Today’s been one of unexpected variety and visits to places I’d no idea that I’d end up in. Because of that it’s now late, too late to write a blog that does the day and the places we visited justice – so this is going to be a very short blog indeed. I’ll explain more in detail tomorrow.
Our impromptu afternoon meant that we ended up having lunch in the Robin Hood Inn at Pecket Well high up in the hills on the road between Hebden Bridge and Oxenhope. This is a lovely pub in a great location and the food is well worth calling in for. Dawn had the fish and chips whilst I enjoyed a huge Yorkshire pudding stuffed with beef and gravy, served with chips and vegetables which I struggled to finish. At £12.50 one can hardly complain about the price. Feel hungry yet?
Dawn’s was a small portion! The exterior of the Robin Hood. They have a beer garden to the right which has some great views across the Calder Valley.
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Today’s certainly been a sociable one and very much a game of two halves – and that included the weather. This morning we awoke to what threatened to be makings of a sunny say, even though temperatures were sub-par with frost on the ground. My optimism rose with the sun, even if the temperatures didn’t. Dawn had to leave for an appointment over in Ossett whilst I stayed indoors wading through emails and paperwork, planning next week (which is looking rather diverse, providing different blogs from different locations). The pair of us arranged to rendezvous over in Mytholmroyd at lunchtime with me letting the train take the strain.
It was a great plan until it came time for me to leave the house. That’s when I realised the weather had turned to ratshit again and my plans to get pictures along the line were a wash-out. Mind you, poor Mytholmroyd’s used to washouts as its recent history of flooding attests to. The reason the pair of us were visiting was the AGM of the friends of Mytholmroyd station which was being held in a church hall adjacent to the station. Like many buildings in the village it’s been underwater several times as it sits next to the Cragg Brook which has regularly burst its banks to flood the town when the nearby Calder’s done the same. Now, some very expensive flood defenses protect the town, so although the weather was miserable we weren’t worried about being deluged.
The AGM turned out to be a great event. Dee and I have known the group for a long time and have made some great personal friends. Their meetings – which whilst they get the business done – are also social events. The food’s pretty good too! We were treated to home-made tray-baked steak pie (with a cheese version for veggies) along with peas, gravy and mint sauce – the classic pie and peas!
Suitably stuffed the attendees got down to business. Just under 30 people attended which included representatives from train company Northern, the new Community Rail Partnership which covers the whole of the Calder valley line and my wife representing Community Rail Network. Me? I was there to record the event and muck in any way I can. It was a very positive event despite the problems the rail industry’s facing at the moment. There’s lots of things to look forward to with the rail network in the Calder valley which is seeing an increase in passenger numbers with more to come as the place increases its profile as a tourist attraction and as an important diversionary route during the trans-pennine route upgrade.
To add to the calorie intake we were treated to home-made cake as a thank-you to Sue Mitchell who was standing down after many years from her role as Secretary of the group. Not that she’ll be retiring completely. Her partner Geoff was reelected as Chair! Here’s a few pictures from the event.
Meetings don’t have to be miserable. Geoff Mitchel (standing) talked about events whilst Richard Isaacs from Northern (behind the laptop) kept this part of the meeting in order. Retiring Secretary Sue Mitchell was presented with gift vouchers and a gorgeous home-baked cake which was divvied up between attendees.Pie and peas, coffee and cake, positive actions and laughter – what more do you need to be persuaded to join active community groups like this?
Meeting over Dee acted as a taxi to drop people off and keep them dry before the pair of us headed home for part two of the day. Having spent a couple of hours working it was time to head up to our local pub (The Big 6) to join friends for the Friday quiz. Admittedly, choosing to walk there probably wasn’t the wisest move as the rain was still pelting down but hey – at least we got in the steps!
Sadly, our regular quizmaster Mel wasn’t able to make it so the job of reading out the quiz questions fell to me by popular demand. My accent-neutral enunciated tones weren’t as much fun as Mel’s broad Lancashire but I got the job done. Dawn doesn’t normally manage to make or Friday gathering due to work commitments so today was a bonus as not only was Dee there but the rest of the ‘5 from the 6’ were too – which gave us chance to talk about our next joint adventure to Istanbul in three weeks time.
Now the pair of us are back at home having a relaxing night in. Tomorrow’s going to be another busy day but we both have hopes that Sunday many finally live up to its reputation as the day of rest – we’ll see. So, I’ll end today’s blog with a cartoon from the Pub Paper that I read the two quizzes from tonight. It seems rather appropriate…
Oh, before I go, I should mention that next weekend Mytholmroyd is hosting a very unique and very local event. The World dock pudding championships. Never heard of dock pudding? No, neither had I until I moved here. Sadly, we have an appointment elsewhere which means we might struggle to attend, but I’m determined to do so one year…
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Another double dose of blogging today. First there was the High-Speed 2 update this morning, now were back to the usual summing up of the day, which was pretty much as I expected it to be thanks to the weather – cold wet and windy! I’m getting bored of April showers. I know February was meant to be a very dry month but both March and April must have made up for it by now, so can we have some sunshine soon, please? We’d both appreciate it – as would our heating bill. I don’t mind wearing an extra layer of clothing whilst I’m sat at home working but I draw the line at bashing a keyboard whilst having to wear mittens!
Still, not a bad day all in all. I managed to get a fair bit done before venturing out down to Sowerby Bridge to pick up some shopping. I even won £5 on a scratchcard, so things must be looking up. OK, a few added zeros would have been nice, but hey ho..
Back at home I knocked off early in order to indulge in some cooking therapy and practice making a dish I’ve not made for a while. Next week Dawn and I are taking in some home-cooked Indian dishes to the Community Rail Network office in Huddersfield for a staff gathering and I thought make one for us this evening. Cucumber curry. No – really! This is made with cucumber, red pepper, creamed coconut and a variety of spices and tastes divine. So, today’s picture was taken in our kitchen as I prepared the dish. Regular readers will know that I like to have all my ingredients pre-prepared and laid out ready for cooking. Here’s tonight’s.
Clockwise from the top: Chopped cucumber. Roughly crushed salted peanuts. Dried red chillies. Garlic and Curry Leaves. Mustard and Cumin seeds. Sugar, Salt and Turmeric. Creamed Coconut mixed with water. In the centre – chopped Red Pepper. Also used is some vegetable oil.
Tomorrow’s rather different as the pair of us are off to Mytholmroyd as guests of the station friends for their annual lunchtime gathering which is always a convivial event. No doubt a few pictures will appear at some point…
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Another less than vintage day here in the Calder valley as the weather forecast wasn’t far wrong. Whilst last night’s high winds had dropped by this morning the rain returned, making this a rather wet Wednesday. As if that wasn’t enough to lower one’s mood I ended up in a frustrating fight with technology for several hours. I’d planned to update my eBay account to reflect the new postal rates but the site kept crashing which was rather annoying. Undeterred, I started consolidating 2023s pictures from various hard-drives only to find one decided to play-up by refusing to copy over large folders. I ended up needing to leave my machine running and go for a walk whilst it huffed and puffed but at least that way I got some exercise – even if it was in the rain. I suspect I’m going to have to invest in a new portable hard-drive although I rarely need to use them nowadays except for extra storage and as a back-up whilst I’m travelling – although cloud-based services offer enough space to do that now – as long as you have an internet connection, which is where the hard-drives still come in useful.
Come late afternoon I decided ‘bugger this for a lark’ and retreated to the kitchen to knock up this evenings meal. I made a Chana Masala from scratch. Cooking is one of my therapies and today that was needed! There’s plenty left over for portions to be frozen for another day, although we did polish off the last of the chapattis – something else to add to the shopping list. Much as I like preparing Indian meals from scratch I’m quite happy to buy ready-made Chapattis!
As for tomorrow, another day struggling with technology beckons I reckon – and yet more indifferent weather. Still, as always – there’s plenty to do. Now, what picture can I entertain you with today? I’ve not been out with the camera for a few days now because of time limitations and the weather, but I did come across this with the camerphone the other day when I was walking along the canal. Here’s when you only have a narrowboat but want to channel your inner Viking…
Storage is always at a premium on narrowboats but these boxes with solar-panel roofs are a nifty way of solving the problem – and decorative too!
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Don’t you just love Bank Holidays? Today’s was very traditional in that it was a complete washout. Yesterday was iffy but Easter Monday here in the Calder Valley was awful. Whilst the morning seemed fair to middling the afternoon was one of persistent rain and gloomy light levels that made you think you were in Winter, not Spring. There was no chance of getting out for a decent walk without getting soaked so the pair of us stuck to the indoors until the afternoon when meagre sunshine broke through the storms long enough to allow us to nip out to do some food shopping. Please Sir – can I go back to Asia?
Now it’s late evening and the only solace has been food. I knocked up a stir-fry earlier using some of the leftover Duck from yesterday which has been followed by Dawn’s superb ginger puddings.
I’m looking forward to normal service being resumed tomorrow as I’ve lots of things I want to get done. I’ve never been a great fan of the Easter bank holiday. I was always happiest when I was working across them and earning the money to spend when no-one’s charging premium prices and the kids are back at School! Still, there’s lots of things to look forward to in the next couple of months and my May Diary is packed to say the least. In the meantime, expect a few blogs from here and there as I stretch my legs around the UK on assignment for various clients.
With the weather being so crap today I’ve been limited in what pictures I can take, so today’s another foodie shot. Ginger pudding and cream anyone?
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Today’s been one of those rare days that has absolutely nothing to do with railways. Instead it’s been all about the holiday – and food…
Dawn’s been a busy Easter bunny over the past couple of days, cooking up an absolute storm as we’ve spent to day with her parents over in Huddersfield, having prepared a festive feast for the four of us. I played my part as kitchen assistant and chief washer-up, but the lions share of the work’s been done by Dee. We’ve eschewed the traditional Easter fayre of lamb and went for pork and duck instead. But even that wasn’t particularly traditional as the Duck was served cold or in a stir-fry medley mixed with Hoisin sauce. So, for the past few days our cottage has been filed with the most delicious smells as the pork was prepared in a slow-cooker and the duck in the oven.
The idea was to get as much prepared at home before we ferried the food (and ourselves) over to Dee’s parents where everything was assembled in their kitchen. Oh, I forgot to mention the home-made gravy with apples, Shallots, Dijon mustard, celeriac, white wine, chicken stock and honey garlic and Thyme. Then there was the pork crackling, made from the fat off the joint and crisped to perfection at home. Plus – as a dessert – sticky Ginger puddings with a ginger wine and brandy sauce…
Feeling hungry yet?
In preparation for such a repast the two of us stretched our legs and burned off a few calories by wandering around a local beauty spot. Beaumont Park is on the edge of the valley looking out towards Castle Hill and a place called Armitage Bridge. It was the nearest I got to a railway today as there’s an impressive viaduct below which allows Penistone line services to cross the gap.
Now, having stuffed ourselves, we’re back at home. The surplus food’s stashed away. It’ll feed us for the next few days, allowing us to concentrate on other holiday activities. We’d planned to have a long walk tomorrow but the forecast isn’t looking like the weather’s going to play ball. Even so – tomorrow’s a day for just the two of us. We’ll get out somewhere – we just don’t know where yet. Meanwhile, i’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is one of the views from Beaumont Park. I must come back with the proper camera one day…
With Castle Hill in the background, the Honley viaduct on the Penistone line dominates this view from Beaumont Park.
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/
Yesterday we had wall-to-wall sunshine, today we’ve had wall-to-wall rain! It’s been a thoroughly miserable one here in the Calder valley. Half the time you couldn’t even see the valley tops. Still, I had plenty to keep me at home today so the my time wasn’t wasted. I managed to finish editing all my pictures from last weeks trips to Nottingham and the various HS2 sites – as well as yesterday’s jaunt over to Manchester and Stalybridge. I’ve also made a serious dent in some paperwork as well as getting another selection of recent eBay sales off to the successful bidders. So, all in all – not a bad day. The eBay sales involved a trip down to the post office in Sowerby Bridge so I still managed to get in my daily constitutional, even if I was looking rather soggy by the time I returned. I’m missing the warm rain of SE-Asia!
Another day working from home beckons tomorrow as I’ve a load more stuff to stick on eBay as well as adjusting the postage rates for the previous batch of stuff that remains unsold. It’s a chore but it has to be done. Hopefully, by Friday I’ll be free to sally forth once more…
Yesterday’s pictures can have been divided between several galleries. There’s Northern rail services here, Trans-Pennine services here and infrastructure and engineering pictures here.
Now, having cooked a meal for the pair of us (Dee’s still slaving away over her keyboard downstairs. The end of the financial year’s a mad time for her work, which involves long hours) it’s time for me to switch off at least. Therefore I’ll leave you with today’s picture which features on of the current crop of Trans-Pennine express services diverted via the Calder Valley. The Diggle route via Stalybridge reopens on the 7th April so these trains will revert to their normal paths during the week until the next blockade takes place. I’ll bring you pictures of the rebuilt Stalybridge station just as soon as I can.
TPE’s Hitachi built unit 802209 speeds through the classic old station at Hebden Bridge with 1P32, the 1543 Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street, making an interesting contrast from the staple diet of Northern DMUs which work the line.
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/
Today’s been one of those ‘dolly mixture’ sort of days where I’ve been doing allsorts (you’re mixing your sweetie metaphors: Ed). I’ve had a full calendar trying to catch up on work after having been away, so I’ve a large inbox of picture editing to clear. Then there’s been the usual paperwork to sort out – plus the fact I had a visit booked to an Osteopath for a check-up. I did manage to add a load of the High Speed 2 pictures I’ve taken to my Zenfolio website which you can find here.
I’m pleased to report that the Osteopath was very impressed with my old bones and their skeletal alignment so gave me a clean bill of health. Well, after freeing some tension in my neck with an armlock and a resounding ‘crack’ – but apart from that ‘dem bones’ is doing fine. The appointment was over in Lindley which is a lovely suburb of Huddersfield. I’m assuming it’s a village that’s been subsumed by an expanding town back in Victorian times, but it retains it’s own charm and a range of shops, cafe’s and pubs that give it a distinctive feel – as you’ll see in today’s picture. Dawn’s been visiting the same Osteopath for a little while to try and sort out a couple of niggles she has and it was Dee’s suggestion that I get myself checked out after the problem I had whilst I was away. Carrying a camera bag that often weighs 12-13 kilos or more can play havoc with your muscles – as I’ve found out a couple of times in my career.
Appointments over we called into a local garden-centre to restock out collection of herbs. The winter hadn’t been kind to some of our long-established plants as we lost the Rosemary and Thyme – although I’m happy to say the Parsley and Sage survived, so we’re halfway to a song there! Having bough what we needed and acquired a load more compost I spent a couple of hours in the garden on our return. It was an ideal afternoon for it. We’ve had a lot of sunshine today and you can feel the heat returning as the year rolls on. So, all in all – it’s not been a bad day.
Now it’s time to enjoy the evening before another busy day tomorrow but before I go I’ll leave you with today’s picture. There’s a lovely old (Edwardian) clocktower in Lindley. I feel it has a faint Germanic air, what do you think?
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After my last few days travels today’s very much been a lazy Sunday. I’ve travelled nowhere – unless you count a trip up the hill to the local pub! Dawn’s been full on at work so has really kicked back whilst I’ve got stuck into home projects. After the miserable weather I’d experienced in the Chilterns I was relieved to enjoy a sunny Sunday in the Pennines which encouraged me to get out in the garden and deal with some of the unwanted stuff that’s sprung up. We have a row of Sycamore trees on the opposite side of the road to us and this year their offspring have been as invasive as an invading army. I’ve never known a year like it in the 13 years I’ve been here but I’m assuming conditions must have been perfect for them this winter. De-weeding done I spent more time splitting up a yellow Iris I rescued from canal dredging many years ago. I planted some in our front garden but it’s extended its underground tentacles so far I’ve had no option but to sever them and chop it back. They won’t be wasted. I’ve potted some, other bits have gone to grateful neighbours. All I have to do is work out what I’ll plant in the space.
Right, enough from me tonight. There’s plenty to read and see in my past few blogs. Right now – as It’s Sunday – I’m going to have a night off after leaving you with the picture of the day which is something chosen at random from my Zenfolio website. I put in flora into search and came up with this. I spotted these Ceanothus flowers on one of my local walks during the early days of the Covid lockdown. What a weird time that feels now.
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/
As expected today’s been a less frenetic one than of late. Much of my time’s been spent editing and captioning the haul of pictures I’ve captured over the past couple of days. They’ve been spread over several galleries which means you can find Travel images here, Nottingham trams here, East Midlands Railway pictures here and Cross-Country trains here.
In-between getting boggle-eyed staring at a computer screen I’ve managed to get out and enjoy the mild weather that’s snuck up on the Calder valley and get out for a walk or two around the local woods. Having spent two months in Asia which was mostly on the flat my legs are starting to regain their hill-walking muscle memory. I sometimes forget the fact we live on the side of a valley as the highest thing I climbed in Asia was flights of stairs!
In-between working and walking I have been keeping one eye on the news – depressing as it is. It was sad to hear of the death of Paul O’ Grady as he was such an entertaining character and also one of the good guys whom we can’t afford to lose in what’s increasingly becoming a sea of celebrity mediocrity. Mind you, the word celebrity has become devalued. Now all you have to do to be a ‘celebrity’ is appear on some awful ‘reality’ TV show to gain that appellation. The days of the Hollywood greats this isn’t. But Paul was a genuine character, celebrity and campaigner who put his fame to work for the betterment of many groups of people – and animals.
Despite the fact the news can often be depressing and social media even more so, there comes those moments when it all comes good due to some people’s irrepressible urge to take the pee out of the nuts – especially American gun nuts after the latest in a long line of tragic mass-shootings and slaughter of more innocents at the hands of deranged people with automatic weapons. So tonight’s picture of the day is actually a picture of a tweet on Twitter. It’s a social media platform that’s gone downhill since it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk, a man with less than liberal views who’s not been without controversy over said attitudes, his relationships with the opposite sex or his welcoming back to Twitter of formerly banned right-wingers and hate-mongers. But tonight the British have responded with their usual flair and brought the world’s attention to this person and his views. Welcome, Keith Arsewank!
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/
