We’ve had a relaxed and convivial day here in Surrey – and feeling very fortunate too. Our main mission today was to celebrate the 14th birthday of Dawn’s nephew, Sam. Before hand I saw a message from my brother that his family’s Christmas has been kiboshed by the fact Bev – his wife- has tested positive for Covid this morning. Bev works in a school and has done throughout the pandemic, but right now staff are ‘dropping like flies’ as Dave described it.
So far we’ve been lucky – and we’re determined to keep it that way. However, seven of us did go out for a meal in Guildford to celebrate Sam’s birthday. Considering it’s Xmas eve which is normally a frantic day for last-minute shopping and catch-ups the town was remarkably subdued – as was the restaurant. We’ve eaten at Olivio before. It’s a lovely Italian restaurant based in a classic old building full of character where the staff are lovely and the food (which comes in huge portions) is delicious. Normally, this time of year Olivio would be booked out. As it was there were just two 1st floor tables taken for lunch, ours and another family group of 6. An awful situation for the restaurant but good for us as the kitchen staff had few people to focus upon.
The pair of us had eschewed breakfast in order to do justice to the portion sizes. Here’s what Dee and I shared…
We’re both fans of Calamari so this shared starter was right up our street. The Mayonnaise dip was mixed with garlic and the calamari is laced with herbs. The whole dish tastes divine as the Calamari is cooked perfectly.My main course was Buridda, the chef’s version of a classic Genoese fish casserole dish containing mussels, swordfish, tiger prawns, monkfish, potatoes, cooked in a delicate white wine, garlic, chilli and tomato sauce. The picture doesn’t really do the dish justice as the portion size and amount of fish it contains was excellent. Dee plumped for another fish dish. GUAZZETTO DI SALMONE contains salmon, prawns, potatoes, olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, tomato and aromatic herbs served with garlic crostini bread. – delicious and filling!
We’re now back in Tilford, chilling at Chateau Platt whilst preparing food and presents for tomorrow’s festivities. I hope you all have an equally relaxed and fun day, wherever you’re celebrating and whomever you’re celebrating with!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
This wasn’t quite how I was expecting to be travelling, but when needs must…
Dawn and I packed the car early this morning before driving over to Huddersfield to pick up her parents as we were all going to be travelling down together. There was only one problem. Four of us, all the clothes and presents plus the other Xmas supplies (and my camera bag) meant that there was so little room left in the car that it would’ve been a very uncomfortable journey down to Surrey. We’d looked at hiring a bigger vehicle but the rates this year were ridiculous, it would have cost us nearly £1000! I’d a sneaking suspicion this might happen so I’d already planted the seeds of a plan B – which was me catching the train and meeting them down there. When Dee saw how little space was left in the saloon for her parents even she agreed! So, here I am on my Jack Jones heading down to London. It was cheaper to come via the West Coast and there’s less cancellations too (LNER have knocked out a lot of services due to Covid staff shortages). I jumped on a TPE service from Huddersfield across to Manchester and now I’m sat on Avanti West Coast’s 12:15 to Euston. It’s worked by a 9-car Pendolino which is around 60% full but I managed to find a table seat where I’ve set up the mobile office to get some work done – something I couldn’t have done in the car!
I’ll keep you posted how the journey across London and down to Farnham goes as it unfolds. Right now we’re heading for Stoke-on-Trent in the same miserable weather that’s followed me all the way from West Yorkshire. I hear from Dee’s mum that they’re heading down the M1 right now. I hope their weather’s better on that side of the country…
13:50.
We’ve had a classic Pendolino journey so far, speeding South with ease. Say what you like about these trains but they can’t half sift and you never even notice when you pass another service as there’s no pressure pulse or juddering like there used to be with the older Mk3 carriages. After leaving Stoke the train had filled up to around 70% occupancy. Now we’ve stopped for the final time at Milton Keynes where dozens more folk have joined us taking that up to 80-85%, thankfully the vast majority of people are wearing masks so the atmosphere doesn’t feel uncomfortable. There’s been no ticket check en-route, which is hardly surprising at the moment with the numbers of rail-staff off due to contracting Covid or self-isolating.
14:05.
We’ve just sped through Cheddington which (in 1963) was the site of the infamous ‘great train robbery’ which took place just up the line at Ledburn,. The weather here’s dry but just as gloomy as the rest of the country I’ve traversed today. It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon yet most cars have headlights switched on and industrial estates security lighting has tripped in!
16:15.
Tempting as it was I didn’t hang around in London. Instead I caught a tube straight across to Waterloo. The Underground was far quieter than you’d expect this time of the year although Euston station was rammed with people heading North.
Waterloo was much more subdued but as much of its traffic is commuters that was no surprise. Rather than get a direct train I hopped my way down to Clapham Junction in order to see how busy services were. Here’s a Shepperton service after leaving Vauxhall. Good to experience an old friend (the Class 707) again. I drove one of these when they were being shaken down on the Siemens test track at Wildenrath in Germany!
Now I’m on another (earlier) Siemens product, a Class 450 heading for Alton. There’s half a dozen of us in this car, which is one of 12 making up this train…
17:05.
Beat them! I’m now sitting in the ‘Mulberry’ pub next to Farnham station waiting for the car team to catch me up. They pulled off the M4 20 minutes ago so it might be a while before they get here. In the meantime I’m nursing an indifferent pint of the local Hogsback IPA whilst downloading pictures from the camera to the laptop. I’d originally intended to go for a wander when I arrived but the weather’s even wetter here than it was up North. So much for the sunny South!
My train from London to Alton passes a service heading in the opposite direction at Farnham.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Here at Bigland Towers we’re in the final wind-down to the festive season although (to be honest) it seems more like a wind-up as there’s so many things to do! Dawn’s ‘demob happy’ as she finished work yesterday but today’s hardly been restful as there was a long list of things for her to do in preparation for us heading South to Surrey for the festive season. Part of that list included her cooking Bakewell Tart and Millionaire’s shortbread to take with us to feed the family so the house has been filled with delicious smells all afternoon. I’ve also been busy finishing various bits of work and stockpiling enough other stuff to keep me occupied and fruitful if we get poor weather or enforced downtime due to Covid whilst we’re away as none of us have any idea how things might change.
As usual with this shambolic Government we haven’t got a clue what to expect them to do next – other than it’ll be too little, too late. Whilst the Welsh and Scottish administrations have announced plans in advance to give everyone certainty and chance to prepare the only announcement from Downing St is – “ummm”… Very helpful.
Despite this, we’re determined to make the most of the time away whilst still staying safe and not taking any unnecessary risks – especially when one considers the number of daily Covid cases has just passed the 100,000 mark for the first time. Unlike the shit-show that governs us I may be eating cheese and drinking wine in rather more isolated (and enjoyable) company.
So, tomorrow the four of us travel South for few days. Sadly, our old moggie, Jet, won’t be going on his holidays with us this time as he’s on a permanent and far-ranging ‘holiday’ beyond the rainbow bridge, but no doubt we’ll have a few fond memories of his first and only venture earlier in the year as a Northerner down South!
Expect a few gaps in blogging over the next few days but not too many as I’ve a series of articles previously published in the print media that I’ll be posting as blogs. Plus, I’m sure there’ll be the odd day out and chance to grab pictures (railway or otherwise) that I’ll have time to turn into a commentary.
In the meantime, I’d like to wish all of my readers (and there’s over 40,000 of you so far this year, reading over 80,000 articles – and you’re spread all over the planet, which is amazing!) a very merry Christmas and a Happy (Gregorian calendar) new Year!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
This article has appeared in the latest Rail Director magazine. I’m reproducing it here with extra pictures taken during my visit.
HS2 Euston visit.
On the day that HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson announced that Euston station was to have only 10 HS2 platforms but the whole station would be redeveloped in one phase I was on a site visit looking at progress on this massive project. The visit began with a briefing from Tom Venner, Managing Director of the Euston Partnership. The partnership (established in July 2020) brings together all the stakeholders and delivery partners to enable Euston to be developed together as a single scheme, under a board chaired by Network Rail’s Sir Peter Hendy. Tom updated us all on the Partnerships strategic aims whilst outlining the complexities of redeveloping the 5th busiest station on the national network, integrating it with HS2 and meeting the aims and aspirations of the local communities who have many different (and sometimes competing) priorities.
The task is vast in scale and fraught with challenges. 60 acres of the Euston area is under Government ownership and incorporated in the scheme. It’s the largest real-estate development in the capital that will take many years to complete – hence the desire to minimise disruption to local residents and users of the station by completing the scheme in one phase rather than two, even if these competing ambitions mean the Hs2 station’s platform numbers are a sub-optimal solution. It’s a difficult balancing act. Whilst the £2.6bn redevelopment will now be constructed in one long project it’s still being broken up into elements. Phase 1 is the concourse, 2 is the trainshed and 3 is opening up the Eversholt St side of the station with commercial development. The Somers Town side of Euston has always seemed to have had its back turned to this deprived area of London and the Euston masterplan is determined to address this deficiency and give the whole station more permeability
Because of all these changes a revised concept design for the new Euston won’t be available before the end of the year, so none of us yet know what the new Euston may look like in the future.
Our briefing in the HS2 office in the podium was held against the competing background noise and vibration from heavy machinery breaking up the foundations of the old Grant Thornton tower block outside. This site will become part of the expanded London Underground station that will take the HS2 strain off the existing cramped concourse. Across Melton St’s the HQ of the Royal College of General Practitioners where every GP in the country visits to sit their exams. As a considerate neighbour, HS2 has agreed to halt noisy work like this when these crucial events take place. It’s a good example of the balance that needs to be struck.
The remains of Grant Thornton house seen from our briefing room in the Podium. The cellar levels are gradually being excavated and cleared.
Our inspection tour began on the site of the HS2 platforms on the Western side of the current station that’s been cleared of residential and commercial properties – plus the 50,000 bodies exhumed from the former St James’ burial ground which will be re-buried at Brookwood cemetery near Woking. It’s now one vast open area that exposes the footprint of the new station.
This will be the site of the HS2 platforms, albeit below present ground level. In the background you can see the old London Underground station entrance and the grey clad building that covers the current work to build the new Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) which will replace it. A view looking North showing the piles installed to build the new Western Wall of the HS2 station. Beyond the grey HS2 offices and hoardings are the Hampstead Rd and some of the new homes built to replace those demolished to make way for HS2.
Here the first permanent structures are appearing in the shape of some of the 161 piles for the foundations of the station’s Western boundary wall. There’s much work to do yet. Another 7-10 metres comprising 820,000m3 of earth has to be dug out to reach basement level and negotiations are ongoing on the best way of removing the earth from site in a manner that will have the least impact on the roads and neighbourhoods around Camden. The HS2 platforms will be built 8 metres below ground level In a concrete box 90 metres wide and 500metres long. To prevent blocking nearby roads there will be a basement below which will have road access for service vehicles and staff parking as well as containing equipment rooms.
A completed section of the Western boundary wall of the new HS2 station with the old station in the background.
Meanwhile, the London Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) in the former station building on Melton St is being relocated with work expected to be complete in 2024 when it will be replaced by ‘the sugar cube’. Work’s currently taking place under a temporary building to lessen the noise impacts on neighbours such as the GPs college. During site clearance a Victorian cobbled Rd was found near the site of the former Maria Fedelis school. This was identified as Little George St which featured in the very first Sherlock Holmes novel (A Study in Scarlet) written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.
Forming the boundary at the North end of the station site is the Hampstead Rd bridge which will be reconstructed and extended to allow HS2 to pass under the busy A400. Like the TSS, this work is expected to be completed in 2026, removing the last constraint to completing the new tracks into Euston. This is another complex operation due to the need to provide sufficient clearance for HS2 tracks.
Our next stop was the new multi-storey site offices located on Stanhope St opposite the former Euston Downside carriage shed. There’s an excellent viewing platform atop the site which gives grandstand views South across Euston and central London and North to where the HS2 tunnel portals are to be built. The birds-eye view lets you appreciate the sheer size of the site and the amount of activity taking place as well as the proximity to the existing Euston station throat, which presents its own challenges. Opposite, we could see the truncated Granby St bridge, another crossing which will be extended to allow HS2 to pass beneath. Alongside Park Village East the original brick retaining wall is being reinforced to prevent movement by the insertion of ground anchors. Fixed in double or single rows, these are between 12-20 metres in depth. This work will continue until March 2022. The site is squeezed in the middle by the Western abutment of Mornington St Bridge, a delicate site as one of the HS2 tunnels will exit at this point. To make exit from the cramped Northern part of the site easier a wagon turntable for road vehicles is to be installed.
A view of the North end of the old Euston Downside carriage shed site. Looking back towards Euston station from atop the HS2 offices on Stanhope St.Granby Terrace bridge has been severed (for now) but it will be extended over the HS2 tracks. A general view of the old Downside site wit North London beyond.
Currently piling’s taking place to build the walls which will support the roof over this part of the site, as plans for the future include building homes above the tracks – some of the 1,700 that the scheme will provide at Euston.
The piling work with temporary sheet-metal piles in place as protection.
The site will also include the three-storey Euston Cavern Headhouse which will provide emergency access to the HS2 tunnels with access from Park Village East. When built the roof will also shield local residents from noise whilst the tunnel entrances are constructed. These piles have been constructed using the innovative “zero trim pile technique” which involves sucking out excess concrete while still wet using a new vacuum excavator. Traditional piling sees concrete overpoured before workers have to break out the excess. The old method can cause many health problems, including hand-arm vibration syndrome, hearing loss and silicosis, not to mention the noise, dust and disturbance caused to those living nearby. One of our guides for the tour was Lee Piper of the Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV) who worked with colleague Deon Louw from Cementation Skanska to develop the pioneering approach. SCS will be installing around 2,000 piles over the next three years in the Euston area with all but 15 using the new technique. The new method will bring benefits in terms of reduced carbon, noise reduction and safer ways of working. Chatting to Lee it was clear to see his pride in the new technique which he told me had cut 38 weeks from the piling programme, a major saving. He also told me that the zero trim pile technique was to be trialled on the Old Oak Common box where it had the potential to make huge savings in time, money and carbon on the construction of the 1.8 km long diaphragm walls. The piles finished using the method stand out because they look pristine. The rebar remains upright and undamaged whilst the base of the pile is a neat circle. Anyone who’s seen the mangled remains of piles that have been broken in the traditional method out can’t fail to notice the difference! Accompanying the concrete piles are a row of sheet piles driven into the ground to give support. These will be removed once the concrete piling is complete.
Here’s how piles produced by the zero trim pile technique look. Pristine!
Seeing the work at Euston move on from utility diversion and demolition to the start of construction makes one appreciate the length of the task ahead. The station isn’t currently scheduled to open until sometime between 2031-36 which gives an idea why the Partnership is anxious to prove itself to be a good neighbour that leaves a positive legacy. Rebuilding Euston’s going to a long process, but – if it’s done right – the long overdue redevelopment has a real opportunity to be a showcase for city redevelopment and transport integration. Time will tell…
You can view many more pictures of HS2 construction work at several sites along the route on my Zenfolio website. Link here.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I wish! The weather here in the Calder Valley’s gloomy and murky still, only with added drizzle for interest. So, I’m escaping the confines of the valley to head Westwards, mixing business and pleasure in order to drop in on a couple of family members before Christmas as the way things are going with Omicron we could well be in another lockdown in January – so who knows when I’ll get to see people again?
I’m currently on Northern’s 09:22 service from Sowerby Bridge to Chester. The train seems reasonably busy but as it’s only a two-car Class 195 instead of the normal 3-car that’s hardly surprising. There’s the usual mix of ages and reasons for travelling with ramblers rubbing shoulders with Christmas shoppers and other folk heading for a day out in the bright lights and colour of the big city, which must seem very attractive after a few days of monochrome weather here in the Pennines!
It’s grim up North…
I’ll update the blog as the day unfolds, so feel free to keep popping back…
10:20.
As expected, most passengers bailed out at Manchester Victoria, leaving a handful of us still aboard. I’ll be doing the same at Newton-Le-Willows in order to check out the rebuilt station before catching a connecting service to Liverpool Lime St.
10:45.
Flying visit to NLW complete I’m on my way to Liverpool once more. Newton station’s been massively improved with a purpose-built ticket office and staff facilities, level access to both platforms provided by lifts, a new bus interchange and a massive (and busy) car park. The original building still exists on the London-bound platforms but its shutteted and closed. The subway underneath the tracks is decorayed with a variety of artworks from local sources and lit with changing coloured lights. It’s a vast improvement on the old station where you had to climb a multitude of steps to reach the platforms. New waiting rooms have been installed at platform level too.
A copy of the commemorative tablet which is in a monument on the spot further up the line where William Huskisson was struck by a train is located by the new subway.
11:50.
Curses, foiled again! I’m currently en-route to Southport having lingered long enough in Liverpool to grab a series of shots at Lime St station before wandering across to Central.
Lime St contained a couple of shots worth grabbing. East Midlands Railway have a Class 156 on loan to Northern and the unit graced us with its presence. Meanwhile, Transport for Wales had scraped together a pair of Class 153s for their service from Chester. Nicknamed “dogboxes” many, these single-car units aren’t normally allowed out on their own anymore as most have toilets that aren’t disabity legislation compliant so have to work with a set that is.
I wonder what the Welsh is for “dogbox”?
Central station was eerily quiet. I’d have expected it to be buzzing this close to Christmas but many folk seem to be staying away. Having read the latest SAGE predictions on the way over this morning that’s probably a wise move. If it wasn’t for the fact what little moral authority this Government had has been shot to pieces I’d expect a new lockdown to be declared in January. Now, I’m not sure they dare…
Empty platforms…
My curse was due to the fact I’d hoped to have been able to get more shots of the new Merseyrail trains on test runs today but none are running. Mind you, the weather’s hardly conducive. The railways are starting to be hit hard by Covid with many staff self-isolating or off sick. This is bound to have an effect on maintaining service levels but also on training. I expect to see further delays in introducing new fleets on South-West Railway and Merseyrail next year.
Still. I’m now off for lunch with my Neice and her Husband, so not all’s bad..
15:45.
Well, that was a lovely interlude! The three of us had a lovely lunch in Birkdale, a village subsumed by Southport but a place that’s very much kept its villagy feel and become quite a little community. The area around the railway station’s a thriving place full of restaurants, cafés and independent shops, many of which nestle under Victorian canopies. When Adi had to go back to work Charlotte and I stayed for another hour chatting and swapping stories. Like me, she’s inherited the footloose gene and misses travelling. We’d arranged to meet up in Bali last year (a place we both love) but Covid put the kibosh on those plans. Who knows when we’ll be able to return?
Now I’m back in Southport proper, hoping to be able to meet up with one of my siblings…
There’s not much of a blog from me today. It’s not been a vintage day and the weather here in the Calder Valley’s been miserable. We’ve been buried in dank and dismal fog all day with visibility down to just a few hundred metres. I did my best to keep occupied with a spot of gardening and stretched my legs by going shopping for tonight’s home-cooked meal (Parsi prawns, which I haven’t cooked for ages) but otherwise much of my day has been spent building up an archive of fresh slide scans which will give me something to do during down time at Christmas. My plan to have all all the old slides scanned by the end of the year proved optimistic. I’ve still several thousand left to do, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Barring some unknown cataclysm such as the end of the Earth I will have the project finished in 2022 – just don’t ask me *when* in 2022! I’ve finished all the shots from my Bali trip in 1994 and 1995 and moved on to a series of UK travel shots from the summer of 1995. Here’s one of them supplying the picture of the day…
Easter 1995 saw Lynn and I join a couple of our North London neighbours who were walking the whole of the Ridgeway. We joined them for the last leg to the amazing village of Avebury in Wiltshire. This tiny village is built in the middle of a prehistoric stone circle which is surrounded by a massive ditch, but it’s not the only prehistoric site in the area, just a few miles down the road is Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow. This is where today’s picture was taken, on the 1st April 1995…
Silbury Hill framed by some of the stones that form the outside of West Kennet Long Barrow.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/Thank you
Yay – I got the month right from the off! For some strange reason my brain seems to be stuck in November, which is why I’ve cocked-up two recent December blogs and backdated them until kind readers have pointed it out. I suppose I could always try the Captain Mainwaring defense from ‘Dad’s Army’ and pretend I wondered who’d spot it first. Truth is – it wasn’t me!
There’s not going to be a long blog tonight, mainly because this hasn’t been the most exciting of days. The Calder Valley’s spent most of the day bathed in fog and I’ve been stuck at home sorting out paperwork, old slides and the occasional Xmas present. I did get out for a wander late in the day in order to get some shopping and get my daily exercise, so a wander in to Sowerby Bridge was in order. We may be in the run-up to Christmas, but the town seemed quite subdued for a Saturday at this time of the year. I suspect the reality of the new Covid strain’s starting to concentrate a few minds even though Calderdale has (for now) seen Covid cases decreasing.
Whilst we’ve been lucky I couldn’t help suck my teeth at today’s news that the anti-vaxxers and Covid conspiracy nuts decided to hold a rally in London. If there’s one place where Omicron is going through the roof it’s London. Still, a cynic might argue this is social Darwinism in action and if this means the shallow end of the gene pool gets deeper this is no bad thing. Will they be missed? Nope…
Once back at home I indulged in some cooking therapy and knocked up a veggie casserole which was an ideal accompaniment to the miserable weather. I love any recipe that contains Cumin, Garlic and Smoked Paprika and this one certainly did.
To pass the time I’ve been scanning and storing lots of old travel slides. They won’t see the light of day just yet as they’re in reserve to give me something to do over Christmas during those quiet ‘down time’ moments when everyone’s stuffed to the gills with Xmas fayre and falling asleep in front of the TV. But here’s a snippet. I’ve finished scanning the Bali pictures from 1994-95 and moved on to UK images from the latter year. So here’s one of the last Bali pictures. I’ve always loved the sculptured landscape of Bali and the way farmers have managed to carve out paddy fields from the most extreme of slopes. Here’s an example.
These fields are near some fascinating old Buddhist temples at Tampaksiring in the islands hinterland. Spot the nursery field where young rice plants are grown before being pricked out by hand across the other terraces….
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
This morning I woke up to the welcome news that Johnson’s Tories had been humiliated in the North Shropshire by-election, losing a seat they considered theirs as a right to hold to the Lib-Dems. It was a massive 34% swing that saw the previous Tory majority of 23,000 become a Lib-Dem one of nearly 6000. One can only hope that this is the start of a shift that will see UK voters reject the kakistocracy we’ve had in charge ever since Johnson was elected in 2019. But I’m not going to hold my breath…
As if to celebrate the news the weather decided to grace the Calder Valley with sunshine. Well, the tops of the valley anyway, the lower levels have been hidden in mist for most of the day! Undeterred I decided to have a day out and head West with the camera, escaping the confines of the office now my computer problems have been resolved. If only every problem was as easily solved by a phone call!
My day out saw me heading West to old haunts, in this case Wigan, Southport and Liverpool where the weather held and sunshine reigned. I needed some pictures of the ‘new’ Class 769s (former electric trains converted to bi-modes with the addition of a diesel engine) and also the brand-new Class 777s for Merseyrail which are being built by the Swiss company Stadler. For once my luck held and I managed to complete my quest. 769s were running services to Southport and when I arrived one of the new 777s was sitting in the station whilst the crew took a break. I had enough time to grab shots of it at the seaside resort before getting ahead of it to take pictures at Hall Road on the edge of Liverpool. Sadly, by that point the sun had been overwhelmed by cloud. Even so, I managed a reasonable shot of old and new together, which is today’s picture of the day.
On the left is a Class 508 unit which was built by BR at York between 1979-80. These units were built as 4-car trains for the former Southern region and operated out of London Waterloo for several years before being reduced to 3-car trains and sent North to Merseyside in 1984-85 to replace the Class 503 electric trains which had been built by the London Midland and Scottish railway in 1938. Now it’s their turn to be replaced by the Class 777s one of which is seen here on a test run from Southport to Sandhills in Liverpool. 52 of these new units are on order and will start entering into passenger service sometime in 2022. There’s around half a century of the evolution of train design captured in that picture. I remember the 507-508 taking over services on this line over 40 years ago. Barring medical miracles I don’t expect to be around in another 40-plus years to see what replaces the 777s! Still, never say never…
If you want to look back at the Merseyrail system over the years you can find pictures going back to the 1990s in two different galleries on my Zenfolio website. Images from 2003 to the present day can be found here. Shots taken when the franchise was run by Arriva (from 1997-2003) can be found here – and pictures from the British Rail era can be found in this gallery, but you’ll have to do a lot of searching!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Panic over – my laptop’s been repaired. A Dell engineer phoned me from Ireland this morning and talked through the problem, after which we set up the machine so that Mohan could take remote control of it and run through a series of diagnostics that identified and fixed the issue (a software glitch with Windows 10). I’ve done this before but it’s still weird seeing your computer take on a life of its own as someone else controls it and you become a bystander. At least it was a bona-fide Dell engineer and not a hacker!
I can now breathe easy and spend time backing up all my pictures off the machine and filing them away as I’d been intending to. Whilst the process was going on I had a chat to Mohan who told me he’s been working from home for 2 years now. I guessed as I heard his Golden Retriever barking in the background! Of course, his is the ideal job to have for working from home. Let’s face it – if he can control my computer from Ireland he can control it from anywhere. That’s one of the things that people who claim we should all be working from home don’t quite understand. Mohan is a man of Indian descent living in Ireland, being paid an Irish salary, but he could be in India being paid an Indian salary, which would considerably reduce Dell’s overheads. WFH could potentially mean a migration of jobs away from the expensive Western nations with their rates of personal and corporation tax – and don’t think that very thought hasn’t occurred to some corporations, so be careful what you wish for when you call for people to WFH. This is not what Brexiters think of when they bluster about ‘Global Britain’, but it is the reality, not the theory. Building barriers isn’t very clever in this day and age.
Now I’ve a fully working laptop again I can concentrate on getting ready for Christmas and finish all the jobs I need to do before the festering season – which may be just that due to the increase in Covid infection rates. I certainly won’t be attending any large gatherings for the foreseeable future – especially indoor ones. I may be double-jabbed and boosted, but I’m thinking of others as much as myself. The people I feel for are those in the hospitality and travel trade, for whom this new variant couldn’t have come at a worse time – just as they were hoping the Xmas season would help boost depleted coffers. Only now they’ve got to face events without any government support. I’ll be doing what I can to give them support whilst still being careful.
Tech panic over I finally managed to get out for a walk today and get some exercise although that wasn’t without a surreal moment. Just as I left a large ‘Peppa Pig’ balloon appeared from the valley below and floated over the house before getting snagged in the trees beyond. I’m sure it’s a metaphor for something, although I’m not sure what! Maybe it’s an omen for the by-election which is being held in the Tory safe seat of North Shropshire today. As well as that Parliamentary seat there’s also 12 Council places up for grabs today. You can read all about them on the excellent ‘Britain Elects’ website as they analyse the make-up and history of each seat – and also provide the results via their Twitter feed at @BritainElects. It could be an interesting night…
Right, on to the picture of the day. This one’s yet another from the Indonesian slide collection but also quite simple. Whilst I was there in December 1994 the Lotus flowers were in full bloom. Almost everywhere we stayed had a water feature of some sort, from simple urns to huge ponds. This was one of them.
Taken on slide film with a 50mm prime lens, I’d love to go back and play around with similar shots now the technology at my disposal is rather more complex and flexible. If you want to see the rest of the Indonesian collection (which is still having new pictures added) you can find them by following this link.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
You know it’s going to be one of those days when you start the day with an optimistic frame of mind and technology decides it has other plans for you. Today was one of those days. Having bounced out of bed, made coffee and sat in the office ready to start the day I booted up the laptop.
Only it didn’t. It absolutely refused to be woken from its slumber. The expression ‘Oh, sh*t’ was one of several that passed my lips as I realised my plans for the day were well and truly out of the window. Fortunately, I have an old machine gathering dust on a shelf so dug that out. But because it hadn’t been used since August last year it took me quite a while to get everything set up and (mostly) reconnected. You forget just how interlinked systems are nowadays so when passwords and other gubbins are updated, old machines don’t always ‘get it’. Finally, after a few hours of cursing and shouts of ‘I don’t believe’ it I was operational again. Ish. Apart from all the pictures and files I’d not had chance to copy of my main machine or back-up to the Cloud. I few emails to Dell later and a several missed phone calls and I’d arranged to get tech support in the morning that will hopefully coax my recalcitrant machine back to life (fingers crossed).
Needless to say, this ate up much of my day which was doubly-frustrating as the weather was gorgeous and the trips I had planned were canned, so all I could do was admire the view over the valley as I fought with various systems. Thankfully everything was up and running enough for me to be able to respond to a picture request from RAIL magazine without any more blood sweat and tears although I did rediscover another idiosyncrasy of laptops that I’d forgotten about. The wifi on my old Dell couldn’t blow the skin off a rice pudding! It doesn’t like working from the office as the signal is really weak and frequently drops out – not good when you’re sending hundreds of Mb of data, so most of my working day’s been spent sat on the bed as that room’s directly above the router! On the bright side, I was thankful that I’d worked over the weekend to get all the pictures from last weeks Community Rail Awards edited and sent out, otherwise my computer problems could have been ‘fun’ to say the least.
I’m being optimistic and hoping the the tech wizards at Dell can sort things out for me tomorrow and that the issues are software not hardware related. Frankly, I can do without the expense this close to Christmas and having had to have a camera rebuilt recently.
Sadly, all the new slides I’ve been scanning recently are sat on the other machine, so today’s picture is going to have to come from the archives. But what to choose? Oh, I know…
Here’s a change from the recent exotic travel shots I’ve been feeding you. Clapham Junction may be a lot of things but exotic isn’t a word that springs to mind. This unusual shot was taken on the 7th December this year. It’s a view of the station few people see because it’s taken from the apartment block where an old friend whom I was staying with has a flat.
The trains in the foreground are a pair of Southwestern Railway Class 707s which will soon be displaced and cascaded to Southeastern trains as (despite the fact they’re only a few years old) SWR have planned to replace them with an even newer fleet of 10 car Class 701s built by Bombardier in Derby. Only the 701s are very (very) late and riddled with faults which is causing more than a few headaches all round. So, this is a sight that will eventually pass into history.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 