Tag Archives: Picture of the day

5th July picture of the day…

05 Wednesday Jul 2023

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

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There’s only a short blog from me today as there’s not an awful lot to report as I’ve been chained to Bigland Towers for most of the day, only getting out for a short walk earlier this afternoon. The weather’s still below par for the time of year, with blustery winds and low temperatures – although we have had some dramatic cloud formations to entertain us. Thankfully, they didn’t bring any more rain with then today. Today’s gainful employment has included adding a few more Northern rail pictures to my website, which you can find here, plus uploading another batch of old slides and railway memorabilia for sale on eBay which you can find here.

Today’s picture is of a rare item that I’ve added to eBay. It’s a limited edition Wedgewood plate and first day cover from the opening of the Docklands Light Railway in London on the 31st August 1987. Only 110 of these plate were produced. They were given to staff working on the railway when it opened and each one has the individual details on the back of the plate. If you fancy it, feel free to bid here.

I’ll be busy working from home again tomorrow, but I hope to be able to finish my earlier picture blog and history of the Alstom built Class 180 ‘Coradia’ fleet.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

4th July picture of the day…

04 Tuesday Jul 2023

Posted by in Picture of the day, Rail Moderinsation, Railways, West Yorkshire

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Today’s been a curate’s egg sort of day. This morning I strolled into Halifax in bright sunshine in order to visit a well known chain of opticians in order to have my two-yearly eye test and choose some new glasses. My old ones are past their sell-by date due to the photochromic darkening breaking down, leaving them rather blotchy. My eye test went well in that it revealed only a minor change in my prescription. But it also revealed that I have the very early stages of cataracts in both eyes. I’m not too surprised – or worried. After all, it’s an age-related problem that 30-50% of people will suffer from in their lives due to their age – and it can be cured with surgery (if it ever gets that bad). I’d never have known I had it if the optician hadn’t picked it up as It’s not affecting my eyesight. On the bright side, I’ll have new glasses and a new look in a fortnight’s time. Dawn came with me to approve my choice of frames. She’s happy with my pick which is good as she’ll spend more time looking at them than I will!

Appointment done and dusted and with the weather staying dry I decided to nip out for a few hours to reconnoiter photographic opportunities on the new railway electrification scheme between Bolton and Wigan. The quickest way to Wigan was via the old Lancashire and Yorkshire railway main line via Walkden. This route’s changed out of all recognition. It was once a four-track main line through a landscape dotted with collieries and cotton mills. All that’s gone. Now the route serves areas that are little more than dormitory towns for Manchester. That said, at least the stations have seen money spent on them and have a half-hourly train service. It’s a far cry from when I used to travel on it as a teenager in the 1970s.

My pair of Class 158s deposited me at Wigan Wallgate where I had 25 mins to wait for a return service, this time via Westhoughton on the section soon to be electrified. My return transport was rebuilt hybrid Class 769 which was rather nice as I was ensconced in the former first class saloon. Apart from vegetation clearance and some serious bridge reconstruction at Hindley where the station remains closed until 24th July whilst platforms are lengthened and resurfaced there’s little sign that electrification’s coming as installation of electrification masts and associated equipment has yet to start.

Back I Manchester I swapped my 769 for a busy CAF built Class 195/0 for the trip back across the Pennines, changing once more at Todmorden in order to arrive at Sowerby Bridge. Now I’m having a quiet night in with Dawn as the pair of us have another busy day tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a picture from the day for now.

158792 coupled to 158849 brings up the rear of 2I15, the 1249 Wigan Wallgate to Leeds (via Brighouse) service as it leaves Todmorden earlier today.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

3rd July picture of the day…

03 Monday Jul 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Climate Change, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day

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Hmm, it’s been a wet start to the week here in the Calder valley and hardly a brilliant start to July – especially after hot weather we had in June. I see that the Met Office have declared June the warmest on record, which is hardly surprising. I was watching the daily forecasts (not from the Met Office) which showed average temperatures being broken day after day. Of course, this news has brought out the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging climate change deniers out in force on social media. Their best conspiracy theory has been that it’s only the hottest because the Met Office have fiddled previous years figures to make it look that way. Proof (if ever it were needed) that they’re not the sharpest tools in the box – and neither are the people who fall for them.

Still, after the heavy and persistent rain we had this morning I was rather pleased to see the sun this afternoon – even if the high-winds that have battered us for several days took the edge off the temperatures. Both Dee and I have been busy working from home today but we did manage to get out for a rare joint walk, which was lovely. The local woods are bursting with life at the moment. So much so that some of the footpaths are becoming obstacle courses due to all the brambles and nettles. I’ll not complain too much as I may be able to pick a good crop of Blackberries again and Dee’s threatening to have a go at harvesting Bilberries – something that are alien to me. Still, with Dawn being such a fantastic cook – if she wants to rustle up a few Bilberry pies I’m not going to complain. Maybe we can do a trade with my sister Anne for some of her home-grown and made Gooseberry pies…

The weather’s looking pretty crap for the rest of the week but I’ve things to do tomorrow so I’ll be out and about in some form whatever happens. With luck I may be able to get a blog from the day. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day, which reflects how the weather and the seasons can change the landscape around here. This is the very first picture I took from our bedroom window when I moved here from London in January 2010.

Looking across to Norland from our home on the 3rd January 2010. We have had snow in June here in the Pennines – but not like this! Ironically, with global warming making weather patterns more unpredictable, we may have more scenes like this – but not in July – unless we’ve completely screwed the planet!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

1st July picture of the day…

01 Saturday Jul 2023

Posted by in Flora and Fauna, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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It’s been a very windy couple of days here at Bigland Towers. Nothing to do with the food I’ve been cooking you understand, the phenomenon’s been weather rather than digestive related. However, it did cause damage to some of the plants I have in pots out at the back of the house, so part of today’s been spent visiting various garden centres spread across the area. Pot prices (and choices) vary enormously depending on where you go. Fortunately I’d already checked out a few likely candidates recently, so our ‘go to’ garden centre was Totties near Holmfirth. They have a great selection of pots and other garden bits besides plants. Oh, the cafe’s not bad either – although the pea soup we ordered today turned out to be mushroom because no-one had changed the specials blackboard!

Once back at home I spent the afternoon up to my elbows in compost and cuttings, which is great therapy. We’ve replaced several old pots and baskets with some made out of recycled plastic. I do love traditional terracotta pots but with the cold winters and freezing winds we get here in the Pennines they can mean plants have a very short life.

Here’s the view from outside the kitchen window, where we have a mixture of herbs and flowers. It certainly brightens the place up – not to mention giving us a good selection of fresh herbs which we don’t have to pay through the nose for in supermarkets.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

29th June picture of the day…

29 Thursday Jun 2023

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

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Here I am, almost in July – wondering where the bloody hell the year’s going! 2023’s certainly had its interesting moments so far, but I feel that I’ve a long list of things I want to do/see/achieve and I’m only scratching the surface in a race against time.

I’d intended to get out and about today but realised I’d more than enough things to do here at Bigland Towers – especially as I had a couple of hours set aside this afternoon to be part of a ‘Zoom’ seminar. Us Community Rail judges have made ourselves available on 2-hour long scheduled Q&A sessions to help people with their entries for the CRN awards. After the last one I’d contemplated holding the surgery whilst I was travelling but that wouldn’t have been fair on those popping in as you just know technology would let you down at the crucial moment.

So, I stayed at home, ignored the good(ish) weather and edited loads of pictures and dealt with paperwork instead. You can find the latest batch of pictures in the following galleries. Railway stations are here, whilst railway infrastructure and engineering is here. Borth galleries relate to my travels yesterday.

This evening I’ve been busy in the kitchen, giving Dawn a break after her culinary endeavors on our Norfolk holiday. Tonight’s effort was batch-cooking Thai green curry with chicken, which should keep us well fed for a few days and the freezer topped up for the future.

Of course, tomorrow’s another day. Will I make it out anywhere? Let’s wait and see. In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. As I was wading through the archives earlier I realised there’s one batch of pictures I still haven’t done anything with. These are the transport pictures from our visit to Turkey nearly two months ago. Eventually, they’ll go in their own gallery on my Zenfolio website, but for now, here’s a taste.

Modern trams in Sultanhamet Square. If only more cities had this greener form of transport.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

26th June picture of the day…

26 Monday Jun 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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It’s another working week back here at Bigland Towers. The holiday and the weekend flew by all too quickly. Now my focus is centred on work, although parts of the holiday were very much the proverbial busman’s. Sunday was in similar vein as I waded through pictures I needed to get out to clients or just place on my website. It wasn’t too much of a problem as the pair of us had no great plans for the day. The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms so there was little point in planning a great outdoors adventure. In the end the predictions were false. Oh, we had some moody skies- but no pyrotechnics – much to our joint disappointment. What we did gate late in the day was some very heavy showers, which saved me the job of watering the gardens so I’m not going to complain! In the evening the pair of us sat down to watch the finale of the Glastonbury festival with the appearance of Elton John, who was excellent. It certainly took me back a bit. I’ve not been to Glastonbury since 2000 and the last time I saw Elton John live was in 1975!

Today’s been another day where I’ve spent much of my time glued to a computer screen. I needed to finish penning my net article for RAIL which is about the ‘3 peaks by rail’ marathon from the other week. You’ll be able to read all about it in RAIL 987 which will hit the newsagents on the 12th July. Tomorrow my work moves online as I’ll be taking part in an online seminar for Community Rail Network as part of my role as one of the CRN awards judges. Hopefully, on Wednesday (weather permitting) I’ll be out and about looking at the latest work on the trans-pennine route upgrade (TRU) before I’m back to online work on Thursday.

In the meantime, expect more blogs to appear as I’m free to write about other stuff just as ‘me’. O, and there’s plenty of pictures to look at too. You’ll find recent railway images from the Anglia network here, travel images here and social issues photography here. There’s more to come when I’ve finished editing other categories later in the week.

I’ll end with the picture of the day which comes from last weeks outings. I found these old wooden-bodied railway coaches just down the road from where we were staying. These were once a common sight around the country from the early part of the last century as railway companies sold off old vehicles to be used for a variety of uses, from chicken coops to holiday homes. Few remain, which is why I was surprised to find these two still in use as part of someone’s home.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

22nd June picture(s) of the day…

22 Thursday Jun 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Norfolk, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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Apologies for the lack of blogging these past few days but we’re on holiday in Norfolk and I’ve been trying to concentrate on enjoying ourselves. Well, not entirely. I’ve still had to do some work in order to get all the ‘3 peaks by rail’ pictures edited and off to the Railway Children charity and others for a forthcoming article in RAIL magazine, so that’s taken up my evenings rather than blogging. Whilst I’ve been working Dawn’s been enjoying herself in the kitchen, coming up with some wonderful food to feed the four of us.

We’ve been graced with some fabulous weather here in North Norfolk. Back in the Pennines there’s been a lot of rain whilst here we’ve had mostly wall to wall sunshine, leavened by a few clouds. Our days have been spent exploring Cromer and the coast, a trip on the North Norfolk railway and then – yesterday – a sortie over the border into Suffolk to visit Southwold, the lovely seaside town which is home to Adnams brewery. We’ve one day left here before we head back North, so we’re determined to make the most of it. Here’s a few pictures to give you a flavour of the trip.

On Tuesday we enjoyed a couple of trips on the North Norfolk railway behind this beastie, seen here at Holt station.
Here’s a classic real ale pub in Cromer. The Red Lion hotel (yes, it also has rooms and serves food).
Just a few of the real ales there were on sale during our visit.
The pier at Southwold is hardly the grandest (or longest) in the UK, but it’s still a pleasant addition to this seaside retreat.
The Sole Bay Inn and lighthouse in Southwold.
On the way back from Southwold we stopped at the lovely Rushcutters Arms pub on the Eastern side of Norwich. It has a lovely riverside spot on the river Yare, good beers and a view of the railway.
Tonight’s meal cooked by Dawn using fish bought from the excellent Davies Fish Shop in Cromer as well as other local ingredients. From L-R there’s Crevettes, Cromer crab, anchovies and Seabass. That was accompanied by local Asparagus and Dee’s home-made meatballs. Oh, there’s also a tomato salad and scalloped potatoes too…

Don’t worry, once I get back to Yorkshire I’ve lots to blog about, including the latest ‘green’ party anti HS2 lunacy in the first ‘crazy anti HS2 campaigner of the week’ for 2023 – although looking at the way their campaign’s shaping up it won’t be the last…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

19th June picture of the day…

19 Monday Jun 2023

Posted by in Norfolk, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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We’ve had a relaxed day here in Norfolk so it’s a short blog from me tonight. None of us were rushing this morning although I did spend time working in order to tackle the mountain of pictures I need to edit from ‘3 Peaks by rail’. Then this afternoon we drove over to Sheringham to meet up with an old friend and enjoy sunshine, drinks and ice-cream – just the sort of things you expect of time at the seaside. Admittedly, we did have a quick look at the North Norfolk railway, which made us decide to pop back tomorrow to explore and take a trip along the line.

This evening has been just as relaxed – except for Dawn, who’s been busy in the kitchen cooking. But that’s something Dee really enjoys doing so we didn’t feel too guilty about letting her – and I did muck in to do the washing up and tidying!

The day’s been rounded off nicely by seeing that Parliament voted to accept the recommendation of the Committee looking at Boris Johnson lying to it by 354 to 7. Of course, we all knew he’d done that, but now it’s official. It was hardly the Tory party’s finest hour as most of their MPs were conspicuous by their absence, including Sunak, who seems to have forgotten his pledge of bring ‘integrity’ back to Government. As for the 7 who voted against, they weren’t all the usual suspects. One of them, uber- brexiter and right-wing old fossil Bill Cash has already announced he won’t be standing at the next election. I just hope the constituents of the other six dispose of them by the ballot box when they have the chance. Six of the seven (Bill Cash, Nick Fletcher, Adam Holloway, Karl McCartney, Joy Morrissey and Heather Wheeler) are Tories. The seventh is unknown according to the BBC and other sources, which suggest the tellers could have miscounted. Time will tell.

On that happy ending I’ll leave you with todays picture which was taken at the North Norfolk railway earlier.

This is British Railways ‘standard’ Class 4 2-6-0 number 76084 which was built at Horwich works, Lancashire in March 1957. It’s pictured at Sheringham station before working a train to Holt, the Western terminus of the line.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

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14th June picture of the day…

14 Wednesday Jun 2023

Posted by in 3 peaks by rail, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, The Railway Children, Travel

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Today’s hardly been the most exciting day here at Bigland Towers as I’ve spent most of it chained to my desk – despite wall to wall sunshine outside. I’ve needed to clear the decks ready for the next few weeks which is going to see me travelling all around the country but before doing that I needed to get pictures out to clients and rejig some other arrangements as plans have a habit of changing from day to day – through no fault of my own.

The first adventure begins tomorrow when I head off to Crewe to join the rest of the staff, volunteers and participants for the 20th anniversary trip of the Railway Childrens ‘3 Peaks by rail’ odyssey. The trip has already stretched the ingenuity of the team organising the logistics of the event but I won’t explain why until after we leave Crewe. I’ll be blogging throughout Thursday and the other two days of the event when I can, although there’s some places where phone reception and wifi simply don’t exist so I’ll have to fill in the blanks later. Of course you’ll also be able to read all about the event in a future edition of RAIL magazine.

Right now it’s time for me to call it a day as not only do I need to finish packing for the 3 Peaks, I also need to prepare a set of holiday clothes because just as soon as I get back from Scotland I’ll be hot-footing it down to Norfolk the next day to catch up with Dawn and her parents in Norfolk where we have a holiday cottage booked. Thankfully, Dee can take my stuff with her to save me carrying even more kit. The 3 peaks has often caused me some fun as a couple of times I’ve had to hot-foot it to Crewe straight from other (sometimes formal) events. I’ve even had to fly straight back from Germany and travel to Bangor in a following service only to meet up with the train in the early hours of the morning. In contrast, this year I have plenty of time and no other commitments.

I’ll leave you with today’s picture which comes from the series I was taking yesterday. Here’s a pair of Trans-Pennine Express Class 185s from Manchester en-route to Leeds crossing the Uppermill viaduct.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

4th June picture of the day…

04 Sunday Jun 2023

Posted by in Merseyrail, Merseyside, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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After my meandering around Merseyside I’m back home in the Calder valley. We’ve had another day of glorious sunshine but I didn’t have chance to enjoy much of it as I’ve been stuck in the office most of the day in order to edit all the pictures I’ve taken and get the Class 777 train test pictures across to RAIL magazine ready for Monday. Whilst I was at it I thought I might as well keep going and get all the other pictures from last week edited, captioned and onto my Zenfolio website.

You can find the Merseyrail images here, plus the Northern trains pictures here. There’s also a look at some stations (which you can find here) and also several new infrastructure images (here). To round things off I’ve now added the pictures from the last two train tests. So, if you want to have a look around the interiors of West Midlands trains new Class 196’s click here, whilst Transport for Wales Class 197 interior shots are here.

Now I’ve got these out of the way I can (hopefully) make the most of next week. I’ve another project to get my teeth into which involves reviews of certain scenic rail lines around the UK so good weather is essential. June’s looking like a busy month so there should be plenty to blog about.

But, right now, I’m going to call it a day. Dawn’s been busy experimenting with our new kitchen toy – a double-drawer air-fryer and the smells that are wafting upstairs from the kitchen are divine. So, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is of one of the new Stadler Class 777s which are starting to enter service on Merseyside. At the moment they’re only working Northern line services from Liverpool to Kirkby and Ormskirk but they’ll be rolled out west of the Mersey soon. The Eurovision song contest led to one of the units having special vinyl’s applied which have left it looking very colourful indeed. They’ll last for another couple of months, so catch it whilst you can.

777013 calls at Maghull whilst working a service from Ormskirk to Liverpool Central.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!