Seeing as the garden in question is on the roof of Big Hands, the micro-gig venue round the corner from my office — and no, I’ve never noticed them before — perhaps Roof Garden Dummies is to be the name of some emergent punk/student band, to be appearing (possibly) on a digital feed near you at some point in the second half of this decade. If I was in The Zone, I might consider founding them myself. But possibly Kraftwerk already did it.
Just beyond the fence at Low Moor railway station, in Bradford, are stored these bizarre sculptures, or possibly they are some kind of carnival float. I really have no idea what story these make together, though. A close-up was no more revealing, so let’s go with this long shot under stormy skies instead.
The third protest in a month, if we count the poster statement. Not hard to work out the basic focus of this one. I was just passing, not expressing a particular opinion, but I do notice that in BBC reports of the atrocities presently unfolding in the Middle East, Israelis ‘are killed’ whereas Palestinians just ‘die’. As much as anything else that helps explain why some people are pissed off.
No one seems able to leave any empty Manchester space empty for long. Cathedral Gardens is particularly prone to being built on by some temporary structure or other, if it’s not the ‘Davis Cup Fan Zone’ (that was last month) it’s whatever this twelve-hi-vis operation might become. Probably the ice rink; for after all, it’s nearly Christmas.
The Conservative Party can’t even do incompetence competently — and by now, they have had lots of chances to practice it. Brilliantly, some idiot lets slip that the proposed high-speed rail link to Manchester is likely to be cancelled, in the very week that the party are holding its annual conference…. in Manchester. Frankly, I am so disillusioned about there being any prospect of genuine change in the trajectory not only of this country, but the human race, that I have largely stopped caring, but let’s at least document the existence of a political opposition to these clowns: unfortunately, sticking posters to lamp-posts seems to be the extent of it.
The week has been a busy one but ends uneventfully. The weather was unconducive to a spell sat outside the pub, so the drinking was done indoors today. I believe this shot was captured through the window; a sensible approach under the circumstances.
Regular early morning shots seem to have mostly disappeared from the blog; this is the earliest, and the first before 8am, since 20th January, and that was taken when coming into Addis Ababa airport so not exactly normal circumstances. Other than that this is the earliest since 7th October 2022. In all that time Northern Rail might have run a whole morning’s service which didn’t contain at least one train that turned up just that few minutes late…. but I doubt it.
Protesting outside the offices of a company about to insure a large new oil pipeline in East Africa: this seems valid to me. But they were all so terribly polite about it. Walking past on my way to work I might have missed the whole thing entirely were it not for a voice through a microphone that said (I’m paraphrasing slightly): “*cough* I hope you can here us, Sir Someone, but please don’t insure that oil pipeline” and then went quiet again. And the office was on the other side of the road anyway, ‘guarded’ by three somewhat bored-looking policemen. Throwing oneself under the King’s horse this was not.
Six bridges — three of which are for pedestrians only — cross the Hebden Water in town, but Hebden Bridge is named for this one specifically, purportedly built in 1510. This is something of a stock local shot but it gives as good an impression of the general shape of the town as is available.
The heading of this post is somewhat superfluous bearing in mind this bridge. In April 2014 I took this picture from more or less the same spot, one of the touristic epicentres of London, and so not at all what it used to be in my youth etc. etc. when Camden was the place to come for your cheap, punk clothing.
Being 42 