woollen trade and coal mining have had an enormous impact on their prosperity and prospects. It’s sad, as there’s still some lovely old buildings but many are vacant or half-used. On my way out of town I passed a derelict pub. A faded Tetley’s huntsman sign outside caught my eye. Initially it was difficult to pick out the pubs name due to the missing letters. Then the penny dropped. It was named after assassinated American president John F Kennedy – an unusual choice for a pub.
Today I did some searching and found this interesting 2019 newspaper article about the pub, its unusual name and the story of its landlord, Ted Rushworth. I’ve no idea when the pub closed its doors for the final time…
Somehow, I doubt we’ll ever see a pub named after Donald Trump (assassinated or not)…
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Another week begins here at Bigland Towers, and it’s turning rather nippy. The balmy weather we’ve enjoyed for so long has deserted us, leaving us with a pronounced chilly spell and even (allegedly) the threat of snow – although I’ll believe that when I see it.
I’m not too perturbed as I’m back on my travels for the next couple of days. Tomorrow I head down to London in readiness for a press visit on Wednesday, but more of that nearer the time. I’m looking forward to getting out and about, making my way to the capital and having time to catch up with the dwindling suburban train fleets built in the 1980s-90s by British Railways. As an ex-Londoner, they’re very familiar to me and I’ll miss the 455s and 465s when they’re gone. Mind you, I’ll be heading to London via the West Coast Main Line where another, later fleet is also being retired. Owned by Porterbrook leasing, the 37 Siemens Class 350/2s were built between 2008-09, the majority have already gone into store with no firm future, which seems a criminal waste of such a good train. I’m hoping to catch one or two on my trip. Today’s picture is of the first of the fleet and one that’s still left in service for now.
350241, still wearing London Midland Livery but carrying London and Northwestern branding is pictured at Wolverhampton on the 18th August 2018.
Expect a rolling blog from tomorrow’s travels…
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/
Today, the weather Gods smiled upon us! When we woke and looked out on the world (well, the Long Mynd) we saw clear blue skies and sunshine, with visibility clear for several miles. It wasn’t a day to waste, so as soon as we’d scoffed some toast washed down with coffee we donned our walking gear and headed down into Church Stretton. After a brief stop to pick up some goodies from Steele’s family bakery (their chocolate brownie is excellent, as is the fruit flapjack) we headed up to the Burway before striking off across country to follow the town brook path uphill.
Not a place you want to get trapped on in winter.The town brook burbles adjacent to the footpath towards Long Synalds – on the lower sections anyway, after that, the footpath begins to gain height. – as this view shows! Here, we’re looking back towards Church Stretton with Caer Caradoc on the horizon and the Devil’s Mouth in the mid-distance. Having made it up to 425 meters we swung round to the South side of Townbrook valley in order to get to look back over the valley and towards the North. Looking back down over Church Stretton with Caer Caradoc to the left. One of the ‘wild’ horses that can be found wandering the Long Mynd. They’re not actually wild, but the area is common grazing land.Looking West across Yearlet towards Long Synalds. This time of year the colours are amazing as all the bracken is dying back. Dawn atop Ashlet just before we began our descent to Ashes Hollow and the footpath towards Little Stretton. What a contrast in weather, we’d have been in cloud level with zero visibility if we’d been up here over the past few days! Considering it’s nearly mid November temperatures were a balmy 12 degrees, with very little wind. Almost there! We’ve followed Ashes Hollow and the stream to the edge of Little Stretton. This house is the first sign of human habitation, but still within the area managed by the National Trust.
Having been walking for several hours we made a welcome pitstop at the Green Dragon pub. This friendly little pub serves a good selection of real ales and decent ‘pub grub’. I treated myself to the scampi (because it’s not something I’d cook at home) whilst Dawn plumped for the fish and chips.
Scampi, chips and peas with Tartare sauce. I felt I’d earned it!
Fed and watered, we continued our walk back into Church Stretton and home via another pitstop in our ‘local’ the Kings Arms. Now we’re back at the ranch, relaxing and wondering what tomorrow will bring. This Shropshire sojourn is coming to an end, we leave in the morning to head back to West Yorkshire, but the weather forecast is promising torrential rain for most of the journey – bar a small window in the morning that we may be able to make the most of en-route. Let’s see what happens…
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We knew the weather forecast had predicted wet weather today, so we were in no hurry to rush out of the house this morning. Even so, I was up not long after 07:30 in order to throw back the curtains and greet the day. It scowled back, making me wish I hadn’t bothered! This is how the view across to the Long Mynd looked.
I’d had half and idea to wander down into the village to get pictures of passing trains but driving rain make me think twice and the idea of staying in the warm and dry seemed much more attractive. So, whilst Dawn was at her toilette, I prepared porage with coconut flakes, fresh blueberries, sultanas and served with honey. After all, it was the weather for comfort food!
We’d planned to catch the 11:30 train down to Ludlow in order to spend a few hours exploring the town but the weather was so crap we decided to take the car instead as that way we’d have some flexibility. It turned out to be a wise decision.
The journey down along the A49 wasn’t too bad apart from heavy traffic and HGVs – hardly ideal on a road where the verges were beginning to resemble linear ponds. That said we made it into town just as the rain eased, which made our explorations easier – although conditions meant my camera stayed in its bag for most of the day. Rather than sightseeing we ended up shopping – a pastime neither of us are particularly fond of – but Ludlow possesses a branch of one of our ‘go to’ clothes shops, ‘Fatface’, so that’s our Xmas presents sorted then! As our purchases came in paper bags we were rather limited after that, who wants soggy bags spilling their contents all over the road? We decided to cut our wandering short and plumped for lunch instead, visiting a place we’d eaten at earlier in the year, Kin Kitchen. where we both plumped for the same thing – the fish platter.
Having eaten, and with the rain renewing its onslaught we dropped off our purchases in the car before heading to the Ludlow Brewing Co, whose brewery is located in an old railway goods shed adjacent to the station. The interior’s very modern and their range of beers excellent. The modernity’s contrasted by two amazing models of the old Ludlow town halls (both now demolished). The Victorian version lasted for just 100 years. It was flattened with indecent (and suspicious) haste in 1986. From descriptions it sounded like an amazing space, which had covered market on the ground floor but a spung dancefloor above. It had survived it would have been a real asset, compared to the sad market that exists today, where a few temporary stalls huddle together, looking rather lost amongst the fine buildings surrounding them.
Here’s a couple of shots from the pub;
The model of the Victorian town hall.
Whilst we were visiting I did manage a couple of railway shots. Locomotive-hauled services have disappeared across most of the UK nowadays but this line sees several such services operating between Cardiff to Holyhead and Manchester, using cast-off intercity coaches and hired-in locomotives that were built to haul 125mph mail trains.
67010 propels 1W57, the 10:53 Cardiff Central to Manchester Piccadilly out of Ludlow station, past the Ludlow Brewing Co on the left.
Oh, there’s another trick to these loco-hauled services. Some of them offer fine dining! They carry an onboard chef who prepares gorgeous 3-course meals on board. Watch out for a blog about this in the future.
As the rain was relentless we decided to cut our losses and head home to have a quiet night at Bigland Towers in exile, enjoying some home cooking with creature comforts. Tomorrow’s our last full day her and the forecast looks very different to what we’ve seen so far. We’re planning to stay local and maybe get a walk in – depending on conditions. We need to make the most of it before we head back on Friday when we have a yellow weather warning for (yet more) rain.
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Sorry for the lack of blogging recently, but it’s been a dull but busy week here at Bigland Towers. I’ve been going nowhere fast due to work commitments which have kept me tied to home. Now’s the time of year when I put my sorting hat on as one of the Community Rail Awards judges. There’s a huge amount of entries in the two categories in which I’m a member of the judging panel so it takes a lot of time to sift through them, giving our individual scores before we convene for the full judging panel.
Mind you, the weather’s been utter crap here in the Calder Valley. Most days I’ve not even been able to see the opposite side of the valley. Taking my daily stroll through the woods has been ‘fun’ too as some major branches have been brought down by the wind and rain, so you take your life in your hands. Fortunately, I’ve never been in the wrong place at the right time!
The evenings have been entertaining in a different way due to it being the week of Bonfire night, which has meant we’ve had fireworks going off every day so the place sounds like living in a suburb of Beirut or Damascus (only without the ricochets). Still, the valley’s looked very pretty with a fusillade of fireworks lighting up the sky each evening.
Now the week’s winding down. I was hoping to get out and about tomorrow but I fear I still have too much paperwork to do – and the weather’s not looking much better, even though it’s been incredibly mild for the time as year. That said, Dawn’s taking next week off as it’s our weeding anniversary and we’ve just booked a few nights away in Shropshire – so all’s not lost.
Hopefully, I’ll have time to catch up on some more blogging tomorrow, in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a taster of the weather here today. For much of the day we’ve been living just below cloud level…
The Wainhouse tower above the end of our road disappears into the clouds.
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Today Dawn and I were meant to be celebrating my official ascendency into old-fartdom as today’s the day I become a state pensioner. The plan was that we’d be up and out early to head to Chester by train, where we’d have lunch, a drink and a wander around the city walls before retracing our steps as far as Manchester where we’d go out for an evening meal to celebrate my new status (or drown my sorrows, depending on your viewpoint).
Unfortunately, the Gods had other ideas. Yesterday evening Dawn’s mum rang to say that her and her husband had been in a car accident. Whilst they were driving back from a day out along a country road a pedestrian appeared out of nowhere in front of their car. John (Dawn’s father) reacted in time and swerved to avoid them but the car hit a drystone wall and was a write-off (the drystone wall’s not looking too healthy either). Needless to say, Dawn dropped everything to be with her parents and stay with them whilst they were checked out in A&E, then get them home. Thankfully, neither of them were hurt, but the NHS staff at Huddersfield A&E were taking no chances and gave them a through check, which meant that Dee didn’t get back to Bigland Towers until after midnight, then had to spend much of today helping to sort out stuff with the car insurers.
So, no Chester (or Manchester) for us…
Instead, I’ve had a quiet birthday at home, wondering where the hell the last 66 years have gone! The day’s not been entirely wasted as I had time to nip out for a walk, do some shopping and cook a fiery Thai Red Curry, ready for when Dee got home. Now, I’ve time to write this whilst Dawn’s taken over the kitchen to bake a chocolate birthday cake in my honour, having already baked some stunning chocolate puddings. Thai curry and chocolate pud’ – sounds like a birthday treat to me!
Dawn’s stunning homemade chocolate puddings, with a melted filling.
Tomorrow, whilst Dawn’s back at her parents sorting out a hire-car, maybe I’ll apply for my bus pass…
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 