Tag Archives: West Yorkshire

Rolling(ish) blog. Making the most of the weather…

23 Friday May 2025

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Travel, TRU, West Yorkshire

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15:15

Having finished repainting my old office ready for Dawn to take it over – and with the weather about to take a turn for the worse, I’ve headed out to enjoy a last day of sunshine here in West Yorkshire as the weather forecast for the next week is wet, wet, wet. Admittedly, things didn’t quite go to plan. Dee is out with her parents looking at fireplaces (don’t ask). The idea was that I would meet them for a late lunch – wherever they were. Only I ended up in Mirfield whilst they went to where I’d left – Brighouse. That wouldn’t have been a problem if Northern hadn’t cancelled the train which would have transported me between the two in time to meet them. Ho hum. Instead, I’m now kicking my heels in the Navigation pub by the canal in Mirfield, waiting for the next train West (sorry Dawn!).

Despite the setback, it’s been an interesting day. I’ve explored some new photographic locations around Brighouse and captured some useful TRU upgrade work shots at Mirfield. Here’s a few shots..

A Drax – Liverpool empty biomass train passes through Brighouse past the site of the old rail yards (left).
No. I’ve no idea why a bloke would be riding a penny-farthing through Mirfield either! He certainly caught me by surprise.

Something else at Mirfield that surprised me was one of the TRU history boards on the hoardings hiding reconstruction of the new island platform. As they say – every day is a school day. Now I know why Geordies are called Geordies!

A TPE Class 802 speeds West to Liverpool past workers building the foundations for the new lifts and footbridge at Mirfield, which will allow access to the station from the adjacent carpark.

17:30.

Now I’m back in Halifax, having decided to cut my losses as I needed to do a little shopping en-route home. I popped in to the Piece Hall on the way where the stage is (quite literally) being set for the series of summer concerts.

22:15.

Time to call it a day. As I was back in Halifax in good time I decided to pop in to my local to meet up with friends and partake in the Friday quiz. The combination of good weather, the weekend and a bank holiday to follow meant the place was packed, but we managed to cram into our usual corner in order to enjoy a few brain-teasers, with beer!

Friday evening in the Big 6 wouldn’t be complete without free pork pie – and an ever changing range of real ales…

Now I’m back at home – in time for the weather to change. The sky’s changed from blue to moody grey, the wind’s sprung up and we’ve already had a spattering of raindrops – something we’ve not seen for weeks. Ah, well – the summer was nice whilst it lasted…

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 May picture of the day…

17 Saturday May 2025

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade, West Yorkshire

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Hmm, where have the past few days gone? Well, they’ve disappeared in a blaze of sunshine. Sunshine that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying, even if other aspects of the week have been a bit mixed. The highpoint was Wednesday when I slipped the leash to get out and about across West Yorkshire, looking at various railway locations old and new – plus the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU). I’ll be blogging more about TRU when I’ve finished editing the pictures.

Thursday saw me back at Bigland Towers, sorting through more old stuff, deciding which will stay and which will go. It’s a process triggered by the fact I’m moving out of my office here in Bigland Towers so that Dawn can take it over. Working from home has become a permanent feature for her, so she needs the space more than me. Plus, that way we get a living room back as a living room. Who knew when working at home became a function of the Covid pandemic that it would become the norm for many people?

Friday saw me heading into Halifax in order to get my knees x-rayed. I’ve been having problems with them recently. An appointment at our local GPs with a nurse led to a diagnosis of early signs of Arthritis, but the chap wanted to be sure, so arranged for me to have x-rays in order to confirm or deny his assessment. The staff at the health centre were excellent. Two young Asian women and a black woman radiographer looked after me (do you hear that, Reform voters? The very people you’d ‘send back’). The unit itself was less than a year old and a had a laugh with the nurse who helped me position myself for the radiographer as she kept giggling at the tanned strips on my feet which are due to wearing sandals so much. She apologised for being ‘unprofessional’ but to be honest, it broke the ice.

A few hours later I got the results via text. I don’t have arthritis and my knees are ‘normal’. So why do they hurt so often? Looks like there’s more to find out…

Today the pair of us have been out and about shopping for plants and DIY bits, not exactly the rock and roll lifestyle but hey – we’d originally planned to go walking but Dawn’s mum had a last minute hospital appointment for some tests so we decided to stay nearer to home just in case we were needed. Fortunately, we weren’t so the two of us managed an hour in the sunshine in the beer garden of our local pub before returning home to a quiet evening in.

The plan now is for an early start in the morning in order to head over the border into Greater Manchester and climb some hills, making the most of the sunshine whilst it lasts. Expect a few pictures at some point.

Meanwhile, here’s today’s picture which is from Wednesday’s excursion. Mirfield station continues to be rebuilt as part of the TRU work. The latest chapter has included opening part of the rebuilt island platform after one of the tracks has been slewed. It’s created the opportunity to get shots of trains passing like this.

185105 working 1P66, the 0858 Redcar Central to Manchester Airport passes Grand Central’s 180105 which is heading South on 1A63, the 1023 Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross.

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

13th May picture of the day…

13 Tuesday May 2025

Posted by in Canals, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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I don’t know where to start! Should I focus on the glorious weather we’re blessed with here in the Calder Valley (and mention its downsides), or should I focus on the wider world which seems to be going mad, both environmentally and politically? Maybe best to stick locally for now – otherwise this could turn into a very long blog indeed…

Today’s been another in a series where we’ve had wall to wall sunshine, and I’m loving it. This is my sort of weather. I’ve always been partial to sunny climes so this sort of weather’s right up my street. If anything it’s making me pine for South-East Asia and a beach or two. Let’s face it, what’s the UK got to offer from here? Bridlington on the East coast, or maybe Blackpool on the West. These are not the images I conjure up when I imagine a beach. Think more palm trees, coral reefs and hammocks rather than donkeys and ‘kiss me quick’ hats. Still, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth, so I’ll make the most of things here whilst I can.

The day wasn’t all about basking in the sun. I’ve been busy picture editing, including the HS2 tunnel breakthrough pictures I promised yesterday (which you can find here). Having those sorted meant that I could back-up pictures to different hard-drives as insurance before sending links to various magazines who may be interested.

Work done I enjoyed a walk down into Sowerby Bridge, dropping off our old Virgin internet kit en-route (sorry, Virgin) ready to be returned. Time in the village has provided today’s picture, which is rather topical. Here’s the pound below Tuel Lane lock.

It’s dry due to a lack of water feeding the canal, thus severing the route from the West to the East. This isn’t unusual nowadays as the canal relies on water running off the nearby hills. Except when it doesn’t. The canal above and below Tuel Lane locks are full, but this is the deepest lock on the UK canal network, so the amount of water it uses is massive.

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

12th May picture of the day…

12 Monday May 2025

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

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It’s the start of another week here in West Yorkshire, where the weather’s gracing us with wall to wall sunshine – as it did over the weekend, although we couldn’t take full advantage and our plans to go walking changed as Dawn wasn’t feeling her best. I was going to say she was under the weather, but considering what the weather was like I thought better of it!

However, we did still manage to get out and I got the opportunity to stock up on summer annuals from a garden centre which we’d not tried before. I finally managed to find trailing Lobelia, which has been noticeable by its absence from our usual outlets. With plants aplenty, Sunday was spent clearing away the debris and dead plants from the terrace at the back of the cottage. Winter hadn’t been kind, causing me to lose many old established garden occupants, so I took the opportunity to rejig what we have and replace many of the smaller pots and troughs with ones more likely to survive the hot, dry conditions we’re seeing this year – with rain in very short supply (and likely to be for the foreseeable future). I’ve still got some work to do, but the terraces and troughs are looking much better. Hopefully, the new planting will provide sustenance for the occupants of our two nesting boxes, where we have both birds and bees!

Today I’ve been busy editing and captioning pictures from Friday’s HS2 and Midlands media trip, you can find which galleries they’ve been added to by following this link. I’ll have the HS2 collection done tomorrow as another day working from home beckons. Hopefully, I’ll get out with the camera again later in the week as the forecast is excellent for several days yet. I’ll leave you with a picture from today, which was taken on this afternoon’s stroll around the valley when I was looking for alternative photo sites.

The Wainhouse Tower dominates the horizon and looks magnificent against a cloudless sky.

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

So much for plans…

21 Monday Apr 2025

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, West Yorkshire

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I’d intended to write a couple of blogs today – including a follow-up to yesterday’s exploration of West Yorkshire, but like so many plans it didn’t survive first contact with reality. Instead I’ve found myself embroiled in various chores and events at home, plus preparing for our trip to Shropshire.

The stunning weather we had yesterday was replaced by low cloud and rain which made working at home seem less of a bummer. Fortunately, by late afternoon the rain let up so I was able to get a walk in and collect shopping which allowed me to indulge in this evenings cooking therapy. I’m always up for trying different recipes and as Dawn’s been cooking a lot of excellent veggie food these past few days I fancied doing something with chicken for a change – with Indian spices. My choice was chicken Achari which is a hot, exotic dish containing fenugreek, cumin and mustard seeds, along with several other ground spices, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and more. Here’s how it looks when it’s all laid out ready for cooking.

Here’s the finished product.

Served with chapattis, it makes for a superb spicy meal. I have a proper Indian griddle I bought in Delhi many years ago which adds the finishing touches.

Whilst I was cooking I was also working out what spices and condiments to take with us to Shropshire so that we can indulge in good food whilst we’re there. The place we’re staying in looks to have a good kitchen, so we plan to make the most of it.

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

Easter Sunday in pictures…

20 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by in Abandoned railways, Photography, Travel, West Yorkshire

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It’s getting late here at Bigland Towers meaning I don’t have enough time to do the day justice in a blog – especially as we’ve had a great day exploring. Instead I’ll you with a series of pictures as a teaser for a longer blog tomorrow when I have time to write.

We made the most of the glorious weather today by nipping out for a walk around Ogden water country park which is north of Halifax on the road to Haworth and Keighley. The area offers some outstanding views across West Yorkshire. Here’s a few pictures. Firstly, and oddity…

We noticed this collection of old tram rails that had been used to build a platform in a field adjacent to the A629. They must be pretty old as the Halifax network closed in 1939 whilst Bradford trams finished running in 1950.
Looking South-East across the Ogden reservoir from the moors above.
The cliffs at Ogden Clough.
The view from atop the cliffs.
Having walked across the moors to Ogden Clough we walked back along the wooded stream which feeds the reservoir.
Looking back across the reservoir from the dam, we’d walked up high above to near the wind turbines you can see in the background.

After the walk we decided to explore. I looked up a nearby real ale pub in the Good Beer Guide and we headed off to try somewhere different in an area neither of us had explored before. I’ll blog about what we found at length tomorrow, but here’s a taster.

En-route we discovered this magnificent 20 arch Thornton railway viaduct which was built by the Great Northern Railway and opened in 1878 in but abandoned in 1966.
Thornton’s the birthplace of a rather famous Yorkshire literary family – as we found out…

OK, more tomorrow,

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

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

Easter weekending…

19 Saturday Apr 2025

Posted by in Food and drink, Halifax, Musings, West Yorkshire

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After Thursday’s ‘grand tour’ around West Yorkshire I had a day off from blogging yesterday in order to spend time editing and adding captions to the dozens of pictures I took on the trip. You can find them on my Zenfolio website in the following galleries;

Northern trains

Trans-Pennine Express

Infrastructure and engineering

Railway stations

Railway people

Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU)

Social issues

To be honest, as Friday was a crap day after the glorious weather we’d had 24 hours before it really wasn’t a bad time to be stuck behind a desk! I’d have been happy to have sat through a good storm but all we got was cold, wind and desultory rain, which was troubling as we need so much more due to the fact we’re experiencing a dry year with minimal rainfall.

Today was more of an Easter celebration. Dawn was up early as she was helping her parents who had to come over to Calderdale in order that her mum could see some hospital specialists. I won’t go into details (it was nothing to worry about) but the plan was that after all it was over the four of us would go into Halifax for a late lunch at a place called ‘La Luna’ – an establishment where Dee and I have often enjoyed brunch. Maybe because it’s Easter or maybe because the weather had picked up, but Halifax was buzzing. The Piece Hall was hosting a variety of artisan market stalls which were drawing in the crowds – as we found out when we walked to and from the restaurant. There’s no doubt the town’s fortunes as a tourist destination are on the up so I was glad I’d booked our table at La Luna in advance as it became very busy after we arrived. La Luna’s in an excellent location only a few minutes from the Piece Hall. The restaurant’s well-designed with plenty of room and lots of attentive and friendly staff. Funnily enough, us two couples ordered the same food. Dawn and I went for the lamb kofta whilst John and Norah (being gluten free) both ordered the sea bass risotto. All four of us enjoyed our meals although we struggled to finish them. Admittedly, the fact chunky chips were supplied as part of the deal didn’t help – other than as a carb overload!

Lamb kofta with peppers served on a bed of pitta bread and topped with yoghurt

Back at Bigland Towers the Platt’s collected their own car whilst Dawn and I went for a local walk to try and work off some of the food! Our local woods are bursting into life right now with the first bluebells starting to bloom making it a lovely place to walk. Admittedly, we did end up in our local pub for a ‘swifty’ before returning, but hey – it’s a holiday!

Today’s Big 6 beers. I love the ‘wobbly bob’ but at 6% one pint was enough. I’m a great fan of Phoenix beers as their creator was an old friend, but Pictish are in the running…

This evening (back at home) Dee and I are finding that eating so much red meat is laying heavily on us as nowadays our diet is mostly vegetarian, although both fish and white meat do feature, so the surfeit of lamb is having unfortunate side effects. Just as well we’re on our own really, whilst we recreate the bean eating scene from ‘Blazing Saddles’!

Tomorrow we have a day to ourselves. The weather’s looking good so the plan is to get out for a walk – although we’ve not decided where yet. Tomorrow we’ll be taking sandwiches – but they won’t be lamb…

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

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

Rolling blog. More Yorkshire explorations…

17 Thursday Apr 2025

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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09:00.

I’ve had a busy time at home these past few days (hence a lack of blogging) but today we have lost of sunshine in ‘God’s own country’, so I’m going to get out and about on the rails across West Yorkshire in order to make the most of the weather. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to pop back and see what I get up to. But first, it’s time to pack the camera bag and head off to Halifax station…

1050.

I’ve made it as far as Shipley. Having walked into Halifax I arrived just in time to walk straight onto a Blackpool – York service which was rammed, despite it being operated by a 3-car Class 195. Mind you, the amount of buggies and double buggies getting off and on along the narrow platform didn’t exactly help matters.

Standing as far as Bradford Interchange where I disembarked, wasn’t too big a deal. I’ve not traversed the city centre for a while so I was pleasantly surprised at the way it’s being pedestrianised.

The greatly improved space outside Interchange station..
The busy roads that used to cut off Interchange from the rest of the city centre have been done away with, opening up the area outside the fantastic Town Hall.

Another change is over at Forster Square Station, where the arches that provided refuge to many homeless people and their tents have been blocked off. I hope the people displaced have been found permanent accommodation and not just displaced

Hiding a real problem with artwork?

The station’s new fourth platform is now complete and waiting to enter service from the new timetable.

12:30.

I spent some time exploring Shipley to check on the progress of the new Shipley depot which is being built on the site of the old Crossley Evans scrapyard site (which took over the former railway goods yard). Progress is slow as there was a lot of clearance work needed. Now groundworks have started whilst site clearance continues. Rather ironically, Northern are gaining this new depot due to the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (which is funding it) as the TRU work around Leeds will severely hamper Northern operations at the Leeds Neville Hill depot. Here’s some pictures of progress.

Looking across the main part of the depot nearest the station seen from the Valley Rd (A6037) bridge which bisects the site.
The site seen from nearer Bradford, taken from a footbridge. Warning! This area is rough – even the XL Bully’s walk around in twos!
Looking back across the site from the rubbish-strewn footpath that leads from Otley Rd to the station. I explore all these insalubrious places so that you don’t have to!

Right now I’m taking a quick break in Leeds before heading towards Huddersfield to check on TRU work…

17:30.

I’m back in Leeds after having visited Morley, Mirfield, Huddersfield and Dewsbury. I’d not traversed the line from Leeds to Morley for sometime so I was surprised to see how far electrification has progressed (just don’t talk about White Rose station). Bailing out at Morely I headed up to a footbridge I know that’s East of the station to get this shot.

The footbridge replaces a foot crossing which has a tragic history. That history is recognised by Network Rail who’ve named their access point in remembrance.

Here’s the tragic story of Natasha Elliott.

Next stop was Mirfield where the rebuilt station’s coming on great guns. Here’s the new station entrance under construction.

Meanwhile, in Huddersfield, the restoration of the station roof is starting to see the light of day…

19:10.

Home time. I spent time in Leeds getting a variety of library shots but the day’s moving on and so am I. I’m on a train from Leeds to Chester which has just left Bradford (or Bratfud, as they say in these parts). Clouds are rolling in, heralding the fact tomorrow’s meant to be another wet day – although wet is very subjective as all we’ve seen this week has been drizzle at best.

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

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

14th April picture of the day…

14 Monday Apr 2025

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics, Surrey, West Yorkshire

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Oh, and a cartoon. Thanks to the orange felon in the American White House the world is still taking a very surreal turn right now – and there’s no sign of the madness abating. Far from it. Trump’s on again, off again tariffs and trade war, his threatened annexation of Greenland and his slavish sucking up to Vladimir Putin look to be a farce that will be playing for quite some time yet. No-one has a clue what he’ll do next – including (it seems) Trump himself! All we do know is that America’s reputation is going down the pan at a pace faster than Tesla’s share price!

Meanwhile, here at Bigland Towers, life continues regardless of the insanity across the pond. Dawn’s back working from home this week and I’m continuing with a spring clean that seems to be getting ever more complex as I wade through stuff we’ve both accumulated over the years. Some of it will end up on eBay later this week but other stuff is being gathered together and stored in the loft as we reckon car boot sales will be a good way to offload it at a decent price for minimal effort. Well, that’s the theory, anyway!

Sadly, the run of good weather we’ve had these past couple of weeks is drawing to a close. Rain is forecast later this week, but that’s no bad thing as we’ve had a very dry year so far. Admittedly, It may impede me getting out with the camera for a few days but as I’ve plenty to keep me occupied with at home I can put up with that. Mind you, Thursday’s looking promising and as I’ll be probably be stir-crazy by then I might have a day out locally. Besides, we’re in Shropshire for a few nights next week, so it’s not as if I’m stuck here forever.

Right, it’s getting late so it’s time to go. I’ll leave you with a picture from last week’s travels. I hadn’t realised that Guildford had a Lewis Carroll connection, so I was surprised to see this charming sculpture in a park by the river Wey.

Alice and the white rabbit. With more details in this link.

Oh, I also promised you a cartoon. I couldn’t resist this Cartland illustration of Donald Trump’s posturing on tariffs and China.

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

13th April picture of the day…

13 Sunday Apr 2025

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

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Sorry, I got a bit lost on our return from Surrey as there’s been a lot to do – hence the lack of blogs. The journey back was fine. It’s the first time when we’ve travelled to and from West Yorkshire to Surrey and back when we’ve had wall to wall sunshine in each direction – even the traffic played ball and the absence of roadworks ‘up North’ (where converting the M1 to a ‘smart’ motorway took years) was a welcome change. The only thing that made the journey a bit edgy was Yorkshire drivers who saw lane discipline and speed limits as optional.

Friday was a chance to revel in the glorious weather and adjust to being back home. Dee had the day and pottered around at home whilst I managed to get out for a walk whilst preparing to edit the hundreds of pictures I’d taken over our Southern sojourn. Admittedly, I did get chance to indulge in the Friday night quiz in our local pub and catch up with Friends.

However, Saturday saw me glued to my office as I edited picture after picture ready for adding captions -another marathon task as I identify locations and individual train workings. Now that task is done and the pictures have been added to my Zenfolio website. You can find the images in these falleries.

South-Western Railway

London Underground

Great Western

Travel images

The only shots I have left to list are the ones from my HS2 site visit. Expect those to appear tomorrow.

Today’s been rather a more active day as we travelled over to Huddersfield to see Dawn’s parents (dropping off supplies and staying for a chat) before heading back to the Calder valley and a stroll around Norland Moor, which we spy across the Calder valley from our bedroom window. Admittedly, we were up there late in the day but it’s the first time we’ve seen it so devoid of other walkers – and their dogs!

Now we’re back at home and preparing for the week ahead, which will see me based at home, catching up on lots of stuff whilst planning for future trips (we’re off to Shropshire soon). Right now I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is a view from the edge of Norland Moor looking home.

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