A new dawn

.

Passing through fog banks

glimpses of sunrise between

train trip to London

.

by Scooj

Cross Country train

.

Privatisation

ruination of our trains

profiteers clean up

.

by Scooj

* The trains in England are a disgrace and an embarrassment. Visitors from overseas must be utterly bewildered by how bad our train services are.

Underfunded, with profits being creamed off by shareholders.

Why on earth do we put up with it? People will pay hugely inflated prices only to stand on a train, sometimes for several hours. Oversubscription is the norm, which must have implications for health and safety of passengers.

Surely if every passenger had to book a seat, sales would be curtailed when the train was full. I believe that is the system in America.

Delays, cancellations and reduced carriages are the norm. Often the electronic booking systems are broken. Encountering a ticket inspector/guard is a rarity.

Even if you get a seat, trains are grubby and cramped. Food and refreshment services patchy and expensive. The whole thing makes for deeply unpleasant experiences. It wasn’t always like this, and people used to mock British Rail!

Nationalise and subsidise the trains or set higher standards/penalties for operators.

The Privatisation obsession of Thatcherite Britain has failed its people but made a privileged few unimaginably wealthy. Disgusting.

Northern train

.

The brightest cold moon

in a sea of blackened sky

train to Manchester

.

by Scooj

Sprint

.

King’s Cross train in five

I’m in St Pancras station

an ungainly sprint

.

by Scooj

Sardines

.

Railway trip to York

many more people than seats

thank goodness I booked

.

by Scooj

* a terrible haiku describing an uncomfortable scene.

Trapped on a train

.

Snorting and sneezing

infection circulating

in a contained space

.

by Scooj

* since Covid-19 I am much more aware of people around me who might be sick and spreading their infection. I simply don’t understand why people don’t stay at home, or at the very least carry some tissues with them. It is about manners and new norms, but some people (the one sitting behind me) simply don’t care.

To ‘The Old Smoke’

.

A silver blanket

settles on Somerset fields

and contrails criss-cross

.

by Scooj

Out and about

.

On the road again

more correctly, on the rails

Workshop in Worcester

.

by Scooj

* for my American friends Worcester is pronounced Wooster… two syllables.

Dawn walk to the station

.

Golden ginkgo leaves

Under a blood-red sunrise

a fine day ahead

.

by Scooj

4291. Peel Street Green (6)

I have been pleasantly surprised by how many New pieces Haka is creating these days, or perhaps I am just getting better at finding them and posting them. Either way, his influence and impact on the Bristol street art scene is tangible and significant.

Haka, Peel Street Green, Bristol, March 2022
Haka, Peel Street Green, Bristol, March 2022

This is a fabulous and fun piece on the long wall at Peel Street Green, and features a Garfield cartoon character driving a railroad engine through a rural scene. Jesse is a name that appears on some of Haka’s works, but I can’t help wanting to make the link to Jesse James, although I don’t think there is one. This is a lovely clean and tidy piece painted in Haka’s very individual idiosyncratic style. Two blog posts from this artist in two days… maybe it is time for a gallery.