Category Archives: Stranger

Dec 30 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Half-time feelings

Sunday 29th December 2024, 3.50pm (day 4,875)

Morecambe fan, 29/12/24

After the interest and congeniality of Padiham the day before, Salford City v Morecambe, my last football match of 2024 was one of the worst of the lot, a truly dire game in a characterless metal box. The general demeanour of this gentleman, captured at half-time, sums it up. Time to move on — though for Morecambe this movement increasingly looks like it will be downward again, and back out of the League at some point in the spring. Perhaps I’m wrong, but you didn’t see them play today.

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Dec 25 2024
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger, Transport

Tractor run

Tuesday 24th December 2024, 6.50pm (day 4,870)

Tractor run, 24/12/24

Attempts to create a new tradition by running a bunch of tractors and trucks, decorated in lights, through the centre of Hebden Bridge on 24th December were greeted by this photographer as an opportunity to depict something different on the 14th Christmas Eve to grace these virtual pages. Did he (I) really see the point, though? Well, not really. But it did draw a reasonably sized crowd.

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Dec 11 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger, Transport

How we feel about the trains

Wednesday 11th December 2024, 2.40pm (day 4,857)

Train delay, 11/12/24

Christ Almighty you have no idea about the shite that is the local train service. Don’t think that the one you see here is pictired trundling happily onto the platform — instead it is hanging there, just for arbitrary reasons. Not only that, but it’s the first train out of Hebden into Manchester for some hours. The giuy’s face says it all. In the end I didn’t even bother.

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Nov 30 2024
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Friday market (not ‘Black’)

Friday 29th November 2024, 4.10pm (day 4,845)

Friday market, 29/11/24

Another day spent almost entirely in my office at home, working, and not emerging until after the sunlight was mostly gone. The Friday market in town was still open at this point, though only just, and I’m sure this guy is considering packing up his clocks and jewellry and calling it a day.

I go monochrome here simply because it feels right for the shot and it stops the bright green stripes at the top dominating it. It is not a ‘Black Friday’ reference. I hate that bollocks, in fact: especially because, as various recent conversations about this marketing wheeze have proven, virtually no one in the UK — consumers, retailers, the media, anyone — actually understands the derivation of the term. Be honest — do you know where it comes from? (American readers don’t get to answer this.)

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Nov 13 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Retouching the bees

Tuesday 12th November 2024, 9.15am (day 4,828)

Retouching bollards, 12/11/24

This scene has been seen a few times in Manchester city centre recently. All the bollards you see here are decorated with little golden bees, the bee having been adopted (I think fairly recently) as the symbol of the city. And it’s some bloke’s responsibility to go round and repaint them now and again. Actually I think they’re doing a pretty good job, but it must be hard on the knees.

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Nov 05 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Inspecting the manuscripts

Monday 4th November 2024, 2.00pm (day 4,820)

Rylands manuscripts, 4/11/24

Another one of my Palaeography classes in the John Rylands Library. We have moved from Hogwarts (the old reading room) upstairs and into the new seminar room, with tape still on the windows. Checking out the manuscripts themselves is always the best bit, and they need to be ready, and cared for — would that students got to sit on such comfortable-looking cushions.

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Sep 25 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

High-contrast gear

Wednesday 25th September 2024, 10.35am (day 4,780)

On King Street, 25/9/24

One of the rare cases where I tag a photo as ‘black and white‘ but not ‘monochrome‘. I like the generally muted tones of the shot but the high contrast of the dress makes it stand out. And not just for that reason, either. Whatever she’s getting ready for, I hope it’s important.

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Sep 25 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Gig crowd (or, the zombie apocalypse)

Tuesday 24th September 2024, 8.55pm (day 4,779)

Zombie crowd, 24/9/24

My mediocre kit is never going to take crystal clear photos in very low light, even if I do crank the ISO setting up to 1600 or whatever. But here, the lack of clarity is just the point. Surely the gentleman to the left is about to emerge from some horrible transformation and begin consuming human flesh. Although in the end, he recovered, and we all got on with watching the evening’s entertainment (Tom McRae, as it happened).

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Sep 17 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

First photo from this trip to Berlin

Tuesday 17th September 2024, 4.55pm (day 4,772)

Second photo in a row of the next person along the platform, but this was an utterly random moment that could not be resisted. Somehow this bodes well for the rest of the week. The blog’s second, and my third, trip to Berlin.

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Sep 16 2024
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Bredbury station

Monday 16th September 2024, 9.45pm (day 4,771)

Bredbury station, 16/9/24

Am I pleased allowed to say someone is a nice shape, without this being a salacious observation? Because this person definitely is.

With this photo, Stockport, the 11th place I depicted on this blog back in October 2011, finally relinquishes its title as the most-ignored-place-since. The accolade now passes to Dunsop Bridge. I know you care about these things, as do I. Overall, 477 different locations have appeared on here — a neat near 1/10 ratio — and I’m sure you already care about the carefully-maintaned stats.

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