British Rail Coat

An old British Rail guards all weather jacket. Surprisingly well made and in great condition, plenty pockets on front, extra zipping inside to attach a fleece lining and of course the arrows of indecision. Perfect for walking the dog or having your job for life being sold out from under you by the Tories.

Because Britain ran on socialist rail...

Durham United

Some old pictures in and around Durham via United busways...

British Rail Logo - Symbol of Saturday

Welcome to South Bermondsey

 Back in the 60s British Rail wanted to shake off it's steam driven and antiquated image and set out to find a new forward thinking modernist label for itself. In 1965 Gerald Burney came up with this gem that has stood the test of time, outlasting even BR and becoming the overall symbol for today's privatized rail network. Despite lasting nearly 50 years, and counting, in its career the double arrows have often stood for indecision, delays and under investment. But it has also stood for ill intent, excessive drinking, violence and skulduggery, the arrows suddenly taking on a double meaning come Saturday.

 In the 80s most firms used the rail network for travelling en mass first using the Specials and then the 'ordinary'. Several groups even hijacked the BR moniker (much like they did the trains) to provide their own identity. The ICF, the Service Crew et. al used it to good affect and suddenly the arrows took on a more sinister meaning than one for old rolling stock and blocked up bogs.

www.casualco.com

It's the same today though. We all love getting the train. And football is at it's best when you walk under the double arrows in your home town, throw yourself on the vulgarities of the National Rail system, have a few cans and a laugh, and then swagger out into the unknown a few hours later to police escorts, 'away' pubs and a few hundred of your own kind hemmed into the corner of a ground and singing your heart out.

So here's to another 50 years from Burney's symbol and the train chucking us out at the likes of Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester Picc and London Kings Cross en route to fun and games.

Young Wilson at Meadowhall

  

The Navigators

Also known as the Ken Loach film you haven't seen, the 2001 film 'the Navigators' follows a group of track workers as they 'navigate' their way through life after the collapse of British rail in 1995. From the outset a bustling work room full of grizzled Yorkshiremen full of laughter, banter and camaraderie, are told their new company's mission statement - new terms like 'performance-related pay', 'efficiency' and 'unpaid holidays' are mentioned. It's a case of staying on under the new firm were BR agreements with workers and unions are void, take the redundancy cash and begin life as casual agency workers.

The film follows a key handful of these chaps. Loach used lesser known actors, the only 'names' so to speak are Steve Huison (the Full Monty, When Saturday Comes) and Tom Craig (Where the Heart Is - you know the one, he's a Sheff Wed fan in everything he's in), as to keep the authenticity and real life aspect of the film. The lads struggle on at the new firm as one by one their colleagues accept the redundancy package, and before long there is only a couple of them left. Those that stay are appalled by the 'flexible working' and extreme cost cutting at work, the economic problems with family life at home and the changing face of society.

In the end they all take their chance with agency work with varying success. In the end the over the top cost cutting by new railway companies are highlighted, leading to a heart breaking and deeply upsetting scene, that puts the rest of them in a deep moral predicament - do what is right or do what will keep them in work. An appalling situation that shows just how desperate the lads have become.

Hard hitting, sad but full of dry wit, the Navigators is not as important as 'Kes', not as acclaimed as 'Riff-Raff' and not as witty as 'Looking for Eric', but is still a very good piece of British film. Given good reviews, it was given even more kudos later in 2001 when Railtrack was folded by the Labour government, after cost-cutting and shady dealing had led to several high profile accidents, bringing the content in Loach's rail film real topicality, making it a critically acclaimed important piece of film making.

Tube Graffiti

Often see a lot of forum or blog posts regarding the graffiti on the New York subway. In fact I was browsing a fascinating pictorial book on the subject recently - may get round to purchasing it. I'm a bit of a patriot at heart though so thought I'd give a few samples of spray paint scribbles on London's Underground - do us Brits do it better?

Probably not...

Stott Hall Farm

Or otherwise known as 'that-farm-in-the-middle-of-the-M62'. Just been to and from Manchester's Trafford Centre on a Christmas shopping trip, and passed the farm twice within 24 hours and felt compelled to google it to find out more.

Built in 1737, it stood for over 200 years in hilltop windswept loneliness before the motorway arrived in 1968. The future of the farm looked as bleak as the Pennines, with officials bulldozing and relocating dwellings in the path of the highways onslaught. However due to the fear of landslides on the steep hill, the motorway carriageways were split and thus Stott Hall was saved.

It's become an unlikely landmark on the motorway and according to tenant farmer Paul Thorp it's often used as an unofficial service station for people struggling for petrol. Can't imagine what it's like living there - Working hard in the fields doing a rural job, then to come back home with all this urban noise and disturbance. The M62 has been going strong for 40 odd years and won't let up until Judgement Day, so there's going to be no break in the 24/7 traffic buzz for farmer Thorp just yet.