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…
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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…
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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!
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It’s a short blog from me tonight as the pair of us have had a very convivial night at the house of friends. Normally they cook for us but today we turned the tables and brought with us food we’d already pre-prepared. All that was left to do was cook the potatoes in chilli and the spicy chicken kebabs to go with all the salads and demon garlic mayonnaise we’d brought with us. Needless to say, a fine time was had by all – but I wouldn’t stand downwind of us in the morning!
The earlier part of the day saw Dawn commuting into the CRN office in Huddersfield whilst I worked from home planning more of next weeks round Britain odyssey and prepping a lot of old slides and other memorabilia which went live on eBay this evening. Follow this link to see what’s on offer, which includes 90 new slides which I’ve only added today. Oh, there’s also a selection of old badges and branded moleskine notebooks which may tickle your fancy.
As for today’s picture, this is identical to one of the slides that are now up for sale (starting price £1.99). I’ve added a selection of pictures of the railways of Sri Lanka, taken in 2003. The railway still uses a couple of British-built locomotives classes, including these examples, the M7s, which were built by Brush, Loughborough in 1981.
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 and another day spent chained to a desk, but hardly in a bad way. The weather forecast was threatening rain and even the possibility of thunderstorms so it seemed like a good day to be at home. Neither rain nor thunder materialised, all we had was a few desultory spits of rain which didn’t even wet the pavement.
Away from the weather my time was spent productively. I’ve a lot more of next weeks around Britain trip and now have an idea of where I’ll be ending the week as I’m not going to try and return home on the day, it would cramp my style too much and mean too much retracing of steps. I’ve not finalised everything as I’m waiting for a few temporary timetables to either be confirmed or cancellations be announced. I may have to be flexible on the Saturday as a result. Even so, it’s going to be quite a trip!
Another project that’s taken up a lot of my day has been preparing another batch of old railway slides and sundry memorabilia for sale on eBay. I’m hoping to have many of the articles added tomorrow and released for sale in the evening. There’s a mixture of UK pictures going back to the mid 1990s plus a selection of Sri Lankan railway images dating from 2003 which feature some old British built locomotives.
One unexpected diversion today was the return of an unexpected visitor. On Friday a racing/homing pigeon put in an unexpected appearance. The poor thing was suffering from exhaustion due to the heat and crash-landed at the back of the house where I found it voraciously chugging water out of an old flowerpot. I managed to save it from the local cats and put it in our outhouse with a supply of food and fresh water for the night then released it successfully the next day and watched it fly away. Well, it seems it enjoyed its holiday a little too much. This afternoon I was looking out of the office window and noticed it perched on the wall opposite, almost as if it was watching me! This time it was a much closer call with the cats who were already stalking it – but now it’s back in the outhouse. This time we checked the rings on its legs and found a phone number – which is local! I’ve rung the chap and he’s going to collect our feathered friend tomorrow. Let’s hope this time it decides it’s given me enough stress! Besides, I don’t want to fall out with the cats…
OK, time for today’s picture. This one’s from my recent jaunt to Manchester and features the Edwardian baroque magnificence of the Midland Hotel. The hotel was designed by Charles Trubshaw and constructed between 1898 and 1903 for the Midland Railway Company at a cost of more than £1 million. It’s coated in a variety of terracotta and granite and it looks stunning!
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After yesterday’s Blackpool jaunt today’s been one where the focus has been very much about home. The day’s been another hot one with the mercury hitting the 30 degree mark so ideal for spending lots of time in the cool of my office. Plus, I’ve had a couple of days worth of pictures to edit. The galleries they’ve been added to you can find by following this link.
I did eventually venture out for my daily constitutional but boy, was I hot and sweaty by the time I got back. Apart from the absence of humidity these temperatures remind me of being back in Asia – only without the colour and the chaos – well, if you discount what’s happening in politics anyway.
One unexpected event was playing host to a racing pigeon. I’d been out watering the back terrace garden when I spotted a clearly exhausted pigeon drinking from an old plant pot base. The fact it showed absolutely no fear or inclination to move when I approached convinced me it wasn’t one of our skittish locals. When I got close the rings on both its legs confirmed my suspicions. Myself and a couple of neighbors fed and watered it, but then the damned thing wanted to go to sleep on the back steps, which would have been suicide as next door has a couple of cats. Instead, it now has a perch in our shed where it has food, water and sanctuary until tomorrow when we can see if its fit enough to fly off or we have to try and contact its owners.
Talking of flying away, our evening’s been spent in our local pub (The Big 6) to celebrate Holly’s last shift after seven years behind the bar. Nowadays the ‘ginmeister’ works as a teacher and doesn’t have the time. Her send-off brought a lot of old regulars together and included the former Landlord and Landlady – John and Leslie. We had a lovely night catching up with everyone and reminiscing about old times.
Right now the pair of us are back at home and ready to call it a day. It may be Saturday tomorrow but we’ve both got lots of things to do involving work rather than play. Before I switch off for the evening I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which is one from my visit to Blackpool. Odd to think, but until the early 1990s when the Metrolink system in Manchester opened Blackpool was the last refuge of trams in the UK, now look at it. It’s gone from a run-down old system running vintage vehicles to an growing business that uses new Bombardier Flexity 2 trams and is extending its routes to include a new interchange by Blackpool North station.
Trams are in the pink in Blackpool…
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The heat has made a comeback here in the Calder Valley. Today and for the next few days the skies will be blue and the temperature in the very high 20s. Today was a taster – although I spent a lot of it cooped up inside as I had a whole host of things to sort out for work and also (hopefully) pleasure. Plus – eBay!
I’m slowly wading through all the railway memorabilia I’ve amassed over the years and sorted out what’s not longer needed on the voyage. That includes a selection of commemorative notebooks which I’ll never get to use in a month of Sundays. Such as this one which celebrated the opening of Siemens new Three Bridges Depot back in 2015. There’s more on offer, plus there’s hundreds of old rail slides which can be found here.
As well as eBaying and catching up on paperwork I did manage to venture out into Sowerby Bridge to pick up some shopping, but it was the heat of the day and by the time I’d walked back up the hill to home I was a sweaty, soggy mess! Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that!
The heat has also kept me preoccupied with watering the garden. It may not be huge but the fact it’s spread over several levels means you get a work-out that way too! There’s no hosepipe ban around here yet but as I use watering cans anyway it won’t affect me. I’ve started using old dishwater anyway just to get in the habit and ‘do my bit’.
Tomorrow I’m tempted to venture out with the camera but I suspect I may have too much to do unless I have a really early start to spend a couple of hours on paperwork first, but as it’s so hot at night that may be difficult. Just in case, I’m going to call it a day and have an early night, so here’s today’s picture. When the weather had cooled down a bit I went for my evening stroll, but this time with a purpose. The Blackberry season is well underway here in the Calder Valley and despite the fact it’s been a dry summer the crop is bountiful, early – and lush. There’s a fantastic collection in a couple of locations along out road, one of which is the edge of a field which is clear of trees and affords a great view of the valley below. Oh, and cows…
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It’s been another busy day here at Bigland Towers, although most of it’s been spent chained to my desk. I’d pictures to get out to a couple of magazines, paperwork to sort out – and then start planning my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine. Looking through the diary I realised that there’s only one window to fit a 7-day trip in, so the 22nd-28th August it is then, which just misses the bank holiday Monday – although (depending on my finalised plans), I may still be travelling back from somewhere that day. Right now I’ve the first four days mapped out. They’ll see me travel anti-clockwise from Halifax, across Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire in a loop before returning home. After that I head West again to take in Merseyside, Cheshire and onto Shropshire and the Welsh borders before ending up in Pembrokeshire. Day three sees me traversing South Wales before hitting Bristol and heading down to Cornwall for a flying visit, then ending up in Exeter for an overnight. Day four will see me heading from Exeter to Salisbury before hugging the South Coast all the way to Brighton and on to Ashford before ending up on the Kent coast and on to London. Right now, I’m still planning days 5, 6 and 7 as I’ve a lot more ground to cover – including Scotland! You’ll be able to read all about my travels which will be spread over three editions of RAIL this coming October/November.
Tomorrow I take a break from planning as I’ve got to go to Manchester with Community Rail Network colleagues to scope out the venue for this year’s community rail awards. I may as well make a day of it, so expect a rolling blog as I’ll be looking at some rail enhancement projects en-route – and possibly on the way back too…
So, without further ado – here’s today’s picture. Unlike the South of the country we’ve had a lot of rain up here in the Pennines recently. One morning when I opened the living room curtains I noticed these raindrops on the lilies outside and couldn’t resist digging out the camera fitted with my micro-lens.
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/
The first week of August is already over? Really? I know it’s said that time seems to pass more quickly as you get older but it feels like someone is seriously taking the pee here! I’ve so many things to plan or fit in my diary or on the calendar but some bugger keeps nicking the days!
The consequence of this time foreshortening (and other things) has meant that this Sunday’s been anything other than a day of rest – despite my best hopes and aspirations. I wouldn’t mind, but next week is going to be jam-packed with events and suchlike. It’ll provide me with material for several blogs – if I can find the time. Oh, and then there’s sorting out dates and planning for my bi-annual round the UK trip for RAIL magazine, which I really need to get on top of – especially with the next round of rail strikes in the pipeline which could really put the mockers on things. I suspect my Monday is going to be spent poring over timetables and calendars whilst I map out the rest of my year. Especially as I’m determined to get back to Asia in December-January. Whilst I’ve got some great holidays planned with Dawn and family, I miss flying solo and really travelling. I’m hoping the things I can put in place over the next week will fix that.
But, right now it’s time to relax and leave you with the picture of the day which is another one from a previous life where travel was so much part and parcel of my everyday life – even more so than now. Many of us have a ‘happy place’ and for a whole host of reasons Georgetown on Penang Island, Malaysia is one of mine. I first discovered the place on my solo travels in 1991-92 and I’ve been drawn back on a regular basis ever since. After a long journey overland there’s something about getting on the ferry across from the mainland, seeing Georgetown hove into sight and thinking ‘I can relax now’. Here’s one of the reasons I love it so much. Streetlife -and streetfood.
Hawkers stalls take over Lebuh Chulia in Georgetown of an evening, serving a fantastic variety of Asian foods. They’re a great place for tasty cheap eats and chance to watch the world go by…
If you want to see more of my pictures of Georgetown taken over the years, click on this link.
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/
Well, it took up some time but I managed to get all of the last few days pictures edited, titled and filed on my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to see which galleries they’ve been added to. Of course the ‘big’ one is the gallery of High-Speed 2 (HS2) construction pictures. If that’s your bag, you can find ’em here.
The rest of the day’s flown. Dawn’s been out for the day to spend time with her folks whilst I’ve been chained to a computer but we’ve both had good times in out own way. I managed to escape later in the afternoon to enjoy a long walk before meeting up with friends in our local pub for a few games of pool. I’m slowly rediscovering the old skills but sometimes my shots are shocking! I blame the fact my glasses have got smaller over the years. Remember Dennis Taylor, the snooker player and the fact he looked like he wore his upside down? That’s what I need! Still, none of us take it seriously. It’s merely an opportunity to have a few beers whilst laughing, joking and doing something other than just propping up a bar. Now the pair of us are back at home for a quiet night in with some home-cooked food and a movie. Not exactly the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle but it suits us as we’ve got some busy weeks ahead of us.
As it’s nearly showtime I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is one from my trips out earlier in the week. This HS2 environmental mitigation site at Ladbroke in Northants hit the headlines in 2008 when the national media latched on to a story from HS2 opponents that mitigation work was ‘greenwash’. Why? because many of the newly planted trees died in the 2018 heatwave as it simply wasn’t practical or economic to water them. What made more sense was to replace them with new saplings, which is what happened. But, contrary to the anti HS2 hype, not all of them did die. Plus, you don’t know what’s in many of those plastic tubes (used to stop deer eating everything) until you peer into it or the tree makes it to the top.
I visited the Ladbroke site on Thursday. Dead it ain’t…
Oh, and if you’re still unsure, here’s what you see when you peer into some of those ’empty’ tubes…
Unlike the anti HS2 protesters I’ll be visiting sites like this on a regular basis over the next few years in order to document the reality on the ground. 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/
Paul Bigland 