Short photo recap of a long Easter weekend

Britain provides two public holidays for Easter weekend, one for Good Friday and one for Easter Monday. Schools often close for two full weeks around Easter. Besides providing family time, the four-day weekend signals the start of the tourist season, with prices for flights and hotels beginning to rise as summer approaches.

We didn't travel anywhere, but we did enjoy a lovely long weekend. Here's a quick photo recap:

It was new to us, but there's a tradition here of decorating Easter bonnets. Jackson's nursery — he attends two mornings a week — had a little Easter bonnet "parade" a couple days before the long weekend. That meant a craft assignment for mom and dad. Isn't the whole point of sending the kid to nursery that he does this stuff at the nursery, so mom and dad don't have to suffer through it?

Pollock House was built in the 1750s. It is one of many properties operated by the National Trust of Scotland which this weekend hosted an Easter egg hunt, all sponsored by Cadbury.

For the Easter egg hunt, the kids searched for pirates which were hiding letters.

There were eight letters hidden around the country house. In this room, the letter was "hidden" on the left side of the fireplace.

Jackson receives his Cadbury egg after finding all eight letters and unscrambling them (well, mom and dad unscrambled them) to spell a word.

We also celebrated Kate's 38th birthday this weekend. She received gifts like this combination birdhouse and feeder . . .

. . . and this Panasonic Lumix TZ70, a terrific compact camera that can be stored easily in a purse or pocket. We lost our previous compact camera about 18 months ago, so this is a great addition for our explorations.

We celebrated Easter, which in our agnostic household is not much more than hiding and finding eggs.

We also spent a full afternoon on an urban hike in central Glasgow. We passed, among many other things, the People's Palace and Winter Gardens on Glasgow Green.

A mural on Ingram Street, depicting Scotland's four seasons.

Completed in 1626, this Tolbooth Steeple is all that remains of Glasgow's medieval municipal building.

We walked for awhile along the River Clyde.

We swung by the former Templeton Carpet Factory, which at one point was the largest carpet factory in the world. Now it's occupied by other businesses, including a beer brewery.

Had to keep the wee one happy during our excursion.

We finished our urban hike with a stroll up Buchanan Street, the premier shopping drag in Scotland.

At the end of our walk, we stumbled across Five Guys in downtown Glasgow, which was a pleasant surprise for us. Apparently, it opened just as we were headed back to the States for a visit.

Jackson picked up on how excited Kate and I were to find a Five Guys, and decided he'd make some crazy eyes, too.

We also spent time during the weekend watching the Final Four. We had some expat veterinary students over at our house until around 4:00 am on Sunday morning. I almost won our NCAA Tournament bracket pool; tied for first place, but lost the tiebreaker. [Grumble, grumble, grumble]

Since the championship game didn't start until nearly 2:30 am on Tuesday morning, we recorded the game and got up at 6:00 am to watch. My law school alma mater, Duke, won its fifth national championship! (Photo courtesy of News & Observer.)

Jacobite steam train license suspended

 

UPDATE: The Jacobite Steam Train SUSPENSION HAS BEEN LIFTED. See here: http://www.coloringwithoutborders.com/2015/05/full-speed-ahead-for-jacobite-steam.html

The Hogwarts Express currently suffers from an immobulus!

In an unprecedented move, the U.K. organization which oversees Great Britain's rail lines has suspended the license of a railway company. The organization, called Network Rail, oversees nearly all of the railway infrastructure on the island and concurrently shares responsibility for train safety on the tracks. In the first license suspension since the British railway system was privatized in 1993, Network Rail has temporarily banned West Coast Railways from operating on Britain's rail lines, effective April 3.

The Jacobite steam train ready to depart from Fort William.

West Coast Railways operates a number of steam train lines in Great Britain, including popular tourist lines in the Yorkshire Dales. Its main claim to fame, however, is the Jacobite steam train running through the western highlands of Scotland. This beloved train journey — often voted by Britons to be among the most scenic in the world — runs past highland mountains and deep valleys, sweeping by gorgeous lochs and over canals and bridges.

Most recently, the journey has been invigorated by its inclusion in the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts Express. "Potterheads" have flocked to the steam train line since its stunning visuals running over the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

The Hogwarts Express crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

According to its suspension letter, "Network Rail has had concerns about [West Coast Railways] performance of its Safety Obligations for some time and recent events lead Network Rail to believe that the operations of WCR are a threat to the safe operation of the railway." Apparently, Network Rail had initiated a review in January of West Coast Railway's safety policies, but the company unilaterally suspended its remediation of any problems identified.

Then, on March 7, one of West Coast Railway's steam trains on its London to Bristol line ran a red light, endangering hundreds of passengers. A high speed train traveling at 100 mph had passed through that junction just a minute earlier. According to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, there is evidence showing that the West Coast Railways train's driver and fireman took measures to negate the automatic braking system.

A collision of the two trains would have been catastrophic.

The total rail network ban will last until May 15. In the meantime, West Coast Railways must meet five conditions, including providing a plan to implement the January review of its procedures; introducing a system to ensure train drivers receive safety information; and implementing an "effective, risk-based driver monitoring regime." Furthermore, the company must show clear progress toward reaching two further conditions, concerning communication protocols and safety accountability for company management. For a full copy of the suspension letter, see here.

It is possible that West Coast Railways could lose its rail license entirely. Beyond a revocation of its license, company officials potentially could face criminal charges.

The Jacobite steam train is scheduled to begin its service on May 11, four days before the end of West Coast Railway's suspension. Presumably, if the company can meet Network Rail's conditions, its suspension will be lifted earlier. But considering the company's recalcitrant attitude, lifting the ban is not yet a given.

West Coast Railways has issued a statement to customers that its rail trips will be unaffected and operated by another (unsuspended) license operator until its ban is lifted. Whether customers retain confidence in the only rail company to have earned a complete ban on operations, remains to be seen.


UPDATE: As of April 22, West Coast Railways is undergoing a criminal investigation for the March 7 incident. Furthermore, National Rail has begun a process to review West Coast Railways' safety certificate — which, if lost, would mean it could not operate trains even if it regains its operating license on the tracks.

 

For more about the Jacobite steam train, see here: http://www.coloringwithoutborders.com/2013/10/riding-jacobite.html

 

 

For more about the Glenfinnan Viaduct, see here: http://www.coloringwithoutborders.com/2014/09/monday-exposure-glenfinnan-viaduct.html

Farewell to Blogspot

It's been a long time coming. Long, long, long time. 'Twas well overdue, really.

{Ed.'s note: What's been keeping you?}

Inertia. Laziness. Indecision. Overthinking.

Finally, however, I've pulled the trigger and left the blogspot.com domain behind. (Or, as it appears here in the U.K., blogspot.co.uk.) You may have noticed over the past few days that I went ahead and bought the domain name for www.coloringwithoutborders.com. Actually, I also bought the domain for www.colouringwithoutborders.com, just to avoid any confusion if anyone ever sought that domain.

Ciao, coloringwithoutborders.blogspot.com!

Ye olde blog domain name.

I've been tinkering around the edges of the blog for a few months now. Placed a new photo up top. Added a search bar. Put in some new styling for the comments. Shifted the Monday Exposure posts from an every week to just an occasional basis; I had originally intended those to be just a photo with a quick blurb, but they quickly became longer posts which were dictating my blogging energies.

In the relatively near future — not too fast, nothing on this blog happens quickly — I'll make some more changes. Probably introduce some tabs and organization. Likely some new and better styling. Perhaps some limited social media. These changes are all overdue, as well.

I'm inching my way there.

{Ed.'s note: Thank goodness.}

For now, I'll simply pat myself on the back for this simple but necessary step. Suggestions for the future are welcome. The blog is, bit by bit, growing up.

Ready to take over the world improve incrementally.