Monday 17th July 2017, 3.35pm (day 2,153)
It’s actually not a bad place to catch forty winks, the train home — I manage it frequently. Like these two gentlemen, I am tired…. but have now just three days left before my summer break.
It’s actually not a bad place to catch forty winks, the train home — I manage it frequently. Like these two gentlemen, I am tired…. but have now just three days left before my summer break.
Another trip to London…. but just for the day. Platform 8, Leeds station, to which I returned approximately ten hours later. The first precisely timed shot for a while.
Ah, the joys of the 06:59 Hebden Bridge to Manchester Victoria service…. its cruddy carriages, standing room only by Todmorden, and then there’s that ‘6’ at the start of the time, which firmly puts it in the realm of ‘too early’. I dislike it, as you’ve probably gathered. Then again I doubt anyone has reached retirement age and fondly reminisced about the good old days on the 06:59.
Generally the theme over the last few days has been relaxation, and this seems to be the state of mind of this lady on the train to London this afternoon, particularly as this shot was taken before we had even left Leeds station. I did my best to adopt such an attitude today as well, despite the need to go down to London yet again to hang around at an embassy (you might see this tomorrow)….
Long day for me today. In on the 7am train out of HB and back on the 17.45 from Manchester, on which this shot was taken. I felt like the woman in the middle.

I don’t make a habit of getting the 06:59 service from Hebden Bridge to Manchester — a two-carriage cattle truck most days. But when I’ve a 9am meeting that can’t be missed, it’s the safest choice. At least it is getting light at that time now. Don’t normally frequent the waiting room either, but it was raining outside today. Welcome to Monday.

Once again, Leeds becomes the place to change trains when on the way to somewhere else for an evening out: but once again it was quite fertile territory for photography today, bathed in golden late afternoon light. I had a couple to choose from today but in the end went with this one due to the randomly bendy child. Like a stray piece of wind just tried to whisk him away.

I did consider giving you another photo from my Saturday night out, but taken at 1.30am so it would have counted for today. But in the end I preferred this one, taken on the train to London as we waited for it to depart from Leeds station. I have no idea who the magazine photo is of, but it’s a damn good picture.

When the 07:42 cattle truck to Manchester turns up half an hour late, like it did this morning, you can be damn sure there’ll be a few people wanting to get on it. Why was I not among them? Because there was another three carriages along three minutes later, with blissful peace on board. Take this picture as an illustration of how humans typically fail to delay gratification.

Another beautiful day — as have been many over the last four months, it cannot be denied. A very sharp frost, which lasted all day, across the entire country (I saw enough of it today — I know this); but once more, cloudless blue skies. I spent it entirely either on a train or working at home, so did not manage to capture it that adequately, but here’s my best effort from early this morning, as the train out of Cambridge whisked me through some rural county or other.