Apr 29 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Sport

Out of sequence

Tuesday 28th April 2026, 7.40pm (day 5,360)

Blue seats, 28/4/26

At some point in the future — and it may be next week, next year or whatever — there will come a day on which, at the end of it, I will be forced to admit to myself that I have taken no photos worth publishing. Today was nearly that day. Blue plastic seats (specifically at the West Riding County FA headquarters, on the edge of Leeds) won’t raise it for most people, artistically or spiritually. And even if there’s a certain interest in the repetitive pattern my shadow spoils the composition.

But enough apologies! Look, the numbers are in a random order. Which is why I took the shot in the first place, I suppose…

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Apr 28 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Portrait

Rutherford

Monday 27th April 2026, 12.55pm (day 5,359)

Rutherford Theatre, 27/4/26

Professor Ernest Rutherford, originally from New Zealand, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1908 even before he conducted, with Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, the famous experiment where a bunch of alpha particles were fired at a sheet of gold and some of them bounced back, which Rutherford allegedly said was like firing a missile at a sheet of tissue paper and having it come back and hit you. From this was established the existence of the atomic nucleus, not to mention the original Geiger counter. For this reason Prof Rutherford is one of those former ‘Employees of the Month’ that the University of Manchester likes to big up. But in this case, why not? (Incidentally the room in which this experiment took place is still there, although no longer a laboratory — last time I looked it could be booked as a meeting room.)

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 27 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Beetle and phone

Sunday 26th April 2026, 4.20pm (day 5,358)

Beetle and phone, 26/4/26

This beetle was very purposeful, and it’s a shame that there was no pot of gold (beetle equivalent) at the end of the table outside the pub, but I did help it down to the floor at that point. A test of the micro-focus on the camera, anyway, and its quite precise: the body is pretty much there, but the antennae, they are just that little bit blurred.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 26 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

On Oxenhope Moor

Saturday 25th April 2026, 12.35pm (day 5,357)

Ewe, lamb and moor, 25/4/26

Too nice a day to spend it inside whether that was home, the pub or on a train somewhere. And I needed the exercise, hence my walking north from home over the moors to Oxenhope — where, OK, I might have visited a pub, but only after walking 7½ miles to get there. For a chunk of this journey I was being closely watched by various specimens of Ovis aries, both mature and young — the lambs are definitely out.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 25 2026
1 Comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Bus stop under blossom

Friday 24th April 2026, 3.15pm (day 5,356)

Bus stop and blossom, 24/4/26

The sun continues to shine and it was far too nice a day to extend the whole ‘working at home’ thing past about 3pm, particularly bearing in mind it is now the weekend (cf. yesterday’s comment). These people may well be on their way home too as they wait for the hourly bus to Haworth and Keighley.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 24 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Drinks in the sunshine

Thursday 23rd April 2026, 4.35pm (day 5,355)

Sunshine drinks, 23/4/26

The glass of wine is not mine; in fact, nor is it Steve’s, sitting opposite, and, in part anyway, making his fifteenth appearance on the blog (thus coming in at one per year on average). You can tell it’s him: he’s the only person I encounter regularly who habitually wears this much jewellry. Drinks were just migrating to this point in space, well lit by warm sunshine. Shame it’s not the weekend, but possibly tomorrow will be little different.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 23 2026
1 Comment
Daily Post, Interior

The horde arrives

Wednesday 22nd April 2026, 8.50am (day 5,354)

Victoria horde, 22/4/26

As will be made obvious by my photographs, I don’t go into Manchester every working day by any means. But when I do, if arriving on platforms 4 or 5 this will invariably be the first thing seen there. Up we all go, to then distribute ourselves through the city by some other means of locomotion.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 22 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Bluebells, wall, tree

Tuesday 21st April 2026, 5.45pm (day 5,353)

Bluebells, wall, tree, 21/4/26

More flowers. Then again, it is spring: a sunny, but chilly day today. If this is taken to represent my spending time today frolicking in the countryside, it shouldn’t be — teaching has restarted and I spent the whole day on campus. These bluebells sprout outside the entrance to the Chemistry building, in which, most of the semester, I have had the late afternoon slot in theatre G54.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 21 2026
1 Comment
Daily Post, Landscape, Transport

Heading up-valley

Monday 20th April 2026, 5.10pm (day 5,352)

Train in valley, 20/4/26

Off trundles the 17:10 to Wigan Wallgate — more-or-less on time today (in fact the trains have behaved remarkably well so far this year, at least by Northern’s standards). It’s a bit of a shame about the platform appearing in the corner but, believe me, this one was cropped as carefully as it could be without losing essential elements.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 20 2026
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Dandelion season

Sunday 19th April 2026, 10.25am (day 5,351)

Dandelion season, 19/4/26

As anyone with a lawn, or responsibilities for some other kind of open grassy space, knows, it’s dandelion season. Soon these will sprout their seeds and fill the air with them, and later on, there will be a bunch more dandelions. That’s nature for you, I guess.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
← Older posts