Tag Archives: Railways

Rolling blog: Chiltern coming…

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:30.

My early start didn’t quite happen that way. Instead I’ve been busy sorting out some stuff at home before venturing South. No, suitably prepared I’m about to sally forth on Britain’s railways to venture into the Chilterns. I’m hoping the locals won’t be all fiery torches and pitchforks at the ready if they find out they’ve a prominent HS2 supporter in the midst – maybe the mask will fool ’em! I’ll keep you updated, but first I’ve got to walk down to the station. Stay with me to see how the day goes…

10:30.

With leaving later I’m able to sample Calder Valley rail travel at off-peak times for a change. I’m currently on a pair of 2-car Class 195s working the 10:23 to Chester and it’s far busier than the early peak services I’ve been using. Travellers are a mix of retired folk on a day out plus a few younger people on a jolly themselves. I’d guess the train’s about 40% full on leaving Sowerby. Looking at the attire, I’d surmise many folk are off rambling…

10:44.

Sure enough, when we arrived in Todmorden several people left the train to head off hiking in the hills around town. They’ve got a lovely day to do it too as the weather’s dry and warm but not insufferably so – ideal walking conditions to enjoy the landscape and views around the area. There were few replacements joing them, but our next stop is Rochdale. Pre Covid the station had a footfall of over 1.5 million people making it the 2nd busiest station on the line after Halifax. It still provides a lot of passengers and numbers are growing all the time, so I’ll be interested to see what it’s like in July when (hopefully) all Covid restrictions are lifted.

12:00.

Time to relax for a while! As usual I strolled across Manchester station to station, catching in the sights as I did. The centre was quieter than I’ve seen it but as it’s a Tuesday morning that’s hardly surprising. Even so, there’s an air of normalcy starting return, even if many people are still wearing masks whilst they walk around – which is no bad thing. I think people are starting to relax now that so many of us have been vaccinated and fears of a massive third spike are receding. That said, I’m not being complacent and carry spare masks and several hand gels with me. With swapping swapping between so many locations and transport modes It seems sensible – even though statistically the chances of contracting Covid on public transport have proved to be miniscule. Right now I’m on a Pendolino bound for London via Crewe which gives me time to catch up on some work and also indulge in a spot of window-gazing. Oh, and lunch on the hoof!

12:55.

An hour into the hourney having made our final pickup at Crewe I decided to have a wander through the train to see how busy it is and I’m glad I did as this is the best loaded Pendolino I’ve been on for a long time – and the reason is? The football is on! There’s dozens of groups of guys on here in England foorball shirts who’re obviously on their way to London, either to see England play (unlikely) or just enjoy the atmosphere. For too long the railways have been deprived of traffic like this due to events being cancelled or crowds banned. Leisure travel (contrary to what opponents of HS2 claim) is the mainstay of the long-distance railway.

20:30.

Mind the gap…

Sorry for the fact it’s taken me so long to do an update but I’ve been constantly on the move since arriving at Euston. The journey down flew and the football fans on the train were very well behaved. I was impressed to see the group of four young lads near me clear the table of all their rubbish and empty bottles as they got off, something many older people can’t be bothered to do.

I didn’t hang around in London. Instead I caught the Metropolitan line out to Baker St and strolled from there to Marylebone to catch a train up the Chiltern line and old territory. I’ve not spent much time on the outer section of the Met for years – an omission I really must correct. It’s an interesting system as Chiltern trains share the tracks with Met services as far as Amersham. It’s perhaps lost a bit of interest now the old trains are gone. But I have fond memories of coming here for the ‘Steam on the Met’ events back in the 1990s.

The stations are still photogenic anyway. Further out I stopped off at Wendover to have a look at the trace of HS2. The locals were up in arms about the new railway ‘despoiling’ their village, which always seemed a tad over the top as it would pass them in a tunnel and cutting with both the existing railway and noisy A413 road in between! I had a quick wander around Wendover, which is a pretty enough place that suffers from the same curse as most places around here – it’s choked with cars. Why anyone thinks they’re going to hear HS2 trains over the noise of a constant stream of SUVs is a mystery…

22:00.

I’m back in my hotel and catching up on the day’s events via their wifi, plus finishing this blog. Although I’ve visited Aylesbury many times in the past this is the first time I’ve stayed here. Why would I have when I lived just an hour away in London? Now it’s a little bit different. Aylesbury’s an odd place. We hear so much about the Chilterns being an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) but to be perfectly honest I never understood how it managed to get thaty appelation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not unattractive. Lynn and I would take day trips out from London and come walking around here – especially West of Princes Risborough around Bledlow Ridge, but it’s not particularly special (is that the sounds of locals sharpening their scythes I can hear?) and it certainly doesn’t compete with parts of Yorkshire. Or for that matter, the South Downs or Shropshire.

Aylesbury itself is a bit of a mess. It’s got some awful modern buildings and ring roads that have turned it into a town strangled by the car. All I can hear as I sit in the window of my hotel is traffic whizzing by outside on the Tring Rd. Here’s an example. This is the ‘gateway’ to Aylesbury that you’ll see just as soon as you step outside the station. Attractive, huh?

Appropriately enough, the Ceaușescu era like building that dominates the skyline is the HQ of the local district council, the same ones who’ve granted planning permission to this aesthetic shambles.

To get into the old town (what’s left of it anyway) you walk up the road and pass the multi-storey car park to the right, cross a busy inner ring road, then walk underneath a shopping centre under which is buried a dark and claustrophobic bus station full of fumes and then (and only then) do you arrive in Aylesbury proper. There’s some lovely old buildings, but what a shame about the rest of the place. Here’s another example of the architects ‘art’ that should have been stillborn.

Yup, a Waitrose cum Travelodge cum multi storey car park! And the ‘beauty’ of it? It’s been built right next to the historic canal basin and theatre (to the right)! I’m sure the local planning officers in their ‘tower of power’ opposite must gaze down upon this lovingly and think ‘didn’t we do well!’

These are the same Councillors who are objecting to the design of HS2 vent shafts because ‘they’re not in keeping with the beauty of the area’. The expression ‘extracting the urine’ springs to mind.

Tomorrow, when I’m on walkabout I’ll get some shots of the fine old buildings in Aylesbury the Council haven’t demolished or ruined. In the meantime, I’m going to call it a day as tomorrow will be busy – and long. I’ll try a rolling blog but – like Aylesbury’s historic architecture – it may contain gaps!

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/

Thank you!

21st June picture of the day…

21 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Picture of the day, Rail Live 2021

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Well, that was it folks, today was the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year, and it’s all downhill from here when it comes to light evenings as (after a couple of days) the nights will begin to start to draw in even though this is also the first day of summer! Doesn’t really seem fair, does it?

Mind you, it feels like anything but summer up here today. The skies have been grey and the temperature anything but seasonal! Thankfully I’m heading South to warmer climes for the next few days as I’ll be based in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire whilst I visit the High-Speed 2 railway construction works. Despite what you hear in the media with the same tired and trite spin from certain quaters, the project is really cracking on at the moment. Some papers have been spinning about the ‘spiralling cost’ of HS2. The reality is far more mundane. Any large infrastructure project like this has a contingency built into its budget that’s to be used to cover eventalities like materials increases or unexpected costs (like Covid). Hs2 is no exception, except that the contingency runs to many £bns. So, the latest extra costs are easily absorbed by the existing budget – only the newspapers always forget to mention that bit…

I’ll be running rolling blogs for the next few days as I travel to/from and around Buckinghamshire, so expect quite a few pictures too. Plus, you can always follow my activities on Twitter @PaulMBigland

The rest of my day’s been kept busy editing the pictures from last weeks ‘Rail Live’ event. I’ve now got the majority of them on my Zenfolio website in this gallery should you wish to have a browse of what went on. It was an excellent event in glorious weather (especially on day 1). The atmosphere was brilliant too as everybody was so relieved to be able to return to some sort of normal as this was the first major trade event since the first lockdown in March 2020.

As I’ve an early start tomorrow there’s no long blog from me tonight, so I’ll leave you with a topical picture of the day – from ‘Rail Live’ Here’s the British Transport Police team that deals with working at height to remove protesters who cause disruption to the public transport network.

The irony? These protesters are nearly always the supposed ‘environmentalists’ of Extinction Rebellion or Hs2Rebellion. It’s why I’ve long held the view that the UK ‘green’ movement isn’t fit for purpose and this is a good example why. ‘Greens’ disrupting green public transport by climbing on or glueing themselves to trains? Madness, but this is a classic example of the cognitive dissonance these people display. Thankfully, their campaign against HS2 has collapsed, so the BTP team shouldn’t have as much to do in the future. Maybe one day the penny will drop with these ‘environmentalists and they’ll discover that the real threat to the environment is the Government’s road (not rail) building programme, but I won’t hold my breath…

By the way – don’t tell HS2rebellion, but there was some really interesting vegetation clearing/tree cutting kit on display from companies like Coombes Forestry, one of the companies working on HS2 that the protesters have tried to intimidate. That obviously worked well…

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/

Thank you!

The Lib-Dems win the Chesham and Amersham by-election, but not because of HS2 antis.

18 Friday Jun 2021

Posted by in Carolyne Culver, Hs2, Politics, Railways, The Green Party

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I woke up this morning to the news that the Lib-Dems had pulled off what many thought improbable if not impossible and taken the safe Tory seat of Amersham and Chesham in a by-election. Here’s a breakdown of the result c/o Wikipedia

It’s an impressive result, especially when you consider this has been a safe Tory seat since it was established in 1974.

As usual, we’re seeing all sorts of claims about why this has happened. Many are trying to blame it on purely local issues like HS2 and the proposed reform of planning regulations. Good old Nimbyism in other words! What none of these commentators can explain is – if HS2 really was the issue, why now? The project has been around since 2009 and never lost the Tories the seat, even when UKIP were around and stood on an anti HS2 platform. Take a look at the 2017 general election results, the last time UKIP stood. Despite HS2 having gained Royal Assent earlier that year, UKIP’s share of the vote collapsed. They went from 2nd place in 2015 with 7218 votes down to 1525, a fall of just under 79%. In fact, the swing that year was from the Tories to Labour (who also endorsed HS2).

Now HS2’s being built, construction’s well under way so the time to try and stop it is long gone. So *why* would it cause such a political upset now when it never has before – even when the 2nd placed party opposed it in 2015? Why would people who, if they wanted to send a political message about HS2, wait 11 years to send said message? Why wait until the project’s gone from the drawing board, all the way through Parliament via two Governments to actual construction? Talk about shutting the stable door! This is why the idea simply isn’t credible.

Also, whilst the 2021 winner (Sarah Green) may have made anti HS2 noises her party nationally backs the project – as can be seen from this – which is pretty plain.

In fact, the only party of any national standing in this by-election that actually opposed HS2 is the Green party. Their candidate (Caorlyne Culver) ran a vehemently anti HS2 campaign where it was literally all she talked about! Imagine, a ‘green’ who didn’t once mention Climate Change in her campaign and focussed exclusively on local Nimby issues. That must have worked, right? Wrong.

The Greens share of the vote dropped by 1.6%, but that doesn’t tell the full story. When Alan Booth stood for the Greens in the 2019 general election he collected 3042 votes and increased the greens share from 3% to 5.5%

Culver only managed to attract 1,480 votes, a fall of over 51% on their 2019 result. Yet HS2 is meant to be the issue that ‘swung’ it for the Lib-Dems? Of course, blaming HS2 is a convenient smokescreen for some people. It’s noticeable that so many right-wingers are doing exactly that as a ‘look over there’ tactic to avoid talking about what’s likely to be a much more important issue – Brexit and the shambolic performance of the Government on a range of of issues, including Covid and the economy. Plus, blaming HS2 fits their narrative. The right have always despised the project as it’s public infrastructure, hence the likes of the Taxpayers Alliance and IEA always banging on about it. Both big Brexit supporters, you can see why they find it convenient to use HS2 to say ‘look over there’. You can see this phenomenon most on Twitter, where anonymous ‘flag-shagger’ accounts like this one who retweet the likes of John Redwood and the ‘Guido’ website have gone into overdrive.

Also, let’s not forget the fact Chesham and Amersham voted Remain in the 2016 referendum.

There’s clearly other issues at play here other than HS2 but no-one wants to talk about them. There’s obviously been a strong ‘get the Tories out’ movement here as people are disatisfied with Boris Johnson’s government. Look at the actual turnout, which is down by nearly a quarter. Many Tories have obviously decided to stay at home. Plus, look at the collapse of the Labour vote, down by 11.2%, how many Labour voters have decided to vote tactically – and not because of HS2 either!

There’s another clue that the issue of HS2 has been exaggerated thanks to a petition on the Government website that (co-incidentally) closed after 6 months on polling day in Chesham. Started by celebrity petrolhead and car advertiser (don’t you mean ‘environmentalist’? Ed) Chris Packham and backed by the Green Party, Extinction Rebellion and a rag-bag of political interests from left and right, it managed a measly 155,000 signatures UK-wide. To put that into perspective 2.6 million live in constituencies affected by HS2. So, how many signed in Amersham? Actually, it got the best result of anywhere in the UK, but that’s nothing to crow about! Just 4.05% of C&A’s 96046 constituents signed it in 6 months. Which means 96% couldn’t be bothered. Yet (supposedly) they could be bothered to change their long held political allegiences for the very first time in yesterday’s by-election. I smell bovine excrement…

No doubt certain people will continue to try and blame HS2 as a way of ignoring the real reasons people have elected the Lib-Dems and HS2 opponents are already trying to pretend this has strengthened their campaign. Really? How? CCHQ already know there are other far more real issues at play here across the Tory Shires, hence their increasing nervousness – and HS2 only affects a small number of constituencies. In May the Independent published this well-informed article about the Lib-Dems election chaces. Written by Andrew Woodcock it never even mentions HS2 as an issue, pointing out that there are far more important things in play.

As for the Green party, this was an awful result for them. They let their candidate run an appallingly dishonest and parochial campaign (see this blog). If HS2 was such a big thing, they should have increased their vote, instead they did the opposite. Their big question now is will they learn from their mistake – doubtful as they refuse to listen to anyone but themselves. As of Friday night the Chiltern Green party still couldn’t bring itself to update their website or Facebook account to even mention the result! It’s like it never happened!

No doubt the ructions of this result will continue to echo around for days as many people try to put their spin on it. The Psephologists will be going into a frenzy of speculation over what it means for the Government, the opposition and maybe even HS2.

What won’t happen is HS2 being cancelled, despite the extravagent claims. In the meantime, go get some popcorn and enjoy the media fun!

Next week I’ll be blogging from the Calvert area as I’ll be on an HS2 site visit, showing you what’s really happening on the ground, away from the rarified atmosphere of political punditry and daft claims.

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Rolling (ish) blog. Rail live revisited…

17 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by in Rail Live 2021, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel

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11:00

Oh, the joys of having a lie-in! As I stayed in Birmingham last night after a long, hot and busy day I thought “sod it, I’ll have a lie-in and get to Rail Live an hour later than yesterday” – which was a great idea until I turned up at New St station only to find that – due to a shortage of units – Cross Country had cancelled the 10:30 to Worcestershire Parkway! So now I’ll arrive two hours later…

Even so, it’s worth going as I’ve a couple of meetings to make, plus the rain that had been forecast hasn’t materialised so hopefully there’s no need to hide in marquees.

As phone reception’s non-existent on site there’ll be a gap in blogging. Right now I’m on my way as I’m taking an earlier train via Worcester Foregate Street rather than kick my heels at Birmingham New St. One thing I did notice whilst I was waiting for my train was the gradual rollout of the resignalling programme at New St.

The new signals aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing examples of their kind, but they’re less prone to failure and the fact they’re hinged at the bottom so they can be swung down to platform level for maintenance means there’s no need for the traditional ladders attached to allow access to the signal head.

11:55.

It’s going to be one of those days, isn’t it? I’m currently in Worcester. I’d hoped to get a couple of shots of trains framed by the lovely old GWR semaphore signals before mine arrives, but one of the two I have a window for has been cancelled!

12:23.

Almost there! I’m now on a GWR Class 800 on my way to Honeybourne to catch the Avivarail shuttle to the site and into a communications black-out! See you on the other side…

Depending on how my meeting goes and who I bump into I’m hoping to leave earlier than yesterday in order to get some pictures on the way home, but let’s see what happens. The last shuttle train leaves at 16:00.

18:00.

I’m back! Despite arriving on site later than I managed to get all my meetings in and saw all the people I was hoping to (and more) – mainly because we were all in the same place at the same time – outside the Porterbrook marquee!

I’d have liked to have spent more time exploring the stands as (really) two days isn’t enough to see everything so I didn’t even try.

After leaving on the 15:00 shuttle I retraced my steps via Worcester as far as Droitwich where I stopped off to get a couple of pictures of the fine array of old GWR semaphore signals. The weather had clouded up so the shots weren’t as warm as I’d hoped, but that’s life. Sadly, West Midlands Rail are having a bad day, with many trains cancelled due to crew shortages, so half of what I hoped to photograph wasn’t running. I’m now on the 17:34 from Droitwich which is still running but has stops at Bromsgrove and University dropped as it’s running fast from Droitwich to New St via the line through Stourbridge instead of its booked route. Good for me, but not others. I suspect getting back to West Yorkshire might be ‘interesting’…

19:45.

The problems I was anticipating at Birmingham failed to materialise. One of my options was running late enough for me to miss my connection but plan A worked out just fine. So much so I had time to saunter into the city to buy a snack for the train. The area around New St’s teeming with life once again as people enjoy the good weather and chance to let their hair down again. The atmosphere wasn’t oppressive or claustrophobic either as most people were being cautious and respectful of others.

Back at New St I managed to find a seat on Cross-Country’s 18:57 to Manchester Piccadilly. It was a busy train but not uncomfortably so, despite a growing number of people returning to the railways.

I have to admit – I’ve really enjoyed the chance to network and mingle with real people again and from many conversation I had at ‘Rail Live’ I know that I’m not alone in that. The idea that everyone’s going to work from home in the future is just stuff and nonsense!

Not that I’m looking forward to having some home time myself in the next few days as I’ve got a lot of things to do – not least get all these pictures edited! I’ll be back on the road again soon enough as next week I’ll be visiting the HS2 construction site at Calvert in Buckinghamshire – so watch this space…

21:20.

The final leg…

A brisk but pleasant stroll across Manchester city centre between the two stations saw me arrive in enough time to catch the 20:55 to Leeds and home – although looking East the skies look anything but inviting due to the masses of heavy grey cloud I can see on the horizon. I suspect the fine summer weather I’ve been experiencing may be about to come to a rather abrupt end…

Homeward bound on this beastie…

No matter. It’ll save me worrying about having to water the garden and I’ve plenty to do indoors! Expect to see lots of pictures appear on my Zenfolio picture website over the next few days. Oh, and tomorrow there should be a blog on HS2 as the Amersham by-election is being held today, so the result will be in tomorrow and I’ll be looking at how the Green Party’s throughly dishonest and hopelessly Nimby based anti HS2 campaign fared. But for now – goodnight! I’ll leave you with one last picture from ‘Rail Live’ which I took yesterday. Here’s Vivarail’s Class 230 destined for Transport for Wales (TfW) to work services on the Wrexham to Bidston line. It was used to form the shuttle train from Honeybourne to the Rail Live site…

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Is it that time already? Heading to ‘Rail Live 2021’…

16 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by in Photography, Rail Live 2021, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:30.

What is is about those nights when you know you’re going to be up at silly ‘o clock that your sleep pattern goes to pot? Instead of a restful night your mind races and refuses to rely on the alarm clock, so you end up lying there wating for the damned thing to go off? Last night was one of those nights!

Still, I may be bleary-eyed, but a couple of cups of Sumatran coffee have seen me right and I’m now sat on the 06:04 from Sowerby Bridge on the first part of my journey down to Rail Live 2021.

The weather here in the Calder Valley’s already heating up as we had a stunning evening yesterday and cloud cover overnight to keep the warmth in. Hopefully the good weather will remain the same in the Midlands, although we do have rain forecast for tomorrow morning. I’m not anticipating too many problems as there’s always a few marquees to hide in for a while if need be!

My current train is worked by a 3-car Class 158. This service is never busy at the best of times and this morning there’s just four of us sharing the front car after departing from Todmorden. I’ll be interested to see how busy the city of Manchester is later. My travels over the past couple of weeks have demonstrated how rail travel is quickly picking up again as people enjoy their re-acquired freedoms, so let’s see how today goes…

06:40.

After calling at Rochdale our numbers in the front car have climbed to 15 early birds, most of whom are heading into work in Manchester.

07:30.

Like most on my train, I abandoned the service at Victoria. This time of day’s too early for most ‘suits’ (many of whom are still on furlough). Instead it was tradespeople and shop workers who made up the crowds as we teemed up the bridge from platform 5. Walking across the city centrw from Vic to Picc I passed many homeless people who were starting to emerge from sleeping bags and duvets from doorways along my route. A sad sight.

Piccadilly was emerging from its slumbers too as the concourse shops prepared for business whilst passengers miled around looking for their trains. Mine wasn’t hard to find. A Class 221/220 lash-up on platform 4 forming Cross-Country’s 07:27 to Bournemouth. XC are running a reduced hourly service from Piccadilly in order that they’ve sufficent Voyagers available to double the size of their trains to aid in social distancing. It’s a wise and welcome move as – pre Covid – their trains often resembled sardine cans!

220018 leading the 07:27 Piccadilly-Bournemouth is my chariot to Birmingham..

The cheery Train Manager in the rear set’s kept passengers well briefed about the train and social distancing rules and requests (cover nose and mouth, try to only occupy window seats to keep the aisle safe). Both sets are staffed, so I expect a ticket check. There’s also a trolley service, so I can get my coffee fix!

08:20.

The ticket check took place as expected but there weren’t many to examine as my coach (F – at the front of the train) has remained quiet with only half a dozen passengers using it. That said, those half dozen have changed a few times as people have joined and departed at Stockport, Macclesfield and Stoke! Cross-Country may be an intercity operator but many of the people it carries use it for short hops rather than long Journeys. I can’t imagine anyone on here will be travelling all the way from Manchester to Bournmouth!

09:30.

Having half an hour to change trains at New St took any pressure off me so I was able to top up my caffeine tank without rushing. I’m staying in the Ibis here tonight so there was no need to worry about grabbing a few pictures either. I’m now on a Cardiff service to take me to Worcestershire Parkway, the new Interchange with the Cotswold line which I’ve only passed through before now.

10:30.

My trip to Worcestershire Parkway went without a hitch. I even had enough time between trains to admire the new station which seems light, cool and spacious with decent facilities and landscaping.

Now I’m on my penultimate train of the journey here, a GWR class 800 to Honeybourne…

10:50.

Now for something a bit different. A Vivarail Class 230 working the shuttle to the site. This one is a 3-car set (010) that will be used by Transport for Wales on Bidston – Wrexham services.

1930.

Massive apologies for the gap in the blog but the site is a massive communications black-hole! It wasn’t possible to keep a 4g signal for more than moments much less upload pictures, so I’m now playing catch-up. Plus, I kept bumping into people I knew every five minutes, and there was so much to see and do that the time flew. I’ll update this blog fully when I get back to Birmingham (I’m en-route now).

When we arrived on site the sun was absolutely cracking the flags. It was less than an ideal day to be wearing high-vis, but at least we didn’t gave to wear full PPE, just vests. The site is vast, so there’s lots of wandering around trying to find things and half the stuff I wanted to I never got to see as I kept meeting people. Real people, not just their screen image – and that was what was so lovely.

22:00.

I’m at my hotel in Birmingham, spending the evening sorting out pictures from today before round 2 tomorrow. What was a special event for me and one I was proud to be part of was the naming of a GBRf locomotive after a recently departed old friend – Major John Poyntz.

The naming was carried out by representatives of John’s old regiment and his widow, Jill who was later joined on stage by members of their family.

Rolling blog: take the long way home…

12 Saturday Jun 2021

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:30.

My time in East Anglia has come to an end and I’ve begun to make my way home via London. Trains are getting increasingly busy so I’m avaoiding 2 – 3 car units and trying to stick to longer trains at the moment. I’m currently on a GA 12-car set to Liverpool St which is only about 1/3 full. Mind you. there’s engineering work North of Ipswich this weekend, so that’s cutting down on the numbers travelling as it’s the dreaded ‘bustitution’ up to Norwich and North of Bury St Edmonds on the Ely line.

The weather’s still good so no doubt I’ll be stopping en-route. The first one planned is an old stomping ground. Stratford in East London. The place is virtually unrecognisable since the days I lived down the road, but it’s a good place to while away an hour with the camera.

10:45.

God, I’d forgotten just how much Stratford has grown and changed over the years! Bits have been bolted on everywhere. New London Overground platforms here, the Docklands Light Railway there (and there)! Plus, an entire Jubilee line terminus in the basement. It’s all a big mess that’s made worse by a multitude of overhead structures (some redundent) and the encroachment of Buddleia. Add in the fact it’s now hemmed in by high-rises and its no longer the lovely place for photography that I remember.

The only bright side was that all c2c services from Fenchurch St were being diverted through the station, adding something different.

Because of these constraints I moved out three stations East to Manor Park where there aren’t the same constraints (as you’ll see from pictures later)

12:20.

Having spent a profitable hour at Manor Park capturing shots of trains (and passengers) I’ve moved West to Forest Gate. On the train I had one of those experiences I’ve missed. Some folk like to pretend that no-one strikes up conversations in London – especially on public transport. As someone who lived in this city for 25 years I’ve always known that was bollocks and today was a good example. As I boarded the front of the train I made eye contact with a young Londoner of African origin, we both nodded to each other and I stood opposite each other in the vestibule. As often happens, having a big camera hanging off your shoulder tends to provoke questions, so this young lad started to ask me what I’d been taking pictures of. Within minutes we were deep in conversation (he was on his way to Stratford to see his mum, who gas Parkinsons). It was so nice to be able to interact with strangers again. It also reminded me why I miss London. It’s such a cultural melting pot. The rainbow of faces I’ve seen in the past couple of hours…

15:30.

I really enjoyed my break in East London. The camera was working overtime due to the sheer number of services along the lines. It’s sometimes easy to forget how intensive rail services are around London. The good news is that they were all really busy in both directions.Here’s my train into Liverpool St.

16:17.

The London Underground was just as busy as the Overground network as people are enjoying the good weather as well as the relaxations in freedoms. Having got the tube from Liverpool St to Kings Cross I elected to walk the rest of the way to Euston and enjoy the sunshine rather than be stuck in tunnels. The Euston road was teeming with people who all seemed to have the same idea in mind – enjoy the sunshine. At Euston I decided to visit somewhere I’ve not been able to go to for ages and enjoy a swift pint outside of Adnams ‘Ghost Ship’ outside the Euston Tap at the front of the station.

Cheers!

Now I’m speeding up the West Coast on a lightly loaded 15.20 Euston to Manchester Picaddlilly although with such good weather I’d rather be by the lineside somewhere, but hey ho! – I’ve taken so many pictures this past week I’m going to be busy for another one just sorting them out!

18:15.

I’ve left London and the South-East behind for now and walked across Manchester city centre which was packed with people. It’s a bit disconcerting at first after spending so long avoidjng people but I’m gradually getting used to it. The weather’s just as sunny as London but there’s a noticeable drop in temperature up North! I’m now on my final train of the trip, a 3-car Northern Class 195 which seems tiny compared to the 8-12 car trains I was photographing earlier! The change in topography is fun too. As much as I enjoyed the big skies of the flatlands across the Fens it is good to be back amongst the hills of the Pennines.

I’ll bring this blog to an end now as I’ll soon be home. I’ll be taking a break tomorrow but I’ll be back next week – hopefully with edited pictures to show. Plus, I’ve still got a few hundred old slide scans to dip into for picture of the day.

Rolling blog: Extra time…

11 Friday Jun 2021

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13.20.

Sorry for the lateness in starting this rolling blog but I decided to treat myself to a lie-in and a more thoughtful and less frenetic day today. I’d originally planned to head back to West Yorkshire today but I’ve extended my stay by another night as there’s so much to try and catch up with photographically. Having been confined to barracks because of Covid you forget how much you’ve missed out on seeing in that time.

I’ve just been exploring the railway between Norwich and Ely, stopping off at stations I’ve not visited for several years and certainly not since the new trains started running. Right now I’m en-route to Ely (again) to change-over to another route. I’ll update this blog once I have…

20:20.

OK, OK – I know! This has been a crap rolling blog – despite all my best intentions. Part of the reason is that the trains I’ve been on have been busy, there’s none of this ‘having a cosy table bay of four to yourself. In fact, the train I’m on now (an AGA ‘Stansted Express’ set pressed into service on Norwich – Liverpool St) doesn’t even have tables, so my laptop’s balanced across my legs!

That said, it’s been a good day, even if I didn’t get to do everything I wanted and the weather spent most of its time being overcast. I’ve visited some stations I’ve not been to for donkey’s years and got really useful pictures. I’ve also observed how passenger numbers are very much on the increase again, driven by schools, colleges and leisure travel. But that’s not all, there’s a lot more ‘suits’ around again too as business travel picks up with companies coming out of both lockdown and furlough.

Today’s route took me from Ipswich to Norwich in order to station hop along the line to Ely. My first port of call was Wymondham. As well as taling pictures of the lovely old station building where the cafe and beer garden have now reopened. I also ventured into the village for a mooch around only to find that it was market day. The town’s done an excellent job in making the centre ‘covid safe’ with planters narrowing the roads to make more space for what matters: People.

23:00.

It’s far too late to be blogging now, plus I have to be up early to pack my kit and start making my way from the flatlands of East Angular to the rather less flat Pennines. That said, I’ve really enjoyed my time here and the chance to explore places old and new. There’s so much that I could write about but there’s not enough hours in the day – and I still have hundreds of pictures to edit yet. Here’s a final one from today. Once a male-dominated industry (except in times of war) the UK’s railways are making great strides in becoming more inclusive and representative. I noticed this young Muslim train dispatcher at Ely earlier. This is the future of the railways…

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Flatlands frolics…

10 Thursday Jun 2021

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08:20.

Having fallen into a pattern of getting up at 06:00 to make the most of my time here today was no different apart from the weather. The wall to wall sunshine we’ve had these past few days had been rudely interrupted by clouds this morning, leaving the looking decidely mixed. Even so, there should be plenty of photographic opportunities. I’m already on the move, heading to Norwich for a meeting with an old friend who’s recently changed jobs. Having worked with Richard Clinnick on RAIL magazine for 15 years (we were on his first job together) I’m keen to hear about his new role on another magazine I’ve worked for – the International Railway Journal.

Right now I’m sat on another of Anglia’s Class 745 12 car units. I really like these trains but I noticed that one of the Stansted Express variants was working a Norwich – Liverpool St diagram earlier. They seem rather inferior, with no tables and what looks like reduced legroom in the airline seats. Hopefully, I’ll get to sample one later today. Here’s how the priority seating/wheelchair area looks on my train.

10:02.

My meeting with Richard had to be cancelled at the last moment due to him receiving a text from the Covid ‘Track & Trace” system telling him to self-isolate for 24 hours. Talk about timing! Instead I hung around Norwich long enough to get some pictures before catching the 09:27 to Stansted Airport to head along another old familiar route, the line via Wymondham to Ely. I’ve written about my trips on this line several times over the years. It used to be very “old railway” with mechanical signalling, jointed track and even telegraph poles festooned with dozens of wires. All of those are gone now. Instead the Stadler 755s zip along the line at an impressive pace. The old signalboxes still remain, but they’re all boarded up and derelict.

Sadly, cloud cover is 100% around here, blue skies are a memory again.

12:00.

My sojourn in Ely coincided with the heaviest cloudcover of the whole trip – aided and abetted by a partial eclipse! To cap it all, the photo location I walked to was now so overgrown it was pointless for what I was after. That’s the danger when you don’t visit a place for 25 years I suppose! Just before I left the cloud cover cleared so I did manage a few useful shots. Next up – Cambridge…

19:00.

Sorry about the lack of updates – I got sidetracked! In Cambridge I took a couple of hours off to meet an old friend. An old girlfriend actually. Margot and I were an ‘item’ back in the 1970s but haven’t seen each other for well over 35 years, but through the magic of Facebook we regained touch with each other a couple of years ago. Margot’s happily married with two grown-up sons but as I was in the area and we still share common interests like travel and photography, we decided to have a light lunch, a G&T and remember old times whilst sat in her garden. It was lovely to see her after all these years and realise just how much time has passed.

Back on the road again retraced my steps to Ely but the weather was still playing silly buggers, and as memory lane was in vogue today I headed up to a place I’ve not visited since the early 2000s. Kings Lynn. I didn’t linger, I just wanted to refresh my memory. Nowaday’s the line’s worked by Great Northern Class 387s rather than the old WAGN Class 365s (a train I miss). What surprised me was just how rough riding the 387s were on that line. OK, I was sat over a bogie, but every time we passed over a road crossing the violent hunting and crashing make me fear we were going to end up in the dirt. This happened at several crossings which was rather disconcerting when you realise it’s not just a one-off.

On the way back I stopped off at the lovely old station of Downham Market which retains its original buildings and a working signalbox, which surprised me as I thought this section of line from Ely to Kings Lynn had been resignalled, but obvioulsy not. The place was a pean to the vanished BR region of ‘Network South-East’ as nearly all the signs carried the branding of a company that vanished in the 1990s.

22:00.

I’m now relaxing back at the hotel after a long day’s exploring, albeit with mixed photographic results due to the weather but that hasn’t detracted from the sheer joy of being out and about again, rediscovering some old haunts whilst realising just how much has changed in the intervening years. There’s still lots to try and capture so I’ve decided to extend my stay here in Ipswich by another night in order to try and maximise my time away. Plus, let’s face it – it’s not like I’m going to be jetting off abroad next week…

Hopefully the extra time will also allow me to spend more time catching up with some of the places I’ve missed so far. The forecast isn’t brilliant tomorrow but harsh sun isn’t always the best for some pictures. If the weather’s not so condusive I can always retreat somewhere to catch up on photo editing and bide my time. Let’s see what happens – and where I get to…

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Fenland foray…

09 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by in Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel

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09:30.

Sorry for the delay in starting this. I’ve been up since 06:00 and I was on my first train from Ipswich by 07:34 – and in glorious weather too. Then it all went a bit “Pete Tong”. I plugged in my laptop on the train so I could check in with the world (and write this), then spent the entire trip to Saxmundham battling against the ‘blue screen of death’ as my laptop flashed up the dreaded words ‘exception error’. Fortunatly I managed to reset it (eventually). Not for the first time my machine doesn’t chew automatic updates properly when they’re swallowed from indifferent wifi on the move…

Still, I can breathe easy for now as I backed up all my data and pictures as a precaution. For now I’m going to be blogging via my phone, so please excuse fat finger syndrome and a spull-chucker that thinks I’m wanting to write in Serbo-Croat!

I’m currently kicking my heels between trains at the pretty and well-heeled market town of Saxmundam. You can tell it’s well-heeled as it boasts two new supermarkets and one of ’em is a Waitrose.

The station’s looking good too. The Lowestoft bound platforms been renovated, the old station building’s undergoing a rebuild and the car-park’s recently been extended. The large flower bed that separates it from the Ipswich bound platform’s been replanted by the local community group and includes a new herb garden. All that’s needed now is for passengers to return in numbers.

I’ve traversed the East Suffolk line many times. In fact I wrote about it last September as part of my bi-annual Round Britain rover for RAIL magazine last September but I’ve never had time to stop off at any of the stations and towns en-route. Today’s an opportunity to make up for that omission.

Despite much recent modernisation, with resignalling and new track the East Suffolk line still takes me back to the old days as there’s long lengths of the old 60ft sections of jointed bull-head rail to provide the famous ‘clickety-click’ sound of classic rail travel. I’ve heard a sound I’ve not come across for years, the bang as a fishplate copes with the rails expanding in the hot sun!

11:15.

I backtracked from Saxmundham in order to spend some time at the excellent station restoration project at Wickham Market. The old two-storey station building has undergone a massive make-over to convert it into a cafe and meeting rooms for the benefit of the local community. The scheme was funded from several different sources including Community Rail Network and the Railway Heritage trust who helped with the replacement of the station canopy. The lovely volunteer behind the cafe counter told me that the copies of the original spandrels were made by Hargreaves in Sowerby Bridge – talk about a small world!

Right now I’m on the 10:42 train making my way North towards Lowestoft, maybe I’ll stop off on the way if something else looks enticing…

I’m travelling in the front car of a three car Class 755 but this set (329) seems noticeably noisier than others I’ve travelled on due to vibration from the engine compartment. Even so, it’s head and shoulders in quality above the old 2-car Class 156s it’s replaced!

13:15.

I’m now on my way to Norwich after a short layover in Lowestoft which I used to buy some extra summer clothes from M&S. With not having been able to visit Thailand recently my old multi pocketed shorts (ideal for travelling) had to be condemned! I’ve now found a half-decent replacement. But God, Lowestoft was depressing. I’ve visited the place many times. I’ve even stayed overnight, which was ‘fun’ but each time I return it seems to get worse. I stood out like a sore thumb for all these reasons: I’m not clincally obese. I’m not festooned with ‘tats and I don’t use either a walking stick, Zimmer frame or mobility scooter! Honestly, the place was like God’s waiting room.

16:45.

I took a break in Norwich in order to have coffee with an old friend. Dominic and his family moved up here from Chelmsford at the end of last year, so it was good to be able to catchup after so long – even briefly. The town doesn’t seem to have changed much. Whilst I waited outside the station I watched an armed police team and the transport police detain one youth whilst a gaggle of women in matching hen party T-shirts stood smoking and spilling booze. On a Wednesday? Must be some hen do!

Right now I’m en-route to the broads again to recreate some photographic favourites featuring the new trains rather then the elderly and wheezing class 156s…

19:20.

I’m on the rails again after getting the picture that I wanted of one of the new Class 755 trains crossing the swing bridge at Reedham. Sadly, I only got one bite of the cherry due to the rail timetable and time constraints. Even so. It’s a lovely place to while away an hour and watch the boat traffic on the broads. Reedham boasts two pubs on the river but only one has reopened at the moment. I can’t post a picture right now as I was concentrating on using my Nikon, but I will later.

I’ve been coming to Reedham for years and find it a lovely spot. The railway might have lost some of its interest now it’s been modernised and the old mechanical signalling’s been replaced, but the local station friends group makes up for that. They’ve done an excellent job with the station gardens and the small museum they maintain in one of the original station buildings.

The Reedham swing bridge – just waiting for a train…

22:30.

My final update for the day as I’m now back in my hotel in Ipswich, juggling plans for tomorrow as I’ve a couple of people to catch up with whilst enjoying this superb weather. My trip to Norwich was ‘interesting’ to say the least. On my return from Reedham I nipped into town to buy a sandwich. The first thing I saw was very positive. The ground floor of an office block just the other side of the River Wensum has been converted into an NHS Covid vaccination station. Dozens of people were inside with more queuing outside. The really positive thing was they were all young people. Sadly, the good impression didn’t last. a few yards up the road I came across a group of young people and one slightly older woman who were all well gone already. They were arguing as it was some girls birthday and the woman had trapped said girl in a lift three times (no, I can’t work it out either). It seemed like the usual carry-on that you get in Norwich most weekends when every village idiot for miles descends on the place. I thought no more of it until one of of the young men blurted out in exasperation “Oh Mum!”…Maybe Ry Cooder should have forgotten about Texas and written a song about Norfolk…

Anyways, here’s one last picture from today now that I’ve go them dowloaded onto the laptop (which seems to be behaving itself). When I got back to Ipswich I had chance to have a look at one of the new Bombardier Class 720s as one was waiting to return to London. Oh dear! They have 3+2 seating and the aisles are so narrow they’re a tight squeeze even for me. With a camera bag on my back I stood no chance of getting through, so imagine what they’d be like with people occupying those seats?

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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog: Time for an adventure…

07 Monday Jun 2021

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07:20.

Apologies for the recent gap in blogging, it’s not that I’ve not been up to anything so had nothing to say (exactly the opposite) it’s simply been a case of not having enough time in a day to fit everything in!

This weeks will be a little different as I’m off on my travels and flying solo so the focus is rather different. I’m spending the next few nights based in Ipswich in order to explore and record the changing rail scene across East Anglia and Essex. Right now I’m on the 07:00 from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester Victoria in order to head South to my old home town. London. Despite the gradual easing of Covid restrictions this train’s still quiet. It’s a three-car 153/158 lash-up and there’s only half a dozen of us in the front 153 right now. I’ll be interested to see how busy it is by Manchester…

The glorious weather we’ve had over the past few days has faded away this morning, leaving us with low cloud and spots of rain. Even so, the temperatures good and ideal for lugging around a camera bag and rucsac – which is just as well!

I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to keep popping in to see what (and where) I get up to…

07:45.

Due to problems with another service my train’s become an “all shacks” service to Manchester, stopping everywhere en-route, which means we’re filling up. My car’s still less than half-full, but it’s clear passenger numbers are gradually recovering from the lockdown nadir. The weather here in Lancashire’s sunnier than t’other side of the Pennines, so I’m hoping for for a pleasant stroll across Manchester later.

09:30

And relax…! I’m currently back in familiar territory, speeding South on 1A16, Avanti West Coast’s 08:55 Manchester Piccadilly – Euston Pendolino. My earlier arrival at Manchester Victoria saw me do a double take as I passed throught the station. One of Northern’s new CAF built units was sitting in platform 2, one of the pair of East facing bays. It was only when I noticed the number that I realised something unusual. It was one of their electric sets, not diesel. This is the first time I’ve seen an EMU in the bays as currently (pardon the pun) there’s nowhere for them to run to as the wires don’t extend futher East than the station environs. At the moment Network Rail are extending electrification as far as Stalybridge as part of the trans-pennine route upgrade (TRU) so in a few years time this will be a common sight, but not right now…

10:15.

My Pendolino’s eating up the miles to Euston, but there’s one noticeable thing missing at the lineside. As we passed Rugeley the four giant cooling towers from the old coal fired power station have vanished. They were demolished using explosives over the weekend.

10:24.

Our journey South was going really well until Rugby when running early turned into a 6 minute deficit after being checked twice, first at Trent Valley Junction, then in the station where a sister Pendolino pulled up alongside us. Having cleared Hillmorton Junction we’re picking up speed again although I’ve no idea what the problem was as there’s been no announcements to explain.

12:15.

Our slightly late arrival at Euston didn’t disrupt my plans as I was in no hurry. I paused long enough to get shots of the remains of the old Euston signalbox which has been flattened to make way for HS2, then strolled to Euston Square tube station to catch the train to Liverpool St. The capital’s still eerily quiet due to the absence of foreign tourists and office workers still on furlough, but life’s returning. My tube train was certainly busy.

Liverpool St mainline station was far busier than last time I was here too although the mezzanine remained closed. What’s also changed is the trains. New stock from Stadler and Bombardier mixed with older BR built vehicles which still hold on despite the fact they should have retired by now. Class 315s can still be found working some TfL rail services to Shenfield and my train (the 12:02 to Ipswich) was formed of three elderly (if refurbished) Class 321s!

19:30.

Apologies for the gap but I’ve been busy travelling and my phone’s decided it doesn’t like the East Angular phone networks so it’s refused to connect to anything! I’m currently on a train to Felixstowe so I’m using the train wifi to pen a few words.

I’ve certainly had an eventful day so far and the weather’s been absolutely glorious which has been great for pictures. I made my way up to Ipswich in fits and starts, stopping off at several stations on the way in order to build up a haul of pictures and also see what’s changed since I was last spending time on the Great Eastern Main Line. I must admit that I was surprised to find so many of the old BR built trains still working. The Class 321 ‘Dusty Bins’ are still the mainstay of the electric services to places like Clacton, Southend and Ipswich, although I did see some of the new Bombardier Class 720s in service and several more out on test. Of course the 720s have been delivered late and Covid has hammered the driver training schedule, so it’s hardly surprising the 321s are soldiering on. They’ve never really liked them as a train, the internal layout was inferior to many other regional trains but Greater Anglia have done a good job with refurbishing the units to make ’em bearable. Even so, I’m looking forward to trying out the new Class 720s. Right now I’m on one of GA’s other bew fleets, the Stadler built Class 755s. I think that they’re an excellent train from a passengers perspective. The internal layout is very good with a variety of airline seats and table bays of four, plus they have wifi and plug sockets (although the sorkets are kaput on the set I’m on). They also go like rockets!

22:00.

I’ve managed to get my phone to agree to communicate with the local phone networks, so I’m typing this last update from my hotel room in Ipswich using it tethered to my laptop. The hotel want to charge me for the pleasure of using their wifi but my phone contract has such a huge monthly data allowance there’s no need. Day 1 of the adventure’s been fun. The weather’s been superb and I’ve really enjoyed being able to explore old haunts again as well as get a good selection of pictures. Editing them will keep me busy over the next few evenings but that’s not a problem as Ipswich isn’t exactly ‘sin city’. Most of the town centre seems to close-down after 18:00 but that hardly surprising as the place is deserted. I’m trying to remember if it was always this way, and I suspect it was. There’s what looks like a couple of reasonable pubs but otherwise the only things that are open after 19:00 seem to be take-aways and kebab shops. Like a lot of English towns nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be many people living in the centre so once the shops shut it’s game over. Either way, it’s not a problem for me as I’m not here looking for nightlife. There is one thing I wouldn’t mind finding whilst I’m here. Apparently, there’s a replica Noah’s ark that’s been impounded in the docks as it’s not seaworthy. No, seriously! Take a look!

Ark’s aside, tomorrow’s going to be another busy day, so I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from today before signing off…

Here’s a pair of the new 5-car Class 720’s built by Bombardier approaching Colchester whilst working 1N47, the 16:05 Clacton-on-Sea to London Liverpool Street

Also at Colchester were this contrasting pair…

One of the new Stadler built 12-car units that have replaced loco-hauled sets on London – Norwich Intercity workings passes an old BR built Class 321 eking out its final days working services between Clacton and London. These particular trains (321/4) were originally built for working out of London Euston to Northampton and Birmingham before being cascaded to Anglia services.

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/

Thank you!