A return to work, whatever that means these days — for me it was mainly email. But the sun was shining outside, and on the rooves of houses up the valley. 2021 was only four days old when it cranked to a halt, but things are going better for ’22 thus far. Just about.
Friday, and the last day of work before Christmas. Spent at home, but it’s all done now, and the views were good in the morning.
I haven’t done one of the Hebden housing for a while but it’s always there to catch the eye. So steeply do these dwellings rise from the valley bottom below that I am sure they affect the microclimate. I swear that at times I have seen rain falling on one side of our house — precipatated out by the enforced rise up the walls — but not on the other.
I am an educator, yes — a teacher if you like — but that doesn’t mean I hang around schools very often, if at all. This morning was an exception, however, and here’s where I spent it; St Helena’s only secondary school, opened in 1988. This is, of course, a model, which resides in the reception area, but it’s as good a way as any to get a feel for the place. The eponymous Prince visited in 1984 and obviously made a big impression on the islanders. Whether, in light of more recent events, they are thinking of changing the name, is not yet recorded.
I reckon there are five or six decent shots available that between them will encompass the view from my place of quarantine. This is the left-hand-most of them all, if you see what I mean. We are here looking west; while not very apparent on this shot, on the top of the hill is an old fort, dating from the 18th century. To the right (north), a spectacular view over Jamestown to the ocean, but you can see that another day.
While I do resent having to spend time in quarantine, particularly as I was tested not only before I flew, but at the airport, and came up (inevitably) negative both times — I accept there are worse places to do time.
I know I did other people’s art only a fortnight or so ago, in Toronto. But I’m doing it again. This mural, just outside Doncaster railway station, is magnificent — and so far as I can tell, absolutely the best-looking thing in the town. There should be more of this kind of thing. In fact, there is coming to be more of this kind of thing, and that’s good.
There are many good murals around this city — and this one is particularly fine. No further comment necessary.
A boring Sunday spent mostly working. I did spot this on the way up the road to the garden; the ivy looks as if it is seeking to pull down the chimney and consume it. But perhaps ivy feels that about all human made constructions — it will probably get everything, in the end. And, as you can see, autumn is here.
Most of Hebden Bridge, as it stands today, was built between about 1850 and 1900. This gives it a uniformity of appearance that is part of its appeal. But add to that the creative solutions that the architects and builders adopted in order to cope with the place’s steep topography, and sometimes, there is real beauty to it. I love Windsor Road, seen here — it’s just so regular in its steps up the hill. How precisely are these houses placed in relation to one another. Could you do this? I couldn’t even think about how to start on such a project.
The ‘Strategy Forum’ came and went — nice to meet people again, not so nice to be presented with visions of the future ruled by metrics and process management, with scholarship now an apparent inconvenience, allowed for grudgingly if at all. I couldn’t make it even to the end of the last half-day so escaped about 11am and shortly afterwards was in Banbury, which can become the 349th different location to feature on the blog. St. Mary’s Church is one of those buildings that it’s very difficult to get a full impression of on a single photo, but here’s my best attempt.
Being 42 