It’s been another slow day here at Bigland Towers. I’m still recovering from whatever lurgi struck me down on Sunday. The aches and pains have receded, but my energy levels aren’t back up to what they should be, so I’ve not been pushing myself too hard and spent most of the day writing and picture editing – although I did get out for a walk earlier as I was beginning to get stir-crazy. It’s hardly been a great day for walking as it’s been on and off wet most of the day. Fortunately, I managed to dodge the showers whilst I was out. I completed a circuit through our local woods but as I was walking along the road to get to them, I was amazed to see two mature deer bound across the road just 75 meters in front of me. It’s not that unusual to see them around here (even in daylight) but they were leaving a stretch of woods with little cover that’s very popular with dog-walkers and people out for a stroll. It’s not where I expected to see them at all.
Weatherwise, I pushed my luck too much this evening. Dawn’s been very good at looking after me whilst I’ve been under the weather, even though she’s not feeling 100% herself so tonight I offered to walk up to the local supermarket to get some of the ingredients Dee needed for the food she’s preparing. Bad move! The wind had really picked up late this afternoon, sending leaves skittering all over the place. Then the rain came back. I was lucky walking up to the shop as I found a lull in the rain. Hah! It was waiting to pounce on me when I came out – when I had to walk into the teeth of it coming back over the brow of the hill and walk downhill, exposed to the full force of the elements as they hammered across the valley. To be honest, it was rather exhilarating. I love a good storm and I was fully prepared for it as I’d donned full waterproofs including leggings and gaiters, so they got wet, and I didn’t. It certainly blew a few cobwebs away at least.
Now I’m catching up with uploading today’s pictures whilst Dawn cooks up a different kind of storm in the kitchen. Dee loves discovering and trying new recipes and found one yesterday…
Meanwhile, I’ve added two different selections from my recent (well, September’s) sojourn in Rotterdam to my Zenfolio website. There’s the travel and people orientated shots, which you can find here. Then there’s the transport related ones (trams, railways and transport infrastructure) which you can find here. I’ve still more to add and I hope to have them done shortly. Then I can move on to more German shots.
Admittedly, I’d like to get out with the camera to record some of the autumn colours whilst there’s still some leaves on the trees. I’ll see how my recovery goes tomorrow as the forecast for Friday seems promising. Right, it’s time to go as supper’s ready. So, tonight’s picture of the day is of a culinary theme. This is what Dawn’s been busy cooking. I have to admit, the smells emanating from the kitchen were wonderful. Now I know why…
Here’s a red lentil pancake topped with masala vegetables (potato, onion, spinach, carrots, green beans and mushrooms) spiced with turmeric, cumin, white mustard seeds, asafoetida, ground coriander and chili flakes with a dash of lemon juice. The final addition? Greek yoghurt mixed with some mint sauce. The whole ensemble tasted divine!
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/
Welcome to November folks! Apologies for the sparseness of blogging during October. That was due to two things. The first was our fortnight long holiday in Greece where I made the conscious decision to step back from social media and have a bit of a detox. However, the last few days absence has been due to the fact that I’ve been down with some sort of lurgi. It wasn’t Covid (I did a test) but some of the symptoms were similar and I felt like death warmed up! I’ve been confined to bed since Sunday and now seem to be making a recovery. The aches, pains, sore throat have eased but my energy levels still aren’t back to normal, so I’ll be taking it easy at home for the rest of the week. Not that that’s a problem as I’ve plenty to do at Bigland Towers. Whilst I’ve spent most of my time sleeping, I have been editing pictures during some of my waking hours in an effort to clear the massive backlog of images I have going back as far as September. Tonight, I managed to get all the shots from our Greek trip onto my Zenfolio website. You can find those ones here. I’ve also been wading my way through images of my visit to the HS2 construction sites at West Ruislip, Denham and Calvert on Thursday. I’ve added them to this gallery. Now all I’ve got to do is complete editing pictures from September’s trip to Germany, which are beginning to appear here. The other major bit of work I have to do is finish writing the 3rd part of my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine. I’d hoped to have had it done by now but being ill has rather got in the way. Once that’s done I’m free to start thinking about other things – and catch up with writing some blogs on my various HS2 site visits.
November promises to be another busy month with various jobs in the pipeline and places to visit, but I’m determined to get back to blogging too. I’ve missed it – and I hope some of you have done too!
In the meantime, here’s a return of the picture of the day. This one’s from Thursday’s trip to attend the launch of the 2nd HS2 Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to begin its journey under London – and the 5th HS2 TBM all told. That makes 5 of the 10 machines launched now. It was quite a privilege to be aboard ‘Caroline’ when the button was pressed to start her up – and to have a tour of the machine whilst she was running. Here’s what she looks like from just behind the cutting head.
Mike Lyons, HS2’s Civils Director (left) and Michael Greiner, Head of Tunnelling for Skanksa JV discuss the intricacies of ‘Caroline’ as she begins her 5 mile long journey under London. The pistons you see above them push the TBM forward off the first ring of segments. The plate in the foreground lifts the 8 tonne segments into place after they’re delivered into the bowels of the machine. This happens every 2 meters. Individual pistons are retracted to create space for a segment, then pushed back into place before the next segment is added. Seven segments make up each ring.
If you want to learn more about how a TBM works HS2 Ltd have produced this excellent video graphic.
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/
OK, I may have lied about the normal bit as I’ve no idea what normal is nowadays – especially in the UK as it seems to lurch from political farce to economic crises and back again – unless that’s the new normal? Having returned to the UK from Greece early Sunday morning the pair of us are still trying to find our feet after two glorious weeks on Rhodes, insulated from much of the madness that’s struck the UK of late. We made the conscious decision not to have a wifi connection in our hotel room so that we could largely detach ourselves from the world and social media, to enjoy reading and playing music instead of being glued to screens. That’s why you’ve seen few blogs from me.
It worked a charm and helped make the holiday – as it actually felt like one. Neither of us had been to Rhodes before although I know Greece well, having spent a lot of time there in a previous life. I really enjoy the country for a variety of reasons. Partly because of its history and geography but also for the friendliness of the people. Oh, the sunshine helps too. Enjoying October days where it’s wall to wall sunshine with temperatures in the high 20s does make a difference to one’s mood! Of course, nowhere is perfect and the one thing I was disappointed to see was the way roadside litter has become a problem. Most of it seems to be due to plastic, especially plastic discarded from vehicles. Roadsides are strewn with empty water bottles and cans. It seems people can’t bear to keep waste inside their precious cars until they can dispose of it properly.
That aside, we really enjoyed our time exploring Rhodes or just relaxing by the hotel pool. Normally my travels are more about exploring rather than ‘chillin’ but both of us felt the need to do just that. It’s made being back in the UK harder as now we’ve got to ramp up into ‘normal’ life – juggling lots of different balls (and feeling the pressure). There’s also the added strain of coping with the economic shambles that the UK’s become thanks to the present Government. I’m having to get used to empty supermarket shelves, expensive items and constant price rises again. Today I popped into the local Lidl in Sowerby Bridge to buy a few tinned goods and a couple of bottles of beer. Before I left the beers were £1.09 each. Today they were £1.29 – an 18.3% increase. I noticed the same swinging increases on some staples in Tesco yesterday. I dread to think what I’d find if I compared many 2019 supermarket prices to those of today. It’s painful. Add in the effect of the disastrous economic policies of the short-lived Truss government and many people are faced with a financial shitstorm – even those who would once have considered themselves ‘comfortable’. God help those closer to the breadline.
I’ve tried to steer clear of political comments recently, mainly because the stream of invective I could type about the dogmatic and opportunistic shit-show that passes for the Conservative party nowadays would probably get me banned from WordPress! The Johnson government was bad enough, but the Truss administration, dominated as it was by the ideological headbangers of the Taxpayers Alliance, Institute of Economic Affairs and the other rabid occupants of 55 Tufton St – along with the party within a party who calls themselves the European Research Group took ‘shitshow’ to another level. The irony was, these ‘free marketeers’ were so ideologically hopeless it was the real markets that saw through them and their mad plans, leading to the collapse of ‘Trussonomics’ and the further weaking of the UKs economic credibility which had already been damaged by their last ‘big idea’ (and big lie) – Brexit.
Let’s not be under any illusions. The root of our political and economic problems lie with Brexit because it was Brexit that normalised lying on a vast scale. The promised ‘sunny uplands’ of Brexit were always a mirage and always unachievable. So, it’s supporters had to lie about them – and have never stopped lying since. Now lying has become second nature to them. Admittedly, to some of them (yes, you Boris Johnson) lying was always second nature! The depressing thing is how so many of those who were lied to still believe in the lies, despite all the evidence that’s come to light since.
And now we have yet another Prime Minister
Having failed to get elected just a few weeks earlier, Rishi Sunak has managed to make the grade, but hardly down to his own talents. He owes his position to the utter uselessness of Truss and the fact that egotistical bag of custard known as Johnson was so arrogant, he thought he could just swan back in and MPs would rush to welcome him back. He failed, so he lied – as he always does – pretending he’d reached the 100 MP threshold and was stepping back for the ‘good of the country’. The other candidate (Mordant) never stood a chance as the right of the party couldn’t agree who to support. So, Sunak got the job. Only now his troubles are just beginning.
In recent years the Tory party has been taken over by entryists from the far-right, from UKIP and groups like Britain First and the BNP, all of whom signed up as members (and boasted about it too). Johnson exacerbated this by throwing out of the party many old ‘one nation’ Tories like Ken Clarke. This means there’s a significant number of Tory members who will never support Sunak for one simple reason – the colour of his skin. Oh, they try and dress it up by pretending it’s because he ‘betrayed’ their blond-haired boy Johnson, but they’re letting their mask slip on social media. Here’s an example.
This guy spent all day spamming Twitter with the same message. The ‘come back Farage’ bit rather gives the game away too…
Meanwhile, Sunak’s not helping himself by his wooden performances at the lectern, his empty slogans – or his choice of appointees. In his speech he talked of ‘compassion’ and ‘integrity’ but as I write this I find he’s reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary – a woman who hasn’t an ounce of compassion and who was sacked only a few days ago for breaching the Ministerial Code! Another dud is Dominic Raab, the intellectual powerhouse who never appreciated the importance of Dover to UK trade! Christ on a bike – Labour must be clapping their hands in glee at this! The next set of opinion polls could prove to be very interesting indeed…
Right, let’s move on from politics as I can see I’m going to be returning to this shit-show more often in future as I need to let off steam before I explode…
Now we’re back my nose is against the grindstone once more. I’ve not been blogging as I’ve been scribbling for a living. Part 1 of my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine will be published on the 1st November. I finished writing part 2 today, and hope to have part 3 submitted next week. In the meantime I’ve other jobs planned. Tomorrow evening I’m back on the road and heading to London as I’ll be visiting a High Speed 2 construction site early on Thursday morning, so expect a couple of rolling blogs as part of my travels. I’m looking forward to being able to blog again, it’s a form of catharsis for me and I hope it’s entertaining (and even informative) for you, dear readers.
So, until tomorrow I’ll leave you with a picture from our Greek travels. Like many Greek towns and villages the wonderful medieval town of Rhodes has its fair share of feral cats, which often pop up in the strangest of places. Here’s one, pretending to be a Gargoyle!
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/
Time to wind down! Yesterday’s community rail awards was a brilliant event but it certainly kept me busy! I was editing pictures of the award winners until late into the evening back at the hotel, but the company was good as the CRN staff and helpers (along with some of the attendees) were winding down over a few drinks. This morning Dee and were part of a group who visited one of the post-awards events laid on by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). In our case it was a visit to the old Castlefield viaduct which has been turned into a mini version of New York’s ‘high’ line.
The Castlefield Viaduct has only been open for a matter of months (it opened on the 30th July) but it’s well worth a visit. It’s managed by the National Trust and plans for the future are very much out for consultation at the moment.
Sadly, it was the only event we could attend as we had to head back across the Pennines to prepare for another event. Tomorrow the pair of us disappear off on holiday to the island of Rhodes. We’ve certainly picked the right time as today the rain’s been bucketing down, both in Manchester and here in the Pennines as I write this. In contrast, Rhodes should be a balmy 27 degrees – as well as sunny and dry! Whilst I’ve had several work trips abroad recently (and we had a mini-break in Berlin with friends) this will be Dawn and mine’s first proper holiday abroad since Covid struck. To say we’re both looking forward to it would be an understatement.
I won’t be going ‘off-grid’ completely as us freelances rarely have that luxury, but I will be letting social media take a backseat. Expect some pictures but not a huge amount else – unless we get rained in (which is unlikely).
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which is from our visit to the Castlefield Viaduct. The NT have done an awful lot in a short time, but they welcome feedback from people on the direction of the project.
When I get time (on holiday) I’ll upload the rest of the pictures to my Zenfolio picture website – along with hundreds of pictures from Holland, Germany and the UK I have in the queue.
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/
I’ve spent another day marooned here at Bigland Towers, although to be honest – it’s been the right day to be stuck indoors as the weather’s been awful. We had rain throughout most of the day and some very heavy cloudbursts from pitch-black skies. Anyone would have thought the heavens knew Liz Truss was about to deliver her speech at the Tory party conference!
As I was slaving away in the office I thought I’d tune in, just to see how bad it was. I wasn’t disappointed. She was awful. Her first gaffe came in her opening paragraph when she praised Andy Street, the Tory “Mayor of Birmingham” – clearly unaware that Street is actually the Mayor of the West Midlands, not just Birmingham. It didn’t get any better. It was trite, nostalgic and cringeworthy, with constant references to the past – especially hers. She said that “I grew up in Paisley and in Leeds in the 80s and 90s. I have seen the boarded-up shops. I have seen people left with no hope turning to drugs. I have seen families struggling to put food on the table”. Amnesia has clearly kicked in as what she forgot to mention is who was in power between 1979 and 1997 – the years she’s speaking about? Oh, yes – the Tories!
This amnesia ran through her speech like the letters through a stick of rock. At one point she had the audacity to say “I believe in getting value for the taxpayer”. This from a woman who was in Johnson’s government, the same Government that wasted billions on dodgy PPE contracts dished out to its friends, and £37bn on a Covid ‘track and trace’ programme that was an abject failure!
She then took aim at something she dubbed the “anti-growth coalition” – whatever the hell that’s meant to mean – other than anyone who doesn’t agree with her mad economics! Soundbites were the only thing that weren’t in short supply in her speech. We were treated to bucketfuls. What we weren’t told was how she was going to make any of her economic fantasies come true. Needless to say, the markets weren’t impressed. By the time she’d finished speaking she’d managed to knock another point of the value of Sterling! Well, that’ll really help the economy grow!
The sooner her and the whole rotten bunch go the better. I’ll be very interested to see what the next batch of opinion polls come out at as I can’t see anyone but the most rabid Tory thinking this speech was a winner. Meanwhile, ordinary people will still be wondering what the hell’s going to happen to their mortgage payments, wages and the cost of living, because it’s clear Truss has no answers.
Having listened to this tripe I got on with the things I needed to do ready for heading off to Manchester tomorrow for the Community Rail Awards. I should have time for some blogging and pictures (even though I’ll be working) so expect some light relief from the Tory farce. I’m really looking forward to catching up with old friends on what’s always an enjoyable night. We’re staying overnight in Manchester before heading back on Friday, then the tempo changes as its…holiday time!
But, for now, here’s today’s picture. I’m slowly working my way through all the pictures from my recent travels in order to get them on my Zenfolio website. This is one of the most recent additions. Harwich port is hardly the most scenic of places, but the night I sailed there was a gorgeous sunset. So, here’s the Stena Britannica at Harwich a few hours before departure, seen from Harwich Town.
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/
Apologies for the fact blogging’s going to be intermittent this month but I’ve a lot of other things to concentrate on right now, including writing 12,000 words (three articles) for RAIL magazine. Oh, and then the pair of us are off on holiday on Saturday for a couple of weeks sunshine and R&R in Rhodes where a social media detox will form part of the plan. Don’t worry, the occasional blog will still appear, but many might be limited to the picture of the day. Here’s today’s, which was taken in Rotterdam a week last Sunday. I love the contrasts in architecture, and this is one of them…
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It’s an extremely short blog from me tonight. I’ve had a lovely day out around West Yorkshire catching up with and acting as a tour guide for old friends. Now I’m back at home editing a few more pictures before having some chill-time with Dawn. So, here’s the picture of the day which comes from Norwich. As shop names go…
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/
There was no blog from me last night as the pair of us were having a convivial night round at the house of friends. Tonight, Dee’s out with friends whilst I’m ‘billy no mates’, sat at home working and trying to catch-up with writing and picture editing, along with a few household chores. Not that I’m complaining. After my time in Germany/Holland it’s nice to have some time not lugging a heavy camera bag around all day. Instead, I get to sit at home in the warm, do some work and observe (via the internet) the Truss government implode. Sadly, that’s not all that’s imploding, the FTSE100 and the currency are too. I always suspected Boris Johnson’s reputation of being the worst Prime Minister we’ve ever had was going to be short-lived, but I had little idea Truss would be so quick to steal that mantle. After all, she’s only been in the job for a few weeks! Today she gave a series of BBC local radio interviews which were excruciatingly painful as it was obvious how ill-prepared and wooden she was as she responded to some very pertinent and hardball questions – or rather, didn’t respond, as time and time again she came back to her script rather than answer the actual questions but doubled-down on her economic madness which immediately caused more damage to the pound and the stock market!
I’ve avoided talking much about politics recently, but the events of the past week have left me both angry and fearful as it painfully obvious the swivel-eyed loons of the libertarian right are in charge now and seen hell-bent on wrecking the country as they apply their economic theories, no matter what.
The result? A sense of disbelief across the country as this shitstorm is engulfing everyone. It may be dogmatic theory to Truss and her Tufton St cabal but ordinary people are genuinely worried about how they’re going to keep a roof over their head and feed themselves and their loved ones. Forget the lie that Truss told that no-one will pay more than £2,500 for heating bills this year. As many others have explained, either she doesn’t understand her own policy, or she just outright lied about it. Meanwhile, the very real threat of massive interest rate hikes could see many people losing their homes which is a far greater worry than paying to heat a house you no longer have.
The upshot of this is that the Tories are tanking in the opinion polls. One (YouGov) put Labour with an unheard-of lead of 33 points! Others had more modest but equally ‘wipe-out’ territory leads of 17-19 points. Next week’s Tory party conference is going to be a very ‘interesting’ event as many Tory MPs arses are going to be twitching like a bunny’s nose. They know they can’t depose another leader and get away with it, nor can they survive the levels of public outrage over her policies. All they can do is try and persuade her to change her mind (or what passes for one) but as she models herself on Thatcher the lady ‘who wasn’t for turning’, that’s going to be a massive challenge.
If it wasn’t so damned serious and affecting us all so badly I’d be happy to sit back with some popcorn and watch the Tory party tear itself apart. They’ve got themselves into the mess, sadly, the rest of the country will be collateral damage.
Right, enough for now. I’ve got to go back to writing for a living. So, here’s today’s picture which was taken on our recent Suffolk holiday but is with others in the queue for editing and adding to my Zenfolio website in the future. This is the rather elegant National Trust property called Blickling Hall.
I hate to think what their energy bills are going to be this winter…
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/
We’re back at home after a few days in London but for me it’s a brief visit. Being back in London was lovely but what a strange time to be there. It’s certainly not the city I used to live in for so many years – for a whole host of reasons.
Right now it’s time to regroup and prepare to head off to Germany tomorrow. I’m looking forward to my travels as I’ll be exploring some places I’ve not been to a very long time (and can’t really remember) as well as new destinations and the landscape in-between. As the trip involves avoiding flying it’ll take some time – but that’s part of the fun.
Keep an eye out for the next week’s rolling blogs – starting tomorrow as I head for Harwich and the ferry to the Hook of Holland. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day which was taken at London Kings Cross station this afternoon just before we headed back North.
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/
Today’s been my last full day here at Bigland Towers for quite some time, so I’ve been making the most of it to catch up on a (long) list of household chores, paperwork and picture editing, as well as getting stuff in place for heading off to Europe on Sunday. Even the weather Gods have played ball, gifting me some wonderful autumnal sunshine to accompany my afternoon stroll and break from staring at screens.
Now it’s time for a quiet evening at home before we’re up early to get ready to head down to London for the next couple of days. I’ve no idea what to expect as these are unusual times. What I do know is that the capital will be busy but I’ve no idea how that will play out. Will the new Puritanism that’s seen so many places close as a ‘mark of respect’ for the passing of the Queen have any impact on life in London, or will Londoners simply treat it as just another event in a very crowded history? We’ll soon find out.
My blogging will be mostly (but not all) confined to pictures and explanations rather than a magnum opus or running commentary. We’re there to enjoy ourselves after all. But I hope to give some insights into my old hometown – even if those days do seem like a long time ago now.
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. It’s from a previous royal funeral, that of the Queen Mother on the 9th April 2002. I watched the funeral procession pass Horse Guards Parade and took this shot of the Royal crown atop the coffin through the crowd.
At some point soon I’ll relate the tale of when I met the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and became a royal photographer. I was tasked with taking their picture along with the staff of the Royal Train at a private event. It turned into every snapper’s nightmare due to a variety of circumstances outside of my control, but it makes a great story!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 