Excuse my absence this past few days but I’ve had little time for blogging now a semblence of normality is returning as lockdown gradually crumbles. This has co-incided with having articles to research and write, as well as advanced preparation for judging this years Community Rail Network (formerly ACoRP) awards – although I can’t go into any details on that (for now at least). Something had to give, so I decided it would have to be blogging, which is a shame as there’s plenty to write about – but now scribbling for money takes priority!
The weather’s really improved too – which allowed us to get out for ‘Fathers Day’ with Dawn’s parents (both mine passed away many years ago) by going for a walk together somewhere I’d not been to before. Blackmoorfoot reservoir is just to the West of Huddersfield and it’s an easy but pleasant walk in the country with lovely views across the Colne valley. Due to the recent rains the reservoir water levels weren’t as low as I’d expected, but full it ain’t, as you can see from the picture.
Talking of pictures, I picked up some more old albums from storage at Dawn’s folks and they’ve now joined the queue for scanning when time permits. Here’s a sample, which is from an album of railway images taken in 1994-95, when Intercity expresses on the West Coast Main line looked like this…
Class 86228 named ‘Vulcan Heritage’ stands at Crewe with a Southbound express formed of Mk 2D coaches bound for Euston on the 21st August 1994. This locomotive passed on the Virgin trains when they took over at privatisation in 1997 and it survived in traffic until 2003. In 2013 it was exported to Bulgaria, where it remains in service today. You can find the rest of the pictures from the album (as they’re scanned) in this gallery. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out and about more in the next couple of weeks and start updating my website with more recent images.
This leads me on to….
Picture of the day.
This is taken from another old travel album that’s in the queue for scanning, which contains a varied selection of shots from Europe and Asia. This one mixes three of my main interests. Railways, food and travel!
On the 21st February 2000 a young man working on a stall at Ahmedabad station in the Gujarat, Western India, fries Poori, the delicious Indian puffy fried bread made from unleavened whole-wheat flour. I love Pooris for breakfast, along with a curry sauce and the sort of coconut chutney you find served in Southern India. I’d been on holiday in the country but had extended my stay to head up to the Gujarat from Goa in search of India’s last mainline steam locomotives, which operated from (no, don’t laugh) Wankaner Junction! Sadly, I arrived just two weeks after the last engine had its fire dropped for good – but that’s another story – and picture…
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Yesterday was the first day the pair of us ventured away from home since the end of lockdown and the rule change that allowed many shops to reopen. Thursday is our weekly outing to Huddersfield to collect shopping for Dawn’s parents, so I was curious to see how the town centre would have changed since last week. The roads were certainly busier. The amount of traffic seemed not far from pre-lockdown levels.
The weather was appalling, with grey skies and constant rain, which played to our advantage as our first port of call was Sainsbury’s – which was sans queues despite the car park being busy. We managed to get around in pretty quick time despite the fact not as many checkouts were open as normal.
Our next stop was Dawn’s offices at the railway station. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of extra footfall and St George’s Square was still empty, so whilst Dee sorted out paperwork and checked on the building I went for a walk into town. The first difference I noticed was on John William St where trees in pots had been moved into the road and barriers run between them to create wider pavements to allow for social distancing. Pedestrianised Market Place was marked out with a new one way-system with bright yellow markings. Sadly, many people were ignoring them. Despite 3 months of lockdown and massive media coverage of the virus and its dangers, some people still can’t follow simple rules set up for everyone’s safety.
How difficult is this to understand?
I sometimes despair at people’s exceptionalism and what it says about the lack of a cohesive society in the UK.
As you can see from the picture, the streets weren’t exactly teeming with people, but they were noticeably busier than they’ve been at any time since lockdown began. I noticed a variety of shops had reopened. There were jewellers, clothes shops, more food outlets like Greggs and even a good old-fashioned hardware store!
Wandering back through town I saw that the large Kingsgate shopping centre was holding people at the doors to limit the number of people inside at any one time. It was the only place I really noticed a queue, but that could have been down to the weather as normally the banks always have folks waiting.
Another place that had reopened was the old Huddersfield Open Market. A variety of stalls were back in business selling cloth and household goods as well as fruit and veg, pies and pastries. Like many places. a one-way system was in place and the floor was clearly marked out into 2 metre sections.
On a less serious note, I also came across two new units of measurement for social distancing…
Yorkshire Terriers.
…and Huddersfield station cats!
Full credit to Kirklees council for finding a fun (and local) way of getting the message across to people. At least you’ve tried!
As the weather was so lousy we didn’t hang around any longer than necessary. After leaving the shopping we Dawn’s folks we high-tailed it back to Halifax and home to catch up on some work and stay dry. Nevertheless, it was an interesting day out (for me at least). I’ll be curious to see how many more shops have re-opened by next week.
Right, time to move on to the…
Picture of the day.
This shot was taken in the Loggerheads pub in Shrewsbury, Shropshire on the 4th May 2003 when we’d been away for the weekend with friends, walking on the Long Mynd. You can tell it’s an old picture by a feature on the tables that are long-gone. Ashtrays!
It’s a classic old boozer that hosted music nights, where local people would turn up and play together. Whilst we were there I asked if the musicians would mind if I took a few pictures and they were happy to let me. Notice the old boy with the bushy beard, glasses and flat cap in the left corner? At first I thought he was a chap who’d just got trapped in the corner after the minstrels arrived, but later on, he doffed his cap and started singing (in quite a powerful voice) some old folk songs. It was a lovely evening and very different to my London life at the time. I must admit, I’ve a soft spot for Shrewsbury. It possesses some cracking pubs and it’s home to an enormous variety of old buildings. It’s one of the best preserved of our old cities and the place is well worth a visit as it contains 660 listed buildings. Here’s more details from the towns official website.
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After the horrible weather we’d had to end the working week, Saturday turned out to be better than expected – not that we were up at Sparrowfart to see the sunrise as we allowed ourselves a gentler start to the day with coffee in bed at a sensible, but not outrageous, time.
We had a slightly different day planned and places to visit we’d not been to since lockdown began. It’s not that they were terribly exciting, but with the way the days tend to roll into each other because of the lack of options nowadays, a trip over to Holmfirth to visit their Lidl and Aldi stores seemed like a treat! Funny, isn’t it how lockdown has made the mundane seem exciting?
The drive over to Holmfirth wasn’t bad, the roads are getting more and more busy nowadays as people slowly return to work but maybe because it was a Saturday they didn’t feel that bad at all. We normally shoot over to Holmfirth every 6 weeks or so as we can pick up stuff there we struggle to get locally, also, it’s a nicer shopping environment. Neither store was crowded although the car parks were – and neither store had a queue outside – although I wouldn’t have minded if they had as the weather had really picked up by the time we arrived. T-shirt weather had returned at last! We breezed around both supermarkets as they weren’t crowded at all and the shelves were well stocked in comparison to the early days of lockdown. Stockpiling is obviously a thing of the past – thankfully….
Moving on we headed back towards home but called in at Dawn’s parents to drop of some shopping we’d picked up for them. The contrast to Thursday’s couldn’t have been greater. Then we were freezing our butts off due to the wind, today we were soaking up the sun! The trip back to Halifax was really pleasant, it was just a shame there was nowhere to stop off for a drink and to admire the view, instead we came straight back and relaxed at home instead. I indulged in some garden therapy whilst Dawn relaxed and pottered around before joining me for a drink outside. It was easy to forget what was going on in the outside world and lose ourselves in the sounds of the trees and the local wildlife. Lockdown as had its plusses as well as minuses and not having to rush around and instead be able to enjoy a slower life has been one.
Having picked up supplies earlier we had one of our favorite dishes for supper, which we save for a weekend treat: Spanish-style spicy prawns accompanied by garlic bread to soak up the delicious gravy which is far too good to waste. Bliss! Ok, it’s time to move on to…
Picture of the day.
Back in May 2003 I spent a weekend with friends walking around Church Stretton in Shropshire, a county I’ve long regarded as one of England’s hidden gems. It always seems to get overlooked, but that could be part of its charm as it means its not a packed with tourists as some other counties. Church Stretton’s small market town that’s an ideal base from which to explore the Long Mynd and the hills like the one this picture was taken from, the 459m tall Caer Caradoc. The Shropshire hills are an AONB and when you get there it’s not difficult to see why.
Once life returns to something resembling normal I’d love to take a break here once more as views like this should be appreciated and enjoyed.
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Today’s been the worst day (weather-wise) that we’ve seen since lockdown began. It was awful. When I opened the bedroom blinds this morning much of the valley was invisible as it was hidden behind impenetrable murk whilst the rain never seemed to let up for most of the morning.
There was no point in going out – not that there’s really anywhere to go to – so after breakfast with Dawn I retreated into my office, thankful that I had comfortable surroundings to work from and having plenty to keep me occupied and gainfully employed. Let’s face it, the commute from the bedroom to my office (via the kitchen for coffee) isn’t exactly onerous – even if I do miss the variety of travel. Even so, I have the bird-feeder outside the window as a distraction and a regular stream of visitors to keep me distracted. The Tits and Finches have got used to me being here most of the time now and aren’t fazed at all – even when I have the window open.
It’s typical of the way things work that, whilst the weather had turned crappy and I was stuck inside, the batch of pictures in line for scanning were of palm-fringed beaches in Sri Lanka. Talk about rubbing it in! So, whilst the rain dripped from the stonework outside I was transported back to lovely Mirissa,a beach town on the islands West Coast and also the fabulous old fort at Galle, a sleepy little place that was originally built by the Portuguese in 1588 before being rebuilt by the Dutch from 1649 until the British took over in 1796. It’s a wonderful place to explore and was featured in one of my pictures of the day earlier. When all this is over and travel restrictions are eventually eased I’d really like to get back to Asia. It’s a part of the world I’m really missing. One day…
As is usual on a Friday we held the weekly ‘Big 6’ pub quiz via ‘Zoom’, which was great fun and had the added attraction of an extra quiz hosted by Holly – a teacher and former barmaid at the 6 who’s affectionately known as the ‘Ginmeister’ due to her knowledge of that particular spirit and its mixers. The quiz is a great precursor to the start of the weekend and an opportunity to catch up with friends – some of whom we’ve not seen in the flesh for months. Now, as ‘lockdown’ is relaxing (or falling apart, depending on your views) we’ll hopefully be catching up – at an appropriate distance – with people again.
OK, it’s now time for the…
Picture of the day.
In April 1998 I was a few months into an 18 month round-the-world adventure. Having spent time in India Lynn and I had moved on to Nepal, where we’d joined up with two Dutch friends who ran treks from Kathmandu to visit the village of Barpak in Gorkha district, where they ran a small charity. From Barpak we trekked towards the high Himalayas where we camped with the intention of enjoying some fantastic views of the snow peaks. Initially, the weather was cloudy and wet, so we really didn’t see much when we reached the place where we were going to stay. But the next morning, the skies cleared and this was the view from our tent.
Sadly, I’ve lost the notes which recorded the name of this particular peak, but wow – what a view – and what an experience – although I’m not sure my knees have ever been the same since! It’s not the climbing, it’s the coming down that does the damage…
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Where did the day go? When you were younger Sunday’s seemed to drag for one of several reasons (depending on your age). Either because the shops weren’t open, the pubs were closed, or there was nothing on the TV. Admittedly, none of those are a problem any more. Oh, wait the shops and pubs ARE closed! And, despite the fact we have TV channels coming out of our ears, it’s still sometime difficult to find anything worth watching. But I digress…
My point was going to be that – despite all these things – today seemed to fly. Admittedly, we did have a leisurely morning but started motoring in the afternoon with me doing a few chores and cleaning up the office whilst Dawn had another stint in the kitchen cooking more home-made Lasagne for us and extra for the freezer. This was in addition to the industrial quantities of home-made Thai Green curry Dee prepared yesterday.
Little and Large! Two gorgeous home-made Lasagne made with a sauce of Dawns own recipe plus vegetarian cheese.
All this activity meant that we had a productive day but we were keen to take a break at the end. For a change, rather than treading our well-worn path up to Savile Park we elected to stroll down to Copley and walk into Sowerby Bridge via the canal for the first time since Lockdown began. We’ve been avoiding the canal in that direction to follow the advice on social distancing from the Canal and River Trust. Some parts of the towpath are very narrow, and people constantly parading past boats people are living on can make their life uncomfortable. As it was later in the day we knew the canal would be quieter, so we explored. We both enjoy the serenity of the canal and because of Covid there’s hardly any movement of boats, so it’s even quieter.
We passed a few other walkers en-route and a couple of cyclists on our way into Sowerby Bridge but the town itself was pretty much deserted as by then the supermarkets were closed. Unless you’re picking up a take-away from one of the handful of places still open there’s just no reason to be there. We didn’t hang around and tackled the climb back up the valley side almost immediately. Sadly, the weather wasn’t warm or sunny enough to sit outside when we returned so we were soon cocooned by the cottage and enjoyed a quiet, but early night by retreating to bed to watch TV and a program Dawn had found on the BBC’s iplayer. It’s called ‘The real Marigold hotel’ and it follows a group of pensionable age celebrities who’re experiencing India as a possible place to retire. I’m not normally one for ‘reality TV’ but this is much kinder and gentler than many. No-one’s competing or bitching about each other and it’s a mixed cast that includes the legendary cricket commentator ‘Blowers’, Britt Ekland and musician Barbera Dixon, amongst others. The early parts are set in places familiar to me – Pondicherry, Chennai and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. It was a gentle way to end the weekend. And now, it’s…
Picture of the day.
Today’s picture comes from a place that’s not a million miles away from Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka. This is sleepy old Galle town on the country’s West coast, and a place I’m sure ‘Blowers’ is familiar with as it’s where international cricket matches are held.
The pictures shows Galle old town, which is a fascinating mixture of buildings, cultures and religions. In the foreground you can see a circular Buddhist stupa whilst in the background is the tower of a Christian church. I first game here on my own, travelling solo in 1992. This picture was taken when Lynn and I visited on the 13th January 2002. We spent several weeks exploring the hill country and beaches. We returned again for Christmas and New Year 2003 as we would normally visit Asia at that time of the festive and holiday period. But, for once, we didn’t go back in 2004 as we’d done a lot of travelling that year and had only just returned from Singapore and Hong Kong in November. So, purely by chance, we missed the devastating Tsunami that struck on Boxing Day 2004. Galle was very badly hit, as were many of the beaches we’d visited the previous two years. There but for the grace of God…
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 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 locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get… Thank you!
Despite getting up before 07:00 I still didn’t get everything done that I’d hoped and planned to. So much for all this time we’re meant to have on our hands due to lockdown! On the bright side, I did achieve a lot. Having left Dawn in bed with our moggie keeping guard over her I made some coffee before heading to the office. It’s not exactly an onerous commute from the kitchen, one flight of stairs and I’m there! The first assignment of the day was to get a the next batch of slides scanned and edited whilst setting up another batch ready to join the queue. Whilst they’re scanning I normally have time to peruse the web and catch up on the days world and financial news in between. The media isn’t making as depressing and perturbing reading as it did a few weeks ago due to the fact so many countries are slowly feeling their way out of lockdown and making plans for the future. Quite how long this process will last before normality returns is anyone’s guess as this would depend on countries having a vaccine against Covid-19.
With this in mind I’m prepared to be in complete lockdown for another week or two yet. I’ve plenty to keep me occupied, so the only real negative impact on me is financial. I’m one of the lucky ones in that I’ve been able to adapt to lockdown without too much mental stress, as has Dawn. I’m not saying it’s been all plain sailing, but at least we’re both going to come out of this still married!
Dawn was back at work today and straight into conference calls, catching up with her colleagues and what’s going on in the world of Community Rail – a sector that’s not had it easy as many of the volunteer groups rely on people who fit into various ‘at risk’ categories.
It was during one of Dawn’s conference calls that the Dell engineer arrived to take another look at my laptop. To maintain social distancing he worked in the kitchen like he did last time. The machine’s now running sweetly (I’m typing this on it new) and I’m hoping the glitches have finally been sorted out and I’ve a machine I can rely on. I’m keeping my old one up to date as a precaution and basing everything in the Cloud so if anything does go wrong I can rapidly switch between machines. In fact it’s quite useful having both running at times as I can use one for slide scanning and picture editing and the other machine for emails and paperwork. Who says men can’t multi-task!
Once the Dell engineer had left I took a break from staring at screens to get my daily constitutional. The weather was ideal as it was sunny but not too hot so slogging up through the woods to the promenade didn’t leave me in a sweaty mess. After being in lockdown for so long and missing the levels of exercise I used to get I’m trying to ramp things up by increasing my target from the daily minimum of 12,500 steps to 17,000 which means I then surpass all my targets. Thankfully we live in an area where I can do this without putting anyone at risk I’d be buggered if I still lived in North London as 7 miles around a 30 foot garden would be stretching things a bit!
Sadly, with Dawn still working I had to walk solo. Once back at home I settled back down in front of the computers and managed to get 60 old pictures done today. You can find them on my Zenfolio website in this gallery.
I’m moving on through the years now and passed a significant (well, to me anyway) landmark. I’ve finished the years 1989 -1991. 1991 was important to me because in the October of that year I packed in my job as a Housing Officer in Tower Hamlets, paid a years rent on my shared flat and headed off to South-East Asia for a year. By the time I returned in October 1992 I’d visited India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia. I’d also travelled all the way overland through the Indonesian islands from Sumatra to West Timor and even got as far as Darwin in Australia before running out of time and money! One day I’ll write up my experiences of those days, when backpacking was very different to today…
The trip means that there’s a year-long gap in my UK rail archive, just at a time when the railways were going through another phase of replacing loco-hauled passenger services with yet more multiple units. This meant I was kept busy before I left documenting how things were before they changed forever. Of course, what I didn’t know at the time was that rail privatisation was looming. There wasn’t going to be a general election until 1992 and John Major’s Tories looked unlikely to win…
Here’s a sample picture that shows how much has changed.
On the 12th October 1991 a pair of Class 87s stand at the buffers at St Pancras station London. No, this isn’t a mistake! Due to weekend engineering work Services from Liverpool were diverted away from Euston and into St Pancras. The trains were diesel hauled from Nuneaton across to the Midland Main Line and then down to Bedford where the Class 87s could run ‘under the wires’ to St Pancras. 87001 (on the left) waits to work the 13.12 to Liverpool Limes St whilst I’d arrived from Liverpool behind 87021 on the right which had worked the 09.10 from Lime St. I’d been back to Southport for the weekend to say my goodbye’s to my family. A few days later I flew out on a single ticket to Delhi, India, where the adventure began…
I spent the early part of today scanning old slides, responding to emails and helping Dawn set up her home office by converting part of the living room into a workspace. That way I work upstairs and the pair of us don’t disturb each others concentration. We’re now set up for the future which is good as I’ve had the last outside job in the diary cancelled today. Thankfully, I have several writing jobs and I can’t thank my colleagues at RAIL enough for understanding the strain that the present situation places of Freelances like myself and standing by us.
With the weather being cold but sunny the pair of us ventured out for an hour in order to try and pick up some fresh produce and a some tinned goods for the weekend. Oh, and some of Tesco’s finest alcohol free Prosecco, which is one of the best of its type. Sadly, we were unsuccessful on most fronts as both the supermarket in Halifax and the one in Sowerby Bridge has already been pretty much stripped clean. There’s tentative signs that some things are easing as people’s deep-freezes and store cupboards must be packed by now. You could still buy some eggs – and bread but in the immortal words of Magician Paul Daniels “not a lot”. A novelty was that the checkouts now have yellow tape on the floor marking out the minimum distance people are being asked to keep from each other (2 metres) – and this applies to customers and cashiers too!
Back home my plans changed when I found that my bank had settled a PPI claim. It was certainly a case of serendipity as the money couldn’t have arrived at a better time. The irony? They sent me a cheque. My bank, whom have all my bank details – sent me a cheque through the post! FFS!…
As their mobile app allowing you to scan and pay them online isn’t yet up and running I had to walk into central Halifax and pay it into a bank branch. It’s so long since I last visited that I was surprised to see they’d closed all their counters and replaced them with machines and a few roving staff. Gone are they days when you stood in a line to see a bank teller behind a bullet-proof screen. I can’t help wondering how long the NatWest will hold on to such an enormous building that was built for a very different banking age, when such institutions used architectural pomp to present power and stability. It must cost a pretty penny to operate yet the footfall will be tiny compared to just a decade ago, never mind its heyday.
As I was in town I decided I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb so I caught the train into Manchester. I was fully equipped with hand-sanitiser and on my Jack Jones so there was no problems with social isolation! My plans changed when I realised just how many services Northern were cancelling due to staff shortages. I’d an inkling this was happening as both my Facebook and Twitter feeds were busy with rail industry friends saying they were starting to self-isolate due to having diabetes. I’d never picked up that this was such an issue before, nor the fact that the problem is so common. Instead of Manchester, I found myself checking out a deserted Leeds station and an unheard of situation, especially on a Friday – the Wetherspoons was deserted!
The front of Leeds station at 14:51. Not how you expect to see it on a Friday…
As a plan B I caught a pretty empty Trans-Pennine Express service across to Manchester in order to be able to relate a tale of two cities. It was very instructive as it’s clear more and more people are starting to self isolate as the magnitude of the problem finally sinks in. The train was quiet with around a 8-10 people in the carriage after we left Huddersfield. In Manchester there were still people around but nothing like the numbers I saw earlier in the week. The demographic seemed to have changed too. It was much younger, with far less older people about. Most station retail outlets were deserted and many on the mezzanine floor of Piccadilly had already closed down for the duration, with areas taped off to the public. Others had become refuges for railstaff taking breaks who wanted to self-isolate. That message is really getting through. Here’s how Manchester’s two main stations looked in the Friday ‘rush’…
Manchester Piccadilly, 16:38. Manchester Victoria. 17:11
I headed back across the Pennines on the 17:20 from Manchester Victoria which would normally be packed but it was eerily quiet with around a dozen people in my car. On arrival at Halifax I walked back and decided that – as I was passing – I’d pop into my local supermarket on the way home. The news that the Government was telling all cafes, pubs and clubs to close from this evening had obviously already got through as the drinks isle was almost bare of wines and beers had disappeared completely! It looks like we’re in for turbulent few weeks…I’m now back at home and settling in for the duration. Dawn and I will still get out and about of course, we’re not going to become hermits but we are going to be practising social isolation. I’ll tell you what though, it’s going to be one heck of a day when the pubs re-open! Well, most of them anyway.
Allow me a certain amount of schadenfreude at the discomfort of Tim Martin, boss of Wetherspoons, who earlier today complained closing pubs was ‘over the top’ and the equivalent to ‘shutting down Parliament’. Suddenly, the man who was treated as an economic expert by the media over Brexit and who helped foist that shambles upon us is now being treated as an expert on contagious diseases. Of course, the irony is that by closing his establishments they Government has probably saved his business as many of his pubs have a reputation for being ‘care in the community’ day-centres, just with alcohol. Many of his punters are in the demographic that the Coronavirus would decimate!
The country may well look a little different by the time we come out of all this…
Ugh! Up at sparrowfart again getting ready to go to Birmingham. This morning I’m getting a lift to the station because I don’t want another soaking! The weather here is still what’s best described as ‘changeable’. I’m heading for the 06:44 from Halifax, so let’s see how today goes…
07:00.
I’m now on my way to Manchester aboard the 06:44 which is worked by a fully-functioning CAF built Class 195. We have heating, PIS and even the wifi which I’m using to type this. They’re lovely trains when they’re like this and a real step-change from what we’re used to.
It’s a beautiful sunny morning in the Calder Valley although it’s a chilly 4 degrees according to the trains info screens. It’s a bit of a contrast to London yesterday when I basked in 14 degree sunshine!
07:14.
Having crossed the Pennines and called at Littleborough we’re trundling towards Rochdale at reduced speed. Looking up from my laptop for a moment I was just in time to catch sight of a trio of deer feeding in a meadow, their white tails attracted my attention, otherwise I’d have missed them as they were standing stock-still whilst the train passed.
07:18.
We’ve arrived at Rochdale where around a dozen early-bird commuters are waiting for our arrival. I was surprised to see so few, but there’s another Manchester bound service in the bay platform which seems to have a good crowd on it. No doubt it’ll be following behind shortly.
07:58.
After my usual 20 minute sprint across central Manchester from Victoria to Piccadilly I’m back in the warmth aboard Cross-Country’s 08:05 to Paignton. We’ve luxury this morning as this is an 8-car formation. Even the Conductor is boasting that there’s “lots of room this morning, so make the most of it”. I assume that this must be an aberration!
There is an irony in me travelling to Birmingham to see HS2 archeological work in this fashion. This journey between two of our premier regional cities will take 1 hour 28 minutes. Voyagers – be they four or five car – are less than an ideal offering. HS2 (when it’s completed) will cut the journey time by more than half to just 40 minutes. Plus, it’ll be on a 400 metre long, modern intercity train that will make a Voyager look primitive in comparison.
08:29.
We’ve just left Macclesfield. I don’t know about the rear Voyager, but this front set is filling up nicely! There’s lots of business travellers aboard. In the airline seats opposite me two young professionals have their papers spread out on the meagre backseat tables and are preparing themselves for the meeting they’re heading for. Others are using their time to catch up on the budget news in copies of the ‘Metro’ but on one table ahead I can spy an unopened bottle of Prosecco with four plastic cups atop it – so there’s business mixed with pleasure on this coach as I assume these people are race-goers!
08:47.
Bugger, we’re just leaving Stoke-on-Trent and the weather’s changed dramatically. We’re now blessed with thunderously grey skies and it’s chucking it down! Please let this clear before Birmingham…
09:20.
We’ve just left Wolverhampton and the penny’s finally dropped as to why this train is a double set! There were queues of well-dressed people waiting for us to arrive and I suddenly realised that we call at Cheltenham – where the races are on! Now the fact the catering crew were heavily advertising what deals they have on Prosecco or gin and tonic at this hour of the day makes sense!
16:13.
Apologies for the delay in updates but it’s been a very hectic few hours. Our little group got to the HS2 site at Curzon St for 10:00, donned our PPE, had a site induction, then went to visit the site of the London & Birmingham’s locomotive roundhouse, which was built in 1837. You’ll be able to read about my full visit in the future edition of RAIL magazine, but here’s a taster of how the site looks, with the remains of the turntable pit in the middle and 15 pit roads radiating from it. Everyone was surprised just how extensive the remains are, not just of the roundhouse, but other structures as well. Thankfully, the rain we’d had earlier held off and we had sunshine interspersed with cloud – which was just as well because there was a bitter wind blowing across the exposed site that made you thankful for the layers of PPE you had to wear!
The visit took several hours as we were given an extensive tour of the site of the roundhouse and the remains of the goods shed with its wagon turntables still in situ. Afterwards we were shown round the last building standing. The grade 1 listed station building and former boardroom of the London and Birmingham railway.
A selfie with Tim Dunn and Gareth Dennis taken by Gareth (which is why I’m in the middle!)
Afterwards I went to have a look at a modern transport innovation. The extension to the Midlands Metro tram network, the first to use dual-powered trams that don’t have to use overhead lines in the heart of the city so as to preserve the architectural heritage of the area.
Look – no wires (or pantographs)! A pair of trams pass outside the new Town Hall stop.
17:18.
Homeward bound! I left Birmingham on the 16:57 Cross-Country Voyager bound for Manchester. Unsurprisingly, it’s packed even though this is a 5-car. This time of day it acts as a fast commuter train between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, after which the vestibules empty out and some seats become free. With the advent of HS2 I’d like to see these trains withdrawn and the twice-hourly paths used for more commuter services for local passengers whilst long-distance passengers can transfer to a faster, more comfortable service from Curzon St so that we have an inter-city service worth its name.
19:05.
I’m now on the final leg home. After abandoning the Voyager at Piccadilly I retraced my steps to Victoria to catch a train back across the Pennines. I’m now on a 2-car Class 195 heading for Halifax. It’s not as busy as I’d have expected but I honestly can’t tell if that’s due to people not travelling through fear of the Coronavirus or the fact some folks may have left work earlier.
There’s certainly plenty of panic about. I had chance to scan the media earlier and saw the news about the Tango’d Buffoon in the White House banning all travel (except via the UK) to the USA for a month. An already very weak stock market which has suffered many days of losses went into complete meltdown and shed over 10% of it’s remaining value, propelling it into its worst decline since 1987. The spectre of another global financial crash is starting to rear its ugly head…
21:25.
I’m finally home in the warm and dry, having taken the sensible precaution of bringing a brolly with me today, although they’re often of little use up here in the Pennines due to the fact the wind rips ’em to shreds within a few minutes. Right now I’ve begun the task of loading some of the past two days worth of pictures to my Zenfolio website. If you follow this link, you’ll be able to see which galleries they’ve been added to.
Tomorrow I have a day working from home, trying to catch up on picture editing, paperwork and communications, although there might still be time for some blogging, it certainly won’t be rolling…
I’m currently on my way to London from Huddersfield after getting a lift in with Dawn as I fancied a change of route and the opportunity to see what preparatory work is being done on four-tracking the line East to Dewsbury. Right now, the work appears limited to tree and vegetation clearance and surveys.
I’m on a packed 3-car TPE service. The coronavirus seems to have had little impact on the number of people travelling around here at this time of day.
10:25.
I didn’t hang around in Leeds as I was straight on to LNER’s 10:15 to Kings Cross which is made up of 2 5-car Class 802s. Curious to see how busy it was, I walked past the first unit to get into the front set. Loadings seem pretty good at 2/3 to 3/4 full, but there’s no seat reservations working so I can’t see if many people haven’t turned up. I’d certainly expect this train to be busier, but it’s not deserted in the way some sections of the media tend to make out.
On the was out of Leeds I observed the progress being made on building the new platform 0. The switch from the main line’s now in place and a lot of the new overhead masts have been installed with the old ones either decommissioned or removed entirely. The structure of the new platform’s yet to take shape as work is focussing on demolishing part of the original platform 1 to allow it to dovetail. If I’d hade time I’d have grabbed some pictures as it’s a bright sunny day but my focus has to be set a few hundred miles away today. Another day…
11:17.
As an experiment I changed trains at Doncaster as there was another London service drawing in at the same time as mine from Leeds. I’m now speeding South on an LNER service from Glasgow Central and this IS noticeably quieter. I’m in coach J of a 9-car Azuma and there’s only 10 of us in here now after the 8 members of a girls hockey team from Edinburgh got off at Newark Northgate.
11:35.
We’re currently bowling along the East Coast Main Line near Tallington Jn at 124 mph. The wall to wall sunshine I had in Yorkshire’s been replaced by low, fluffy clouds with occasional sunny spells which is a bit of a bummer as I was hoping my luck might have held.
12:16.
We’ve just flown through Stevenage where the new bay platform for Hertford loop services is really taking shape. It’s no longer just a ‘civils’ site it’s now a railway one as track and overhead wires have appeared.
The weather’s improving the closer we get to the capital. Those fluffy little clouds are still hanging around but they’ve thinned and retreated higher to give me a fighting chance with sun patches, although Sods law will dictate they’ll still block the sun and leave the subject matter in shadow just as I prepare to take the shot!
14:20.
I’ve had a hectic couple of hours getting the pictures I need for a magazine around Kings Cross station, which is changing yet again. The station’s gradually becoming hemmed in by skyscrapers as the West side of the station (the former loco sidings) is redeveloped. Oh, and the latest new trains have arrived in the shape of Hull Trains class 802/3’s. Here’s the first of the fleet 802301 keeping company with the type of train it’s replaced, Grand Centrals 180102.
Having done what I needed to I caught the London Underground’s Circle line over to Liverpool St. I was curious to see just what an effect the virus scare was having and I have to say, not a huge amount from what I can see. The train was quieter then usual, but not by much, and there wasn’t a mask to be seen! I did see one or two in passing, but to be honest, you’ll see more in the summer when the Asian tourist influx arrives as some people wear them as a matter or course when it has as much to do with London’s polluted air as anything! Here’s a shot taken on my train to Liverpool St.
19:45.Sorry folks! Rather a large gap in blogging there as I’ve been a busy bunny with the camera, aided and abetted by the fact there’s rather a lot to photograph in my old ‘Manor’ of East London! I decided to stay fairly local and didn’t venture beyond Hackney, which was perfect for my purposes as it allowed me to document the changing face of the railways in one of my old stomping grounds. London Overground have finally been able to introduce the much-delayed Bombardier built Class 710 trains on services to places like Chingford, so I was keen to get pictures of the transition between them and the old BR built classes like the 315s, which will soon disappear altogether. There’s so many new train fleets coming onstream at the moment that it’s difficult to keep up on the national perspective.I didn’t hang around too long as I needed to get back North ready for a change of kit for tomorrows job. To be honest, if I’d planned this without looking at the weather I’d have arranged to have stayed in London (or perhaps Birmingham) tonight rather than have another early start. On the bright side, I get another chilled night at home with my other half rather than yet another to myself in a hotel…
Right now I’m on the last leg home, a Northern train from Leeds to Halifax. Having left London early I missed the rush. Sadly, I also missed the weather, which deteriorated as we headed North. It felt positively spring-like in London earlier, leaving me feeling very over dressed. Not so now as I’m back in Yorkshire and glad of the layers! When I get home I’ll add a few pictures from today. At the moment I’m on an unrefurbished 3-car 158 on the Hull – Halifax service, so I’m accessing the web through tethering my phone to my laptop and loading pictures would make a tidy hole in my monthly data contract…
21:45.
I’m home and drying out after getting soaked walking back from the station as the heavens opened and the wind blew! It was all a bit of a shock after being in balmy 14 degree temperatures in London earlier. Now I’m busy drying stuff out as I’ve got a sill o’ clock start in the morning in order to be in Birmingham by 09:30. Meanwhile, here’s a couple of pictures that I promised you earlier…
The London Overground Class 710s built by Bombardier are over a year late due to software problems but they’re finally entering service. Here’s a pair of them at Hackney Downs whilst working into Liverpool St earlier this afternoon.
Back in the city I was keeping a watchful eye out for people wearing facemasks on public transport as the pictures would be useful library shots. Despite all the ho-ha there really weren’t that many, but I did see these two chaps on the underground at Liverpool St.
Ugh! The alarm went off at 05:30 this morning as we’re off to Bristol. Right now the house is buzzing with activity as we get ready to head off to the station ready to get the first train. According to the internet the trains are running to time this morning, so let’s see how things pan out. We’ll be meeting up with various other ACoRP shipmates on the train from Leeds…
07:20.
So far, everything’s going to plan on this fine, frosty morning. We took a taxi to the station (a luxury for me as I normally walk) and the 07:07 to Leeds turned up on time. Worked by a 3-car CAF Class 195 it had started at Hebden Bridge and had a healthy load of passengers by the time it arrived at Halifax. Now, leaving Bradford Interchange, there’s hardly a spare seat to be had.
As we climbed out of Bradford the skies were fascinating. A complex mass of grey clouds of different hues was turned orange by the rising sun as they appeared to be dropping a curtain of rain (or snow) across a quarter of the city. It was gorgeous.
08:55.
Changing trains at Leeds went without a hitch. We’d given ourselves plenty of time just in case, but the first day working day of Northern under new management didn’t present any problems. Thankfully we weren’t travelling down the West Coast Main Line as a landslip at Dutton viaduct has caused lots of grief as the saturated ground has started shifting, taking the line with it!
Back with Northern, I see that the Dft are already making changes. Former TPE Managing Director Andy Donovan has been announced at the new Northern MD, which sounds like a good move. He had a good reputation at TPE and eh knows the Northern patch. It will be interesting to if the change at the helm improves Northern’s reputation and the visibility of senior management.
Right now we’re on the 08:11 Cross-Country service from Leeds to Plymouth. It’s classic Cross-Country. This 4-car train was rammed into Leeds carrying commuters from York into work. Then it was busy taking other commuters from Leeds to Wakefield. We’ve just called at Sheffield and it’s only now that it’s starting to fulfil its long-distance role. Now there’s a few spare seats and I’ll be interested to see how the composition of our carriage changes along the route.
10:02.
We’re approaching Birmingham at a crawl after we were diverted via Water Orton due to a points failure. The Train Manager, a jovial Geordie, has been very good in keeping us all informed. It’s not a huge delay (4 minutes) but I’ll be interested to see if it has a knock-on effect in Birmingham.
Our two table companions (who’ve changed composition twice since Leeds) are preparing to leave. There’s only a handful of the original passengers left now and I expect more of an exodus at New St. Having been on this Voyager for 2 hours now and spent much of that time inadvertently playing footsie with the person sat on the opposite side of the table I’m starting to feel the cramp. These trains simply aren’t up to the job nowadays but we’re going to be stuck with them for who knows long now that the Dept for Transport has cancelled letting the franchise.
10:16.
We’ve just left Birmingham with only around 20% of the original passengers on board. I remember many years ago the average length of a journey on Cross-Country was around 50 miles. I wonder if that’s changed? I can’t help wondering if there’s not an argument for splitting the Cross-County network nowadays in order to improve resilience. How many passengers will travel all the way from (say) Aberdeen to Plymouth or Leeds to Penzance?
10:30.
Our late arrival in Birmingham didn’t cause us any problems as we still left on time. A crew change has meant the Geordie lilt of or previous Train Manager has now been replaced by a West Country burr of the new incumbent! More of the ACoRP team joined us too. There’s now 5 of us in the carriage.
11:20.
We’re currently heading for Bristol Parkway and the sunny weather we’ve had nearly all the way from Leeds is getting increasingly obscured by cloud. Like the rest of the country, the fields around the railways are muddy and waterlogged. I suspect we’re going to need a considerable spell of dry and sunny weather before they drain. Despite the fact it’s full again, passengers in our coach are remarkably quiet, mainly because most of them are plugged in and staring at one of a variety of electronic devices! Diagonally opposite me there’s on traditionalists old chap who’s actually reading a newspaper but he’s very much in a minority.
12:15.
We’re now ensconced in the Doubletree Hilton in Bristol, preparing for a busy afternoon with some interesting sessions to look forward to…
14:00.
ACoRP’s Chief Executive, Jools Townsend kicks off today’ Community Rail Conference.
There’s a good turnout for the conference too…
There was far too much going on at the conference to blog and take pictures, so picture taking came first. Hopefully, tomorrow will be more relaxed. AT the end of the day a few of us were given a tour of some sights of architectural merit. One of them was a CAMRA national inventory pub – the Kings Head!
…and Huddersfield station cats!
Paul Bigland 