Tag Archives: Sri Lanka

20th March picture of the day…

20 Thursday Mar 2025

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My first day where some sort of normality returned. As the Covid aches had receded and having had a good nights sleep I decided it was time to leave my sick-bed, dress and move back into the office. That didn’t mean pushing myself, far from it. I took the day steady. Part of the morning was spent catching up on the latest madness investing the world’s politics over a coffee (with the state of things, you should have added a Brandy to that! Ed) and a light breakfast before commuting across the landing to my workspace in the back bedroom. The very act of being up and about again helped to restore my spirits – as did the view from a different window, where I could watch a cross-section of our local bird population guzzle the oats I’d left out for them yesterday.

One of the jobs I was keen to start on was a spot of spring-cleaning by going through the cupboards and shelves in the office to see what was no longer needed. Stuff that could either be junked or saved to go on eBay if it had collectability. Lots of old paperwork ended up being binned and I have a stack of old diaries which joined the queue to be digitised. I kept a diary throughout my travels across Asia to Australia in 1991-92 and I’ve always meant to rewrite them into blogs showing what backpacking overland was like 34 years ago. I’ve even older ones from India in 1985-86 which would also tell a tale or two, but the ones I want to digitise now are more personal ones from the late 1980s which take up a lot of space in cupboards.

Having taken another Covid test I’m still showing up stongly positive so I’m shunning contact with others until I’m no longer infectious. I know the vast majority of people simply don’t bother anymore, but when a lot of your friends are either elderly or vulnerable, it seems the only decent thing to do. Besides, I’ve plenty of things to keep me occupied at home and Dawn’s not showing any signs of having caught the ‘rona’ off me. Dee’s been a star whilst I’ve been laid low and I’m keen to be able to take the pressure off her in return.

Spring clean over I hope to add a number of different items to eBay over the weekend, when the weather’s due to deteriorate. I’m also eyeing up restarting scanning old slides, a project which has stalled recently. I still have several albums here in the office which I’d really like to get done and dusted whilst I’m confined to barracks. So, whilst I might not be going anywhere physically I can travel around the world in old pictures, letters and through the memories they bring back!

For now I’ll leave you with a sample of one of those slides in the queue. I’ve loads of odds and sods from different times and places that were either misfiled or were part of the slide collection returned by ‘Lonely Planet’ many year ago. So, here’s one – not for rail enthusiasts, but petrol-heads!

Washing down an old Austin A35 (1952) which was still in daily use in Kandy, Sri Lanka back on the 2nd January 2003. In those days, vintage British cars weren’t an uncommon sight. The weather (no need to salt the roads) meant vehicles lasted for years. There were still some to be seen during my last visit in 2017, but I never encountered one of these again. Look how dinky it is compared to modern monster SUVs. No wonder roads are congested and towns and cities choked with traffic.

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

17th March picture of the day…

17 Monday Mar 2025

Posted by in Covid 19, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics, Sri Lanka, Travel

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I’d forgotten just how shit having Covid is. I had a lousy nights sleep as the aches meant I just couldn’t get comfortable and settle. Trying to toss and turn whilst groaning silently in order not to disturb Dawn was an effort in itself. By the time it came to wake up I was knackered so ended up having a lie in, having guzzled Lemsip and swallowed Ibuprofen in order to feel vaguely normal. This has meant today’s been another one where I’ve confined myself to bed.

I have managed to get some things done, mostly research for future projects. Apart from that it’s been another frustrating day. I’m hoping the aches will ease tomorrow as I’m fed up of being bedridden. I want to be able to potter around the house but I remember from the first time I contracted Covid that it’s unwise to push oneself too quickly.

Sadly, being bedridden with access to the internet has meant I’ve spent far too much time paying attention to the implosion of democracy in the USA. Trump has been in office for less that two months but he and his fellow kleptocrats are making huge strides in turning the ‘land of the free’ into a dictatorship. God knows what that country will look like in six months time.

Today’s picture is to take my mind off all that crap. Much as I enjoy exploring cities sometime later this year I’ll need beach time and the opportunity to listen to the timeless sound of the sea breaking on a beach, as it has done for millions of years, well before our distant amphibian ancestors crawled out of the primordial oceans to start fucking the planet up. The question is – where? Maybe somewhere palm-fringed with golden sands like this?

One of the beaches at Tangalle on the South-Eastern coast of Sri Lanka, seen on the 30th December 2003. I left only footprints and took only pictures…

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

30th December picture of the day…

30 Saturday Dec 2023

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Sri Lanka, Travel, West Yorkshire

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So, here we are. The penultimate day of 2023. Not that you’d know if you didn’t possess a calendar as it’s been exactly the same as almost every day in December here in the Calder valley. Gloomy and wet. At this rate you’ll easily be able to tell someone from the Calder valley. They’ll be the ones with the webbed fingers! Right now it’s a miracle if we go more than a couple of hours without rain. We really have had an awful December that’s followed on from an equally wet November.

With the weather being so crap there was nothing else for me to do but concentrate on home life, so the day’s mostly been spent working and cooking. Yesterday I made a spicy vegetable hotpot with dumplings in the slow cooker. I’ve never made dumplings before but the whole recipe seemed to suit the season and I enjoyed something different. Today’s effort was designed t use up some of the Xmas veg we’ve got left – so Carrot and Parsnip soup it was. Admittedly, I may have overdone the Chili flakes for people with a more sensitive palette – but for us they give the warm glow you need this time of year. Besides, some of it’s to stock up the freezer and I’m sure it’ll be idea if we have a cold spell – although there’s little sign of that at the moment. I’m not a great one for New Year’s resolutions but I do have a few things planned and one is to spend more time in January cooking different dishes (mostly vegetarian) – which should keep me out of trouble and give Dawn a break.

I’m really hoping the weather does a volte face in January otherwise I’m going to have to cast my photographic net further afield, which will be a bit of a bugger in some ways as I have two articles lined up either side of the Pennines. That said, there’s a decaying national rail network to report on – and some interesting stuff on High Speed 2 on the bit Rishi Sunak hasn’t made a mess off (but more of that in my end of year review).

Right now it’s time to switch off for the evening and indulge in some escapism. I’m not a great watcher of TV. In fact, I can’t think of any programmes I watch on a regular basis apart from (when they’re on) ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Have I Got News For you’ and ‘The Last Leg’. The oxymoron that’s ‘Reality’ TV leaves me cold, so if I want to indulge I’m more likely to find a film or series on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Right now we’ve been enjoying the Amazon Prime series ‘Reacher’ which is based on the character invented by the author Lee Child. The books often turn up in travel libraries in homestays and hotels across Asia, which is where I first encountered them. The Amazon series isn’t bad, so that’s tonight’s TV sorted.

All that’s left now is the picture of the day – which comes from sunnier climes as I’m in desperate need of some sunshine and photographs are the only way I’m going to get it! Here’s Tangalle beach in Sri Lanka on this very same day 20 years ago when I was there with friends. How time flies – and if only I could…

Funny how fate works. We spent the Christmas season of both 2002 and 2003 on Sri Lankan beaches, as we often used to get away that time of year. If it wasn’t Sri Lanka it would be India, or elsewhere. The one year we decided to say in the UK for Christmas as we’d travel plans for later was 2004. And what happened here, then? The Tsunami…

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

16th August picture of the day…

16 Tuesday Aug 2022

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It’s a short blog from me tonight as the pair of us have had a very convivial night at the house of friends. Normally they cook for us but today we turned the tables and brought with us food we’d already pre-prepared. All that was left to do was cook the potatoes in chilli and the spicy chicken kebabs to go with all the salads and demon garlic mayonnaise we’d brought with us. Needless to say, a fine time was had by all – but I wouldn’t stand downwind of us in the morning!

The earlier part of the day saw Dawn commuting into the CRN office in Huddersfield whilst I worked from home planning more of next weeks round Britain odyssey and prepping a lot of old slides and other memorabilia which went live on eBay this evening. Follow this link to see what’s on offer, which includes 90 new slides which I’ve only added today. Oh, there’s also a selection of old badges and branded moleskine notebooks which may tickle your fancy.

As for today’s picture, this is identical to one of the slides that are now up for sale (starting price £1.99). I’ve added a selection of pictures of the railways of Sri Lanka, taken in 2003. The railway still uses a couple of British-built locomotives classes, including these examples, the M7s, which were built by Brush, Loughborough in 1981.

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

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

Thank you!

15th March picture of the day…

15 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Sri Lanka, Travel

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God, are we really half-way through March already? Where did the time go? It’s certainly been a tumultuous month so far what with the tragic and appalling events in the Ukraine and the knock-on effects around Europe and across the world. Just as we thought the planet was starting to recover from the unprecedented Covid pandemic we’re thrown back into death and uncertainty – along with a hefty economic hit.

Due to various events I’d really been looking forward to the idea of being able to get abroad again and had my eyes on Sri Lanka. So, today I checked the exchange rate. Sterling’s not been doing terribly well recently so you can imagine my surprise when I saw that compared to the other currencies I watch the Pound was up 27% against the Rupee. To give you an idea, last time I was in the country in January 2016 a pound was valued at 204 Rupees. It’s now at 356.

This made me do some digging. Apparently, the Rupee is being ‘adjusted’ due to economic hits which include a 40% rise in fuel costs and the collapse of the country’s foreign currency reserves due to Covid and the absence of foreign tourists – a situation that’s not going to improve as the No3 on the incoming visitors list was…Russia.

Even so, the country is an attractive destination as they’ve relaxed many Covid restrictions – making it easier to visit – and they need foreign currency. OK, there’s problems with various shortages but after living in post Brexit Britain the absence of stuff on supermarket shelves is more than made up for by the beaches! Besides, I’m not a fussy eater and I’m desperate to get away for some R&R and beach time.

Oh, there’s another attraction. Sri Lanka has the most amazing railway system. In some areas it’s still pure Victorian colonial, in others it’s modern, having been rebuilt after the terrible civil war. Oh, there’s a few modern Chinese multiple units taking over, but the infrastructure (especially the signaling) is out of another era and incredibly photogenic – especially in the hill country where the railway weaves its way through the tea plantations. Of course, it’s not going to last forever – just as it hasn’t in countries like Malaysia who’re spending huge sums dragging their railways into the 21st century. Thailand is too – and even India (the mother of all rail systems) is allocating vast amounts of capital to their rail budgets. So, today’s picture is one from my last trip to Sri Lanka back in 2016.

This is Haputale, in the hill country seen on the 17th January 2016. A German built diesel-hydraulic loco has called with a train from Badulla to Kandy whilst clouds swirl around the town which is perched on a ridge between two valleys 1431 meters above sea-level.

You can find many more pictures from this trip (and they’re not all railways – promise!) here.

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 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/

Thank you!

3rd March picture of the day…

03 Thursday Mar 2022

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Apologies for absence yesterday but I’ve been too busy earning a living and scribbling professionally as well as editing pictures to find the time to blog. Plus, there’s been nothing exciting going on at Bigland Towers worth relating. The month of March began in glorious fashion weather-wise but that was for one day only. Since then we’ve resumed the wet and misty conditions that dominated most of last month. I’ve still torn myself away from the computer to get my daily exercise but the amount’s the bare minimum this week.

That said, there’s a change on the horizon. After tomorrow I’ll be free to get out more and next week is looking very interesting indeed. On Monday-Tuesday I’m in Nottingham at the annual Community Rail Network conference. This is the first time it’s been held away from the internet since March 2020. We just managed to get away with that as a live event before Covid put the mockers on, so everybody’s really looking forward to being able to catch-up with each other in the flesh once more. I’d had the conference booked for some weeks. When I’d arranged it Dawn said to me “I’ve a funny feeling you’ll get some paid jobs come in at the same time”. Sure enough, her intuition was spot on. I’m now double (nay, triple) booked as I’ve now got a really exciting event to attend in London late Monday afternoon where I’ll be wearing two hats as well as my own, but it’s embargoed, so I can’t tell you what it is – for now. To add to the fun I was invited to another press event in the capital on Tuesday but I can’t juggle any more balls to fit that one in too. It’s times like this I really wish I could clone myself!

With all this going on I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend at home before the next round of railway ping-pong starts. Thankfully, I’ve had just enough time in between to put the last lot to bed and start with a clean sheet. That said, scanning old slides is hanging around there in the background. I’m hoping to be able to restart that soon but whilst the commissions are rolling in I’m happy to let it lie. They’ve waited this long so another few months isn’t going to hurt. Besides, there’s lots of what will soon to be history to report on whilst it’s still around…

Talking of history brings me on to the picture of the day. For this one I’ve dug into the archives. There aren’t many countries where you’ll find old British built railway engines in everyday service nowadays but Sri Lanka is one. Here’s one of the M7 Class diesel engines built by Brush, Loughborough and supplied to the country in 1981. Only 16 were built but they’re still plying their trade around the islands railways. This is No 809, seen at Colombo Fort station with a local passenger train on the 26th December 2003.

You can find many more pictures of Sri Lankan railways in this gallery, plus this more recent one from 2016.

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 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/

Thank you!

4th January picture of the day…

04 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Sri Lanka, Travel

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Many people returned to work today for the first time after the Xmas and New Year break – only to find out in tonight’s announcement from the Prime Minister that that return is going to be short lived as England’s going back into another Covid lockdown. I have to admit to having lost track – it this the 2nd, 3rd or 4th? It all gets rather confusing – especially as the rules vary so much. Here in West Yorkshire shops have been open but the pubs shut months ago, so I’m never quite sure what ‘flavour’ of lockdown we’re meant to be having. In many ways it makes little difference to Dawn and I as we’ve maintained as much distance from people as possible as it is! The only people we’ve seen in the flesh on a regular basis are the other occupants of our ‘bubble’ (Dawn’s parents). Sadly, this latest announcement will stop us celebrating Norah’s 80th in the way we’d hoped, but otherwise it’s not going to make a huge difference to us as far as I can see as we’d planned to be pretty reclusive this month anyway.

At least we can still get out for exercise, which is part of our plan. I managed a couple rambles through our local woods which gave me chance to get my steps in and take a break for staring at a computer screen all day. I’m trying to make the most of my incarceration by ramping up my working hours to make up for Festive down-time and catch-up with work. After all, there’s not a lot else to do…

Which brings me on to the picture of the day. I’m on the edge of another milestone as I’m within spitting distance of having all my foreign railway slides scanned and uploaded to my Zenfolio website. This was one of today’s batch. I took this picture on in Sri Lanka on the 6th January 2003. This is the view from the ‘Podi Menike’ express train from Kandy through to Badulla as it twists and turns its way along the hill railway and through all the tea plantations that cover a vast area of this part of the Island. Oh, to be there now, leaning out of a coach door to grab a shot of the train as it snakes around the sharp curves.

The hill railway really is like stepping back in time with its pretty little stations that have changed little since the Victorian Era when the railway was built although in recent years loco-hauled trains like this have been displaced on express services by modern Diesel Multiple Units. What remains unchanged is the fantastic scenery! You can find the scenic pictures (and many more rail shots) by clicking on this link.

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/

2nd January picture of the day…

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by in Picture of the day, Railways, Sri Lanka, Travel

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I’m back! Happy 2021 folks…

I took a day off from blogging yesterday as there’d been sweet bugger-all to blog about. Let’s face it – it’s not as if I was going to write about gallivanting around the country, is it? Sedentary is the word that best describes yesterday.

Today was a little more exciting as the weather’s changed again and we’ve had several snow flurries – enough to stop us thinking about driving out into the hills to go walking. Instead we hoofed it from home through our local woods (which looked lovely in their dusting of snow) down to the valley bottom for a stroll along the canal from Copley into Sowerby Bridge. We were both surprised to see just how much of the canal was frozen over. As dwellers of the high valley side we see more sun, so it’s sometimes a shock to see the way the cold congregates on the valley floor.

Despite the weather we had a lovely walk which (despite its length) got us home in plenty of time for a relaxing evening at home, playing Scrabble and watching films. I suspect this is going to be the shape of weekends for sometime yet. Well, maybe minus the snow.

On top of everything else I did manage to get a few more old slides scanned, which has provided the picture of the day. I took this on the train trip from Colombo to Kandy (Sri Lanka) on the 30th December 2002.

I love the way many railway stations in Sri Lanka have such a wonderful display of potted plants! I wish we could get some of the involved in the Community Rail Awards, although I suspect Community Rail Network might have a heart-attack at the cost of flying a couple of us judges out all that way!

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!

13th December picture of the day…

13 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by in History, Musings, Railways, Sri Lanka, Travel

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Apologies that blogging’s becoming erratic at the moment. It’s the old ‘spinning plates’ syndrome and the closer we get to Christmas the more plates there are to spin! To say we’re living in ‘interesting times’ at the moment isn’t exactly helping either. I’m treading a fine line between trying to ignore the inevitable Brexitshambles whilst trying to prepare for it and really wanting a cathartic spleen-venting at the same time. Oh, and the weather’s been shit and I haven’t been getting my exercise in either, plus we seem to be living in a Covid hotspot right now – so I’ve not had a vintage week. I’d love to see 2020 ‘do one’ – but January’s hardly likely to be a fantastic month as the Brexitshambles shit will finally hit the fan. I have a feeling it’s going to be a brooding sort of month, whilst making plans…

On the positive side, the pair of us have had a productive weekend decluttering and Dee’s done a fantastic job of making the living room a festive space at the same time. We don’t often bother as we’re not normally here, but this year we’ve done what a lot of people have and made the effort to inject a bit of joy into the place. OK, I promise, there’s no inflatable Santa’s on the roof or the outside lighting that requires the entire output of a power station. In the words of the the famous Cupid Stunts (aka Kenny Everett)- “it was all done in the best possible taste”!

In the meantime I’ve got a busy week ahead. A couple of writing jobs have been confirmed and I’ve plenty to keep me occupied otherwise – although the office party season’s looking a bit thin!

Right, on to the pictures of the day. I’m still ploughing my way through old slides and recently I’ve deviated from the travel stuff from 1999 to go back in time to 1992 and some historic railway pictures. Here’s one I scanned this evening. I’ve always been fascinated by railway signalling which is a complex art in itself – especially when the Victorians designed some wonderfully Heath-Robinson semaphore systems like this. I took this picture in Kandy, Sri Lanka back in January 1992 – although when I was there just 3 years ago it still existed.

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!