My first picture from the European mainland since I was in Bucharest on 2nd February 2020. To get to this point required me to negotiate a 55-minute queue at St. Pancras station, then three trains, then this bus, proving that other countries can do ‘Rail Replacement Buses’ just as enthusiastically as we can in the UK. And there was still another bus to come after this one. I now feel like the guy sat opposite me here — time for an early night.
On the move again — a schedule dictated by the rail unions. I support the strikes, though. Anything that pisses off the morons currently running this country must have some validity.
We spent the day on the island of Árrain Mhór, which in Gaelic just means ‘Big Island’. And it is fairly big, maintaining a permanent population of a few hundred, enough to justify a regular ferry service from the mainland, anyway. And here is the 3.30pm boat back to Ireland, coming in reasonably on schedule.
For the duration of this visit, and certainly today, its final morning, Dundee has basked in balmy sunshine that is atypical for the city. It contributed to a pleasantly chilled out wait for the train heading back south, which I think this couple epitomise. (My journey was fine all the way to Bradford, after which it descended into a farce of the kind only Northern Rail seem able to manufacture, but that’s another story, hours in the future.)
One reason, among many, that I hardly ever drive into Manchester is the enthusiasm of its traffic wardens: this seems to particularly apply around the King Street/Booth Street area, as the driver of this car will doubtless realise when s/he returns to it and its double ticket whammy. When I saw this I recalled this story from The Register, which noted that:
One council operative, identified only as badge number MC1192, issued 5,662 of the council’s 14,887 parking tickets for the month [May 2020], raking in £69,864 with a further £155,266 allegedly outstanding on MC1192’s tickets alone by the end of the month. This workrate is the equivalent of 35 tickets issued every working hour of the month, assuming a generous 40-hour working week with no bank holidays or days off.
….and that was in lockdown. I’ll stick to public transport, thanks.
The Tay road bridge makes its second appearance on the blog, the first being when it was depicted in 2015 from its partner, the much older rail bridge. This is taken from right underneath it, looking south along an indeterminate length of its piers. What the numbers mean I have no idea — water depth measures perhaps? The verticals don’t look quite straight but I don’t think that’s my fault — I think they’re built that way.
Hardly a great photo technically, and converted to black and white as much to conceal deficiencies as any other reason. But it does suggest that when there is a boat in the Canal Street lock in Manchester city centre, this is often the most interesting thing to see on the walk into work. It’s nice that this old transport system is still used: not everything useful has to be hyper-efficient.
Chosen purely for the shape and the symmetry. This VW serves tea and coffee to the market-goers in Hebden on a Sunday.
More of a mood piece than anything else: a pleasant, springlike, Easter Saturday spent (in part) ambling along the Rochdale Canal at Smithy Bridge. Here, we are about half way between Hebden Bridge and Manchester; keep going long enough and the entire canal may get documented on here eventually.
My debut attempt to ride a scooter — which took place at a sports day in about 1991 — was so phenomenally embarrassing that I have never got near another one since. This is quite a hill the guy is about to head down, too. He has my admiration. At least it’s a one-way street.
Being 42 