Author Archives: Drew Whitworth

Jun 24 2020
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Different country, same stuff

Wednesday 24th June 2020, 11.10am (day 3,226)

Welsh social distancing, 24/6/20

Doing this blog for nearly nine years has started to affect my behaviour. Today I decided that my record streak of English-only pictures had gone on quite long enough — specifically, 142 days. The nearest point from my house that lies in any other country is where the Welsh border crosses Bumpers Lane beside the Deva Stadium, Chester, which lies approximately 53 miles from my house as the crow flies. With nothing but reading and thinking to otherwise do today, I set out for it — and here is, more or less, the first scene that I saw after crossing into Wales at said point.

Looks a lot like England really, doesn’t it. I mean, social distancing an’ all. Hwyl anyway to my nearest unEnglish neighbours. And their dogs.

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Jun 24 2020
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Daily Post, Interior

Signs of life

Tuesday 23rd June 2020, 11.45am (day 3,225)

Pencils at RTQ, 23/6/20

Three months ago, as lockdown started, I presented a picture from inside the private tutoring service from which Clare rents her room in town. Today when I went in, there were, for the first time since then, signs of life; these pencils laid out on a desk, a hand sanitising station at the front door, etc. I welcome these greatly, as I did today’s announcements from the Government announcing the easing of lockdown from the 4th July. There was a shocking negativity about this from some quarters if you ask me, but that has nothing to do with pencils.

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Jun 22 2020
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

A one-day bloom

Monday 22nd June 2020, 8.30am (day 3,224)

Squash flower, 22/6/20

This squash plant is growing on the window sill of our room. Now I’m no expert on botany, and it is true that one rarely gets the chance to observe flowers in such controlled conditions. But I have never seen a plant that blooms in such an ephemeral way. This flower had not opened at all last night: here is what it looked like at 8.30am. But it was already withering. By 11am it was visibly drooping and by not later than 4pm it had shrivelled away to the state of the one visible behind it — which had done all this two days ago.

I hope it got what it wanted out of its few hours of glory, anyway. You have to hope that evolution still knows how to build things that are fit for purpose.

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Jun 22 2020
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Daily Post, Family Member, Portrait

Unexpected stash

Sunday 21st June 2020, 2.55pm (day 3,223)

Whisky samples, 21/6/20

A long-awaited visit to my family, unseen since lockdown began. A welcome interruption that highlighted how pointless all this is becoming. Why my sister Vicki was dishing out the whisky samples in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, well, that’s a story hidden beneath the surface of this picture. Particularly as I don’t even like the stuff. (I know whisky is a noble drink with much character and history: I just can’t stand it.)

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Jun 21 2020
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Ruminating

Saturday 20th June 2020, 1.30pm (day 3,222)

Cragg Vale cows, 20/6/20

One of those days where I pointed my camera a lot at nice things, but didn’t manage to come up with many photos that I liked. But these cows will do — they look suitably ruminative and peaceful, a state of mind I am trying to occupy at the moment, even if mostly, I am failing.

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Jun 20 2020
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Landscape

Calder valley view

Friday 19th June 2020, 8.40am (day 3,221)

Valley view, 19/6/20

I accept that we are not strictly trapped, whether at home or in the Calder valley itself: but with nothing open out there except a few shops (and by no means all), it’s still house arrest in all but name. I agree there are worse places to be stuck but this afternoon and evening I felt like my head was going to pop unless this ends soon. But there are too many people who like this situation — profit from it, even. These are the ones who will drag us all down.

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Jun 19 2020
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Daily Post, Interior

Live in Indonesia

Thursday 18th June 2020, 9.55am (day 3,220)

Indonesia webinar, 18/6/20

My last picture taken outside England was captured on February 2nd, 137 days ago in Bucharest. That span of time isn’t all that long, I know, but it is nevertheless now the longest period I have spent only in England since I started doing this blog: and I guess it is due to go on for a little while yet.

The nice people who put me up in Indonesia in November (UKSW in Salatiga) did want to hear from me again however, hence the webinar I did this morning — to an audience of 500+, according to the counter of ‘Participants’ at the bottom of the Zoom screen. I, on the other hand, just talked to a computer screen, as I have been doing for the last three months. Like the Premier League footballers who restarted their well-paid activities last night, I made do with a bunch of artificial ‘fans in the stand’, namely Clare’s Russian doll collection.

137 more days from now takes us until the end of October; will sanity have returned to the world by then? I’m not taking bets on it.

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Jun 18 2020
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Interior

Phone box book swap

Wednesday 17th June 2020, 11.05am (day 3,219)

Phone box book swap, 17/6/20

This is very Hebden Bridge. Strictly a one-person only library, however — which I guess at the present time is seen as healthy.

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Jun 16 2020
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Daily Post, Interior

“Shop for Britain”

Tuesday 16th June 2020, 11.30am (day 3,218)

Arndale, 16/6/20

I did two things today which I have not done since 21st March — 1) get on a train 2) go to Manchester.

A tabloid headline seen yesterday exhorted me to “SHOP FOR BRITAIN!” and who am I to ignore the clarion call of the redtops? There weren’t many other people who accompanied me, as evident from this shot of the epicentre of the Manchester Arndale Centre, but I guess that’s something we should approve of, at this time of doublethink.

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Jun 16 2020
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Horned beetle

Monday 15th June 2020, 4.50pm (day 3,217)

Horned beetle, 15/6/20

The beetle negotiates the wood crevasse, in its funny little helmet (where are its eyes?) and feeling the way ahead with that unicorn horn, which is so protuberant that here it’s become annoyingly just out of focus. I have no idea what species this is; it’s not a European rhinoceros beetle as it’s the wrong colour and we’re not supposed to have them in the UK anyway. It was about an inch (2.5cm) long.

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