He was running, mostly. A few minutes after I took this one he passed me on another lap. When I was running — this is a while ago now — I would never have thought of doing so on a Friday evening, but each to their own.
When the lady dropped off her coins, the busker immediately said he would play her a request: which she seemed quite happy about. I suppose this could be a shopping centre anywhere in Britain, but it happens to be Bury, to the north of Manchester.
Anyone prepared to do some detective work, based on the evidence of the road sign in the background, could perhaps work out where this was taken and maybe even the service on which we were travelling. But I’m sure for a summer Friday afternoon, this is too much to trouble with.
I don’t yet know what I’m trying to say with this picture — it may be just a random gesture on her part. Nor am I projecting, being quite happy today. I like it anyway.
This statue of Wallace and Gromit stands (and sits) outside the market hall of Preston, Lancashire: the home town of creator Nick Park. This is actually Wallace’s second appearance on the blog — the first was in Bradford, nearly nine and a half years ago. But he’s still wearing those Wrong Trousers. Gromit makes his debut (as do the other two).
This seems a pretty sensible response to the recent weather. The general pose sums up how I feel about it, anyway.
After 26.5 miles over the last two days — and in warm, sunny weather too — a day of rest was called for. Clearly the June heat is encouraging many people to expose more flesh than is usual, although with the number of stag and hen parties that pass through Hebden these days, this is becoming a more common sight.
The sun is out, and Coach Party Season has opened in Hebden Bridge. QR codes now appear in local shop windows that help such visitors find locations from Happy Valley (despite the fact that most of it was not filmed here). Trinkets are bought. Some pints consumed, perhaps. Then everyone files back onto the bus and goes somewhere else. I picked this shot today just because I like the guy in the middle, caught in some cosmic revelation. Perhaps he has just seen Sarah Lancashire ascending to heaven.
Attended a gig for the first time in ages. A sign of how it has become, as I have aged: gig behaviour now is to arrive early and grab the seats (or in the case of the Deaf Institute, ‘seats’) at the back, out of the way but with a good view. The guy on the left is reading a book for heaven’s sake. But like me, perhaps he has been waiting some 32 years to see Loop play live. This is a band that last year, released their first studio album in 31 years, so they attract a patient crowd.
For those drinkers that prefer to start earlier, 7.15pm is getting towards the hazy stage of the evening. Whatever party was going on in the other room, at this point it spilled out into our part of the pub, at least for a short time.
