Set dressing

Tuesday 29th September 2026, 9.20am (day 5,514)

Fake phone boxes, 29/9/26

In the 21st century, even more than wearing hi-vis gear, the status of being in possession of a Filming Permit allows one to infiltrate public space with almost total impunity. The clutch of large and mysterious trucks, the erection of ‘No Waiting’ cones and signs proclaiming the colonisation of the area (in this case, the junction of Pall Mall and Booth Street, Manchester) until some unspecified time on Thursday…. it all cries ‘film set’ to me. The clincher is seen here, though. Clearly the production is of a period piece, 20th century stuff — because no one installs phone boxes like these any more. They’re definitely props — trust me.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Dissertation, with waiting insect

Monday 28th September 2026, 3.50pm (day 5,513)

Text with insect, 28/9/26

We both had work to do. Mine involved reading, and eventually giving a grade. The insect perceives the notion of ‘work’ rather differently and would rather be off this slidy glass surface and back somewhere with, I guess, food, or maybe just less light. Our paths coincided for a short instant.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rain on the roses

Sunday 27th September 2026, 4.10pm (day 5,512)

Rain and roses, 27/9/26

Any intimations of drought round here were washed away some time ago, and if there is to be any ‘Indian summer’ this year then it ain’t turned up yet. This Sunday was a day full of showers, including the one pictured here. But it’s probably good for the roses — as is sometimes said. (I assume this is a rose, though I’m hardly one of the world’s great botanists.)

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Pigeons’ peaceful place

Saturday 26th September 2026, 12.05pm (day 5,511)

I mused the other day that pigeons were one of a few species who I feel do alright out of humanity, and I think that one reason is that we provide them with so many useful little places of settlement. And I pick the word specifically, because these two look very settled to me, able to rest and not worry about some cat or hawk feeling that they’re a possible source of dinner. Home is under a railway bridge, many feet above the road: I only spotted these two because I was on the top deck of a bus. I like the various colours and textures on this shot.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Shot measures

Friday 25th September 2026, 4.25pm (day 5,510)

Shot measures, 25/9/26

It’s been a busy week, and this morning I started work at 7.30, so there was no guilt at all about being in the pub, and on at least my second pint, by half past four. It was a little too early to get started on the shots…. OK, maybe I had one. But someone else bought it for me.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Pankhurst in the Arndale

Thursday 24th September 2026, 11.05am (day 5,509)

Pankhurst bust, 24/9/26

One of the main halls of Manchester’s Arndale Centre has recently been filled with these large, soft, Cluedo-style busts of famous Mancunians, and Emmeline Pankhurst definitely counts as one of those. People say that nowadays we’d have called the suffragettes ‘terrorists’ but that was also true at the time. They got what was right, though. In case this all seems too radical for a shopping centre, rest assured that to my right at this point are similar busts of, amongst others, Noel Gallagher, Marcus Rashford and Caroline Aherne.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Todmorden station, early (too goddamn early)

Wednesday 23rd September 2026, 7.30am (day 5,508)

At Tod, early, 23/9/26

I talked to a fellow commuter, someone I have been seeing at the station now and again for twenty years, on the journey home today. He observed that the one good thing to come out of lockdowns (2020, 2021, you were there too I’m sure) was that they made both employers and employees realise that working-from-home was feasible. Of course this doesn’t apply to every job but it does to many, like his: and mine too, though I was doing plenty of WFH even before this.

But on the other hand sometimes one just has to be there at 9am and lump it. Today was one of those days. And when that happens everyone on the train looks like this. At least it wasn’t standing room only.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fungus village

Tuesday 22nd September 2026, 12.45pm (day 5,507)

One suspects that, like pigeons, rats and algae, fungus are (collectively) species that ultimately benefit from dealing with the wastes of humanity. There may be more than we suspect of these little colonies, awaiting the moment to launch the takeover.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Bear, rescued

Monday 21st September 2026, 5.00pm (day 5,506)

Skip rescue bear, 21/9/26

The place of rescue — a skip, it seems, destined for landfill. The rescuer: Dex, that’s him behind sporting the P hat. The ultimate fate of this bear? No idea. It will probably never be seen again. The red-eye effect makes me wonder if, in fact, this is some heavily-disguised surveillance camera.

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Stoodley Pike, once more

Sunday 20th September 2026, 12.30pm (day 5,505)

Stoodley Pike, 20/9/26

It’s a stock local shot, from a stock local walk, but all the same, there are worse things to do on the last Sunday of the summer than to trundle out in the direction of Stoodley Pike. Not that I actually climbed up to the monument itself today, but it doesn’t photograph any better there than it does from below.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,