Plaques Wrapped in Bubble Wrap, Paragon Interchange, Hull, 08/11/14.

Tags

Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, Hull Daily Mail, memorials, Paragon Interchange Hull, Train stations, World War One

The Hull Daily Mail informs me that these memorial plaques are going to be unveiled tomorrow and as it happens I will be back in Hull on Monday, so I will be able to see them and photograph them without the bubble wrap to; God willing. The 20 plaques, recording the names of the 2,000 Hull servicemen who lost their lives during World War One, looked so striking this morning, even covered up, that I thought I would take some photographs.

 

A Train With a Moustache, Paragon Interchange, Hull, 08/11/14.

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commuting, Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, moustache, Paragon Interchange Hull, Public Transport, Train stations, Trains.

Charming.

The title says it all really, it’s a train with a moustache, the highlight of my commute to Beverly this morning. Why? I have got no idea why! I am not sure what numbers railway enthusiasts record in their notebooks, but I did notice and record that the moustache train had the number 57795 painted on the side of it in white and the number 158795 painted on the front in black, so look out for it!

Photo Archive: Steam Train, Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, Keighley Station, Keighley, 01/10/05.

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Keighley, Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, KWVR, Steam Train, Train stations, Trains.

1 of 7.

When passing through Keighley on the train it is always tempting to get off there, run across the footbridge that connects the platforms and visit the steam railway on the far platform – especially when there is an engine bellowing steam all over the place! I think this was one of those occasions. I clearly wasn’t there for the day, because I didn’t get on the train. Here are the photographs of it leaving:

2-7.

3-7.

4-7.

5-7.

6-7.

7-7.

Photo Archive: Changing for Chester, Crewe Railway Station, c.2007.

Tags

Crewe, Public Transport, Train stations, Trains.

Photo Archive: A Rather Bleak Looking Peterborough Station, c.2007.

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East Coast Main Line, GNER, Great North Eastern Railway, Peterborough, Peterborough Station, Public Transport, Rain, Train stations, Trains.

If you can see through the gloom, there is a train with the old GNER (Great North Eastern Railway) livery on it, about to head Northward [I can’t remember what the occasion was, but I’m sure I was heading South, towards King’s Cross station, when I took the photograph].

Photo Archive: Topiary Golfers, Liverpool Lime Street Station, Liverpool, c.2008.

Tags

golf, golfers, Lime Street Station, Liverpool, Liverpool Lime Street station, public art, Public Transport, topiery, Train stations

Four! 

Photo Archive: Bridlington Station Buffet, c.2008.

Tags

Bridlington, Buffet, flowers, gardening, hanging baskets, Public Transport, Train stations

What a welcoming sight to anyone who has just stepped off a train. I seem to remember that trains going on to Scarborough arrive on the outer platform, so I didn’t immediately step off the train into a bed of flowers, but it was close. I imagine that if I had boarded a train from Hull that terminated in Bridlington, this would have been the sight that greeted me as I stepped off the train and turned towards the exit. I walked all the way out Flamborough Head that day and I can safely say that this was the most colourful thing I laid eyes on.

“Choosing”, Sheffield Railway Station, 08/08/14.

Tags

Art, Ellen Terry (Choosing), George Frederic Watts, National Portrait Gallery, public art, Public Transport, Sheffield, Train stations, Victoriana

The portrait beside the Pumpkin.

It is not every day one shares a station platform with Ellen Terry, the first wife of the artist; George Frederic Watts. The National Portrait Gallery’s website informs me that:

“It is at once a portrait and an allegory: Ellen must choose between the spectacular yet scentless camellias to which she inclines, and the small bunch of sweet-smelling violets cradled in her left hand. Whilst the latter symbolise innocence and simplicity the former signify worldly vanities, in this instance the empty vanity of the theatre, from which the artist sought to rescue her”.

The view from the portrait.

…but I didn’t know that at the time; I was more interested in the contrasts between Ellen’s beauty and my own dishevelled state (standing in the vestibule between Bristol Parkway and Birmingham New Street adds years to one’s appearance).