Tag Archives: Musings

14th September picture of the day…

14 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Today’s been my last full day here at Bigland Towers for quite some time, so I’ve been making the most of it to catch up on a (long) list of household chores, paperwork and picture editing, as well as getting stuff in place for heading off to Europe on Sunday. Even the weather Gods have played ball, gifting me some wonderful autumnal sunshine to accompany my afternoon stroll and break from staring at screens.

Now it’s time for a quiet evening at home before we’re up early to get ready to head down to London for the next couple of days. I’ve no idea what to expect as these are unusual times. What I do know is that the capital will be busy but I’ve no idea how that will play out. Will the new Puritanism that’s seen so many places close as a ‘mark of respect’ for the passing of the Queen have any impact on life in London, or will Londoners simply treat it as just another event in a very crowded history? We’ll soon find out.

My blogging will be mostly (but not all) confined to pictures and explanations rather than a magnum opus or running commentary. We’re there to enjoy ourselves after all. But I hope to give some insights into my old hometown – even if those days do seem like a long time ago now.

In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. It’s from a previous royal funeral, that of the Queen Mother on the 9th April 2002. I watched the funeral procession pass Horse Guards Parade and took this shot of the Royal crown atop the coffin through the crowd.

At some point soon I’ll relate the tale of when I met the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and became a royal photographer. I was tasked with taking their picture along with the staff of the Royal Train at a private event. It turned into every snapper’s nightmare due to a variety of circumstances outside of my control, but it makes a great story!

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!

12th September picture of the day…

12 Monday Sep 2022

Posted by in Food, Musings, Picture of the day

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Another working week begins here in Bigland Towers now the holiday’s over. Well, for now at least. The pair of us have had a busy day keyboard-bashing, photo-editing and researching our next trips in the UK and elsewhere. The problem (as always) is there’s just not enough hours in the day or days in the week to get everything done which can be quite frustrating at times. Still, all will become clearer over the next few days. The pair of us are down in London on Thursday/Friday which is when we were meant to be at the National Rail Awards, instead we’re just going to enjoy a couple of days in the capital although I suspect it may be a rather different atmosphere due to ‘events’. We shall see…

As I’m now bog-eyed from said concentration and staring at screens it’s time for the pair of use to knock off and have some quality time together. We’ve raided the freezer and broken out some home-made urad dahl and chana masala to go with some firecracker basmati rice. Well, the salad days are behind us now after all as Autumn is fast approaching. This means the picture of the day is in the finest tradition of those food bloggers or people who love posting their meals on Facebook! Normal service will be resumed tomorrow when I’ve waded my way through more edited pictures. In the meantime, I’m off to scoff this!

A wicked combination of urad dahl (left) and chana masala (right) on a bed of firecracker rice and garnushed with hot lime pickle and mango chutney. I may need to put a toilet roll in the fridge for later…

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!

10th September picture of the day…

10 Saturday Sep 2022

Posted by in Architecture, Musings, Norfolk, Photography, Picture of the day

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Being back in Bigland Towers seems rather strange after such a great week away. The fact the weather’s so different isn’t helping. After a week in balmy temperatures where I’ve hardly ever been out of shorts and singlets it feels odd to be back in heavier clothing – and enclosed shoes! Not that it’s mattered too much as I’ve spent most of the day chained to my desk in an effort to edit the backlog of pictures that I have to deal with before Monday arrives, and I have to rewrite my diary due to what Harold Macmillan beautifully described as “events, dear Boy”…

This means there’s not much of a blog from me tonight as I’m ‘cream-crackered’ and looking forward to catching up on some down time. There is another chore I’ve sorted out tonight. The next few hundred old rail slides and assorted memorabilia have been added to eBay tonight. Interested parties now have five days to browse and place their bids. You can find out what’s on offer by following this link.

OK, on to the picture of the day which is one more from our trip to North Norfolk. Here’s the superb roof inside the 900-year-old Norwich cathedral.

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!

1st September picture of the day…

01 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by in India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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There’s a very short blog from me tonight as – despite the fact it’s been a busy and varied day – there’s no time for blogging as we’re busy packing for our trip to North Norfolk, so expect a rolling blog tomorrow. That shouldn’t be too difficult because as there’s four of us we’re taking the car. I’ll be navigating/riding shotgun which should give me time to type.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with a picture of the day. Today’s is from a backlog of scanned slides from India in the 1990s that I’ve yet to get around to edit. Now, India back in 1995 was a very different country to the one it is now. Forget the internet, there wasn’t even many TV channels and Satellite TV was in its infancy, so the place was a lot more conservative which is why I did a double-take when I saw this surreal hand-painted billboard.

I’d loved to have known what was going through someone’s (well, a man’s, obviously) mind when they decided that a woman in a low-cut, tight black dress and playing a saxophone was just what you needed to sell bathroom fittings…

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!

31st August picture of the day…

31 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel, Yorkshire

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It’s been another busy but relatively peaceful day for me here at Bigland Towers. I’m still wading through mountains of pictures to edit as well as catching up on paperwork so that I can submit some expenses as well as invoices for other work. It’s the far less glamorous side of photographic and journalistic work but it’s one that’s necessary to pay the bills! I’m looking forward to being able to get out and about again, but that won’t be for another day yet. One thing I’ve really noticed since returning from Scotland is just how much the nights are drawing in. I’m typing this around 20:30 at night and the skies are almost dark, but then tomorrow’s the 1st day of September so there’s just three weeks left of summer.

Still, I’ve plenty of projects lined up for the new month – starting with a week long holiday in North Norfolk. Sadly, the weather’s really not looking too good for us at the moment as rain is predicted to be a prominent feature in that neck of the woods. Still, things can change – and there’s plenty to do indoors if we have attacks of showers. Whatever, it’ll be great to kick back for a bit and enjoy the time away, especially as life we be full on when we get back as we’re into the events and awards season. Oh, and more rail strikes. Of course, whilst we’re away we’ve also got the absolutely fabulous news of who is going to be the next incompetent to lead the country. I think we can all guess which particular incompetent that is going to be – God help us…My spleen may need venting, even though I’m meant to be on holiday

So, it’s another short blog from me tonight. I’ll leave you with yet another picture from my recent travels with the hope that I’ll be able to provide you with some new North Norfolk scenes shortly.

Here’s the beach at Saltburn, looking West along the coast towards Redcar beach with the steelworks on the horizon. Out at sea to the right is Teesside Wind Farm, sometimes referred to as Redcar Wind Farm, it’s a 27 turbine installation of 62 MW capacity. 

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!

30th August picture of the day…

30 Tuesday Aug 2022

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

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After 8 days of continuous travel today’s very much been a day for going nowhere! My legs and back have enjoyed the rest as I’ve had no camera bag to carry and my step count’s been just enough to hit 12,500. OK, that equates to 5 miles which may seem a lot to some people but it’s my minimum daily target that I try to hit every day.

Whilst the majority of my time was spent in the office glued to a computer screen as I began the long process of editing a week’s worth of pictures and checking my notes I did manage to fit in a spot of garden maintenance, ensuring I’d not lost any plants whilst I’ve been away. Gardening’s both a pleasure and a therapy, so I try to get out into that space as often as I can.

There’s no long blog for me, Dee and I need to spend time planning our holiday, so I’ll leave at this tonight, along with a picture from my travels. Here’s another place I’d not visited for many a year. Saltburn, on the North Yorkshire coast, which boasts a 208m long pier originally built in 1869 as a 460m long structure. It’s seen here with the ‘cliff lift’ which is the oldest operating water-balance funicular railway in the United Kingdom.

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!

21st August picture of the day…

21 Sunday Aug 2022

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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The lull before storm…

All three of us had a lie-in this morning. Well, until ‘Bernie’ (our friends dog) decided it needed to go out for a wee at 07:30 this morning which meant I was woken up by being slobbered over as a way of attracting our attention! I’d agreed to take the short straw so Dee could sleep in. What I hadn’t bargained for was letting Bernie out of the back door – only to find one of our neighbour’s cats sat on the doorstep. I don’t know who was more startled, Bernie, me or poor Popi – who took off like a bat out of hell! Luckily, I’d kept Bernie on her lead so there was no cartoon-like hot pursuit.

The excitement over we returned to a much calmer Sunday. Dawn returned Bernie to her owners (who were still recovering from their night out) whilst I pottered around at home, sorting out the final logistics for my week away before retreating to the kitchen to enjoy my last opportunity to indulge in some cooking for some time. I really enjoy the ritual of preparing the ingredients and laying them out before beginning the process of turning the raw ingredients into a meal. I was cooking Indian today so now the the cottage is filled with the smells of exotic spices. The dish I’ve made includes freshly roasted and powdered Fenugreek seeds along with Cloves, Cinnamon, Star Anise and Cumin powder. The mélange of fragrances is wonderful especially as the final product contains the tang of White Wine Vinegar which hangs in the air and complements the spices.

Now it’s time to kick back and enjoy the late afternoon sunshine and our evening together so I’ll end the blog here. Expect a series of rolling blogs over the next eight days – although they won’t be a complete commentary on my trip as I’m writing for a magazine. If you want to read the full details they’ll be published in a series of three articles in RAIL magazine starting in October. Despite that, I hope to keep you entertained as I take over 80 trains around the UK to explore many familiar destinations plus some I’ve not visited for decades – plus one of the last extremities of the UK rail network I’ve never managed to reach before…

So, today’s picture is cooking therapy. In this case, Chicken Vindail. Here’s the ingredients prepared for cooking.

20th August picture of the day…

20 Saturday Aug 2022

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day

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It’s been an easy Saturday here at Bigland Towers. There’s a busy time ahead so it’s nice to kick back a little. The pair of us have been up to different things. Dee’s been out for brunch whilst I pottered around the house catching up on housework and preparing for next week away. In the afternoon we reversed roles as I went out playing pool with friends. This evening the pair of us are relaxing at home as we have a guest to entertain.

Meet ‘Bernie’ – who belongs to friends who’re out partying tonight. We’re looking after her whilst they do. It’s not a service we could have offered whilst our venerable moggie ‘Jet’ was alive, but (to be honest) it’s lovely to have a four-legged friend around the house again…

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!

19th August picture of the day…

19 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by in Halifax, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Christ on a bike! – another week’s over and I only have the weekend left before I begin my tour of the country by rail. I’m really looking forward to it. Much of my route’s planned out in theory but to paraphrase the famous quote from Helmuth van Moltke, “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”. I expect my finely tuned timetable to be nothing more than a wish-list, but we’ll see…

Today’s been spent sorting out the last logistics of the trip as well as tidying up paperwork before I go in order to have quality time with ‘the other half’. Tonight was such an event. We both knocked off early in order to meet up with friends in our local. We may have missed the quiz but we had such a laugh afterwards! The humour was flying – lubricated en-route by a variety of alcoholic mixes (or in the case of Dawn, just humour).

Now we’re back at home, resting our chuckle muscles, ready to watch the last episode of ‘Killing Eve’ – one of the few terrestrial TV series series we’ve got involved in for ages. This leaves me with one last task – posting today’s picture, which reflects where we’ve been tonight and one that real ale drinkers can relate to. This is what was on offer to slake your thirst in the Big 6 tonight…

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!

18th August picture of the day…

18 Thursday Aug 2022

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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We’ve had another mixed day here at Bigland Towers – not that I was going to be going anywhere as there’s another rail strike on so no trains were operating through the Calder valley. I couldn’t have gone anywhere If I’d wanted to! Whilst this was a major inconvenience for many I was happy to be stuck at home as I’d lots to do in preparation for next week and my ‘grand tour’ around the UK’s rail network. To add to the happiness at being busy at my desk, the weather wasn’t exactly conducive to wandering with the camera. Our latest dry spell has broken but it’s still not going to be anywhere near enough to replenish our famished reservoirs. Whilst I was working I was seeing friends in the South and West reporting on the torrential rains they’d had and the consequent floods as the water ran off fields baked like clay. At least we’ve not suffered that here. I’ll be interested to see the contrasts as I traverse the UK next week.

My plans are finally coming together. I’ve only one day out of the seven where I may have to ‘wing it’ or plan at the last moment due to problems with a couple of the train operating companies. But that’s all grist to a journalists mill, so I’m not going to worry about it.

Whilst I’ve been busy at home I’ve managed to add another load of railway memorabilia to eBay and offer up for sale stuff that’s been sat in cupboards for years. Some of it is rather unusual and certainly limited edition as it was souvenirs that were commissioned for various press events over the years. Here’s an example. You’d be mugs to miss stuff like this! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314112297014

So, my picture of the day is another mugshot!

No, it doesn’t tilt – unless you make it!

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!