I have a day’s work to do down south tomorrow, and it was easier (and cheaper) to travel down this afternoon rather than getting up at 6am tomorrow morning. Though as my single-serving companion reflects, it’s still a good opportunity to grab a kip, even if one is trying to do some work on the Mac, while drinking a glass of wine (note: wine not paid for by British taxpayer).
The run ends, as I finally get out somewhere, after 29 days spent only at home or in Manchester. One reason this happened was that the weather through November has been very poor and prevented me from getting up to the Lakes for a walk, but finally we had a decent day today and I managed to bag my last two Wainwrights — the story of which will be up later tonight on my other blog. This involved a long journey round to the other side of Cumbria, hence my presence at Carlisle station early this morning (well, it’s early if you have to get to Carlisle from Yorkshire, anyway).
Depressing and slightly weird day for various reasons so I lacked both inspiration and inclination to get the camera out much. Even when I did I had the ISO setting too low for such a grey, dull day so everything turned out blurred. Even this one is slightly defiled by the presence of the Leeds United shirt. But thus went my day. At least the trains were punctual.
A familiar scene, given added interest by the drizzle caught in the sun. Worth getting a little wet for. The 8:34 to York departs and my train to Manchester will be along in a few minutes.
And so home again, a 7-hour train journey from Aberdeen to Hebden Bridge. My second return trip up the east coast of Scotland in the last few weeks, so a chance to revisit a theme hit not so long ago, the crossing of the River Tay. The stumps are those of the first Tay bridge which collapsed (due to crappy construction) in a storm shortly after it was built.
A day in Manchester, a day too far in the week if you ask me. But it was a glorious morning at Hebden Bridge station today.
I’ve been in Manchester most of the week, although this hasn’t been apparent from the pictures. Victoria station, after years of being a rather dowdy old hag, is starting to recover from her major surgery and looking rather promising with it. Compare this picture to the last shot of platform 1: the light wasn’t as good today, but overall, it’s a big improvement. (Having inserted that link I note that shot was taken exactly 400 days ago, day 931.)
Transferred this morning to the second stage of my California journey, the conference I am attending in Palo Alto. Could have picked a photo from there but there will be plenty of opportunities for that in the next two days, so here is a shot that lacks aesthetic qualities but does capture the rather bizarre train I caught this morning. A double-decker arrangement, but with an open trough down the centre of the upper deck, giving the impression of being sat up in a glorified luggage rack for the 45 minutes it took to travel from downtown SF into Silicon Valley.
Another work trip to London, and as on the last occasion I did this (Feb 27th), the changeover at Leeds station proves far more photographically fruitful than the capital itself. I’m very happy with this picture — one of those occasions where not only did the shot turn out pretty much exactly as hoped, but I got it first go, too.
It’s really not an exciting period in my life. But it is, at least, the last week of teaching. Note the photographer to the left.
Being 42 