Wednesday 14th March 2012, 7.00pm (day 202)
Little commentary to add to this one – just a nice scene I passed on the way home. I’m sure it would be a cheaper service to run if they turned the lights off when it was empty, though.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Category Archives: Urban scene
The evening sky
Thursday 8th March 2012, 4.55pm (day 196)
Have we had a ‘Hebden Bridge sky’ picture for a while? No, I didn’t think so either.
The Oxford Road bus swarm
Wednesday 7th March 2012, 9.45am (day 195)
It is sometimes said that Oxford Road, Manchester, is the busiest bus route in Europe. Looking at this sight – there are at least 17 buses visible on this shot and I see no reason why the unseen space behind the one in the centre of the picture is occupied by anything different – it is not only easy to believe this, but impossible not to marvel at the mentality of those who think that unregulated public transport is a good idea. Reallocating even one of these buses to the Lake District, say, or a bus-free village in the shires… don’t you think that would be a more productive use of it?
Hebden Bridge, 100 years ago
Tuesday 6th March 2012, 8.40am (day 194)
Actually, it’s this morning: and it was a beautiful one. But I liked this photo because there’s nothing in it that suggests the modern day. Well, there’s one exception, perhaps – see if you can spot it.
Former Factory HQ, Manchester
Monday 5th March 2012, 8.05am (day 193)
Walked a slightly different way to the office this morning; not a big deal, just a matter of going down a street parallel to the one I normally go down, but I very rarely do it. So I never noticed before that this building on the corner of Charles Street and Brook Street is the former HQ of Factory Records, the company that brought us Joy Division (World’s Greatest Ever Rock Band… it’s just a fact guys, live with it). I’m enough of a rock geek to think this is pretty cool.
Though not as geekily cool as having a photo of the exact phone box in which Withnail does his ‘No, I’m not in London… Penrith… Penrith!’ rant at his agent. But that’s another story.
Joe’s 9th birthday
Sunday 4th March 2012, 11.15am (day 192)
Joe was born at 2.41pm, 4th March 2003. Happy birthday to him. Twenty minutes after this photo was taken (the balloons whipping around in a squally, damp wind), we had a bunch of other 8- and 9-year-olds swarming around the place – which was a good reminder of why we’ve still only had the one child. (I joke, I joke.)
Joe, Albert Square, Manchester
Friday 2nd March 2012, 6.00pm (day 190)
It’s Joe’s birthday this weekend. For the first part of his treat, went into Manchester to see Oliver!, courtesy of my sister. But we had pictures from the theatre last weekend, so let’s vary the scenery. I like Albert Square, it’s about the only part of Manchester which is picturesque, at least, on the few days a year when there’s not a bunch of tents, market stalls, traffic cones or something else covering the cobbles.
The new town hall
Wednesday 29th February 2012, 8.30am (day 188)
Would have been nice to have somehow encapsulated, in a photo, the fact that today was the extra day of the Leap Year. But that proved beyond me, though it did amuse me that Joe was annoyed because this year he has to wait another day for his birthday (which is on Sunday).
So here is a picture of the building site that is Hebden Bridge’s new town hall; the scaffolding and cranes of which have been visible from our house for a few months now. A time-lapse project would have been nice – but too late now.
The Mac’s still in the shop so apologies for the erratic appearance of the posts at the moment.
Weavers’ Cottages, Calder Holmes
Tuesday 28th February 2012, 8.40am (day 187)
For various reasons, including the fact that my Mac (and thus iPhoto) has gone to the shop for some surgery, I wanted to get today’s shot in early. So that meant grabbing one on the way to the station; just as well then that I don’t seem yet to have run out of things to capture, photographically, in this town. These houses are right by the canal (which runs behind the fence, unseen in this shot), and the arrangement of windows was so that they got plenty of light so that weavers could use them for their literal cottage industries in the early 19th century. Apparently.
Lille Lungegårdsvannet, Bergen
Wednesday 22nd February 2012, 4.25pm (day 181)
This is an artificial lake in the centre of Bergen, by the art museum. It’s actually not that cold here (although the weather was still revolting today), but there’s still this scrim of ice on the surface of the lake, enough to support these birds’ weight and provide a nice optical illusion effect to add to the other nice patterns and colours on this shot.
Being 42 