It’s Joe’s birthday this weekend. For the first part of his treat, went into Manchester to see Oliver!, courtesy of my sister. But we had pictures from the theatre last weekend, so let’s vary the scenery. I like Albert Square, it’s about the only part of Manchester which is picturesque, at least, on the few days a year when there’s not a bunch of tents, market stalls, traffic cones or something else covering the cobbles.
I could say that we were here, with Joe, to see Rigoletto or something equally cultural but actually it was Spamalot, the Monty Python musical. More fun than an actual opera, anyway. I am very happy Joe likes Monty Python: it shows that the sense-of-humour genes have been passed on.
Neither of my parents have yet made it onto this blog, so here’s my Mum, Joe’s Gran. Brought him over here this evening for a visit, and a babysitting service, while I go to the football tomorrow (a trip about which you will undoubtedly hear). The game is ‘Monopoly City’, a kind of sexed-up version of the old game, with skyscrapers, planning blight and notes in the millions. It passes the time enjoyably enough. Joe won, incidentally. What that says about his entrepreneurial spirit, remains to be seen.
This blog is as much about my personal development as a photographer as anything else. Today I had a one-to-one development session with Sarah of Zebra Photography, a professional from Hebden Bridge; the session was a Christmas present (thanks Carol). I could say a great deal about what I learned, but suffice it to say that a considerable number of photos that I took today, for various reasons, I could not have taken the day before. Don’t expect them all to be like this from this point on – I need a new camera first – but I’m proud and a bit surprised by what I managed today. Hard to know which to choose – other highlights are on the Flickr site. Thanks, Sarah.
Taken at about 2,800 feet up. (You want that in metres – work it out!) I was very proud of Joe for having got up his first really substantial mountain. I also note, on this shot, quite how tall he is getting.
Eureka! (and don’t forget that exclamation mark) is a kind of kid-oriented, interactive mini-science museum in Halifax, just down the road. It overcharges you for entry and then feels guilty, so turns your ticket into an ‘annual pass’. But I suppose there are enough things to keep someone like Joe busy on more than one visit and he is, after all, the target audience. Me, I just take photos these days.
Drove home today via the scenic route, and took some landscape shots I’m quite pleased with (two others have already made it onto my other photography sites – see the links at the very bottom of the home page).
However, this picture is more fun. Said scenic route from Morecambe to Hebden Bridge takes us through the remote (well, remote for England) Forest of Bowland and through the little village of Dunsop Bridge. According to the nice people at the Ordnance Survey, Dunsop Bridge’s telephone box is the exact geographical centre of Great Britain. So here we are at the centre of the country.
No one seems exactly sure how this is measured, however. Is it just the island of Great Britain? Or do you count all the satellites, like the Shetlands? Or is it the UK, which should therefore include Northern Ireland?
Let’s not worry about it. Few people seem to, anyway. The box is in a bit of a neglected state to tell the truth, I don’t think BT are really that bothered about it. I doubt anyone actually makes calls from here.
Hard to know quite how to encapsulate a day like Christmas without cliché. But here is Joe using one of his Christmas presents…. a chip off the old block? Who knows?
The game, by the way, is mölkky, a version of skittles for which I developed a liking in Finland last midsummer. Very tactical. Worth a try, if you have a piece of flat land about half the size of a tennis court to play it on.
Also, today is the end of the 4th month of this blog. I feel like I have been doing it forever. Actually I have twice as much left as I have already done.
And a happy Christmas to you all….
Another effort today by the Whitworth family to sell various forms of artwork (home-made and otherwise) to a mildly interested public. Better than three weeks ago: we made a reasonable amount for two hours’ work.
This blog is now 100 days old so I’ve put some more photos up on the ‘Best of the Rest’ page. Of the 100 photos I’ve used here are some stats – the numbers don’t quite add up because sometimes I’ve just had to classify them in more than one category:
I know this pic is out-of-focus but it gave me the biggest laugh of the day, which is enough reason to put it on here. Joe is really hiding here, this is not just a random shot that happened to catch him in this position. Fellow fans of Arrested Development may share my humor if I cite the line – “you can always tell a Milford man”. But then again, they may not.
Being 42 