Category Archives: Stranger

Cards on a Sunday afternoon

Sunday 22nd June 2025, 4.10pm (day 5,050)

Cards in the Railway, 22/6/25

I have had one of those weekends where I did virtually nothing but still reached the end feeling no more refreshed than I was on Friday afternoon. The Handmade Parade, in all its colour and movement, had been taking place earlier in the day but I do not feel I got a representative picture of it — the day was much more as seen here, kind of soft-focus and dim. The recent run of interiors therefore continues.

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The Great Tapestry of Scotland

Sunday 8th June 2025, 2.30pm (day 5,036)

A stop off on the way north to Dundee. There are various routes available, things not yet seen, including the Great Tapestry, with 160 panels created collectively by over a thousand people between 2012-13. So not as old as this blog, but with more history in it, if you see what I mean. What is seen here is just the first few panels, chronologically. Having toured the country for a while it is now on permanent display in Galashiels, which makes that the 499th different place to feature on here, and number 500 should be along before the week is out, possibly tomorrow.

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Drummer, outside King’s Cross

Sunday 1st June 2025, 5.55pm (day 5,029)

Drummer, 1/6/25

Judging by the number of ads that covered his pedestal (you see only a small portion of them here), this is what this guy does, full-time. But we all have our social media presence, don’t we.

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Concentration

Sunday 25th May 2025, 4.35pm (day 5,022)

Sunday pub chess, 25/5/25

I don’t care that I haven’t captured him actually picking up the piece. Somehow it works just fine like this, and chess is an intrinsically black-and-white subject matter.

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Pre-match atmosphere

Wednesday 14th May 2025, 7.45pm (day 5,011)

Halifax fans, 14/5/25

Two minutes to go before kick-off and someone, somewhere lets off a flare to add to the atmosphere. The two guys in the centre look pretty tense about it all. And considering their team are about to concede three soft goals in the first 12 minutes of the game that is to come, they were justified — not that they knew that at this point. Final score, Oldham Athletic 4, Halifax Town 0. This lot all go home now and wait for next season.

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Studious contemplation

Tuesday 6th March 2025, 9.35am (day 5,003)

My last scheduled day of on-campus teaching in this academic year. Very few turned up, but that’s OK, it was an optional class. Hopefully they are all off in studious contemplation somewhere, like she seems to be: although quite probably she’s just checking social media while she has her fag.

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Watching the game

Monday 5th May 2025, 4.20pm (day 5,002)

Fan portrait, 5/5/25

I pick this one today because I think it’s a nice portrait, though I don’t know these gentlemen and so can’t be sure it captures some kind of essential quality about them. But I see a lot of football these days — the game mentioned in the post title was my 80th of the season and I intend to do a few more yet before it’s over — and I see a lot of people like these, as we’re all in it together.

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Alex needs a spray

Sunday 27th April 2025, 12.55pm (day 4,994)

Marathon finish, 26/4/25

The Manchester marathon took place in quite warm conditions and Alex definitely needed this assistance as he passed the 26-mile marker, thus, 385 yards to go. By the time she reached this point — over four hours later — Clare was also very much in need of some water, but she made it nevertheless, thus completing her second marathon after Edinburgh in May last year. That’s two more than I have ever done, or ever will do: even at walking pace (like, up a mountain or something) I see no need to ever propel myself 26.2 miles in one day. Well done to all who do so.

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The hen party heads for Liverpool

Saturday 26th April 2025, 12.25pm (day 4,993)

There must surely be a kind of terror in the face of the stag and — even more so — the hen parties that descend on certain places every weekend. Liverpool seems to particularly attract them: this is taken on platform 11 of Crewe station, but Liverpool is where they’re going, inflatables and all. Perhaps the photo is flawed because none of their faces can be seen, but maybe that does everyone a favour.

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Waiting on platform 4

Tuesday 11th March 2025, 5.50pm (day 4,947)

Victoria platform 4, 11/3/25

More specifically, skulking right down the far end of it, where the trains never stop. It looks like he may have busted the photographer but actually, looking closer up suggests he’s oblivious to his capture for posterity. I quite like the lighting on this one.

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