Tag Archives: Railways

Rolling blog. Anyone for tennis (elbow)?…

24 Friday Nov 2023

Posted by in Class 319, Northern Rail, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:45.

Regular readers of this blog will know I’ve talked about a problem I’ve been having with my right elbow. Well, this morning I had a call from a lovely Physio nurse down at our local GPs surgery who gave me a consultation over the phone. By the end of it we still weren’t sure of the problem so Emma asked if I could make an appointment to see her. As it was, I was free and could be there in 20 minutes, so we arranged for an 09:00 consultation today How’s that for service?

A face to face visit and chance for Emma to physically get to grips with my arm revealed the problem. I had what’s known as ‘tennis elbow’. “Dunno why”, said Emma, “I’ve never met a tennis player with it, I’ve never met a golfer with golfers elbow either. I suppose it’s just easier to say than lateral epicondylitis”.

It transpires it’s just another hazard of my occupation. Essentially, it’s a repetitive strain injury. Now I know I can change my behaviours that led to it. It will eventually go away, it’s just one more bit of my body to add to the list of those that have suffered for my art!

As I was already in Sowerby Bridge and it was early (and I had the camera bag) I decided to make hay whilst the sun shone, so I’m now on my way to Manchester to add more library images of Northern’s Class 319s before they go. My train’s a packed pair of Class 195s forming the 09:22 to Chester. I’ve no idea why it’s so busy but it’s good to see.

11:15.

After changing at Manchester Victoria for a fast TPE service to Liverpool I’ve made it to Lime St, the haunt of the trains I’m here to shoot. Here’s one of them with the type of train due to replace them. Class 323s are being displaced from the West Midlands, when they’ll head North to boost Northern’s existing 323 fleet – of which this is one..

319366 and 323224 both between turns at Liverpool Lime St.
319370 arrives at Wigan North Western whilst working 1F07, the 13.05 Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime St.
There roughly a fortnight left to see sights like this, although the number of 319s in service is declining week by week. Here’s 319386 about to work 2W90, the 1542 Liverpool Lime Street to Wigan North Western whilst 319366 waits having arrived on 2C19, the 1452 from Wigan North Western.
319386 leaving Lime ST, working 2W90, the 1542 to Wigan North Western.
Whilst the 319s are mostly found on the Liverpool – Wigan – Blackpool corridor there are a few peak diagrams that take them from Liverpool and Wigan to Manchester Victoria. Here’s 319386 at Victoria, waiting to leave after a fast turnaround due to late running. It’s forming 2G95, THE 1713 Manchester Victoria to Wigan North Western.

18:50.

Apologies for the blogging gap but I’ve been on the move a lot so had little time to bash the keyboards. Right now I’m at Hebden Bridge on my way home. Everything’s gone a bit ‘Pete Tong’ with many trains cancelled or delayed – including my connection to Sowerby Bridge. I only found out when I got here otherwise I’d have stayed on my original train to Halifax. Still, there’s worse places to be stuck for a while and the waiting room’s as warm as toast!

Just about every train I’ve been on today (and that’s been a few) has been packed. There’s certainly no shortage of passengers, especially on the Liverpool – Blackpool route. This may become a squeeze when train capacity’s cut by 25% come the December timetable change.

In the meantime, the 319s are soldiering on, although they are looking a bit careworn. Still, as their next destination’s the scrapyard, is anyone too bothered?

From a photographic perspective, today’s been a reasonable day. I’ve managed to add some new locations (for 319s, anyway) to the library even if I couldn’t make full use of the glorious sunshine. This evening the mercury is dropping rapidly, so I’m happy to head home. Besides, I’m on my travels again on Sunday/Monday so I’m going to give the elbow some room to rest!

19:41.

Almost home. There’s just time for a quick pint of hazy IPA at the Hogshead Brew House in Sowerby Bridge to fortify myself for the hike uphill to Bigland Towers. Cheers!

Saturday 26th update.

I’ve added a few more pictures to this blog from yesterday.

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 November picture(s) of the day…

22 Wednesday Nov 2023

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

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After yesterday’s adventures chasing trains today’s been a complete contrast and very much home-based. Our day started earlier than planned as the window company who were fitting some new windows to the cottage turned up at 08:00 instead of the 09:00 they’d told Dawn! Cue a mad scramble to get ready earlier, not so big a deal for me as I’d been up early, moving things out of the way of the workers, but women do take longer over their toilette! (You’ll get killed for that: Ed).

The chap who’d turned up to fit the windows was relaxed about the muddle and retreated to his van for another brew until we were ready. Not that the work started immediately. It turns out his family are from the same West Yorkshire village Dawn’s parents grew up in – Marsden. Not only that, but Dee’s mum knew his family and used to take one of his Uncles to school! So, as you can imagine, some reminiscing went on – especially when Dee’s mum rang and was put on speakerphone…

All our upstairs windows were being replaced, including the one in my office so I was exiled downstairs to share the living room with Dawn whilst Andrew and his oppo worked away in the bedroom, bathroom and office. Talk about a bad day to have new windows put in. Our run of crap weather continued with rain and drizzle hanging around for much of the day. Then, late morning, the gales arrived and stayed with us all day. Upstairs was like a wind-tunnel and downstairs wasn’t much better as the guys had to constantly traipse through the house. Conditions weren’t much fun for them either. Whilst I kept everyone topped up with tea, coffee and biscuits Dee decided that lunchtime meant it was egg and bacon teacakes* all round. Her culinary efforts in the kitchen were certainly appreciated by all. After all, none of us are Tories so we really were all in this together!

The guys finished around 16:00 which gave me time to do some clearing up whilst Dawn continued working, after which we swapped roles so I could get back into the office to do some of the stuff I couldn’t with just a laptop perched on the edge of a settee. I’m loving my new office window. The old three panel one’s been replaced by a single pane which is letting in a lot more light. It’s also obstruction free for when I want to take pictures of the birds hanging off the feeders or foraging on the plants and rocks on the terrace. There feels to be a noticeable drop in draughts too – although that could be wishful thinking at this point. Time will tell.

Right, time to call it a day and leave you with a picture rather than get into some spleen-venting over today’s latest Tory lies around the autumn statement. I’ve a fun day tomorrow so that can wait. Here’s another picture from yesterday’s travels.

The number of signalboxes on the UKs railways is dwindling at a steady rate. Slow modernisation of signalling systems which concentrates control in just a handful of Regional Operating Centres (ROCs) is sounding the death-knell of local boxes, especially the old mechanical ones. Only a handful survive, but one that does – despite the line having been electrified and resignalled in recent years is the old LMS box at St Helens Central. Admittedly, it’s changed a bit. Here’s two pictures to illustrate the difference. The first was taken yesterday, the second was taken 32 years ago in 1991.

The box seen on the 17th June 1991 when there were still active Civil Engineers sidings in the old goods yard behind the box. Nowadays the tracks are still there but overgrown by the trees you see in yesterday’s shot.

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

Rolling blog. North-west foray…

21 Tuesday Nov 2023

Posted by in Class 319, Greater Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs

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12:10.

Discretion being the better part of valour and with having a judging meeting this morning I decided not to sally forth this morning until afterwards just in case I couldn’t find a decent wifi connection and location to hold such an event. Now, with the meeting done and the picture shortlist agreed between CRN’s Alice Mannion and I, I’m venturing West for a few hours to document the last days of Northern’s Class 319 fleet – all of which will be off to the scrapyard between now and the December 10th timetable change.

Right now I’m on Northern’s 12:02 from Sowerby Bridge which is formed of a quiet (but warm) 2-car class 158. In fact, it’s one of the later batch purchased by funds from the West Yorkshire PTE.

12:48.

A journey by train through the Calder Valley’s a lovely experience this time of year due to the autumnal colours from the woodland covering the valley, although last weeks high winds and rain have taken their toll, dropping a huge tonnage. My train remained quiet all the way to Rochdale where (as always) we filled up with dozens of folk heading into Manchester. I’m resisting the temptation to join them. Instead I’ll stay onboard all the way to Wigan where I can connect with the main diagrams (Liverpool, Wigan, Preston and Blackpool) the 319s are allocated to nowadays.

13:20.

Having swapped one load of passengers for another at Manchester we’re now burbling our way over the old Lancashire and Yorkshire railway main line between Liverpool and Manchester via Walkden. It’s a line I’ve known since childhood, although it’s almost unrecognisable now. One four-track it was reduced to two in the 1960s. The mines, power stations and other industrial sites that I remember from the 1970s are all gone. Sometimes it’s hard to picture exactly where they were as the landscape’s changed so much few points of reference remain. Only the stations survive, although they enjoy a much more frequent service (it’s doubled) since I was a kid.

13:55.

Having been deposited at Wallgate station I dashed across to nearby Wigan North Western just in time to catch my quarry. 319384 arrived working a fast Blackpool North to Liverpool service – first stop St Helens.

319384 arrives at Wigan North Western whilst working 1F07, the 1305 Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime Street.

16:15.

I’m taking a short break in Liverpool, waiting for the light to change after having visited St Helens and Huyton. Here’s a few pictures.

319381 approaches St Helens Central, past what used to be extensive sidings and goods yards on 2C17, the 1353 Wigan North Western to Liverpool Lime Street.
319368 passes the only remaining signalbox left on the route as it arrives at St Helens Central with 2C18, the 1421 Wigan North Western to Liverpool Lime Street all stations service.

The station building, athough only recent – hasn’t aged well. The railways have changed since it was designed and the 1st floor cafe (always a marginal business) closed years ago. The waiting area is pretty unkempt too. It’s a shame, as it’s an interesting design. I wonder if a micro-pub could take over the cafe?

The waiting area in the main building is unkempt and in need of a good clean. A simple coffee kiosk might work in here rather than the cafe upstairs which never really stood a chance.
The frontage of St Helens Central’s rather impressive and reflects the glassmakers art. The building opened in September 2007 at a cost of £6m

18:45.

Homeward bound. I’ve had a good – if rushed – day. I hadn’t realised my last explorration of the line through St Helens Central was so long ago. Vegetation has really grown up in certain areas. Combining that with electrification of the line and many photographic locations have disappeared. That said. I managed a reasonable selection of pictures from different vantage points and checked out others for another foray. I’d have liked to have got shots of the Xmas market opposite Lime St station but I didn’t have time to hang around, so that’s snother mission for another trip.

With the light in the ‘blue hour’ 319385 calls at Huyton with 2F52, the 1645 all stations from Liverpool Lime Street to Wigan North Western.

Having retraced my steps on the road to Wigan I swapped old Class 319s for even older trains. I’m currently on a vintage Class 156 heading to Stalybridge from Southport. The plan is to change at Manchester Victoria but as we’re running late the connection time may be tight…

Not my 156 but the empty stock from a previous service that was late being shunted between platforms, helping to delay my train.
The quietest train I’ve been on all day. Having dropped of its human cargo en-route 156425 passes through Salford bound for Victoria where it’ll fill up once more.

19:14.

Oh, the joys of late-running! Connections were touch and go in Manchester. My delayed train arrived at platform 6 at 19:55. My connection was due out of bay No 2 at 19:57. The next Leeds service was cancelled, so a sprint was order. Thankfully, the 19:57 hadn’t got the road so I made it with a couple of mins to spare, saving me an hour’s fester in the cold and temptation to visit the station’s new micropub. Swings and roundabouts…

21:45.

Time to bring this blog to a close. Despite the fact I only had a few hours I think I’ve added some valuable library shots to the collection – some of which are shown here. I’ll edit the rest over the next few days. I hope you’ve enjoyed the trip.

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

20th November picture of the day…

20 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by in Musings, Northern Rail, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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All change! Well, apart from the weather which has remained damp and miserable as ever! I was looking forward to a week where I could stretch my legs but events have somewhat conspired against me, but the reasons aren’t bad.

Having spent a few hours confined to the office this morning I decided to fly the coop and enjoy some scenery. After picking up some stiff from her Huddersfield office Dawn had arranged to meet her parents to check out the venue and arrangements for their diamond wedding anniversary, so I tagged along for the ride and to cast a photographer’s eye over the room. All went well, after which the two of returned to the homestead and grindstone – only to get a phone call from a firm we’ve commissioned to fit some new windows to the cottage. They’re ready and can go in on Wednesday – but Dee won’t be here – so that’s my day arranged! I must admit, I’m rather looking forward to my new office window as the increase of glass compared to frame will let a lot more light in and aid me getting pictures of the birds that are a regular feature on the feeder on the other side of the glass. Only I have to strip out stuff from several rooms before they arrive. Never mind – the results will be worth it and should make a difference to how warm the cottage is this winter, as well as the bills in keeping it that way.

All this aside, I’m hoping to sneak out for a few hours tomorrow. For once the forecast is good. I’ve a Zoom judging session but that should only last an hour in the morning and can be done elsewhere as long as I have a decent wifi connection. Let’s see what happens…

The reason I want to get out – apart from the fact the weather will be good and I’m fed up being cooped up – is that another old train fleet is about to disappear from the December 10th timetable change. Northern is dispensing of its fleet of ex-BR Class 319 electric trains. They’re old friends of mine as I remember them being introduced on ‘Thameslink’ service in London and the South-East back in 1987-88 when I was living in London. I was a regular user of the trains for decades and was surprised when they followed me back up North after they were displaced on Thameslink services by the new Class 700s in the mid 2010s. Now their times up and they’re off for scrap. Only 15 units remain with Northern. Based at Allerton in Liverpool, they mostly work services between Liverpool, Wigan, Preston and Blackpool North with the odd diagram taking them to Manchester.

So, today’s picture is one of those trains which has just been towed to Newport, South Wales for scrap this very day, having left Allerton depot (Liverpool) this morning on its final journey.

Wearing the old Northern electrics livery, 319375 is seen at Manchester Piccadilly on the 1st November 2016.

I’ll be getting together a picture blog of these units during their time in the North-West before they go. In the meantime, you can find various shots of them with the previous Northern franchise here and the current management contract operator here.

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

19th November picture of the day…

19 Sunday Nov 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Sri Lanka

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God, what a miserable day it’s been here weather-wise in the Calder Valley. I don’t the rain’s stopped for more than a few minutes. The already saturated ground can’t hold anymore water, leaving to the roads turning into streams as the rain does its best to escape downhill to the river.

Thankfully, Dee’s making a recovery from her migraine so my nurses uniform consigned to the back of the wardrobe for a while, although the Chef’s hat will be getting quite a bit of wear this week as I take over the cooking once more in order to allow Dawn to play catch-up with work. I’m swapping between that many costumes at the moment I feel like Mr Benn!

The weather’s been doubly disappointing as I’d hoped to be able to do a lot of work in the gardens, getting them tidied up in preparation for the winter. As it was the best I could manage was an hour out at the back, getting soaked whilst trimming back the wall-mounted planters and slipping all over the shop on the sodden leaves festooning the cobbles. The leaves have now been swept up into a soggy pile waiting for a drier day when I can bag ’em up for a trip to the recycling centre so at least a portion of what I’d been intending was ticked off the list. Plus, for me, gardening is therapy. It gets you away from the trials and tribulations of the human world to something far simpler but at the same time very satisfying. Plus, plants don’t bitch or argue, judge you or otherwise waste their time. I like that…

Come late afternoon and with the rain increasing in tempo there was nothing left for it but to retreat indoors and back up to the office, to take refuge in picture editing. I’m not a fan of sitting in front of a TV vegetating, I need to feel I’ve achieved something each day. So, whilst Dawn’s pinched my chef’s hat to cook home-made apple crumble (the smells wafting up from the kitchen are mouth-watering) I’ve cleared the deck of edited pictures from last weeks conference and started on another project.

I’ve a folder full of scanned slides that are too scratched or otherwise damaged to be added to my Zenfolio picture website without a substantial amount of retouching and repair in Photoshop. Today’s picture is one of them. This sot was taken in Kandy, Sri Lanka in February 1992.

This is W2 Class No 711 preparing to leave with a passenger train for the Hill Railway. The W2 class were 1440hp B-B type diesel-hydraulic locomotives. Built by LEW Henningsdorf, East Germany, Numbered 703 to 716, 14 of them were built in 1969 with the prototype (numbered 729). following in 1972. None remain in service, having been withdrawn from the 1990s onwards due to the difficulty in getting spare parts. One (715) was rebuilt in 2015 with a Paxman V12 engine, but this too has been withdrawn.

If you want to see more images of Sri Lankan railways. Click on this link.

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

18th November picture of the day…

18 Saturday Nov 2023

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics, Railways

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Not a day as I’d planned, admittedly. Poor Dawn went down with a migraine yesterday. It’s floored her so she’s spent the best part of 24 hours confined to bed. So, I’ve stayed home and put on my nurses and Chef’s uniforms. Not an image to conjure with – honestly!

There’s always plenty for me to do at home with a mix of work and household chores. Admittedly, I’m starting to chafe at the lack of exercise due to being restricted by events, including my elbow playing up, but c’est la vie. One thing I did manage to complete yesterday was judging the shortlist for the Community Rail Awards photographic competition. It was tough going as there were so many good photographs but I’ve whittled them down to a personal shortlist of 10. Next week myself and my fellow judge will hammer out the final shortlist. The 10 we agree on will then go on to a public vote next year. It’s always a pleasure to judge the competition as the pictures really are a great snapshot of the years varied activities around the community rail network. With all the crap that’s going on in the world right now they project a ray of hope.

The downside of being at home is that I have time to follow what’s going on in the UK political arena, which is an absolute shit-show when it comes to the Government who’ve completely lost any semblance of a plot. Yesterday I blogged about the latest Sunak con about potholes. Whilst I was doing that he was busy setting another – even bigger – trap for himself over Rwanda and the asinine slogan ‘stop the boats’, which he can’t. Instead of taking the Supreme Court ruling on the chin he’s blustered and pretended he’s going to pass legislation to ‘solve’ the problem. Apparently, with a wave of a legislative wand, Rwanda can become a ‘safe’ country and he can ignore the ECHR and international treaties. It’s utter bollocks of course. There simply isn’t time to get such legislation through both Houses of Parliament before he has to call the next general election and those international treaties (such as the Good Friday Agreement) are not going to go away and will be enforced by the international community. But Sunak has form for not thinking things through and for listening to the mad ideas of the swivel-eyed loons of Tufton St. Just look at his disastrous decision on HS2 which is also going to blow up in his face.

Honestly, how on earth has this country sunk so low?

Right, time to go. Tomorrow’s another day. Dawn’s starting to feel better so I’m off to spend some quality time together. I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is – oh, hang on – I’d not thought of one, shit! A quick trawl through the pictures that are on my laptop has found this. I run a ‘mystery stations’ competition on Twitter and this was a recent picture. Do you know where this station is? Some people did, but not many…

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

16th November picture of the day…

16 Thursday Nov 2023

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, TPE

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After doing so much travelling this week today was very much a home day, catching up on picture editing and various other bits and bobs. The weather’s been awful once more – although for once we haven’t had any downpours or gales just dull weather where you can’t make out the other side of the valley. The news has been just as dull. The Government continues to implode no matter what stupid stunt Sunak dreams up – as the latest opinions polls show. We’re in the hands of a decaying Government that has no idea what to do other than fight culture wars but they’ll hang on for as long as they can to feather their nests. It’s depressing but there’s nothing anyone can do about it until an election’s called as this lot have no honour. I hate to think what state the UK will be in by the time the Tories are finally dragged (kicking and screaming) to the polls for voters to pass their verdict. I’m trying to be positive, but with so little positive news around that can be difficult.

Hopefully, I’ll be out and about again soon, as there’s plenty of changes on the rail network to report on if nothing else – especially in this neck of the woods where the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is ramping up. Plus, there’s the December timetable change which will see some trains disappear – like the Trans-Pennine Express Class 68s and Mk5 coaches. I hope to get a few more shots of them before they do. Today’s picture is of my last opportunity to see (and ride) behind members of the fleet. Here’s 68024 ‘Centaur’ at Manchester Piccadilly on the 7th November after arriving with 1U52, the 12:48 from Scarborough.

Place your bids please! Who wants a fleet of noisy locomotives and rakes of not the most well-built coaches? Only one careful owner – going spare from the 9th of December (if not sooner).

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

Rolling blog. Have faith…

15 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by in Bradford, Photography, Railways, Religion, Rolling blogs, West Yorkshire

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Gordon Bennett – has the weather forecast got it wrong again! Having thrown open the bedroom blinds expecting the promised cloudy but clement day I was greeted by the sight of trees being battered by blustery winds and rain sweeping in from across the valley. This mornings walk to the station may prove to be a bit of an endurance test.

07:50

As I mentioned yesterday, today I’m off to Bradford to meet up with some of the Northern rail company’s management team for a visit to some of the city’s religious centres as part of their annual Interfaith and Cultural awareness event. It promises to be an interesting day, but first I’ve got to get there. Let’s see how things pan out. Railhead conditions are going to be difficult today, so I expect some late running…

09:05.

Mt predictions about late-running were correct, but with weather conditions like this that’s hardly surprising. Here’s the view across the Calder Valley from my walk to the station.

It’s grim up North…

I was aiming for the 08:57 but arrived in time for the 17 mins late 08:43, one of a slew of Leeds bound trains that were arriving within minutes of each other.

Better late than never!

09:40.

The day’s starting at the Great Victoria hotel with a briefing for all those attending. So far there are representatives from the Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT). Yorkshire Cricket and me, wearing a Community Rail Network hat. Northern have a range of staff here, including some of their Conductors and train preparation teams. Here’s the group just before the off…

Our first port of call was the Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara, one of several Sikh temples in the city. We were given a really interesting historical background on the origins and practices of the Sikh faith by Amandeep Kaur Maan. One of the things I’d never realised was how important baptism is as that cements someone into the purer, or stricter, version of Sikhism (vegetarianism, no alcohol or tobacco) compared to Sikhs who haven’t been baptised into the faith.

Learning about the Sikh faith from Amandeep Kaur Maan.
Our group joined other visitors in the cafeteria where free food is offered throughout the day, prepared and served by volunteers. We were warned not to take more than we could eat otherwise we’d get a hard stare from the ‘Aunties’ who were doing the washing up as they hated waste! Here’s my meal. Clockwise from top left, Gulab Jamun (sweet) Veg curry, dahl, chapatti and rice pudding (Kheer).

Our second visit of the day was to the Shree Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple which was only a short walk away. A crash course in what’s considered one of the oldest (if not the the oldest) religions in the world that has over 300 million gods is no easy matter. The devotees did their best, it’s not easy – especially when you’re touching on concepts like Karma and reincarnation that are alien to Christians.

Balakhrisnan, a Sri-Lankan Hindu who moved to the UK in 1968 explains who the various Hindu deities are. The temple is named after Lakshmi, one of the most important Hindu deities.
Our group inside the temple, with statues of several Gods in the Hindu pantheon behind us.

After tea, biscuits and the chance to chat to some of the devotees our third stop was another short walk away – the Abu Bakr Masjid.

Imran (left) and Mahatb (right) were our guides to their religion and how aspects of the faith work, including rituals around prayers and the five pillars of Islam. They were both entertaining and informative.

16:15.

What an interesting day – and a bonus is that despite the hairy weather and walking between temples we didn’t get soaked once!

Right now I’m back in Halifax, wetting my whistle with a pint at the new Grayston Unity before walking home.

My final chariot home…

The Grayston’s interesting. This afternoon they’re having a Northern Soul event downstairs. It’s early days but they hope to do it every month. Judging by the numbers coming up to the bar to buy drinks it’s well attended but its obvious from the demographic it’s still the same people from the 1970s – they’re just 40 odd years older – so the dancing may be a little more sedate! Of course, in those days Northern Soul was fuelled by amphetamines, now it’s probably Sanatogen!

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

14th November picture(s) of the day…

14 Tuesday Nov 2023

Posted by in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Nottingham, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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We’re back at Bigland Towers after a busy day in Nottingham which began early as we were staying in the hotel where the CRN conference was being held. The pair of us rate the Crowne Plaza, having stayed there several times now. The rooms are comfortable, the conference facilities ideal. The food’s also very good and the staff are both friendly and very helpful. Having risen at 07:00 I had time for a hearty breakfast whilst Dawn opted for a light one as she was working the conference reception desk. So I snaffled a selection of jams, toast and pastries for her to eat on the go. The conference started before 09:00 with a couple of informative presentations from Jools Townsend, CRN’s Chief Exec, followed by Cat Chrimes from GM social investment.

I found this really informative as one of the projects Cat’s organisation has been working on is Broadbottom station which I’ve written about recently. What I didn’t previously know was that around £1m has been raised to bring the building back into use with a range of uses, including a microbrewery! Next up was Shuna Baggaley from contractors SKANSKA, one of CRN’s corporate partners. Shuna has been working on HS2 at Euston, but that wasn’t what she’d come to talk to us about, it was corporate responsibility. After the talks and Q and A the rest of the conference programme was devised by the delates themselves, who decided what they wanted to talk about with a little help from CRN staff. Here’s the programme they devised.

There were some fascinating and informative sessions although I didn’t get chance to listen to more than snippets as my job was to visit each session to photograph what was going on. Here’s taste;

It’s not all serious – honest!
Note-taking…
More laughs…
Paying attention…

Unfortunately, due to disruption to rail services around Leeds and the cancellation of the train we’d intended to travel home on a few of us had to leave early, which was a shame as the conference (despite the ‘risky’ format) was a great success.

Our ride home from Nottingham to Leeds being admired by a member of the local canine community.

On the way home we bumped into a friend and colleague from Northern who’d intended attending the conference but he’d been diverted in order to help out with today’s service disruption. Meeting Richard changed my plans for tomorrow. I’d planned on working from home. Instead, I’ve been invited to join some of the Northern management team in Bradford tomorrow morning on their annual Interfaith & Cultural Awareness Event. We’ll be visiting a Hindu temple, a Mosque and a Sikh Gurdwara. It promises to be an interesting session. I’ll blog about it tomorrow…

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

Rolling blog.Conference time…

13 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Nottingham, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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10:20

This morning the pair of us head to Nottingham for the annual Community Rail Network conference. Today and tomorrow station friends, Community Rail officers, rail staff and others will congregate to listen to updates on the world of community rail, share best practice and network.

Thankfully, although we’re in the midst of storm Debi, last night’s winds and todays heavy showers haven’t caused any disruption to our travel plans. We’ll be heading to the station shortly to begin our trip South. Let’s see how things go…

12:00.

We’re on our way to Leeds on Northern’s late running 11:37 from Halifax. Railhead conditions can’t be good as the latest storm’s brought down tons of leaves overnight.

Nottingham here we come…

I’m being kept entertained by following the latest political farce following the sacking of Home Secretary Cruella Braverman.

I mean – who on earth saw former PM and MP David Cameron returning to government as Foreign Secretary! The man whose biggest political failure was in the area of foreign policy. The man who called the Brexit referendum to appease warring Tory factions and ended up dragging us out of the EU, leaving us an international laughing stock to precipitate another 8 years of Tory fueding that’s dragged the country down even further!

What on earth was Sunak thinking? What’s the Tory party thinking? There’s 350 Tory MPs and Sunak’s just admitted not a single one of them is fit for elevation to high office! I bet that’s rankling on the back benches! And there was the Brexiters complaining that we were governed by ‘unelected bureaucrats’! Who’s elected Cameron?

13:20.

Leeds was fun for all the wrong reasons – bar this one. One of TPE’s class 68s working a Manchester – Scarborough service with just weeks left to run.

When I’d checked before leaving home this morning everything was running well with just a few delays due to railhead conditions. Things had changed when we arrived at Leeds to catch our train to Nottingham. A landslip towards York, overhead wire damage near Wakefield and a broken rail in the Aire valley were causing many delays and cancellations. Thankfully, our 13:08 was running and left on time – albeit it’s a 2-car, which is ‘cosy’…

16:10.

And relax! Well, for a few minutes anyway. We’ve made it to Nottingham, with our little 2-car picking up various members of the community railway family on the way. The weather improved as we passed through the storm front which was travelling in the opposite direction to us. It’s actually a balmy 13 degrees here in the city centre – hardly what you’d expect. Our first stop was to admire the work going on outside the stations where East Midland Railway’s community rail team have arranged for a new street-art mural which is being spray painted over the next few days by artists from ‘Image Skool‘. Completion date and unveiling is planned for Friday.

Having elected to walk to the hotel we’re now unpacking at the Crowne Plaza hotel before the staff briefing and preparing to meet and greet the bulk of the delegates who’re still in transit. Later there’s a drinks reception and buffet supper when delegates will discuss and decide on what topics they want to see the conference cover tomorrow.

Here’s a few shots from the reception, after which a couple of groups headed off to explore some of the local hostelries to sample local real ales…

Members of the Penistone line partnership, including Chair Neil Bentley (left) at the reception.
Michel Lintermans from Cooperatie Stationspark Deurne in the Netherlands, a regular entrant to the Community Rail awards.

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