Rolling blog. Bound for Banbury…

31 Sunday May 2026

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10:45.

After a long day exploring Southport yesterday I’m on the move again today, this time I’m bound for Banbury as a positioning move to be ready for the opening event of community rail week which starts tomorrow.

Walking to Southport station’s a lot easier than back at home as the town’s flat. The only hill I encounter is a railway bridge! Even so, I’ve already clocked up over 6000 steps.

Right now I’m on a Merseyrail Class 777 to Liverpool. From a passenger’s perspective they’re not bad trains. They’ve level boarding, a/c, power points and plenty of space. From an operators point of view they’re a bit of a nightmare due to ongoing technical issues with various bits of kit – including the passenger information system. Still, this one should get me to Liverpool OK.

The line to Liverpool’s changed enormously since the days of my youth. The freight lines that dominated the docks have almost all disappeared, along with the coal yards and sand traffic. Yet rail traffic from the docks still exists, with regular intermodal trains and biomass being moved to Drax power station

12:45.

The trip to Liverpool was painless even if the train was busy. I’d time to kill in Liverpool and spent it people-watching, sitting outside Lime St station as throngs of travellers made their way to and from trains whilst seagull sat shouting at each other on the station roof, or occasionally dive-bombing unsuspecting people as they scavenged for food.

I’m booked on London North-Western’s 12:33 to Birmingham New St, but we’re already late leaving do to a ‘spillage’ needing cleaning up. I can’t say I’m too surprised as this 8-car Class 350 service was bursting at the seams on arrival. It’s far more relaxed at the moment and I have a table bay to myself, which has allowed me to set up the mobile office.

12:55.

We left 12 minutes late. Annoying, but as I have a lengthy connection time at Smethwick Galton Bridge is makes little difference to my journey. As we headed through Edge Hill we passed rakes of wagons used for the biomass traffic I mentioned earlier as GB Railfreight who haul the trains have a depot there. Today there was an unusual visitor in the shape of one of the company’s new tri-mode Class 99 locomotives, presumably on test.

13:37.

We’ve made it as far as Crewe. I’ve enjoyed the trip so far as the line form Liverpool to Weaver junction is one I rarely travel along nowadays compared to when I lived in London. Then I was up and down almost every month and I can’t even remember the last time I was on a train that stopped at Herford or Winsford! Now I’m back on much more familiar territory as we head for Birmingham.

16:45.

The last leg…

Having swapped to a battered and rather dirty Class 172 for the trip across Birmingham via Moor St to Dorridge I’ve swapped to and equally battered and dirty Chiltern Class 165 which will carry me to Banbury. Both units are badly in need of new seat upholstery as they’re threadbare.

The weather’s not looking too good either as there’s a build-up of heavy grey clouds that could herald rain. As long as it doesn’t arrive before I get to my hotel I’m not too bothered!

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Another day, another commute…

29 Friday May 2026

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12:40.

After a restful night at Bigland Towers I’ve had a busy morning sorting out stuff for my next set of travels and work whilst helping Dawn at home. Dee’s gradually completing wallpapering the living room but needed help taking down the big TV we have wall-mounted above the fireplace. With that little chore done I prepared lunch (chickpea, vegan Feta and Tuna salad with black olives and red onion garnished with lemon juice, oregano and parsley – yum!) before my final task – watering the gardens, which are really starting to look good after our trips to garden centres last weekend.

The weather’s cooler and overcast today, making it a good one for travelling if not for Photography.

Right now I’m on Northern’s 12:00 from Sowerby Bridge as far as Wigan Wallgate which is operated by a 2-car 158. Whilst it’s crowded I’ve managed to set up the mobile office to do some work en-route.

The Sowerby Bridge station friends were busy planting for the summer season during my visit. Here’s one of their efforts which will no doubt look gorgeous in a few weeks time.

12:55.

Having arrived at Manchester Victoria we sat for 5 minutes waiting time as paths are tight here – a legacy of BR’s 1990s rationalisation of the station which decimated capacity. A mobile cleaner took advantage of our layover to whip through the train emptying bins and collecting rubbish left behind on seats and tables by lazy travellers.

Heading onwards towards Salford Crescent we passed the new carriage sidings which are being laid in recognition of the station’s growing importance in the role of the Trans-Pennine network and consequent upgrade. They’ll never replace the scale of the famous Red Bank sidings (the site of which is now being redeveloped) but it’s still good to see.

13:30.

As we made our way to Wigan via the former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway main line via Atherton (now a shadow of its former self) I tucked into the lunch I’d prepared earlier. Sorry, pie and chip shops of Wigan, I’m giving you a pass today!

Burp!

13:40.

Arrived.

End of part 1. 158793’s carried me all the way from Sowerby Bridge to Wigan. Now to make my way to Southport. I’d half-considered stopping off at the rural station of Hoscar en-route, but as the station only has a 2-hourly service and one of them has just been cancelled maybe that’s a trip for another day when I’m not carrying so much kit and the weather’s not so cloudy.

To be continued…

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Back to the hills…

28 Thursday May 2026

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I’m back in Halifax for the day after returning to visit the dentists for my six-monthly check-up. Fortunately, neither Dawn nor I needed anything doing other then the regular clean

Like most people across the North-West and Wales, I was woken up at 03:00 by the most i thunderstorm. I didn’t get to see any lightning, but the cracks of thunder and torrential rain certainly made an impression! When I left Southport this morning I was amazed to see hardly any sign of the storm. I’d half expected flooding, but the streets were dry. It was the same on the journey across West Lancashire as we were treated to yet another hot and sunny day. As I had an appointment to keep I only stopped off a couple of times en-route. The first was to admire the famous listed Deep Pit footbridge at Hindley, which has been rebuilt as part of the electrification programme.

There are now history boards at each end of the bridge which explain how it was constructed.
There’s a massive new ramp on the Hindley side of the line which has been designed to fit in with the original structure.
The bowstring bridge has been lifted to give clearance for the new electric wires. The width gives you an idea of just how many running lines there were here originally.

Now I’m having a relaxing night with Dawn before heading back to the coast for part of the weekend I have to travel South to work on Community Rail week – but more of that later. I’ll be blogging from my travels tomorrow, so see you soon…

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Heading for the coast again…

26 Tuesday May 2026

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10:10.

After a baking hot bank-holiday weekend where we celebrated Dawn’s birthday (blog to follow) I’m abandoning the Pennines to head back across the West Lancashire plain to Southport and another birthday. This time it’s my ‘kid’ sister Anne.  

Right now I’m on Northern’s 10:00 from Sowerby Bridge which is heading to Manchester. Fortunately, the air-conditioning on this 3-car Class 158 is fully functional, giving me chance to cool down after walking down to the station from Bigland Towers.

Today promises to be another hot one…

10:35.

Having slowly filled up en-route my train’s arrived at Rochdale where dozens of summer-dressed travellers were waiting for us. Now we’re almost full as we head for Manchester Victoria. The weather this side of the Pennines is just as good as in West Yorkshire, which makes a change! Most of my fellow passengers appear to be leisure travellers. Only the wonan sat across the car from me is working away on a laptop, almost everyone else is staring at a smartphone screen.

11:00.

Wonder of wonders! We pulled into Victoria 5 minutes early, which put us ahead of a GBRf hauled freight train, giving me enough time to leap out, grab a picture of it as it passed through the station and then rejoin my train. Talk about a lucky break. Now I’m arriving at Salford Crescent for a change of train in order to take the route via Bolton instead of the slower (all stations) route via Atherton.

Platform capacity at Salford Crescent is about the increased by 1/3 as the new platform 3 is complete and awaiting the first services to call when the new timetable comes into force.

11:25.

I’m now heading fast to Bolton aboard a packed Class 323 EMU heading for Blackpool North which is running just ahead of the Southport train. These 90mph EMUs only used to be seen South of Manchester but new electrification and an influx of cast-off 323s from the West Midlands has allowed them to extend their area of operations to include Blackpool, Wigan and Liverpool. The only problems with ’em is their lack of air-conditioning and 3+2 seating arrangement.

11:40.

This is more like it! I abandoned the 323 at Bolton, crossed the platform and caught the Southport train which is being worked by a bi-mode Class 769. Having seen it at Salford Cresent I was wise to the fact this former Thameslink unit had the old 1st Class seating at the front of the train – which is where I’m now relaxing in a comfy single seat. Whilst not as crowded as the Blackpool service there’s still plenty of the ‘bucket and spade brigade’ who’re obviously heading for a day out at the coast.

A commuter train heading to Blackpool is less than ideal due to the lack of luggage space but at least there’s plenty of seats.

Rolling blog. Over the hills…

23 Saturday May 2026

Posted by in Architecture, Down memory lane, Musings, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Southport, Travel

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10:00.

It’s the weekend so I’m heading back to West Yorkshire for the bank holiday weekend and to celebrate a special event on Monday.

But first, I’ve nipped into town to pick ip some shopping. The sun’s shining and the town centre’s slowly coming to life with early shoppers and the first pensioners (batteries fully charged) starting to race their chariots up and down Lord St. Talking of Lord St, I couldn’t resist having a look at the wonderful Art Deco Garrick Theatre building. It’s been empty since Covid struck time but an exciting restoration is due to start anytime now with the building being converted into a spa hotel and theatre with the original architecture restored, although some traditionalist bodies remain unconvinced. Personally, I’d rather see it repurposed than see it left in the state it’s in now. The Garrick featured in a famous railway poster from the 1930s painted by Italian artist Fortunino Matania which celebrated a very different age!

No tracksuits or electric chariots in those days! Now it looks rather less grand…

Right, time to start travelling…

11:15.

Having picked up some bits I’m on my way East. En-route I found this street artist who’s picked up the Sandgrounder* vibe by making sculptures from sand.

Right now I’m heading for Wigan aboard a vintage BR built Class 156, my favourite multiple unit of the era. Big windows and table bays make it an ideal regional train.

*Sandgrounder is a nickname for someone who hails from Southport.

12:05.

Having crossed the West Lancashire plain I’ve made it as far as Wigan (or Wiggin, as the locals pronounce it) to arrive at Wallgate station. I’m not saying I feel old but I remember the old Lancashire and Yorkshire railway building and the station being illuminated by gas lighting!

I resisted the temptation of the areas excellent real ale pubs and merely stopped  for lunch on the hoof – chips and curry sauce from the chipshop outside the station. Making my way to North Western station which was thronged by young girls who seemed to be wearing more make-up than clothing and lads with cans of lager glued to their hands, I’m now waiting for a train to Preston.

Burp! International cuisine has hit Wigan as you’re now offered a choice between English or Chinese curry sauce on your chips!

13:45.

Having made it to Preston aboard a very busy Northern service bound for Blackpool I’ve now swapped to a more sedate service – a local Preston to Colne stopper which will carry me as far as Blackburn.

It stops at all stations en-route, which includes some well-kept stations that are maintained by local adopters (Pleasington being a good example). I’ve been meaning to stop of at some of these stations for years but have never found the time. Maybe one day…

20:15

I was greeted at Halifax by both Dawn and fabulous weather, so the two of us decided to get out onto the moors for a walk and catch-up whilst we enjoyed the great outdoors. We drove up through Ripponden to the moors and reservoirs above Cragg Vale, where these views awaited us.

Light Hazzles and Warland reservoirs on the moors above Walsden.

Looking the opposite way across to Manchester with Hollingworth Lake Country Park in between.

Now we’re back at home for a quiet evening in. Time to relax before a busy day outdoors tomorrow as we’ll be making the most of the weather in order to prepare the garden for the summer…

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Southport memories, part 3.

22 Friday May 2026

Posted by in Architecture, Down memory lane, Photography, Southport, Travel

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We’ve had glorious weather down on the Merseyside coast today so I’ve been making the most of it before heading back to the Pennines tomorrow. I realised that, whilst I’ve been here off and on for a couple of weeks, the one thing I hadn’t seen is the sea! OK, cue all the jokes about Southport never seeing the sea anyway – but today my wanderings took me down to the beach before I headed back into town to meet up with an old friend for a catch-up. Here’s a selection of pictures from my perambulations.

Meols Cop is one of many that’s looked after by a local station friends group. The buildings may have been demolished many years ago but now they’ve been replaced by well kept gardens which include this display of Lupins.
Down by the marine lake is the Lakeside Miniature railway. Opened in 1911, it seems to still be operating but rather slimmed down from when I knew it as a child. Sadly, it wasn’t open today.
The Marine lake. Getting all your swans in a row…
No jokes about ‘you never sea the sea at Southport’ please! Here’s the pier which is about to be rebuilt (again) after being closed for many years as the last ”value engineering” project was less than a success.
Here’s a new success. This is an old Victorian building that was rebuilt with a gorgeous Art Deco frontage. Having fallen into disrepair for decades, it’s now been restored.
In my youth, behind ‘Funland’ was a place called the Dixieland Showbar. It was famous for its rock nights featuring local and other bands, with the music provided by Darrell Jay. The light show was always enhanced by the fug of tobacco and other illicit smoke. It was a very special place that holds lots of memories for me and many others.
The old Promenade hospital. I was a short-term stayer here back in the late 60s. Nowadays folk stay longer as it’s been converted into apartments.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

More Southport memories.

20 Wednesday May 2026

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My voyage of rediscovery here in Southport has continued as I rack up the steps during my daily wanderings before returning to my sisters to cook and help out with a few chores. There’s no pattern to where I go, nor a plan. I turn corners at a whim to either prowl new streets or rediscover old ones whilst trying to remember what the hell used to be there! Here’s a few pictures from my most recent expedition.

More of a statement than just a house. It must be an nightmare to maintain, but if I had money to burn I’d rather like to own it!
Yes, Southport is home to the British Lawnmower Museum!
The old hospital on Park Rd, burned out and derelict after a mysterious fire which happened not long after it was bought by developers who were (so I’m told) refused permission to make major alterations to it.
There’s a gang of grannies who go around Southport supplying these decorative tops. I’ve no idea why this one bares the Chinese flag tho!
Chic Churchtown is home to many shops, bars and cafe’s. Thatched roofs are quite common but seeing one that’s been rethatched is unusual. It’s a dying art and expensive to renew as they need to be done roughly every 25-30 years.
This Chinese chipshop was a family favorite. Know affectionately as the ‘soggy box’ because your orders were served in cardboard boxes it was a great pitstop for lunch when I was working with my elder brother. Their sweet and sour fish with rice was sublime. It’s still there, but the original owners sold it many years ago,
The old tram depot in Canning Road still survives as the local bus depot. The skyline behind used to be dominated by the local gasworks and the smell dominated the area when I was a kid.
Remember I talked about disappearing corner shops? This is the corner near my parents. On the corner was Finches, a newsagent/tobacconist. It still had an old cigarette vending machine outside way into the early 1980s. To the left was Marriott’s chip shop and to the right was a butchers.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Blue Monday…

19 Tuesday May 2026

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Having spent the weekend back in West Yorkshire to help dawn with redecorating Bigland Towers it was time to head back to sunny Southport where I had a list of chores to do to help my sister. I chose to avoid Manchester and take the route via Preston, which inspired the title of this blog. You’ll soon see why!

At Preston I encountered the first of the newly repainted Class 222s which will operate the new ‘Lumo’ service from Stirling in Scotland to London Euston. This will begin to carry passengers from May 28th but right now they’re busy training the crews and running a ‘shadow’ service. Lumo’s West Coast operation will be based in Preston so it’s a good place to see their trains.

After picking up more Lumo staff at Preston, 222601 heads for London Euston.

That wasn’t my only surprise of the day as shortly afterwards this venerable machine arrived light engine on its way North. It took me right back to the 1970s!

47270 is owned by West Coast Railways. Originally built in the early 1960s it survived in mainline service until 2005. Recently refurbished, it’s returned to traffic in 2026.

Heading down the West Coast Main Line to Wigan before heading to Southport one last surprise was in store. Local enthusiasts told me that steam engine ‘Blue Peter’ was due, hauling a special train from London Euston to Hellifield. It wasn’t the ideal loaction to grab a picture, but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance!

Built at Doncaster in 1948, ‘Blue Peter’ is a Peppercorn designed A2 Pacific. It’s first claim to fame is that it was originally restored to service by donations to the TV programme ‘Blue Peter’ back in the 1970s. It’s out on the mainline again this year.

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/

Cheers,

Paul

Right, let’s try that again shall we?

19 Tuesday May 2026

Posted by in Down memory lane, History, Photography, Southport

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My idea of catching up with blogging last week turned into a dismal failure for a variety of reasons, but we’re now into a new week. After spending the weekend back at Bigland Towers I’ve returned to Southport for a few days, which will give me time to do what I need to do – which includes blogging.

Today I’m out shopping and finding a temporary ‘office’ where I can work in peace whilst getting my steps in ‘commuting’ to and from my sisters. The commute has often turned into an exploration as I try and take a different route into town each day. This involves suddenly deciding to take a detour and explore streets I’ve not visited since I moved to London back in 1986, or even before as some were near my old school which I left a decade earlier!

One thing that’s caught my eye is how the corner shop had died a death. There used to be loads of them around my parents house. Now they’re almost all gone. The newsagents/tobacconists of old are almost extinct, as are local butchers, grocers and chip shops. Even hairdressers have disappeared in some parts as people retire, or realise their business has become unprofitable. Trying to remember where these places were and what they were has become a new game. In some cases it’s easy to spot them because of the way the building’s been converted rather than demolished. In others there’s hardly any clues. Mind you. it’s not just shops. Many pubs have disappeared too, like this one – the George, where I spent many an hour with an old friend who lives around the corner.

By the George is a large old cemetery where my grandmother used to take us young kids on walks. It’s not as well maintained as I remember, but I did find this memorial which I recalled as a child. It’s to the crew of the lifeboat Eliza Fernley, as 14 of the 16 members perished, along with 13 members of the St Annes lifeboat whilst both boats were trying to rescue the crew of the ship ‘Mexico’ in 1886.

Before I made it into town I passed one last empty shop, but this one has family connections. DM Rogers was the family business. It was opened by my mum and dad and named after my mother (Doreen Myfanwy Rogers, her maiden name). When my dad gave up the business it was taken over by my brother David who moved it from Nelson St to Shakespeare St. This was the third incarnation after moving across the road. Dave retired last year and now workers are converting the shop for another tenant, so this is the last time I’ll see the sign and name.

How times change…

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/

Cheers,

Paul

11th May picture(s) of the day…

13 Wednesday May 2026

Posted by in Calder Valley, Photography, Travel, West Yorkshire

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I’ll be busy catching up with blogging over the next few days so don’t be surprised when things appear out of kilter. Like today! I’m splitting my time between Halifax and Southport at the moment which is adding to the confusion. I was back in West Yorkshire over the weekend, helping Dawn with decorating the living room at Bigland Towers. To be honest, Dee didn’t really need my help for more than giving her advice on not rushing things and not to get impatient when things don’t quite go to plan. Dawn’s proved to be a dab hand at wallpapering, transforming the living room from what was quite drab into something with real sparkle.

The pair of us spent a lot of the weekend working but by Monday it was time to take a break as Dee’s taken the rest of the week off. This gave us chance to relax, then get out to explore. Monday’s not the most exciting of days in the Calder valley as many places are closed. Even so, we decided to head out to do some exploring by driving over to Todmorden with the hope of doing a bit of shopping first. Bad move. All the butchers we wanted to visit were shuttered, but the day wasn’t wasted as we decided to head out into the top of the valley in a directions we’ve not explored before. This took us to a place called Bridestones, which is a fantastic collection of rocky outcrops high above the town. I can see we’re going to revisit as there’s some stunning views to be had from the footpaths around the area – all within striking distance of the town centre – if you don’t mind walking uphill!

As our day was unplanned I’d left the camera at home for once, so you’ll have to excuse a couple of pictures taken on my phone. Rest assures, I’ll be back with the Z9 soon.

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/

Cheers,

Paul