Category Archives: Art and architecture

Aug 14 2026
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Daily Post, Art and architecture

Battered but still brilliant

Thursday 13th August 2026, 3.15pm (day 5,467)

Shogun, 13/8/26

I am not saying that I think James Clavell’s Shōgun is the greatest piece of literature ever written, but I will happily, and, I believe, consistently claim that it is my favourite novel. It’s a rollicking good story and despite 1,243 pages there’s not a dull moment in it. It singlehandedly turned me into a Japanophile and I’ve read it at least ten times down the years. However, as you can see, I think it’s time I picked up a new copy. If anyone’s got a first edition…. let me know and suggest a price.

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Aug 11 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

“The future belongs to…”

Sunday 9th August 2026, 2.00pm (day 5,463)

The future belongs, 9/8/26

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today”, says the text on this latest bit of street art. Well, I’m saving for retirement — or trying to. Will that do, do you think? I guess I’ll find out at some point, for sure.

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Aug 09 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

The Cathedral Church of St Andrew, Wells

Saturday 8th August 2026, 12.45pm (day 5,462)

Wells Cathedral, 8/8/26

Wells, in Somerset, advertises itself as “England’s Smallest City” thanks to the presence of this big lump of medieval architecture, which, other than a lot of shops devoted to servicing the thousands of tourists that were there today, seems to be all it has — though that doesn’t mean it was an unpleasant place. But when it comes to finding a picture to epitomise the day then the cathedral has to be it, really. With a bit of a football reference thrown in.

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Aug 07 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post, Family Member, Portrait

Bear Hug

Thursday 6th August 2026, 4.10pm (day 5,460)

Bear hug, 6/8/26

In Bristol’s Arnolfini art gallery currently resides an exhibition by Jonathan Baldock, called Held, which, according to the Guardian anyway, is “a tense world of folkloric psychedelia and pagan aesthetics that is weird, threatening and utterly compelling”. Well, OK, maybe I didn’t quite get it myself but Clare was not the only visitor who took the chance to get up close and personal with the exhibition’s centrepiece, entitled Bear Hug and which one was specifically allowed to engage with in this way — as long as shoes were removed. Apparently it has a heartbeat, so is a multi-sensory huggy experience.

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Jul 19 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post, Portrait

David Byrne and his band

Saturday 18th July 2026, 9.30pm (day 5,441)

David Byrne, 18/7/26

For someone who is now 74 years of age, David Byrne — who is the white-haired chap with the guitar to the lower right — can certainly still put on a show, one that I, personally, have waited some forty years to see. It’s a shame he and his former Talking Heads colleagues have belied the name of the band and not spoken to each other since about 1991 but the orange-clad, sprightly young(er) things on stage with him at the Piece Hall last night were a wholly adequate substitute. So look! It’s David Byrne….!

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Jul 12 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post, Sport

Malt Shovel FC

Saturday 11th July 2026, 1.00pm (day 5,434)

Malt Shovel landscape, 11/7/24

While I believe there might be a different version of football still going on somewhere in the US, here at home we are in the realm of the Pre-Season Friendly. Malt Shovel FC — the name being that of a nearby pub — play in Selby, a place which thereby becomes the 536th different one to appear on this blog and makes its debut with this quite impressive factory backdrop. And it smelt good, too: whatever was being cooked up in there wafted extremely pleasant, and hunger-inducing, scents over the pitch in the second half. It finished 2-1 to visitors Brighouse, in green, but that’s an irrelevance.

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Jul 02 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Working in the dry dock

Wednesday 1st July 2026, 4.40pm (day 5,424)

Dry dock artwork, 1/7/26

At first sight the dry dock on the canal in the centre of Hebden Bridge is another thing that gives it a sense of industrial-age authenticity. Except that up until about 30 years ago, the site was occupied by a petrol station. Not everything is as old as it seems. Still, I quite like having it there: even if the chance to take pictures of arc-welding sparks and so on has now been reduced thanks to the addition of the artwork, with obligatory domain name.

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May 29 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Broad Law, summit architecture

Wednesday 27th May 2026, 11.05am (day 5,389)

Broad Law beacon, 27/5/26

The drive home — with a walk on the way, to the summit of Broad Law, the highest point in the Scottish Borders at 2,760 feet. There was not a great deal to see on the way up, but the top is graced by this construction, a VOR beacon (that is, Very high frequency Omnidirectional Range — so now you know). Should every mountain have one? Well, probably not, but this one does.

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May 24 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

The memorial on Dundee Law

Saturday 23rd May 2026, 1.05pm (day 5,385)

Dundee Law memorial, 23/5/26

Who knows how long The Child will stay in Dundee but for now the place is coming to feel familiar enough. I have developed a habit of ascending Dundee Law each time I come to the city. The view is excellent and the massive memorial on the summit certainly does its job. Making it up to the top from Joe’s flat, without a break, has become a good marker of whether I’m still fit enough for satisfaction.

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May 14 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Glad I packed an umbrella

Wednesday 13th May 2026, 4.40pm (day 5,375)

This collage, featuring the Graphene Institute on the left, indicates quite clearly why I and much of the rest of Manchester city centre got very wet about twenty minutes later. But, yes, I had packed an umbrella, fortunately.

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