Category Archives: Urban scene

Jul 05 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna, Hebden Bridge

Foxgloves on the retaining wall

Thursday 5th July 2012, 7.15pm (day 315)

Foxglove wall, 5/7/12

Sorry to go on about the bloody weather but today was the first day in two weeks which really deserved the adjectives ‘warm’ and ‘sunny’ – and even then it still rained quite severely in the evening, with two heavy thunderstorms. It may flood again tomorrow. Meanwhile, here are some flowers, proving that given enough water (ha ha) life can flourish everywhere, including in the centre of this thirty-feet-high retaining wall at the side of the Keighley Road.

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Jul 04 2012
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Spring Grove in the sun

Wednesday 4th July 2012, 6.45pm (day 314)

Spring Grove, 4/7/12

The last time the sun was seen in these parts was at some point on Wednesday 20th June, two weeks ago. It reappeared today for a couple of hours in the evening, creating a paroxysm of photography in this blogger, even if the shots were largely mundane, it was just a relief to see the light. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. As I post we’ve just been hit by a pretty intense storm. You gotta love it.

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Jul 03 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Working on the new ‘Learning Commons’

Tuesday 3rd July 2012, 3.45pm (day 313)

Learning commons, 3/7/12

Today was a dull day in every respect. The grey skies and rain are now a permanent feature of existence. Back in Manchester for the first time in 10 days but I spent most of it in my office, which isn’t a particularly great photographic subject (which is why there have been, to date, precisely no photos of it on this blog). This is the university’s new ‘learning commons’, due to open in time for the next academic year, and doubtless full of all sorts of exciting new devices that someone has decided will ‘enhance the learning experience’. Not that they ever asked any of the academics around Manchester who specialise in educational technology their opinion as to how it should be built. I know this, because I am one of them. I am sure it will be just perfect.

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Jun 30 2012
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Handmade Parade

Saturday 30th June 2012, 11.25am (day 310)

Handmade Parade, 30/6/12

This was supposed to happen last weekend. Once a year the populace of Hebden Bridge spend a little while building ephemeral but beautiful costumes and parade down the town to the park. It’s like Carnival in Rio, but shorter, with less naked flesh and in Yorkshire. A lot of fun though. Today it became something of a two-finger-salute to the weather, which for the entire month of June (except maybe for 3 days around the 18th) has been dreadful. Market Street – the main road through the centre of Hebden – has been devastated, with maybe two or three businesses out of about 30 still open, or likely to reopen before September. And it was still raining today – in bursts, but they were heavy bursts.

I took 89 photos of the parade within the 17 minutes it took to pass me; so to pick just one was very difficult. That being the case, interested parties could look at the top 20 pics, on my Facebook site. But I pick this one for here mainly because of the happy smile of the central model and the fact that this was the only picture of all the ones I took which I felt worked despite the fact there was a spectator firmly in the background. For some reason, it just seems to work with him there. We were all in it together, so to speak. And for just a short time we forgot the floods and the rain and just enjoyed the spectacle.

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Jun 23 2012
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

After the flood, the mopping up

Saturday 23rd June 2012, 3.40pm (day 303)

Pumping out, 23/6/12

Between about 10pm last night and 4am this morning Hebden Bridge town centre was under about 2 feet of water. (As you can see from many other pictures on this site we live 50 or so feet above the valley floor: luckily.) It drained quickly, and by the time I got down there at 10am, the flood water had gone. So no pictures of that.

But the damage had been done. At least half the businesses in the town centre were not open today and some might be closed for two weeks or more, a great dent in income in a time of diminished revenue as it is. The fire service were doing wonders, working all day to pump out cellars and basements. But although it did rain a lot yesterday, let’s also consider that most of the drains in this town are regularly blocked by dirt, leaves and debris because the Council don’t clean them: and we supposedly have a rather expensive flood defence system installed two miles up the valley (built after the last big flood in 2000) – which, for reasons no one is very clear about yet (was it not activated? Or simply inadequate despite the money spent?) – has failed. People couldn’t get hold of sandbags to protect their property. It’s the people, the businesses, of Hebden Bridge who will be picking up the costs of these mistakes.

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Jun 22 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

(D)rain

Friday 22nd June 2012, 9.15am (day 302)

Drain, 22/6/12

It’s still raining. It’s been raining all day. Heavily. The flood warning sirens in Hebden Bridge went off an hour ago: just an initial warning, but only about the third time since I’ve been living here (11 years). It’d better not: I’m supposed to be going to Russia on Sunday.

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Jun 21 2012
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

First day of summer

Thursday 21st June 2012, 8.45am (day 301)

Wet ducks, 21/6/12

Astronomically, today was the first day of summer. Ha ha. It’s throwing it down here. Even the ducks look depressed.

Incidentally, what you see here is the original bridge, dating from around 1510, for which the town of Hebden Bridge is named. It’ll have seen drier 21st Junes in its time.

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Jun 20 2012
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Waiting for the train to Manchester

Wednesday 20th June 2012, 8.55am (day 300)

Commuter, 20/6/12

Which, of course, is something I do frequently: though not as often as some. Either the 0652, if I don’t have to take Joe to school, or the 0856, if I do. Today I did. It was a nice sunny morning, and though I got a couple of other decent pictures throughout the day, I’ll stick with this one: it’s nice to be on the way to work and still feel quite mellow about the day, and the shot captures that I think.

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Jun 20 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

The Starbucks riot squad

Tuesday 19th June 2012, 5.55pm (day 299)

Starbucks riot squad, 19/6/12

Looks like something’s going down in Starbucks. What is more interesting is the guy on the right striding off in the direction of ‘The Wonderful World of Waxing’. Did he have an appointment? Inquiring minds want to know.

Tomorrow (Weds 20th) is day 300 of this blog, so I’ve added some more pictures to the ‘Best of the Rest’ page to mark the occasion.

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Jun 18 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Old BBC building, Oxford Road

Monday 18th June 2012, 2.20pm (day 298)

BBC building, 18/6/12

A couple of years ago the BBC moved a substantial portion of their operations up to the new Media City complex in Salford Quays. Apart from the wounded pride of a chunk of the London media set, fearful of having to deal with Northerners on a regular basis,  the other casualty was the old building on Oxford Road, pictured here. Now completely empty, it is fenced off and – according to this sign – awaiting demolition.

In its place will be built an eco-friendly, natural piece of parkland, along with some discreet business premises and workshops that will ask for a peppercorn rent and be reserved for local enterprises who otherwise could not afford to be based in Manchester city centre.

Or possibly I imagined all that and it will just be turned into another supermarket.

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