Despite the best efforts of the orange man-baby in the White House, the world’s still here, so our day trip to Derbyshire is still on! In a humiliating climbdown, Trump has agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. His war has been a disaster for America’s reputation and exposed him for what he is, an ignorant, lying narcissist who’s been outmaneuvered by Iran at every turn. Not a single war objective has been achieved, but the moron will still declare ‘victory’.
But enough of politics for now. The sun’s shining and it’s time to pack, ready to head off to Edale and ‘carpe diem’. I’ll update this blog when we’re on the move.
12:00.
Slightly later than planned, we’re on our way travelling cross country and heading for Strines.
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I’m back after an Easter break. I hadn’t intended to be absent from blogging but several things got in the way and meant I simply ran out of hours in a day! Blogging late at night’s never ideal – unless you fancy spleen-venting. Instead, I savoured the holiday period, making the most of time before Trump blows up the world – by accident or design. I also took time of to enjoy the stunning imagery from the America I miss, before the country went batshit. I’ve been watching NASA’s ‘Artemis 2’ mission to the moon, which has produced some fantastic pictures and video. You can follow it here. It’s given me a new optimism in humanity which has been sadly lacking of late – for obvious reasons.
Meanwhile, back at Bigland Towers Dawn and I decided to crack on with redecorating the living room in the cottage, another project that’s kept me away from blogging. This being an old (mid 19th century) cottage there’s hardly a level surface or right-angle in the place, which makes decorating challenging – especially when we’ve decided to wallpaper the front room rather than just paint the walls. Day one was mostly spent clearing the room, buying materials and prepping surfaces. Today was more about stripping some old wallpaper, repairing plasterwork and giving the ceiling its first coat of paint. Typically, we’ve chosen a time when the weather’s made a major improvement, so tomorrow decorating’s going to take a back seat as we’re having a day out walking in Edale (so expect a rolling blog). After that it’s back to decorating as Dee’s taken the week off in order to get the project finished. After that – who knows what’s on the calendar? Well, I do to an extent as I’ve few jobs lined up, and if the weather continues to get better I’ll be out and about more – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here!
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which was taken last week on my phone-losing trip to Knaresborough.
Flowers in abundance at Knaresborough where the station friends have been busy planting out old trolleys which are now packed with Primulas.
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I’m back on the rails again as we’ve lovely weather here in West Yorkshire, albeit with a frosty start. Now the sun’s warming the world and the blue skies are untroubled by more than just a few clouds. Having spent the morning pottering around at home I prepped to head out for the day to make the most of things before the start of the Easter break,
Having explored the Harrogate loop line the other week I’ve decided to retrace my steps in the hope of getting pictures of some of the things I discovered – but missed out capturing on camera. Right now I’m on the 10:58 from Sowerby Bridge, heading for Leeds. There’s plenty of room on this train as it consists of two 2-car Class 195s, making it easy to bag a table bay and set up the mobile office. Let’s see how the day goes…
12:45.
As always, Leeds was busy. Whilst I wasn’t there long LNER came up with a trio of Class 91s in 15 mins. Here’s 91127, a local celebrity as it’s named after the city’s main rail depot – Nevill Hill.
I wasn’t entirely sure which clockface way around the loop I was going to go today, but the first available train was the 12:06, so I’m going clockwise as far as Knaresborough.
Comfy..
One day I’d love to explore the section from Leed to Harrogate more as it has some amazing tunnels and viaducts set in gorgeous rolling scenery but that would be more on foot/road than rail.
16:45.
Ever had one of those days. I have. Everything was going swimmingly until we approached Knaresborough, when I broke one of my golden rules*. In this case it was the one that says never pack up at the last moment before you leave a train. Not having paid attention to my location I was blindsided and decided to repack the camera bag to change lenses. Bad move…
It was only when I’d got off the train to watch it depart that I realised I didn’t have my phone. The Goon shows character Moriarty was channeled as I uttered the word ‘sarpisti’ – along with several other invectives. So, plan B. Hang around until the unit I’d been on cycled through its diagram and returned with the hope that it was the same Conductor who may have found my phone or having had it handed it to them.
90 minutes later neither turned out to be the case, so the only thing was plan C. Head to York and hope my phone had been handed in there. Success! The Information office had it! It was easy to prove it was mine as I could unlock it, but thank you so much to Northern and LNER staff for being so efficient.
But, that’s buggered up my plans entirely. I’m now back at Knaresborough having a conciliatory pint in the Track and Sleeper before heading back towards Leeds…get pictures of an old railway survivor.
19:30.
I’m now on my way from Leeds back to Halifax after a frustrating day that wasn’t entirely a bust. On my way back from Knaresborough I stopped off at Starbeck to get pictures of the old railway survivor I mentioned earlier There’s a level crossing to the East of the station which is still guarded by a staffed signal box – which is tiny! It took a while to walk there but it was worth recording as these things are rare in this day and age – pix later.
After that and with the day cracking on I decided to head back home. There’s other pictures that I would have liked to have got, but they’d be easier by car than train – unless I want to spend hours walking.
*My other golden rule which has been learned from near-death experiences is never use teenage rickshaw/taxi/tuk-tuk drivers. It’s like the story about pilots. There’s old pilots, and there’s bold pilots, but there’s no old, bold pilots.
More soon…
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Where the hell’s March gone? We’re a quarter of the way through the year which seem to have flown by. Well, more like blown by up here in West Yorkshire as we seem to have had nothing but high winds for weeks! I’m afraid it’s a short blog from me today as the evening is already late. I’ve been busy catching up with picture editing after a long local stroll yesterday and preparations for the week ahead – with Easter on the horizon.
At least the days are getting longer, even if they’re not getting much drier or warmer, but I hope to be getting out and about – and further afield in April. Well, if the madman in the White House hasn’t crippled or blown up the planet before then!
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which was taken on my perambulations around Halifax yesterday.
One of Northern’s 2-car Class 195s arrives at Halifax with service for Chester. Old woollen and flour mills dominate the landscape but the buildings just behind the train have a very different purpose nowadays. This is the Nestlé sweet factory that’s been producing ‘Quality Street’ chocolates since 1934.
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We were greeted by a bright but frosty morning here in the Calder valley and I’ve decided to make the most of the sunshine by heading out for the day. The plan in to traverse the Harrogate loop, a railway line that runs from Leeds through Harrogate and Knaresborough to York, stopping off a few times on the way.
Right now I’m on Northern’s 09:58 from Sowerby Bridge, heading for Leeds. The service is worked by a 2-car Class 195 so it’s pretty full with plenty of prams and their occupants clogging the vestibules, on their way to God knows where. Thankfully, the motion of the train seems to have sent the kids to sleep as it’s blissfully quiet! I’ve managed to find an airline seat, plug in and set up the mobile office to begin today’s rolling blog. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress as time goes by, so feel free to pop back later.
Time to go…
11:10.
My trip into Leeds was both quick and easy. I had under 20 mins to make my connection which was plenty of time to breeze through the crowds to platform 0 where an ex-Scotrail Class 170 sat burbling away. These units haven’t had a full refurbishment so I’m now esconsced in the former 1st Class section with 2+1 seating – and only me in it!
And relax…
The service patrern on the loop has changed considerably since I was last here in November 2020. Now LNER run a 2 hourly service from Harrogate to London Kings Cross via Leeds rather than just a couple of trains a day. Northern used to turn back half their trains at Knaresborough, leaving the section from there to York with an hourly service. Now, nearly all trains run through to York. Gone are the old Class 143/153s too. The line’s now worked by 158s and 170s.
12:45.
I’ve stopped off at Harrogate to get a few pictures as the character of the line changes from here on. We’re back under the control of mechanical signalboxes abd semaphore signalling whose origins date back to the early days of the railways.
My train from Leeds departs from Harrogate.
15:30.
I’ve stopped off in Knaresborough and had just enough time to upload these pics from my travels. I’ll add captions and explain more about what I’ve been up to soon.
An LNER ‘Azuma’ leaves the carriage siding at Harrogate in readiness to form a service to London Kings Cross. It’s passing a fascinating array of modern modular colour light signals and possibly the last original LNER lattice gantry on the mainline network.A Northern Class 170 crosses the river at Knaresborough. I’ll add more about this historic old town later.Cattal station, East of Knaresborough is on the single track station with passing loops. It still possesses these hand-operated level crossing gates worked by the signaller based in the box behind.Having deposited me at the attractive station at Poppleton my train heads off to York.Poppleton is unique in that next door is the UKs only surviving plant nursery served by a narrow-gauge railway which is run by volunteers. Here’s a link to their website. Here’s some of the vehicles.Back at Knaresborough, the old station buildings have been converted for several uses, including the wonderful Track and Sleeper pub.Here’s the pubs cosy second room
17:10.
I’m about to close the loop by heading back from York via the direct line to Leeds, one that’s recently been modernised and electrified as part of the Trans-Pennine route upgrade. To be honest, it’s a section I’ve neglected visiting for a few years and something I need to put right. As much as I had planned, things have gone slightly awry due to a few commissions coming in via email which I’ve prioritised. On the bright side, I’ve now bookings until November!
York station and a classic view of its curved roof.
18:10.
I’m on the last leg from Leeds to Halifax aboard a peak-hour train. It may be going as far as Blackpool North but right now its primary function is to take Leeds commuters home.
The previous part of my trip ftom York was interesting as I’ve not used it for a while. The Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has really kicked in with electrification and associated works. I’ve realised I need to spend a day exploring just to document the changes.
I couldn’t help grimacing when we passed through Church Fenton. This was where HS2 phase 2 was meant to end, providing a by-pass of Leeds and Doncaster on the (even then) congested East Coast Main Line (ECML). Then – as usual – politicians with their penny-pinching and ever changing minds got in the way to waste billions without providing any workable alternatives. Now they’re all gone but the problems they left remain.
21:30.
I’m back at home catching up with bits and downloading more pictures. I’ll be working from home all day so I’ll flesh this blog out with more pictures and links over the weekend.
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I’d half-hoped I might be able to venture further afield today but the weather had other ideas. Whilst yesterday’s gales subsided overnight we were greeted by rain-lashed windows when we opened the bedroom blinds this morning. Said rain was soon followed by snow showers, which made conditions even less attractive. As a result I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and spent the first part of the day in the warm and dry, finishing off picture editing whilst keeping one eye on the madness coming out of America. It’s hard to keep up with Trump’s pronouncements as he’s seemingly incapable of fcompleting a coherent sentence and the position or claims he starts off with can change completely by the end of it. God help us when he’s talking in paragraphs as you have to read it back at the end to see just how many contradictory claims he’s made. He’s like an American version of the ‘Little Britain’ character ‘Vicky “yeah, but no” Pollard’.
By the afternoon the weather had dried up sufficiently for me to chance my arm and walk down into Sowerby Bridge to pick up some shopping. I took the camera with me as the Magnolia is blooming in the local churchyard but what I hadn’t bargained for was just how storm-battered these early blooms are which is a real shame. Hopefully the later buds will have an easier time.
I managed to make it home before the weather changed yet again and the next set of storms came in. Here’s how it looked from our front door.
I’ll pass, thanks…
Sadly, the forecast is for much of the same tomorrow, but I might just decide ‘bugger it’ and venture out anyway now that I’m all caught up with work. We’ll see.
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/
Apologies for absence but I’ve had little time to blog these past few days. After the CRN awards on Thursday night there was little rest for the wicked (despite the late finish) as we were off early the next morning, joining a special train laid on by East Midlands railway as part of the celebrations. Our destination was the Barrow Hill roundhouse near Chesterfield, traversing a line that normally only sees freight trains. About forty hardy souls took the trip to enjoy a guided tour around the site which is now a commercial and operational railway depot with a museum (the roundhouse) attached. We were lucky enough to be shown around by the museum’s founder Mervyn Allcock and get a sneak preview of Barrow Hill’s brand-new £6m research centre building.
Catching the special train back to Chesterfield Dawn and I headed home whilst the rest of the group were treated to a George Stephenson tour (he’s buried in Chesterfield). I needed to get back as my work wasn’t finished. I’d still a huge number of pictures from the awards to edit and prepare. In the digital age post editing is almost as big a job as actually taking the pictures. Gone are the days when you just handed over some rolls of film that you’d had developed!
Saturday saw us take a little time off and nip out to enjoy the sunshine and a meal at the Olive Branch near Marsden in the Colne valley, which made a nice break. Then it was back to the grindstone until today when I had the decks cleared of pictures and (just as importantly) invoices!
Now I’m sitting at home listening to the wind roaring around the cottage as the weather’s taken another turn for the worse with heavy rain and gales, which meant my daily constitutional was rather cut short this afternoon. I don’t mind walking in the wind, but when it’s whipping horizontal rain at you that’s a different matter! But, tomorrow’s another day, so lets see what it brings. Chaos, probably as that seems to be the prevailing mood thanks to the madman in the White House….
In the meantime, here’s a few images from the past few days.
The view from a train ordinary passengers don’t get to see – only Drivers and Conductors. We were given access to the rear cab in order to catch views like this of the Victorian Clay Cross tunnel entrance with its imposing towers and crenellations.Inside the new 2-road research shed at Barrow Hill. Behind the camera is the new offices areas that can be used for a variety of training and research. Seen on Saturday near Marsden. A Trans-Pennine Express service makes its way East through the Colne valley.
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/
Myself and the rest of the Community Rail Network team and our hosts from East Midlands Railway are currently working like Trojans, getting the stage (and bar, and lounge, and everything else) set for tonight’s annual Community Rail Awards. We’ve a record attendance this year – over 600 people, so this is the biggest venue we’ve used in the 21 years of the event. We change location every year, so each time we’re faced with different logistical and technical challenges which makes for an ‘interesting’ time! I’m not going to give any spoilers other than to say there’s going to be a fantastic event some very worthy winners. Here’s the brochure.
I’ll update this blog off and on during the day…
You’ll be able to see more of what’s going on by following Community Rail Network here on Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter (aka X) and their own website.
15:30.
Bliss! I’ve 5 mins to relax back at the hotel after popping down to the station for a few pics of the rail awards bunting – and a couple of EMR’s new Class 810 ‘Aurora’ trains.
I’ve got to be back at the Arena at 16:00 for the staff briefing and final checks before the guests start arriving at 17:00. I’ve already bumped into a few old friends at the station so I’m expecting another busy night.
18:30.
Drinks reception over, we’re in the main hall having food before the main event.
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/
The pair of us are off to Derby to prepare for tonight’s social event before tomorrow’s Community Rail awards. Weatherwise, it’s a fantastic day to be travelling. As we had plenty of time we haven’t had to rush or get up at sparrow-fart to get there, which has been nice. Instead, we’ve had a leisurely morning packing before heading off to the station.
Due to congestion in the Calder valley our intended train from Halifax was late. Instead, we caught a Halifax to Hull service that was running just ahead of ours. The 3car Class 158 that was working it was almost empty so we had a relaxing journey to Leeds where we’d arranged to meet up with a couple of CRN colleagues to catch Cross-Country’s 13:15 to Derby. I’d noted that this was only a 4-car train and likely to be rammed, so prepared a plan B. Sure enough, it was standing room only, so whilst our colleagues braved it Dawn and I followed behind on Northern’s 13:38 to Sheffield. As this started from Leeds we’d no trouble getting a table bay, allowing me to set up the mobile office and for Dee to answer emails. The two of us are in no rush as neither of us are officially on duty tonight and the social event (sponsored by East Midlands Railway) isn’t until 17:00.
So, next stop Sheffield, where we’ll pick up an EMR service onwards to Derby…
15:00.
It’s one of those days! We arrived at Sheffield to meet up with another of the gang only to find that all London bound EMR services were cancelled due to signal failure. Fortunatly, there was a 14:56 Cross-Country to Plymouth that we could catch. Even though it’s 5-car (formed of an ex Avanti unit) it’s packed to the gunwhales.
18:00.
We’re kicking off celebrations with an event in the gorgeous old Derby central library.
Local community rail groups had stalls advertising their routes. EMR Managing Director Will Rogers welcomed everyone to the event. Students from Graves Youth theatre performed their play ‘I am Stephenson’
23:00.
Right, that’s the social side over with. Now it’s time for an early night before the big day 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/
What a glorious day here in the Calder valley! We’ve had sunshine all day, whilst temperatures have been racing upwards to reach what’s probably been the hottest of the year so far. It’s been so warm I’ve been able to work in the garden in a singlet. With not having got away to Asia this winter I’ve really missed feeling the sun on my skin so today was a real tonic.
What was less of a tonic was observing the latest antics of the madman across the pond in Washington, who seems to have got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning (doesn’t he always? Ed). His latest ranting on ‘truth social’ is posted here.
I mean, where do you start with unhinged, fact-free nonsense like this? The man’s completely lost the plot. First he’d won the war within a couple of days, then he wanted NATO and everyone else to back him up and join in, then he didn’t, then he did as it was all going tits up in the Straits of Hormuz – and now he doesn’t (again). If he wasn’t the most powerful man in the world it would be hilarious, instead it’s bloody scary. All the checks and balances the founding Fathers built into the American political system seem to have collapsed, leaving Trump basically unopposed and running riot, both in the USA and the world.
His Iran adventure (egged on by the Israelis) is proving to be a political and strategic disaster. Some maintain the military outcomes could still be a success but no-one seems to have told the Iranians that and they seem to have other ideas. They may not be chucking as many missiles around as they were at the start of the war, but politically it’s getting worse. Informed sources suggest Trump’s replaced one Ayatollah with another one who’s backed by even more hardline people than his father was, so that’s going to turn out well. This shows all the signs of becoming a protracted conflict – even if Trump loses interest, claims he’s ‘won’ and tries to walk away. Meanwhile, he’s trashed America’s reputation around the world and alienated just about every ally the US has.
In one of life’s ironies I’m reminded of the Vietnam war (which I’m old enough to remember) and the title of a 1966 play which became a popular slogan at the time, “Suppose they gave a War and Nobody Came”. I suspect there’s a few old US allies who’re rediscovering it right now too. Of course, Trump, who repeatedly dodged the draft for the Vietnam war (a doctor signed him off with ‘bone spurs’) has probably never heard of it…
No doubt I’ll be revisiting this tragi-comedy again soon, but in the meantime I’ve more pressing matters as tomorrow the pair of us head to Derby for a few days for the 2026 Community Rail awards, which should lead to some more light-hearted blogging!
In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures from today’s stroll around my ‘manor’.
Looking down on Sowerby Bridge from the promenade above Scarr woods. The Wainhouse Tower looking fantastic against a clear blue 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/
Paul Bigland 