Category Archives: Urban scene

Jul 09 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Urban scene

Sculpture, Blackburn town centre

Tuesday 9th July 2013, 9.20am (day 684)

Blackburn sculpture, 9/7/13

Went here for a meeting today, it’s not a particularly exciting place but unlike the last time it featured on the blog in December, Blackburn at least delivered a) good weather and b) the event I actually came to the town for. I have no idea what this sculpture commemorates, but perhaps it doesn’t commemorate anything and is just some public art. Which is fine. That’s a teddy bear the boy has dropped, by the way.

Incidentally it is also a year to the day since what was certainly the least pleasant day I had to somehow document on here: the flash flood of 9th July 2012.

Tagged , , , , ,
Jul 07 2013
1 Comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Relaxing by the canal

Sunday 7th July 2013, 5.50pm (day 682)

By the canal, 7/7/13

Despite being there this morning as well Blackpool fails to trouble the blog at all, and may well now never do so. Here we are back in familiar territory, all enjoying a gorgeous day, including the Muscovy duck who seems to have stuck around for the last 18 months since it last appeared on the blog in far less clement conditions.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Jul 07 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Interior, Transport

Subway, Hebden Bridge station

Saturday 6th July 2013, 10.40am (day 681)

Hebden station subway, 6/7/13

One of the criteria for choosing which pictures get onto this blog is whether one encapsulates the day on which it was taken. That is not true of this photo. I had a busy day today, visited my parents and then had a Saturday night out with Clare, in Blackpool – and one could do an entire photo essay on the subject of ‘a Saturday night in Blackpool’ (though I think it might be a job more fitting for a war correspondent than a humble amateur like myself). There was great light today, a beautiful high summer’s day, and I took plenty of photos I was happy with.

Nevertheless, this wins. If the art of photography is not about capturing moments, those coincidences of place and time which raise any experience above the mundane and everyday, then I feel happy with what I’ve done here. This place could not be less exotic really, just a tunnel I pass through at least two or three times a week when I am here in town. But this morning I loved the way the light was spilling down the steps and giving it a warm feeling. This photo is exactly what I wanted it to be when I took it, and that happens only occasionally.

Tagged , , , ,
Jul 03 2013
1 Comment
Daily Post, Urban scene

St. Peter’s chaplaincy steps

Wednesday 3rd July 2013, 12.25pm (day 678)

St Peter's steps, 3/7/13

Second day in a row in Manchester, that hasn’t happened since January. Familiar territory, but new in that I’ve never managed to catch anyone blowing their nose before. I didn’t set out to take such a shot; but that’s street photography for you. Taken on the steps of St. Peter’s, the University’s Catholic chaplaincy.

Tagged , , , , ,
Jun 23 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Landscape

Birthday party walk

Sunday 23rd June 2013, 1.35pm (day 668)

Kids in field, 23/6/13

Joe was invited to the birthday party of one of his friends, and though it was a bit cool and damp to take the picnic that was planned, we (that is, about 8 adults, 15 kids and 3 dogs) did get a walk up on the fells above the western end of Hebden Bridge. It did occasionally remind me why I do tend to walk alone… but still, like the Saturday last weekend, it showed me some parts of my locality that I have not seen, and that alone made it worth doing.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Jun 22 2013
2 Comments
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade 2013

Saturday 22nd June 2013, 12.50pm (day 667)

Handmade Parade, 22/6/13

It was on this weekend last year that the summer in Hebden Bridge took a decided turn for the worse. The evening of 22/6/12 saw the first of two floods hit the town centre, an event which appeared on this blog only the following morning. The 2012 Handmade Parade did take place, albeit a week later than originally scheduled and produced this picture — that event becoming a kind of gesture of defiance in the face of the damage the town had suffered (though if it was a plea for mercy it was not answered; there was still 9th July to come, but more on that in two weeks’ time). The 2013 Parade could run as planned and became an anniversary celebration, the town still getting together in an amazing burst of creativity that impresses me each year, though I’ll never be part of it; I like photographing it too much.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Jun 19 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Stallholder, Hebden Bridge market

Wednesday 19th June 2013, 9.00am (day 664)

Hebden Bridge market, 19/6/13

Seven days in a row at home now — I mean without leaving at all, even for work — and no nights away planned until well into July. This is unusual for me. I need to look around, reconnect.

Tagged , , , , ,
Jun 18 2013
1 Comment
Daily Post, Urban scene

Vimto memorial, Sackville Street building

Tuesday 18th June 2013, 1.40pm (day 663)

Vimto memorial, 18/6/13

I went into Manchester today, but don’t tell anyone — officially I don’t go back to work there until early September. But there were reasons to go in today, which went beyond the desire to have the first Manchester photo on the blog since day 504 of the blog, 10th January, 159 days ago. This sculpture sits outside the university’s monumental Sackville Street building and pays homage to the local non-alcoholic beverage, Vimto, an anagram of, well, you can work it out.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Jun 17 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Happy graffiti

Monday 17th June 2013, 8.30am (day 662)

Happy graffiti, 17/6/13

Hebden Bridge street art… and why not?

Tagged , , , , ,
Jun 17 2013
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Palace House Road, Hebden Bridge

Saturday 15th June 2013, 12.40pm (day 660)

Palace House Road, 15/6/13

I realised today while having 45 minutes to wander around town that in 12 years of living in Hebden Bridge I had never walked up a particular street. So, I did. It looks like this: if one wants it to. (This image is further cropped from the first version after I realised there was a satellite dish on it!)

Get used to the scenery anyway: with only a very few exceptions (six or so), I’m staying in the home town every day for the next five and a half weeks. It hasn’t happened much lately…

Tagged , , , , , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →