I’ve been far too busy today to do a rolling blog and besides, many of the places I’ve been phone reception wasn’t of the best. So, here’s a rundown of events as I head home from Leamington for a night at home.
I stayed in London last night but my sleep quotient was less than a few hours as most of the time I was on the move, exploring and enjoying my old home town at night. I pitched up at Marylebone station before the first train left and caught it out to Denham to update some of my HS2 construction pictures as building the Colne Valley Viaduct is really cracking on. Now the viaduct’s bridging the second of the two roads it’s crossing and the weather conditions couldn’t have been better with low sun and blue skies – as you’ll see in the full set of pictures pictures later.
I had all the time in the world to chat to the people building the viaduct or wandering with the camera. After all, it’s not every day one sees a 120 tonne viaduct segment maneuvered into position like this.
A 120 tonne segment is craned into place on the Colne Valley Viaduct where it crosses Moorfield Rd. Denham. This section of road is closed for three weeks whilst the work takes place. The viaduct marches onwards to the South…One of the viaduct’s V shaped pillars next to Moorfield Rd.Meanwhile, at Calvert.. Track is being laid on the East-West rail line. Here’s the switches will will allow access to the HS2 Infrastructure Maintenance Depot (IMD).Here’s the bridge which will carry E-W rail over HS2.The site of Calvert station on the old Great Central line has become a very busy haul road. Eventually, It will be site of HS2 tracks.
I managed to get to Calvert thanks to my friend Chris Howe, who provided the transport. Chris has a Youtube channel which contains some excellent explainers on construction, railways and also HS2. You can find his Youtube channel here.
I’ve plenty more pictures to add but I haven’t got the time right now. I need to get some sleep! Tomorrow I’m up early again as I’m travelling to Newcastle to carry out a job for RAIL magazine. I’ll blog about some of what I get up to during the day…
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What a great start to the week! I’m (slowly) heading down to London today ready to be in place to meet up with a friend as the pair of us will be looking at some of the “unachievable” HS2 construction works.
Not being in any rush I got some work done at home first, hoping the grim weather here in the Calder Valley would pick up and save me a soaking on the walk to the station. It didn’t. As I was engrossed in a phone call en-route I hadn’t checked how trains were running. The answer is – badly – which I only found out when I got to the station and checked the PIS. Apparently, there’s an obstruction on the line West of Todmorden that’s blocked both tracks. Most trains are cancelled with a few running to Hebden Bridge or Todmorden where buses will take us the rest of the way. The obstruction (whatever it is) is predicted to disrupt services until 17:30. Ho hum!
I’ll let you know how I get on and where I get to. This is going to be a long day…
13:00.
Hmm, plan B…
Having arrived at Hebden Bridge I had the option of waiting for the replacement bus service which wasn’t leaving for another 20 mins, or leaping onto a rammed York- Blackpool North service as far as Preston although I’d originally planned to get on the WCML at Warrington using the direct service to Chester. The train won.
I’m now wedged in a vestibule along with suitcases, prams and parents with offspring all heading for the seaside. I don’t envy them – the forecast for this week is crap!
Passing through Accrington. It’s grim up North…
14:40.
I’m finally heading in the right direction! I left my Northern service at Preston – as did many others which surprised me as I assumed the majority of folks were heading for Blackpool. Services on the West Coast seem to be in some disarray but I’ve no idea why at the moment. This time I’m unaffected and after getting a few shots in torrential rain joined the 14:18 Avanti Pendolino to Euston via Birmingham. It’s packed! So much for ‘no-one’s travelling by train anymore’. I’m perched on a tip-up seat by the toilets in coach D, although the friendly crew have told me the train’s due to empty after Crewe.
Approaching Wigan North Western.
15:50.
We’re just pulling out of Wolverhampton en-route to Birmingham. The weather’s will improved insomuch that it’s stopped raining and cloud level’s gained a few hundred feet, but that’s it. I’ll be changing trains and lines at New Street with the optimistic hope of getting some pictures. Let’s see.
18:50.
Apologies for the gap in blogging but I’ve been wandering around Birmingham getting pictures and soaking up the atmosphere. I’ve confessed this before but I really like the city. Its multiculturalism makes it a fascinating place to shop or just people-watch. Of course I was there for another reason too – which was to cast my eye over the ‘unachievable’ (according to much of the lazy UK media) HS2 work where progress looks anything other than unachievable! I’ll add a pic later. The weather was crap and I got a right soaking wating for the right moment but my patience was rewarded.
Now I’m chasing the storm that soaked me, heading South on a Chiltern Railways service as far as an old haunt – Leamington Spa. I can’t go all the way to Marylebone as the line’s closed due to engineering works. Instead I’ll be travelling via Oxford and Reading through to Paddington.
19:30.
The observant amongst you may have spotted the slight flaw in my plan. There are no trains running South of Leamington Spa at all – not just Chiltern ones. The line’s closed all week, which means I haven’t escaped the dreaded bustitution. Instead, I’m kicking my heels on a coach which will be leaving for Didcot in 15 mins. It’ll take just over an hour to get there. Ho ho hum…
To be fair, it’s an interesting experience. The staff (both rail and coach) have been excellent and everyone’s trying to make it as painless an experince as they can.
The Didcot coach is in pole position…
20:15.
So, here we are. Eight of us from Leamington rattling around on a coach to Didcot. Trying to put a gloss on it – at least I’m seeing parts of Leamington and the M40 I wouldn’t normally! To be honest it’s a relaxed journey. I’m in no hurry yo get anywhere. The rain’s cleared, leaving a lovely evening (although not great light for photography right now) so I’ll see how things turn out later.
21:15.
That was painless! Our driver’s estimate of 1hr 15m proved to be conservative, traffic was lighter than expected so we made it to Didcot in just over an hour. I didn’t hang around, much as I’d liked to have done as I have fond memories of the place – but it’s the wrong time of the day. Instead, I boarded GWR’s 21:04 stopping service to Paddington, just to enjoy the views and reminisce. I used to spend a lot of time on this route when I lived in London, but it’s not so easy when you live in West Yorkshire.
As you can see, this time of day my shuttle train isn’t exactly busy. The annoying thing? These electric trains should have been working to Oxford, not terminating at Didcot, but a certain Tory transport Minister (Chris Grayling) cancelled the project mid-stream.
21:45.
I’m now on one of GWRs express services to Paddington worked by another of those ‘unachievable’ schemes – the IEP project (see yesterday’s blog). I was tempted to jump on a slower Crossrail train (wasn’t that also ranked as ‘unachievable’? Ed) but getting there earlier allows me leeway to get some pictures at a station I don’t visit often enough nowadays. Paddington was always one of my favourites but then I’m old enough to remember it in the days of Wester region diesel-hydraulic locos like the ‘Hymek’ and ‘Western’ classes hauling old composite coach sets with buffet cars. It’s not quite the same anymore.
00:30.
Time to draw this blog to a close. There’s lots to talk about but it’s late and today’s another day. I’ll leave you with three ‘unachievable’ things. I’ve done today. Well. if you believe the mainstream media!
Here’s the ‘unachievable’ HS2 station at Birmingham Curzon Street earlier today.Oh, this is the ‘unachievable’ Hitachi Class 800 that carried me from Reading to Paddington earlier. I also took a trip on the ‘unachievable’ Crossrail (aka ‘Lizzy line) from Paddington to Farringdon earlier.
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Today’s been another home based one here at Bigland Towers. I’d hoped the pair of us might have got out and about as Dee’s had the day off but it wasn’t to be as too many other things got in the way and time flew.
So I spent time on various household duties, work and watching the Tory party in London disintegrate on social media. The High Court threw out a challenge by five outer London boroughs (all Tory voting) to the Mayor of London’s extension to the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) from central London. Apparently, it’s OK to have a ULEZ in the central London boroughs where few people own a car, but woe betide a Labour Mayor who has the temerity to extend it to areas where the Tory voting middle classes who own multiple cars per family live. Don’t even ask how much this futile court challenge has cost taxpayers in the five Tory boroughs. Oh, and ignore the fact that ULEZ was originally planned by one Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson when he was London Mayor as that just doesn’t fit the narrative!
The Tories are desperate to make out that ULEZ disproportionately hits the poor (it doesn’t) which is quite a turn-up for the books as they’ve spent the past 13 years making the poor poorer. Still, there’s elections due in 2024 so they need every excuse they can grasp hold of. In London the Tories have selected an absolute no-hoper as their Mayoral candidate. Susan Hall was never anyone’s first choice but a succession of scandals meant it was Buggins turn. Said Buggins is a very right-wing, Brexit, Boris and Trump supporting individual who’s left a car crash all across social media – the ideal candidate for London Mayor (not). Nominating Hall as their London candidate is like nominating Enoch Powell as prospective MP for Golders Green. It just ain’t gonna happen! It’s no wonder the Tories are clinging on to ULEZ like shipwreck survivors to a lifebelt. There’s only one problem. ULEZ only affects 1 in 10 cars (and they have to be at least 17 years old) and that number’s dwindling all the time thanks to age and the Mayors scrappage scheme. By the time it comes to the Mayoral elections in May 2024 and the general election later that year this will be a non-issue.
Sad to say, but this whole episode brightened my day. Well, added to the fact the Ukrainians are making solid progress in ejecting the Russian invaders from their country, leading to even more internet tizzys by Russian trolls.
Now it’s time to wind down, ignore the world of geo and local politics and look forward to the weekend. So, I’ll leave you with a picture of the day which was inspired by a conversation I had earlier when I nipped up to our local pub to indulge in the Friday night quiz. Here are Dhows on the beach at Nungwi, Zanzibar on the 30th May 2001…
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 time for a day away form the office and out on the rails. But where to? I’ve several places on the list to tick off but – as often happens – I’m being governed by the weather forecast. East coast or West? The Midlands or London? The outlook’s promising on the East coast and I’ve unfinished business over in Lincolnshire, so Barton on Humber it is…
Feel free to keep popping in to see what I get up to today. Will I have the fun and games I had last time or will I actually make it onto the Barton branch this time?…
06:40.
Not a bad start. I’m on Northern’s 06:37 off Sowerby Bridge to Leeds via Bradford. I feel odd getting a Westbound train from here rather than Halifax but as its all downhill from home there are advantages! Around a dozen folk were waiting for the service which is worked by a 3-car class 195. There’s plenty of seats available so I’ve bagged a table. I’ll be curious to see how it fills up at Halifax.
06:45.
Between 35-40 people were waiting at Halifax, including one person requiring assistance to board so the guard’s deployed the collapsible ramp. As you’d expect this time of day most folk look like they’re on their way to work.
07:50.
Having reversed at Bradford Interchange my train to Leeds ended up comfortably full but not overcrowded. It certainly paid its way. Leeds station was starting to get busy but was easily navigable. The new barrier arrangements have created a lot more circulation space opposite the main stairs from the island platforms which has really eased the logjam that used to form. I was waiting there for my next train which was due in at platform 8.
No longer a logjam…
I was pleased to see this arrive, working the 06:56 from Skipton to London Kings Cross…
91106 looking very smart in its revised Intercity livery.
What I like about these old Mk4 sets is the still have a quiet coach behind the locomotive which is where I am now. The coach is rarely husy even when the rest of the train is – as is the case today. There’s only a dozen of us in here whilst the next car’s almost full.
I’m not going to count my chickens just yet, but today’s looking good. The weather’s certainly better than forecast with high hazy cloud and lots of sunshine. I only hope this holds up as I travel further East…
09:30.
Yet again, my time at Doncaster was extended by late running trains. Trans-Pennine maintained their reputation by being over 12 mins behind time at Doncaster. The reason given was a late-running freight train. I wouldn’t have minded if it wasn’t for the fact ‘Donny’ was quiet with little of interest to photograph. Even the railway works yard was bereft of stock apart from a few old coal hoppers.
I’m now chugging along through the flatlands of Lincolnshire East of Scunthorpe. The town’s steelworks seemed oddly quiet too with little trace of the smoke or steam that you’d expect from such a huge industrial location.
09:45.
I’ve just been for a wander through the train. Well, the rear 3-car set anyway. There’s only three of us in it!
Pick a seat, any seat…
Admittedly, I saw quite a few folk detrain at Donny but I’d have thought it would be busier than this. Have the bright lights and fleshpots of Cleethorpes lost their lustre I wonder? I’ll find out later. I’m off at the next stop – Grimsby…
11:00.
Nothing much has changed in Grimsby since I was here last. Platform 1’s still out of use (points failure) forcing folk to use the footbridge or queue for the lift from platform 2 which all services to/from Cleethorpes are using. TPE are still late. The service behind mine was still using the ‘stuck behind a late running freight train’ excuse. I wonder how long they’ll keep that up? I’ll look the services up later. Still, the sun’s shining and East Midlands Railway’s 11:08 to Barton on Humber is running, so that’s a plus. There’s new ticket machines on platform one and I stopped to admire the extra decorations…
13:45.
Made it – and the weather’s played ball too! My trip up the Barton branch took me as far as Barrow Haven where I left the train at a single platform station that’s bern totally rebuilt in the past year as the old one was subsiding. I’d chosen this location for two reasons. There’s a nice shot of the train crossing a bridge over an inlet and it’s also the start of a lovely walk that takes you along the edge of the Humber to Barton. The footpath’s sandwiched between the river and old, flooded claypits so the area’s a haven for wildlife as its covered in reeds. You also get a grandstand view of the Humber bridge as you walk up to it…
I’m now in Barton waiting for the train back to Cleethorpes after a really enjoyable walk and quick wander around the town. Judging by the amount of old or vacant shops it was obviously a prosperous place at one time but I expect the opening of the Humber bridge killed a lot of that. Even so, there’s still a lot of buildings of interest.
The station mirrors the town as its reduced in importance too. It’s a single platform station at the end of a long siding from New Holland. Only now it’s graced by East Midlands Railway 2 car, air conditioned Class 170s rather than the Northern (then EMR) single car Class 153s which were the lines staple stock for so many years.
Compare and contrast today’s view with this one, which was taken on my first visit to Barton in March 1990!
Despite the sparse service and unexceptional traction the line has appeal to railway enthusiasts who’re interested in history and signalling. New Holland was the site of a pier station for ferries across the Humber to Hull. Nowadays it’s a bulk port but two old signalboxes at Barrow Rd Crossing and Oxmarsh survive along with an array of semaphore signals (some new). At Oxmarsh Crossing you can even observe the single line token exchange between the signaller and driver – a rare sight nowadays.
The station at Goxhill’s also worth a visit. There’s a lovely old station building. Wooden level crossing gates and a well maintained signalbox.
17:25.
I retraced my steps as far As Grimsby where I paused to grab a last few pictures before catching a Trans-Pennine service Westwards. The good weather was turning as grey skies moved in so there was no point in hanging around. Well, until we got to Scunthorpe where I took a break in between trains to for a couple of lineside shots and a nearby Road Traffic Accident (RTA) where a car was on its roof in the middle of a main road. Welcome to Scunthorpe!
Now I’m aboard a Northern stopper from Scunny to Donny. The weather’s getting duller and looking like rain so I might just head home. I have the shots I need so there’s no point in hanging around.
20:44.
Home and dry – literally! By the time I arrived in Doncaster the rain was setting in and stayed with me all the way home. The light was so bad I put the camera away and relaxed and enjoyed the journey instead. There were quite a few cancellations of Calder valley services shown at Leeds so I took the ‘scenic’ route via Shipley to Forster Square then walked across town to Interchange. The homeless ‘tent city’ under the arches at Forster Square had disappeared but what was there was worse in many respects. Dozens of people were queuing for soup kitchens that had been set up just before I arrived. It’s a tragic sight that also makes me very angry. We’ve had 13 years of Tory Government. Instead of tackling this problem they’ve made it worse. But at least their donors are well fed, having trousered billions in dodgy PPE contracts during Covid, or enjoying their expense accounts as members of the House of Lords…
A story you won’t see in the media as so many of them are obsessed with the much more important story about Nigel Farage’s bank account…
I managed to find a train from Interchange that wasn’t cancelled and Dawn saved me a soaking by picking me up from the station. Now I’m fed and in the warm, relaxing and sorting out a few of today’s pictures for your delectation whilst watching the rain bouncing off the cottage windows. Here’s a taster of what I’ve been taking…
170514 crosses the Beck at Barrow Haven with a service to Cleethorpes. It’s a squeeze to fit a 2-car into the shot compared to the single car 153s that used to operate the line. The Humber bridge seen from the coastal path near Barton on Humber.A variety of work and leisure craft moored in Barton Haven with the Humber bridge beyond. Old shopfronts in Barton on Humber.
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There’s been much of a muchness here at Bigland Towers today. I’ve made progress with the various weeks projects that are keeping me tied to the office with the intention of escaping as soon as the weather permits – which may be tomorrow if I’m lucky and the rain avoids areas I need to visit. At least a number of jobs have been crossed off my list which is always a positive feeling at the end of the day. I’ve also lined up a couple of trips for the beginning of next month which will add a varied start to August. Hang on – August? Yep, the year’s that far advanced, which seems strange as I feel like I’m still waiting for summer to arrive. July’s been such a wet month here in the Pennines I feel that I don’t really have a tan, it’s rust! Hopefully the proverbial ‘Indian summer’ will save us. If not – I’m buggering off abroad just as soon as I can – which may be difficult as the diary’s already full of events.
Still, I can’t complain too much about today. It’s been productive and I’ve hit all my exercise targets. Now I’ll I’ve got to do is hit the financial ones, which isn’t quite as easy, although the decluttering and sticking stuff on eBay’s adding the occasional bonus. The last sale’s ended but a new one has started, so feel free to check out what old railway slides and hardware (or clothing) is up in the final July sale by following this link. Oh, there’s also the opportunity to buy prints of some of the 83,800 rail and travel picture I have on my Zenfolio website should you be so inclined.
OK, enough of the salesmanship. The next picture’s for free. Dawn’s out with friends this evening so I decided that my daily constitutional could be postponed until then. This coincided with the best weather we’ve had all day, so here’s a shot from Wakefield Gate, the cobbled road above our cottage but below the Wainhouse Tower. There’s a great little place to stop and admire the view and this is how that view looked an hour ago.
Happy valley…
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Can we have some of that baking hot weather that Europe’s been suffering from here in the Pennines, please? This time last year we hit the highest temperatures we’d ever seen in this neck of the woods. Today we’ve seen low temperatures and enough rain to float an Ark! Most of the day’s been spent peering through rain and drizzle. OK. I joke. The last think I want is to experience the effects of Global Warming that Europe’s suffering from – but a bit of sunshine would be nice…
Because of the weather we’ve been busy with the mundanities of life – like shopping and cooking. This included a trip to the excellent Bolster Moor farm shop near Slaithwaite (more of which later) so we could pick up some of the ingredients for Dee’s fabulous gluten-free lasagna. We also nabbed some of their premium flour mixes for our neighbour, Susan. Susan’s hobby is baking bread. She makes the most fabulous loaves and we’re some of the lucky recipients. So, it seems only reasonable that we do our bit by providing some of the raw materials now and again.
Back at home Dee’s been busy cooking up a storm in the kitchen whilst I’ve been busy in the office continuing my clear-out. The amount of stuff one accumulates in a lifetime can be significant. Especially in this day and age. I’m trying to be mindful and start jettisoning stuff – hence some of the bits that are appearing on eBay nowadays. Other stuff is only fit for recycling. I have the memories which will never leave me – I no longer need the ephemera – although going through some of it certainly triggered a few of those memories…
So, here we are, living the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle on a Saturday night (not). But neither of us care. We’re happy and that’s all that matters. There’s so many pictures of the day that I could leave you with – especially after all the stuff I’ve been rooting through and Dawn cooking, but I thought I’d leave you with this, which is something I spotted at Bolster Moor earlier. A Yorkshire wedding cake…
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/
Went the day well? It certainly started that way. Waking up to hear that the Tories had been hammered in two ‘safe’ seats is always a good start. Then I started to look at the result in Uxbridge, which led to this blog. The more I look at the Green party of England and Wales the more convinced I am they’re simply not fit for purpose and are part of the climate change problem, not the solution.
Numbers crunched and other work done Dawn and I nipped out for a coffee at the Piece Hall in Halifax with a friend from TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester). Mark hadn’t been over to the hall for several years so was blown away by its present incarnation as a music arena that hosts world famous names. In recent weeks we’ve had Madness and Sting. Last year Dawn and I went to see Nile Rodgers and Chic as well as Paloma Faith. The Piece Hall’s rapidly gaining a name for itself as a place musicians want to appear at.
Coffee over the pair of us returned to home and the grindstone until this evening when I escaped to our local (the ‘Big 6’) to enjoy a couple of beers and the quiz. There’s been no ‘Pub Paper’ this week so Mel, our resident quizmaster dug out an old book which was a Yorkshire based quiz. Not being from these parts this left me with somewhat of a handicap. Ask me questions about far-flung parts of the globe and I’m your man. Ask me to name all nine towns in Calderdale and I haven’t got a ‘Scooby Do’. Apparently, one of them’s called Shelf. Seriously? As for old Yorkshire dialect – please…!
Still, it was fun. Hearing Mel (who’s from Rochdale and has a broad Lancashire accent) trying to pronounce some of these local phrases made me feel better. I love regional accents. Dee was remarking about how I slipped from the ‘Queens English’ back into Scouse earlier today, so I’m not immune. But, having spent so much time travelling around the UK and non-English speaking nations my accent and intonation changes to suit my surroundings.
Fun in the pub time over I’m now back at home as we’ve got a lot going on over the next few days which means it’s time to draw this blog to a close. I’ll leave you with a picture of the Piece Hall for taken from the hills above Halifax. It’s a unique building, so if you ever pass this way…
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 than two years ago that I was last exploring the coastline around Cleethorpes and the mouth of the Humber but changes to the railways have come (and gone) since. Trans-Pennine Express introduced their loco-hauled Mk5 sets to the route for a brief period, then just as quickly withdrew them. Meanwhile East Midlands Railway dispensed with their single-car Class 153s and replaced them on the Barton on Humber branch with something far more grand – Class 170 ‘Turbostars’. So, it’s time to head over that way and update my library and hopefully get some pictures for a client – subject to the weather behaving.
For the second day running, Dawn’s working from the Community Rail Network office in Nuddersfield, so I’m hitching a lift in with her to start my journey there. Feel free to keep popping back to see how the day unfolds…
0955.
Deciding to come to Huddersfield wasn’t my cleverest idea. I’d forgotten just how unreliable TPE services are nowadays. I’d have been quicker going from Halifax!
Arriving at the station I watched two Eastbound services come and go before I made it througb the barriers to the platform. A Newcastle bound train was timetabled to arrive a few minutes later but (TPE being TPE) the delays soon became to accrue. 5, then 10 then 15 mins. Finally, 19 mins late, 802201 arrived..
What kept you?
10:25.
I’m now heading for Doncaster after a fraught few minutes getting through Leeds. I’d planned to catch LNER’s 10:16 but congestion meant my TPE service was held outside the station for several minutes until a platform became vacant. I could see the 10:16 in the western bay (6) but my train sailed right through the station to the East end, making it impossible to reach 6 in time. Or so I thought. Fortunately, congestion delayed LNER too, so I made the train with a minute to spare!
10:40.
It’s going to be one of those days, isn’t it? I’ve just noticed that the train I’d hoped to catch from Donny to Cleethorpes was cancelled due to lineside cable theft – a problem once endemic but now (thankfully) rare. It’s affecting services to/from Sheffield which could put a damper on my day. Still, I’m going to have nearly an hour to watch what happens at Doncaster, and plan accordingly. There’s never a dull day on the railway…
12:45.
I should gave kept my mouth shut! We arrived at Doncaster 15 down due to more congestion. Then I found out the East Coast Main Line was seriously disrupted due to a train hitting a cow up in Northumberland. This is how the PIS looked.
Nice…
Trains were out of sync all over the place leading to lots of last-minute platform changes as signallers tried to deal with the congestion and confusion.
“The train now blocking platform 3 is going nowhere”…
Still, my enforced stay did offer some decent photographic opportunities. Such as of this beast heading to York.
Right now I’m on a TPE service crawling its way to Grimsby. I always forget just how slow the speeds are on this line. Needless to say – we’re running late and have just come to a halt at Harbrough during heavy rain. Yep, the forecast has let me down too. There was meant to be sunny spells this afternoon! Ho hum…
15:30.
What a classic day – for all the wrong reasons – but it’s a great example of the frustrations of this job. I arrived late at Grimsby Town to find that one of the two platforms was out of use due to a points failure. This was delaying trains to/from Cleethorpes as it’s a single line between the two. So I decided to stay on the train to Clee and see what the weather was like. It was crap. The heavy rain had passed over but the skies looked like they could deliver a deluge any minute. After grabbing a few shots I caught the same TPE service back to Grimsby as there were extra services to photograph and interesting features of the station to document, plus a footbridge which offered a decent view of the station and nearby level crossing. Having rushed to the footbridge to get shots of my train departing I noticed the barriers on the crossing remained closed. Yep, they’d failed too – cutting off a main road in the town centre!
There was nothing for me to do for half an hour other than take pictures but as Grimsby Town’s a station with some interesting architectural features that was no problem. My plan was to catch the late-running Barton branch train back to Cleethorpes, then do the full run. That plan soon collapsed at Cleethorpes when the train Conductor announced the return trip was only going as far as Ulceby (the Barton branch junction) due to yet another points failure!
It was at this point I decided a pint was in order. I’ve popped into a place I’ve never visited before. The ‘No1’ bar on Cleethorpes station.
It’s quite a blast fom the past to walk into a pub where the Frank Zappa track ‘Bobby Brown’ from his album ‘Sheik Yerbuoti’ is ringing out from the jukebox. And in Cleethorpes of all places!
So here I am kicking my heels in Cleethorpes. The Barton branch is out of the question. There’s train delays left, right and centre – yet the one bright spot (literally) is the weather as blue skies are rolling in from the East – only there’s nothing to photograph!
Here’s what I could have won. An EMR ‘Turbostar’ working the Barton branch.Class 185s aplenty at Cleethorpes earlier.
19:00.
I’m now back in Leeds and heading home to Halifax after admitting defeat. The weather and railway physics conspired against me so the only sensible thing to do was head home – especially as trains aren’t exactly of a metro frequency in that neck of the woods. I caught the first available TPE service West to Doncaster where I picked up a little bonus in the shape of one of LNER’s old loco-hauled sets to transport me to Leeds.
Just to rub my nose in it, the further West I travelled, the more the weather improved! Like everywhere else cancellations were dogging services through Leeds so I didn’t hang around. Now I’m on a Leeds-Chester service which will carry me back to Halifax.
Today’s a good lesson in how poor regional services are in the North. By rail it’s just as quick for me to get from Halifax to London (170 miles) as it is to Cleethorpes (76 miles) – despite the disparity in distance. Plus, I don’t really have to think about planning a London trip because of the frequency of services, but when trains are only hourly and two hourly it becomes a very different proposition, especially when services go tits up!
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It’s been another varied day here at Bigland Towers – well, apart from the weather – which has stayed uniformly awful, leaving the valley sodden and the skies leaden. Not that it impacted on my morning as a lot of it was spent on a Community Rail Network webinar where myself and many of my fellow awards judges were available to discuss next years awards and how people who wanted to compete could maximise the impact of their entries. It was a very good session with lots of people taking part, which is always good to see. Having direct access to the judges and being able to hear from them first hand on what makes a good application is something few organisations do.
Webinar over and with the rain having abated I walked into Halifax to pick up my new glasses. I must admit, I was rather excited, mainly because I’ve deviated from the style I’ve worn for some time. I’m finding the new, rounder glasses really good as my upward field of vision’s improved. I’m looking forward to trying them out with the camera – oh, and playing pool at one of our local sessions. I’d found my old-style glasses restricted my vision on long-shots so I’m curious to see if these new ‘bins’ help. Those of a certain age and interest may remember the 1980s snooker player Dennis Taylor who had glasses made especially so they sat high on this face to allow him to see the far ends of snooker tables. I’ve nothing that extreme (thank God!) but the principle’s the same. Of course, if they do help that’s the end of that excuse for a lousy shot!
My foray into Halifax also allowed me to get my full complement of exercise steps in today, a feat the recent weather’s make very difficult some days – unless one wants to resemble a drowned rat. Hopefully, I may be able to sally forth with the camera tomorrow when the weather improves and begin to tick off some of the locations requested by a client. I have a choice – East or West. At the moment to forecast is suggesting West may be the better option and camera capers always end up with me clocking up the footfall miles.
For now, I’ll leave you with today’s picture. I don’t often post pictures of yours truly, but today’s an exception. Here’s the new look which will be complete just as soon as I’ve had a haircut!
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And so another week begins here at Bigland Towers. In the interests of sanity I’ve decided to hold off on any political polemic for now as I want to start the week in a positive frame of mind. There’s certainly plenty to look forward to – large and small – although the weather’s done it’s best to put a damper on things to start! Forget heatwaves and record temperatures in other parts of the world. Here in the Pennines we’ve had several days of wet weather, including today when we were treated to some torrential rain this morning. Of course, this tends to encourage the climate changer deniers who’re incapable of getting through their thick heads the difference between climate and weather. And don’t even ask about trends such as average temperatures or rainfall levels- their eyes will glaze over. Anyone with half a brain can sense for themselves that our climate is not what it was. The problem is – too few people seem to want to do anything about it if it means changing their lifestyles.
Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to get into a polemic! The weather’s looking iffy around here for a few more days, which is a shame as I’ve a long list of photographs I need to take. Still, tomorrow I’m picking up my new glasses which I’m rather looking forward to as I’m changing from the style I’ve worn for more years than I care to remember. You’ll see the results tomorrow.
As the weather was hardly a photographers dream I’ve been busy at home sorting out more eBay sales. pictures for clients and swearing at a filing disaster. I was digging through recent archives stored on hard-drives when I discovered that a computer glitch meant that I have 780 recent pictures which all have the same picture number and caption! Oh, how I laughed! Thankfully, the images loaded onto my Zenfolio website are correct. Plus, I file captioned pictures as JPEGs and backup files as RAW on different hard-drives. So, I can combine both file types to see what the correct number should be. Then it’s just a time-consuming pain in the arse to rename all the pictures as they’re not consecutively numbered. That job can wait…
This evening I tore myself away from work to indulge in a spot of cooking therapy. It’s something I really enjoy doing and it takes the pressure off Dawn who’s up to her ears in work at the moment. Tonight we went for an old staple – Chana Masala. It’s a classic North Indian Vegetarian dish that’s easy to make (if you have all the spices) is tasty – and not too time consuming. So, today’s pictures are mostly of food – except for one…
When cooking I like to have all my ingredients prepared in advance… Nearly there. There’s only the chickpeas and some of their water left to add once the tomatoes have reduced. The smell of the melange of spices is divine.
Apart from cooking – and shopping (we hit out local Indian supermarket earlier to stock up on some goodies) I did manage to enjoy a short therapeutic walk in our local woods when the deluge was over and the sun blessed the evening, lighting up my walk. Here’s Long Wood as it was earlier.
As if my culinary efforts weren’t enough Dawn also decided to indulge in some cooking therapy this evening and produced one of her divine gluten-free Bakewell tarts. There’s a meeting at the Community Rail Network offices in Huddersfield tomorrow to do with the rebuilding of the station, so Dee decided to take in something rather special and personal instead of a few packets of biscuits…
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 