I won't find The Answer in my lifetime. You won't find The Answer in your lifetime. No one alive today will find The Answer in their lifetime. [There are lots of people peddling Answers but they're all wrong.] We can, however, all get a small step closer to total knowledge, total wisdom. We can reject false answers, wrong perspectives, incorrect approaches. The search is from our perspective, never-ending. We can ponder, discuss - reach ever-higher levels of synthesis than has hitherto been reached before, but it is like building a staircase to the sky out of housebricks - if you build too high without a broad-enough base, the while edifice will come eventually crashing down.
Since childhood, I have been convinced that I am somehow operating on a higher level of consciousness than most people around me. My daughter says this way of thinking is judgemental, elitist and snobbish, that I'm putting people down. But my feelings are based not on judging others for their innate intelligence or their level of education. Rather it's the fact that some people do have more acute powers of observation - perceptiveness (spostrzegawczość) than others. And then some people more naturally curious about the world around them than others.
People who notice interesting details of stuff around them and ask themselves questions about life and everything or those who - consciously or subconsciously - are on a lifelong quest to broaden and deepen their understanding of their own existence.
As I grow older, I feel that life is coming into ever-sharper focus. New insights into issues, gained over decades, improve understanding. But simply growing older is not enough; if we do not question what we think we've established as wisdom, we end up entrenching ourselves with fixed ideas. The phrase "I've always said that..." is a warning sign that you're dealing with a person who does not appreciate that one's own views should evolve and mature over time, become more nuanced, accommodating newly-discovered complexities that arise as we honestly ponder the things around us. Beware too of persons (populist politicians, typically), who want to oversimplify, to reduce complex issues into solutions which seem appealing at first sight - but are wrong.
At school, none but the best teachers teach us to be curious. And indeed, can curiosity be taught? Should the curious mind break out from the pack, to seek ahead, alone? Thinking back over my 14 years of primary and secondary education, I cannot honestly recall a single teacher that did encourage us pupils to grow in curiosity. Some were better, others worse - but essentially they were handing down pre-digested knowledge to be memorised, rather than to be assembled into wisdom.
As to perceptiveness, the concept of spostrzegawczość was explained to me in Polish Scouts in 1970s London. We'd get points for noticing that which is around us. An important part of field-craft, bearing in mind the paramilitary nature of Polish scouting. Powers of observation can make all the difference in a battlefield between survival and being a sniper's victim. But in civilian life, finely-honed powers of observation have different uses and appear in different guises. Some of us are attuned to noticing things that are wrong - and will attach great import to a stained collar, cracked plaster-work, a funny smell or a chipped cup. Others will notice, but will not get bothered by superficial imperfections. Others will simply not notice.
Those of us with above-average levels of curiosity and perceptiveness will grow in consciousness over time, share and discuss and learn and teach and thus develop as human beings, for consciousness is all; it is the essence of being alive, it is that spark of Godliness, or the Universal wholeness within us.
This time last year:
Interstices: between Kłobucka and the tracks
This time three years ago:
In which I ride my Brompton to work
This time six years ago:
Bike ride to Powsin as summer fades gloriously
This time seven years ago:
Compositions in yellow, blue and white
This time eight years ago:
When the Z-9 used to run, temporarily, to Jeziorki
Monday, 4 September 2017
Sunday, 3 September 2017
New estates and phantom bus stops
A long walk to see how things are going between the railway line and Zgorzała. The housing estate here is growing rapidly
Click to enlarge these Google Earth images using the Time Slider feature to see how these fields have changed between June 2008 and September 2016. New housing outlined in yellow; since last September, more is appearing.
I'm finding this a rather inchoate community; on the one hand it's officially Zgorzała, on the other, there's no asphalt road connecting it to Zgorzała... the only asphalt in and out links this estate to Nowa Iwiczna. Neither ul. Przepiorki (connecting these houses to Zgorzała proper) nor ul. Gogolińska (connecting these houses to Jeziorki) are in any way passable to cars after a few days of rain.
And still more houses are being built, presumably there's planning permission to fill these fields with houses. But what about shops, schools, restaurants, bars - everything that makes a town a town? There's one shop, a Lewiatan, not bad (stock reflecting a sophisticated and well-to-do clientele)
Everyone's expected to pass in and out by car along ul. Kielecka. Nowa Iwiczna station (Zone 2) is a one-kilometre walk away, with no pedestrian footpath short-cut.
Another phantom bus shelter! Here in Zgorzała estate, across the way from the Lewiatan shop. No signage, no clue as to what buses will run to/from here and when.
Phantom bus shelters are all the rage south of Warsaw's border: this one is by the new estate at Zamienie. Again, not an inkling as to when it becomes operational. Maybe it awaits the asphalting of Raszyńska/Złota, the road that links Podolszyn Nowy and Zgorzała by way of Zamienie.
And another phantom bus shelter - this one in Dawidy. Like the one above, it was completed in May, you won't find anything official about it on the internet, only hearsay (alleged lack of planning permission). What bus routes will be using this new infrastructure?
Apropos of Zamienie - I noticed today that it has a new fire station! Here's the old one...
...and here's the new one. A worthy investment, giving that hundreds of houses have sprung up around these parts in the last few years.
Having said that, it won't be long before this fire station ends up on the wrong side of the S7, but that will be a while (and the expressway junction at Zamienie is not far anyway).
And finally - I wrote last week about the new railway timetable (which comes into force today) and how this should mean the gated level crossing on ul. Baletowa by W-wa Dawidy will become operational. Not a bit of it. Today, as last week and for many months, the level crossing keeper's hut stands idle, no barriers.
This time seven years ago:
Battle of Britain: Poland's contribution
This time eight years ago:
Sewer under ul. Karczunkowska
Click to enlarge these Google Earth images using the Time Slider feature to see how these fields have changed between June 2008 and September 2016. New housing outlined in yellow; since last September, more is appearing.
I'm finding this a rather inchoate community; on the one hand it's officially Zgorzała, on the other, there's no asphalt road connecting it to Zgorzała... the only asphalt in and out links this estate to Nowa Iwiczna. Neither ul. Przepiorki (connecting these houses to Zgorzała proper) nor ul. Gogolińska (connecting these houses to Jeziorki) are in any way passable to cars after a few days of rain.
And still more houses are being built, presumably there's planning permission to fill these fields with houses. But what about shops, schools, restaurants, bars - everything that makes a town a town? There's one shop, a Lewiatan, not bad (stock reflecting a sophisticated and well-to-do clientele)
Everyone's expected to pass in and out by car along ul. Kielecka. Nowa Iwiczna station (Zone 2) is a one-kilometre walk away, with no pedestrian footpath short-cut.
Another phantom bus shelter! Here in Zgorzała estate, across the way from the Lewiatan shop. No signage, no clue as to what buses will run to/from here and when.
Phantom bus shelters are all the rage south of Warsaw's border: this one is by the new estate at Zamienie. Again, not an inkling as to when it becomes operational. Maybe it awaits the asphalting of Raszyńska/Złota, the road that links Podolszyn Nowy and Zgorzała by way of Zamienie.
And another phantom bus shelter - this one in Dawidy. Like the one above, it was completed in May, you won't find anything official about it on the internet, only hearsay (alleged lack of planning permission). What bus routes will be using this new infrastructure?
Apropos of Zamienie - I noticed today that it has a new fire station! Here's the old one...
...and here's the new one. A worthy investment, giving that hundreds of houses have sprung up around these parts in the last few years.
Having said that, it won't be long before this fire station ends up on the wrong side of the S7, but that will be a while (and the expressway junction at Zamienie is not far anyway).
And finally - I wrote last week about the new railway timetable (which comes into force today) and how this should mean the gated level crossing on ul. Baletowa by W-wa Dawidy will become operational. Not a bit of it. Today, as last week and for many months, the level crossing keeper's hut stands idle, no barriers.
This time seven years ago:
Battle of Britain: Poland's contribution
This time eight years ago:
Sewer under ul. Karczunkowska
Saturday, 2 September 2017
All things visible and invisible
Our daily lives, our surroundings - furniture, pavements, shops, our day-to-day concerns consume so much of our attention that often it's hard to put human existence into a Universal context - our place on a planet in a solar system that's one of billions in a galaxy that's one of billions.
And yet when we do so, it can strangely comforting; the thought that there's so much out there, the scale and mystery of it all - and the fact that here we are to behold it.
Consider the massive input of resources that governments make into researching the Universe; from the Large Hadron Collider to the huge radio telescopes dotted around the world. "Money," say some, "that could be better spent addressing humanity's more pressing needs."
But as a species we could not countenance a situation in which we are not doing everything possible to gain a fuller understand of our Universe - from the inner workings of the atom to the farthest galaxies.
Science is about hard fact. Unlike politics or economics, which have so much direct effect on our lives, the theoretical positings of scientists searching for a provable consensus to the conundrums of cosmology seem immensely vague and distant. It's so much easier to have heated arguments about migration, Brexit or in-vitro fertilisation than it is to discuss why there should be less gravity about in the universe given the amount of mass in it. What's causing that extra gravity? Is it dark energy or dark matter? Quintessence or dark fluid?
For all of Mankind's expenditure on science, we really know little about the Universe in which we live; however, we do know much more than our forefathers. We know that the Universe is expanding - (Red Shift); we can work out how fast it's expanding, and what it's expanding from (the Big Bang).
But we don't know whether that expansion will result in a steady state, or whether matter will start to slow down, then start to close in upon itself, drawing back to the original singularity. Does the Universe, then, expand and contract in endless cycles?
And is this Universe, the one that we can see, the only universe there is? Are there several? Or are there an infinite number of universes, including one that's identical in every respect to this one, except there you had gooseberry yogurt for breakfast last Thursday?
So - we have (so the scientists, armed with results from telescopes provided by us taxpayers, tell us) all this dark matter, dark energy, dark fluid, quintessence - which no one can yet pin down. There are many equations arguing the existence of these theoretical types of matter and energy, but there's no empirical proof - no one yet has ever seen dark matter.
In which case, here's my theory (sorry - no equations, I'm afraid). As valid as everyone else's, until proved wrong...
Yesterday morning I was still in bed, drifting in and out of consciousness in that part-asleep, part-awake state that one achieves when there's no rush to get up. Downstairs, son Eddie was frying bacon. The smell wafted up into my room and entered my dream.
It then suddenly struck me.
While we're asleep, our resting consciousness picks up dark energy. You may think you are lying still in a bed standing on a floor of a house standing on a patch of land. But that house, that bed is actually on a planet that's spinning (at Warsaw's latitude) at 642 mph (1,033 km/h) while hurtling around the sun at a speed of 66,619 mph (107,230 km/h), and rushing through our galaxy at 515,000 mph (828,000 km/h). And as you travel in your bed at these improbable speeds, sweeping through oceans of invisible dark energy, your consciousness picks it up - much like your nostrils pick up smells - and it relays it to you in the form of dreams.
Once again; your consciousness ploughs through fields of that dark energy while you're awake, and while you're asleep.
The dreams are local to us, just like the smell from your kitchen is unique to your kitchen and different to your neighbour's kitchen. So it's unlikely you'll get a dream featuring stuff that's going on in a faraway galaxy, but far more likely that you'll pick up threads of something that's happened nearby in the not too distant past.
So there we are - consciousness as a part of the universe, along with matter and energy.
Until science proves otherwise - that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!
[AND THEN THIS EVENING... THIS APPEARS: MATERIALISM ALONE CANNOT EXPLAIN CONSCIOUSNESS
The heart of this article, by Prof Adam Frank, is this: "Consciousness might, for example, be an example of the emergence of a new entity in the Universe not contained in the laws of particles. There is also the more radical possibility that some rudimentary form of consciousness must be added to the list of things, such as mass or electric charge, that the world is built of. "
This time two years ago:
Work starts on Warsaw-Radom rail modernisation
This time three years ago:
Won't be long 'til summertime is through
This time five years ago:
It was a good year for the apples
This time seven years ago:
Early-September moan about the commuting
And yet when we do so, it can strangely comforting; the thought that there's so much out there, the scale and mystery of it all - and the fact that here we are to behold it.
Consider the massive input of resources that governments make into researching the Universe; from the Large Hadron Collider to the huge radio telescopes dotted around the world. "Money," say some, "that could be better spent addressing humanity's more pressing needs."
But as a species we could not countenance a situation in which we are not doing everything possible to gain a fuller understand of our Universe - from the inner workings of the atom to the farthest galaxies.
Science is about hard fact. Unlike politics or economics, which have so much direct effect on our lives, the theoretical positings of scientists searching for a provable consensus to the conundrums of cosmology seem immensely vague and distant. It's so much easier to have heated arguments about migration, Brexit or in-vitro fertilisation than it is to discuss why there should be less gravity about in the universe given the amount of mass in it. What's causing that extra gravity? Is it dark energy or dark matter? Quintessence or dark fluid?
For all of Mankind's expenditure on science, we really know little about the Universe in which we live; however, we do know much more than our forefathers. We know that the Universe is expanding - (Red Shift); we can work out how fast it's expanding, and what it's expanding from (the Big Bang).
But we don't know whether that expansion will result in a steady state, or whether matter will start to slow down, then start to close in upon itself, drawing back to the original singularity. Does the Universe, then, expand and contract in endless cycles?
And is this Universe, the one that we can see, the only universe there is? Are there several? Or are there an infinite number of universes, including one that's identical in every respect to this one, except there you had gooseberry yogurt for breakfast last Thursday?
So - we have (so the scientists, armed with results from telescopes provided by us taxpayers, tell us) all this dark matter, dark energy, dark fluid, quintessence - which no one can yet pin down. There are many equations arguing the existence of these theoretical types of matter and energy, but there's no empirical proof - no one yet has ever seen dark matter.
In which case, here's my theory (sorry - no equations, I'm afraid). As valid as everyone else's, until proved wrong...
Yesterday morning I was still in bed, drifting in and out of consciousness in that part-asleep, part-awake state that one achieves when there's no rush to get up. Downstairs, son Eddie was frying bacon. The smell wafted up into my room and entered my dream.
It then suddenly struck me.
While we're asleep, our resting consciousness picks up dark energy. You may think you are lying still in a bed standing on a floor of a house standing on a patch of land. But that house, that bed is actually on a planet that's spinning (at Warsaw's latitude) at 642 mph (1,033 km/h) while hurtling around the sun at a speed of 66,619 mph (107,230 km/h), and rushing through our galaxy at 515,000 mph (828,000 km/h). And as you travel in your bed at these improbable speeds, sweeping through oceans of invisible dark energy, your consciousness picks it up - much like your nostrils pick up smells - and it relays it to you in the form of dreams.
Once again; your consciousness ploughs through fields of that dark energy while you're awake, and while you're asleep.
The dreams are local to us, just like the smell from your kitchen is unique to your kitchen and different to your neighbour's kitchen. So it's unlikely you'll get a dream featuring stuff that's going on in a faraway galaxy, but far more likely that you'll pick up threads of something that's happened nearby in the not too distant past.
So there we are - consciousness as a part of the universe, along with matter and energy.
Until science proves otherwise - that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!
[AND THEN THIS EVENING... THIS APPEARS: MATERIALISM ALONE CANNOT EXPLAIN CONSCIOUSNESS
The heart of this article, by Prof Adam Frank, is this: "Consciousness might, for example, be an example of the emergence of a new entity in the Universe not contained in the laws of particles. There is also the more radical possibility that some rudimentary form of consciousness must be added to the list of things, such as mass or electric charge, that the world is built of. "
This time two years ago:
Work starts on Warsaw-Radom rail modernisation
This time three years ago:
Won't be long 'til summertime is through
This time five years ago:
It was a good year for the apples
This time seven years ago:
Early-September moan about the commuting
Thursday, 31 August 2017
End of August, end of summer?
The end of August; with it the end of meteorological summer. Astronomical summer ends with the Autumn Equinox, which this year occurs on 22 September. Seasons come earlier to London than to Warsaw; you can feel spring in the air by February there, whereas in Warsaw you have to wait to April. And so summer lingers longer here, but even so, this year, the end of August was beautiful, with four clear days of sunshine before the clouds rolled on marking a change.
So then, a quick overview from Town and Around of the last three weeks, since my return from London. I begin by taking a look at our ponds. Below: a coot. The coots are thriving this year.
Below: the swan family is down to five cygnets (from six chicks born)
Below: so good to see the great crested grebes doing well.
Below: the harvest is in, the straw cut and baled. Looking across from ul. Karczunkowska towards Mysiadło.
Below: I confess to having had a bit of fun tweaking this photo (below) of an empty coal train returning from Siekierki, to give the impression of a baking savannah
Below: part of the flypast on 15 August, a formation of MiG-29s over Warsaw, snapped from the Ballast Mountain (as was indeed the above photo).
Into town. Below - view from my office window as a storm front crosses over from north to south bringing a massive downpour. Ten minutes later, rain was lashing central Warsaw. Half an hour later, the sky had cleared. This was 23 August.
Below: one evening last week I walked from my office all the way down to Metro Racławicka (4.6km), passing the entrance to ul. Śniadeckich from Pl. Konstytucji on the way.
I wrote about the Ilyushin Il-14 that has been turned into a restaurant on the corner of ul. Marszałkowska and Świętokrzyska back in mid-July. The city authorities said it would be removed as it was installed without any planning permission. Well guess what, it's still here,
Palace of Culture's still here too!
I managed to snap the floral clock on the southern side of the palace. The photo was taken with my arms raised as high as possible, then slightly stretched on Photoshop - which suggests that either the angle at which it was set is too low for passers-by, or that it exists so to tell the time for the guests at the Marriott. Photo on Google Maps satellite view shows the floral mermaid by the clock, which was not planted this year.
This time last year:
Pavement for Karczunkowska... a bit at least
This time two years ago:
Gold Train update (the hope! the expectations!)
This time three years ago:
Changes to Poland's road traffic laws
This time four years ago:
Poland post the Rubbish Revolution
This time five years ago:
Poland's most beautiful street
This time six years ago:
Getting to grips with phrasal verbs
This time eight years ago:
What Putin wrote about Molotov-Ribbentrop
This time nine years ago:
Summer Sunday in the city
This time ten years ago:
Last bike-ride to work of the summer
So then, a quick overview from Town and Around of the last three weeks, since my return from London. I begin by taking a look at our ponds. Below: a coot. The coots are thriving this year.
Below: the swan family is down to five cygnets (from six chicks born)
Below: so good to see the great crested grebes doing well.
Below: the harvest is in, the straw cut and baled. Looking across from ul. Karczunkowska towards Mysiadło.
Below: I confess to having had a bit of fun tweaking this photo (below) of an empty coal train returning from Siekierki, to give the impression of a baking savannah
Below: part of the flypast on 15 August, a formation of MiG-29s over Warsaw, snapped from the Ballast Mountain (as was indeed the above photo).
Into town. Below - view from my office window as a storm front crosses over from north to south bringing a massive downpour. Ten minutes later, rain was lashing central Warsaw. Half an hour later, the sky had cleared. This was 23 August.
Below: one evening last week I walked from my office all the way down to Metro Racławicka (4.6km), passing the entrance to ul. Śniadeckich from Pl. Konstytucji on the way.
I wrote about the Ilyushin Il-14 that has been turned into a restaurant on the corner of ul. Marszałkowska and Świętokrzyska back in mid-July. The city authorities said it would be removed as it was installed without any planning permission. Well guess what, it's still here,
Palace of Culture's still here too!
I managed to snap the floral clock on the southern side of the palace. The photo was taken with my arms raised as high as possible, then slightly stretched on Photoshop - which suggests that either the angle at which it was set is too low for passers-by, or that it exists so to tell the time for the guests at the Marriott. Photo on Google Maps satellite view shows the floral mermaid by the clock, which was not planted this year.
This time last year:
Pavement for Karczunkowska... a bit at least
This time two years ago:
Gold Train update (the hope! the expectations!)
This time three years ago:
Changes to Poland's road traffic laws
This time four years ago:
Poland post the Rubbish Revolution
This time five years ago:
Poland's most beautiful street
This time six years ago:
Getting to grips with phrasal verbs
This time eight years ago:
What Putin wrote about Molotov-Ribbentrop
This time nine years ago:
Summer Sunday in the city
This time ten years ago:
Last bike-ride to work of the summer
Monday, 28 August 2017
Waiting for the level crossing barriers - Dawidy and Nowa Iwiczna
The new railway timetable comes into force on Sunday, with minor changes on the line from Radom to Warsaw. The fastest time between W-wa Jeziorki and W-wa Śródmieście is cut to 27 minutes (from 28), though on average times are about the same. I was expecting more of an improvement, especially once the new gated level crossings at Nowa Iwiczna (below) and at W-wa Dawidy become operational and trains don't have to slow down ahead of them as they do for ungated crossings. It seems evident (thanks Ian for the tip-off) that the one at Nowa Iwiczna (below) will not be ready by this weekend.
The gate at W-wa Dawidy look just days away from completion, this morning and this evening there were several workers on site getting on with getting the job done.
On ul. Baletowa, the road sign will have to be changed to 'gated level crossing' from 'ungated' (why a symbol of a 2-6-0 loco in full steam is used, when they disappeared decades ago is interesting - I suppose it is unambiguous). Note just beneath the white/red.white/green/white of two tourist trails (szlaki turystyczne) that both start at W-wa Dawidy station.
And between the stations, unfinished signalling. These two are turned in by 90 degrees so as not to confuse train drivers. When the work's ready, they'll be turned outward parallel to the tracks.
The view from the footpath leading towards W-wa Jeziorki. Note the new electricity pylons to the left; these are being put up to replace the old power lines which spark and cackle ominously.
This time last year:
More Sandomierz photos
This time two years ago:
All aboard the Gold Train rush
This time six years ago:
Dominicans at large, Służew
This time seven years ago:
Late summer moods, Jeziorki
This time eight years ago:
The next one hundred years
This time nine years ago:
"What do we want? Early retirement!
When do we want it? NOW!"
This time ten years ago:
Twilight of Warsaw's greenhouse economy
The gate at W-wa Dawidy look just days away from completion, this morning and this evening there were several workers on site getting on with getting the job done.
On ul. Baletowa, the road sign will have to be changed to 'gated level crossing' from 'ungated' (why a symbol of a 2-6-0 loco in full steam is used, when they disappeared decades ago is interesting - I suppose it is unambiguous). Note just beneath the white/red.white/green/white of two tourist trails (szlaki turystyczne) that both start at W-wa Dawidy station.
And between the stations, unfinished signalling. These two are turned in by 90 degrees so as not to confuse train drivers. When the work's ready, they'll be turned outward parallel to the tracks.
The view from the footpath leading towards W-wa Jeziorki. Note the new electricity pylons to the left; these are being put up to replace the old power lines which spark and cackle ominously.
This time last year:
More Sandomierz photos
This time two years ago:
All aboard the Gold Train rush
This time six years ago:
Dominicans at large, Służew
This time seven years ago:
Late summer moods, Jeziorki
This time eight years ago:
The next one hundred years
This time nine years ago:
"What do we want? Early retirement!
When do we want it? NOW!"
This time ten years ago:
Twilight of Warsaw's greenhouse economy
Sunday, 27 August 2017
The Journey There And The Journey Home
The journey there; by motorbike to Wrocław, dropping it off at Unikat 1/1 Motorworks for a new two-into-one exhaust pipe and pair of side-lights; and thence by train to Wałbrzych for local exploration (see yesterday's post) and back by night train to Warsaw.
The DW 710 heading west out of Łódź is an interesting road, followed along its way to Konstantynów Łódzki by a semi-rural tram line (below). Łódź's exurban light-rail routes are now sadly being trimmed back; this line until recently used to run even further out of town to Lutomiersk.
There's a quaint charm about a tram line that runs through fields and villages; below: between the main road and a field of corn, the tracks visible through the grass.
Near to where the line ends now (it was truncated earlier this year) in Konstantynów Łódzki stands a vintage tram, marking the historical importance to this area of its links to Łódź.
Below: onward towards Wielkopolska; still in Łódzkie province, this is the picturesque village of Rossoszyca, built astride a long pond. The wooden church of Św. Wawrzyniec (St Lawrence) dates back to 1783.
Below: more picturesque rural Poland; this is Grabów nad Prosną in Wielkopolska (as opposed to Grabów nad Pilicą which is in Mazowsze). Quite the film-set for a WW2 drama!
Onward from Wielkopolska into Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesia). Having dropped off the bike, it's time to change transport modes at Wrocław. I pop by the old Świebodzki station, now partially abandoned. A lovely old Ty-2 loco rusts away exposed to the open sky and vandals.
On by rail to Wałbrzych. Though there has been much new investment in Wałbrzych, there are still many signs of post-industrial decay. It's this mix that makes the town so fascinating.
The line just outside Wałbrzych. Built in the 1870s, it was originally intended to link Berlin and Vienna; the Austro-Hungarian authorities viewed the whole project with suspicion, and it was never completed. Still, there are some magnificent views (below)
Below: arrival by train at Wałbrzych Główny (as opposed to Wałbrzych Miasto, 6.1km away). Looking up from the Line A bus that links the two stations at the railway viaduct, with its underslung arches.
... and looking down from the railway viaduct From Wałbrzych Miasto (as opposed to Wałbrzych Główny), I'll take the night train back to Warsaw.
I bought my ticket home via W-wa Wschodnia, so I wouldn't have to be woken at 6am. Sleep on to Wschodnia, have a Scottish breakfast, and return to Jeziorki by Koleje Mazowieckie - that's the plan. I needn't have worried - my night train arrived three hours late. At some stage, a goods train on the line ahead broke down. I was vaguely aware of my train standing still for an awfully long time, but being in a sleep state this didn't bother me a jot. This view below of two communist-era murals 'advertising' (!) stuff - photographic film and wrist watches - that was unavailable anyway may soon become history as the plot in the foreground is being cleared for the construction of a new building.
Left: back in Jeziorki with two my small rucksacks, hard hat, explorer's kit and photographic gear. A thoroughly worthwhile three-day jaunt, lots of tales to tell. Once again, the klimat of the journey has been processed into my long-term memory; I already feel the need to return to Wałbrzych.
Bonus shot: an SM42 pulls an overhead power line engineering train, heading south out of Skierniewice.
This time last year:
Sandomierz - another outstanding Polish town to see
This time three years ago:
Food hygiene and lies as Russian foreign policy tools
This time four years ago:
Asphalt for ul. Poloneza (to Krasnowolska at least)
This time five years ago:
A welcome splash of colour to a drab car park
This time six years ago:
To Hel and back in 36 hours
This time eight years ago:
Honing the Art of the Written Word
This time nine years ago:
Of castles, dams and brass bands
So - the journey out...
The DW 710 heading west out of Łódź is an interesting road, followed along its way to Konstantynów Łódzki by a semi-rural tram line (below). Łódź's exurban light-rail routes are now sadly being trimmed back; this line until recently used to run even further out of town to Lutomiersk.
There's a quaint charm about a tram line that runs through fields and villages; below: between the main road and a field of corn, the tracks visible through the grass.
Near to where the line ends now (it was truncated earlier this year) in Konstantynów Łódzki stands a vintage tram, marking the historical importance to this area of its links to Łódź.
Below: onward towards Wielkopolska; still in Łódzkie province, this is the picturesque village of Rossoszyca, built astride a long pond. The wooden church of Św. Wawrzyniec (St Lawrence) dates back to 1783.
Below: more picturesque rural Poland; this is Grabów nad Prosną in Wielkopolska (as opposed to Grabów nad Pilicą which is in Mazowsze). Quite the film-set for a WW2 drama!
Onward from Wielkopolska into Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesia). Having dropped off the bike, it's time to change transport modes at Wrocław. I pop by the old Świebodzki station, now partially abandoned. A lovely old Ty-2 loco rusts away exposed to the open sky and vandals.
On by rail to Wałbrzych. Though there has been much new investment in Wałbrzych, there are still many signs of post-industrial decay. It's this mix that makes the town so fascinating.
The line just outside Wałbrzych. Built in the 1870s, it was originally intended to link Berlin and Vienna; the Austro-Hungarian authorities viewed the whole project with suspicion, and it was never completed. Still, there are some magnificent views (below)
Below: arrival by train at Wałbrzych Główny (as opposed to Wałbrzych Miasto, 6.1km away). Looking up from the Line A bus that links the two stations at the railway viaduct, with its underslung arches.
... and looking down from the railway viaduct From Wałbrzych Miasto (as opposed to Wałbrzych Główny), I'll take the night train back to Warsaw.
I bought my ticket home via W-wa Wschodnia, so I wouldn't have to be woken at 6am. Sleep on to Wschodnia, have a Scottish breakfast, and return to Jeziorki by Koleje Mazowieckie - that's the plan. I needn't have worried - my night train arrived three hours late. At some stage, a goods train on the line ahead broke down. I was vaguely aware of my train standing still for an awfully long time, but being in a sleep state this didn't bother me a jot. This view below of two communist-era murals 'advertising' (!) stuff - photographic film and wrist watches - that was unavailable anyway may soon become history as the plot in the foreground is being cleared for the construction of a new building.
Bonus shot: an SM42 pulls an overhead power line engineering train, heading south out of Skierniewice.
This time last year:
Sandomierz - another outstanding Polish town to see
This time three years ago:
Food hygiene and lies as Russian foreign policy tools
This time four years ago:
Asphalt for ul. Poloneza (to Krasnowolska at least)
This time five years ago:
A welcome splash of colour to a drab car park
This time six years ago:
To Hel and back in 36 hours
This time eight years ago:
Honing the Art of the Written Word
This time nine years ago:
Of castles, dams and brass bands
Friday, 25 August 2017
Tunnel
I have returned, as promised, to look further. Was there a spur built into the tunnel, running away from the main line towards the Project Riese complex? Dug out in total secrecy during the war, then bricked off as the Red Army was closing in, hiding who knows what? Only one way to find out.
[Health & Safety note: I know what I'm doing. This is a live line, with one train train running in each direction every two hours. The twin-bore tunnel is 1,170 metres long - a 12 minute walk in usual circumstances, no more than half an hour taking it slowly. I check the train app (Bilkom) for train times and delays. The next one is due on time. So I have to keep a close eye on my watch. I'm wearing a high-visibility coat, trousers with knee-pads, stout boots and a hard-hat with miner's-style lamp on the forehead.]
Below: I approach the tunnel (this bore built between 1909 and 1911, the other one between 1876 and 1879) from the north-west portal. If the Nazis had built a spur running off from this tunnel, the line towards Riese would have swung off to the left. Click to enlarge - you can see the light at the other end - the tunnel's dead straight. Right - so where would the signal box have been? Here - a concrete bunker behind and to the left of me.
Below: I go in, turning back towards the north-west portal. Look at the brickwork along the right of the photo...
I am looking for anomalous bricks, mortar, joints, gaps - anything that might suggest that a stretch of brickwork was removed, an underground junction created, and then sealed off again. Tapping the bricks with a small hammer to check whether there was the dull thud of sound brick against solid earth - or the resonant echo of a hollow space... Why does one brick make a certain sound when struck, while the next brick quite a different sound?
Close-up on the bricks, the mortar, the layers of soot (this line was steam-powered until the 1970s), the lichen; some bricks are damaged by age, their facing has dropped off, others are as sound as they day they were laid.
Every 25m there is a refuge - a shallow indentation built into the brickwork - allowing workers to shelter as trains pass. These are outlined in white and are easy to see, even in the dark. But there are also two short transverse tunnels, linking both bores. These are low, less than a metre and half high, and about 12m long. One is 550m from the south-east portal, about halfway through the tunnel, the other is 275m from the north-west portal, about a quarter of the way in. There's apparently a third such link, but I saw only two...
I had gone this far when I took note of the time; there will be a north-westbound train in around eight minutes. This will be a good place to watch it pass in safety. I watched the minutes pass on my phone. Then - right on time, I heard the train's horn at the south-east portal. I switched off all my lights and sat, several hundred metres below the surface of the earth and over half a kilometre from either portal.
As the train approached, it acted as a piston - this is a phenomenon well-known to Tube passengers. A mighty rush of wind blew through the narrow transverse tunnel in which I was sheltering. The short train passed quickly. But as it did, there was a tremendous suction of air rushing around me, back the other way, replacing the air displaced by the train. Quite an experience!
Once it had gone, there would be two hours until the next train. I walked on to the south-east portal. Below: looking into the tunnel from the portal, the first two refuges are visible, as is the north-west end of the tunnel in the distance. Deep underground, the mind plays tricks. Was that a human form, stationary, silhouetted against the light of the north-west portal? As I got closer, could I see the shape swaying somehow? It was clearly there... Who is it? Are they waiting for me? Turned out to be a branch of a bush, waving in the breeze.
Left: just outside the south-east portal, there's a drainage culvert taking water from the hillside and under the track. The quality of the engineering shines through.
Below: looking at the south-east portal. Note the bridge in the foreground. The north-westbound track goes under the left-hand span; the central span did not have a track under it.
I'm not giving the game away to those not in the know as to the tunnel's location! Those who are in the know, who've followed the story here will be well aware of where these pics are from.
This time last year:
Planes and trains on pedestals around Poland
This time five years ago:
Twilight, ul. Karczunkowska
This time eight years ago:
First hints of autumn in the air
This time nine years ago:
Slovakia - we were not impressed
This time ten years ago:
Jeziorki - late August cultivation
[Health & Safety note: I know what I'm doing. This is a live line, with one train train running in each direction every two hours. The twin-bore tunnel is 1,170 metres long - a 12 minute walk in usual circumstances, no more than half an hour taking it slowly. I check the train app (Bilkom) for train times and delays. The next one is due on time. So I have to keep a close eye on my watch. I'm wearing a high-visibility coat, trousers with knee-pads, stout boots and a hard-hat with miner's-style lamp on the forehead.]
Below: I approach the tunnel (this bore built between 1909 and 1911, the other one between 1876 and 1879) from the north-west portal. If the Nazis had built a spur running off from this tunnel, the line towards Riese would have swung off to the left. Click to enlarge - you can see the light at the other end - the tunnel's dead straight. Right - so where would the signal box have been? Here - a concrete bunker behind and to the left of me.
Below: I go in, turning back towards the north-west portal. Look at the brickwork along the right of the photo...
I am looking for anomalous bricks, mortar, joints, gaps - anything that might suggest that a stretch of brickwork was removed, an underground junction created, and then sealed off again. Tapping the bricks with a small hammer to check whether there was the dull thud of sound brick against solid earth - or the resonant echo of a hollow space... Why does one brick make a certain sound when struck, while the next brick quite a different sound?
Close-up on the bricks, the mortar, the layers of soot (this line was steam-powered until the 1970s), the lichen; some bricks are damaged by age, their facing has dropped off, others are as sound as they day they were laid.
Every 25m there is a refuge - a shallow indentation built into the brickwork - allowing workers to shelter as trains pass. These are outlined in white and are easy to see, even in the dark. But there are also two short transverse tunnels, linking both bores. These are low, less than a metre and half high, and about 12m long. One is 550m from the south-east portal, about halfway through the tunnel, the other is 275m from the north-west portal, about a quarter of the way in. There's apparently a third such link, but I saw only two...
I had gone this far when I took note of the time; there will be a north-westbound train in around eight minutes. This will be a good place to watch it pass in safety. I watched the minutes pass on my phone. Then - right on time, I heard the train's horn at the south-east portal. I switched off all my lights and sat, several hundred metres below the surface of the earth and over half a kilometre from either portal.
Once it had gone, there would be two hours until the next train. I walked on to the south-east portal. Below: looking into the tunnel from the portal, the first two refuges are visible, as is the north-west end of the tunnel in the distance. Deep underground, the mind plays tricks. Was that a human form, stationary, silhouetted against the light of the north-west portal? As I got closer, could I see the shape swaying somehow? It was clearly there... Who is it? Are they waiting for me? Turned out to be a branch of a bush, waving in the breeze.
Below: looking at the south-east portal. Note the bridge in the foreground. The north-westbound track goes under the left-hand span; the central span did not have a track under it.
I'm not giving the game away to those not in the know as to the tunnel's location! Those who are in the know, who've followed the story here will be well aware of where these pics are from.
This time last year:
Planes and trains on pedestals around Poland
This time five years ago:
Twilight, ul. Karczunkowska
This time eight years ago:
First hints of autumn in the air
This time nine years ago:
Slovakia - we were not impressed
This time ten years ago:
Jeziorki - late August cultivation
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