The fact our internet connection collapsed this morning was the impetus I needed to take a break from staring at screens and get out in the autumn sunshine for a few hours. Well, when I say sunshine, I mean those few brief but glorious moments in-between the clouds and rain. But it made for some glorious skies and sights, at today’s picture shows.
I escaped to the hills above Walsden, just outside Todmorden to a photographic location I’ve known for years. It’s a beautiful spot which sums up this part of the world.
The rainbow was a bonus that was worth getting a brief soaking for! I won’t be back in the office now until Sunday, as tomorrow I’m off on my travels. No doubt a blog or two will appear..
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 need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Talk about trying to keep too many plates spinning! At the moment I’m constantly swapping between jobs. Trying to keep my (financial) head above water and get articles written, pictures on my website or stuff on eBay and at the same time maintain a home-life whilst trying to keep fit! I’m not the only one of course – and I admire all those people who can do this whilst also looking after a young family (a cat’s enough for me), so excuse me whilst I have a 1st world whinge! That’s when perspective kicks in, isn’t it? You see your own little problems then look around at others and think – wow! I thought I was keeping plates spinning…
As I’ve not been occupied writing today and the weather’s been crap I’ve had time for a spot of decluttering. I’d forgotten how much stuff I’ve had packed away in boxes that hasn’t seen the light of day for decades. It’s those 1st world problems again – we hoard so much crap nowadays – because we can. We have that luxury, which is why when you’re travelling nowadays you pass so many old shipping container farms set up purely to store people’s surplus crap that they’ve run out of space for but refuse to let go of. At this stage of my life I’m trying to take a much more Buddhist approach to these things and letting stuff go. After all – I can’t take it with me…
The memories and experiences I want to want to keep I’m gradually digitizing – for two simple reasons. They’re portable and they don’t take up any space and one day I hope to be able to use much of what I keep in my writing. There’s certainly a few stories to tell when I have time but the ‘chunky’ stuff can go. Mind you, sifting through the ephemera from the best part of 50 years of one’s life can really take you back. Here’s one thing I found today…
Don’t try and draw too many conclusions from the ticket. The next year I was at the (in)famous Stranglers open air gig in Battersea Park!
Meanwhile, here’s the picture of the day, which is about the future, not the past and about how much the world’s changed in my lifetime. I took this picture of North Greenwich and Canary Wharf in London from the Emirates cable car traversing the Thames on the 20th November 2019.
I remember this area before any of this was built. I moved to East London in 1986 and lived just up the road in Bromley-by-Bow. I watched what was formerly derelict docks transformed into everything you see here – and the city of London beyond, which you can see to the right. The capital’s skyline’s still changing. I left a decade ago and there’s parts I struggle to recognise now! Will that rate of change start to slow now that we’ve cut ourselves off politically and economically from Europe – time will tell…
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As the old Meatloaf song goes – ‘two out of three ain’t bad’ – and today part two of my round Britain trilogy was submitted, ready to go to be sub-edited. As I’ve got a bit of breathing space before the first part’s published I’m going to have a short break to catch up on other things and even have chance to get away for a couple of days. Thankfully, the latest Covid restrictions won’t cause me any problems as I’ll be heading South, away from the worst affected areas. All I need now is for the weather Gods to play ball, and right now the forecast is looking promising. I’m looking forward to having new travel adventures to blog about as I’m really starting to feel the ‘Covid blues’ again – especially as the nights are drawing in and I’ll be restricted in what I can do. It may be cosy in my office but the walls start to close in on you after a while…
Talking of walls gives me a useful link into the picture of the day…
I took this picture in October 1993 at the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Lynn and I were staying here for a night after a 5-day camel trekking safari in the Thar desert. On the horizon you can see the clifftop walls of Jodhpur fort which dominates the city below. What magical places these were!
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 need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Hmm, what to choose as a picture of the day? Something to match my present mood? Thunderous or gloomy skies would fit the bill there. Maybe something to match my opinion of the current Government? I’m not sure I have any circus pictures…
Nah, I’ll pluck one at random as I nearly always do.
Today was another of those days where it lived down to expectations, for a variety of reasons. When the bright spots are you actually hit your step target and managed to get loads more stuff listed on eBay you realise this isn’t exactly the jet-setting, rock and roll lifestyle.
Not that there’s much chance of either at the moment as the Government are expected to list more Covid restrictions. Sadly, I’m trapped in a neck of the woods where cases continue to rise, so I’m not being optimistic. A visit to a local supermarket today made me realise just how many people think masks are actually hammocks to support their double-chins! So, right now I feel a bit like a prisoner of events – only there’s not much chance of me building a glider in the roof – Colditz style! Hopefully, once whatever’s announced is announced I can start planning some things with a little more certainty. In the meantime – there’s writing to be done, pictures to be edited and decades of collected ephemera to be sifted and either junked, recycled or stored.
Oh, a picture of the day – I’ve plumped for this as it’s reminded me of a better times. In March 2018 I joined a group of other people – mostly from the rail industry – for a cycle ride to raise money for the charity the Railway Children . We covered 270 miles across Rajasthan in India in a few days in March – not exactly the coolest time of the year. It was a brilliant event with some excellent people. It was also tough, but boy, was it a positive experience. Needless to say, as well as cycling and raising money from sponsorship I offered my services as a photographer and donated the pictures. Here’s one. We visited one of the railways stations that the RC have a presence on and met a group of the homeless children they work with. Sometimes pictures happen because all the circumstances come together to make is so – and you spot the moment. This was one such picture.
I’ve been donating my services to the Railway Children ever since 2017. Sadly, this year we couldn’t run another big UK event – ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ due to Covid. But, hopefully, next year we’ll be back – and do it twice to make up!
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Funny old world, isn’t it, eh? You just think things are settling down and all of a sudden it all goes topsy-turvey again – for no adequately explained reason – and certainly not one that you have any control over.
The changeable weather meant that plans for a day out were cancelled. Instead we’ve both been busy at home sorting out this, that – and the other. I’ve managed to have more of a declutter, so lots more railway ephemera and old pictures will appear on eBay this weekend. Right now I’ve added lots more old slides, including one that relates to the last picture of the day – just from a different angle and 20 years earlier!
So, here’s today’s picture, which was taken in Bangkok, Thailand on the 30th November 2013. This a a huge reclining Buddha at Wat Po. Now, normally, the Thai’s see exposing the soles of your feet to people as disrespectful – unless you’re the Buddha, obviously!
Joking aside, the statue is stunning and Wat Po’s well worth a visit. I love Asian temples as they’re very much community hubs in a way English churches can only aspire to. Religion’s so much more part of people’s everyday lives (for better or worse). It can still lead to sectarian conflicts but it adds a glue that perhaps we’ve lost in the West.
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Cor! You can really start feeling the seasons change right now, especially up here in the Pennines. The autumnal nip in the air was very pronounced today and the the leaves are turning into some beautiful colours in our local woodlands. It’ll soon be time to dig my camera out…
Apart from an an afternoon constitutional I’ve spent the day trapped at home writing and catching up on various chores – including packing a large selection of old slides that I’ve sold on eBay which needed dispatching to customers around the country. With us freelances having suffered so badly during Covid the income from sales like this has helped keep the wolf from the door. I’m certainly grateful for having the supplemental source of income – and it clears out a cupboard! Hopefully, with a busy day at home tomorrow the decks will be cleared for some free time as Dawn and I have planned to escape the Calder valley and head to the coast this weekend – if only for a day trip. Whilst I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled around the UK for work recently, poor Dawn has been stuck (landlocked) since before lockdown, so I know the sight of the sea will be a welcome break.
OK, let’s move on to the picture of the day, which isn’t from any exotic beach of far-flung corner of the globe. It’s from London, and for anyone who knows the city well it encapsulates the changing skyline of the capital and just how much it’s changing. I took this picture before lockdown, on the 25th February in fact.
The four iconic chimneys give this building away as being the old Battersea power station on the South bank of the Thames. Having been derelict and gutted for decades it’s now disappearing behind a spiders-web of cranes and new apartment blocks as the abandoned railway yards that surrounded it are converted into a a luxury housing complex that will mostly be bought by foreign investors. Well, that was the plan. Will it still come to fruition? Time will tell…
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Today’s been another one where I’ve spent most of it getting corns on my bum as I’ve been glued to a computer screen, scribbling words and editing pictures. My stop-count has gone to pot these past couple of weeks but I’m looking forward to putting that right next week once I’ve got the work I need to do out of the way. The weather’s not exactly been conducive to venturing far anyway so earning the ‘ackers to pay bills has been more important than swanning around the country.
Although the swanning will hopefully produce some interesting blogs soon…
Meanwhile, here’s today’s picture of the day, which is rather appropriate for the weather conditions. I took it at Seathwaite in the Lake District in June 2002. I was there on a short break with friends that was rather handy as I had a ‘shot list’ of locations for a forthcoming Lonely Planet guidebook to England. The first they’d ever done if I remember correctly. This picture was featured in the guidebook as Seathwaite is officially the wettest place in England – and this picture illustrates that fact perfectly.
Those of you who’re regular readers of this blog will recognise the picture as I use it as my header on the front page. I suppose it’s time to change it now I’ve given it away, isn’t it?
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 need all the help that we can get. 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 another day spent working from home and grappling with the capricious nature of technologies such as the internet. I’d a Community Rail Awards Zoom meeting arranged for 10am, so that my fellow judge (Mark Barker) and I could talk to a station friends group. So, of course, my internet connection decides to play hard to get: Literally! I spent a good half hour rebooting stuff or tinkering with settings before the damn thing decided to behave again. Meanwhile I was trying to transfer hundreds of pictures from my round Britain trip to RAIL magazine, which had to be paused whilst I was having the meeting – just in case both got screwed up.
On the bright side (?) we’ve had a miserable day weather-wise, so being stuck at home was hardly a hardship and everything worked out in the end. Although it does feel slightly surreal to be talking to old friends who only live down the road on Zoom rather then just popping in to see them – such is the mad world we all currently inhabit, and one that doesn’t look like sanity will return to for quite some time – and I’ve not even touched on politics…
I’m taking a break from that form of madness and keeping my spleen unvented until the pressure becomes too much. I’m too busy trying to keep on top of my writing jobs and decluttering the house – hence more and more railway items ending up on my eBay account. Hopefully, once I’ve got this series of RAIL articles in the bag I’ll have the time to add some of the larger items of railway memorabilia as I’ve mostly been focusing on pictures as they’re easy and the P&P is simple.
OK, It’s time to cut the rambling and move on to the picture of the day, which is more about the harder side of life than the scenic side of travel. I took this picture in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 23rd February 2012. A homeless man is using water from a storm drain on the side of the Gombak River (which is enclosed in concrete at this point) to wash the only clothes he has, surrounded by the buildings of the cities banking and business district…
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It’s been a long day and I’m knackered, so I’m saying little tonight. I’m going to let the picture speak for itself. I spent Christmas and New Year 2011-12 in Bali, Indonesia, looking up an old friend (and meeting some new ones). I first went to Bali in 1992 and I’ve been back many times since as the beautiful island and its people have grown on me. The fact it’s also a photographers delight and has some fantastic food has absolutely nothing to do with it – honest!
I took this picture on the 7th January 2012. I was walking from where I was staying into Ubud and was overtaken by this couple on a scooter. Luckily, I had the long lens on my camera, which was slung over my shoulder, so I had time to grab the shot. The woman on the back is balancing roast suckling pig atop her head in traditional Balinese style as her husband weaves his way around the local roads on his scooter. Both are dressed in traditional attire, which suggests they’re on the way to a religious ceremony somewhere. The Balinese aren’t great fans of walking more than a couple of hundred metres so transport like this is de rigeur. They would often spot me when I was walking into town and ask me where I was going. My reply often caused bemusement – “jalan jalan” (walking, in Bahasa Indonesian). Why would anyone walk? – especially in the tropical sun? Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that…
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 need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Remember the days when you had things to look forward to? No, me neither. That seems like a different word. So many things have happened over the past 9 months with lots of events cancelled or curtailed that the world feels like a very different place to the one it once did. As someone who’s always travelled I feel my wings have been severely clipped – and I don’t know when I’ll get to spread them again.
That said, I think that things will be changing very soon.
In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day. I’m a fan of industrial archeology and things like shipwrecks. This particular one’s from New Zealand.
This is the wreck of the TSS Waverley. She’s a ship with a fascinating history which you can find here. I really enjoy exploring these old shipwrecks – and ones 1000s of miles from the UK always pique my interest.
I’m sure I’ll have another shipwreck or two to add here soon enough. In the meantime there’s lots of old rail slides to look forward to – as well as a different local focus.
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 need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 