Tag Archives: 42

Nov 05 2011
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna, Urban scene Gallery

Starlings over the West Pier, Brighton

Saturday 5th November 2011, 4.35pm (day 72)

West Pier, 5/11/11

I grew up in the South of England but left 20 years ago and don’t tend to come back if I can help it. This place, however, is the one exception. Sometimes I wish they would swap it with Blackpool – the one carbuncle on the face of the North – then all the really good places would be up there and all the naff places down South, But it’s probably better this way round. However, a warning  – there are plans to build some huge ‘observation tower’ in front of the ruined West Pier. Remember, if there is anything cool and beautiful, someone, somewhere, is planning to fuck it up.

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Nov 04 2011
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Daily Post, Urban scene Gallery

The unlit bonfire, Calder Holmes Park

Friday 4th November 2011, 4.25pm (day 71)

Bonfire-to-be, 4/11/11

Bonfire Night (remember, remember, the 5th November) is England’s one genuine nationally-observed folk festival, and even then we are in danger of letting it be usurped  by Halloween, which is (in its commercial form) an alien import. But let’s face it, it’s just fun to burn big piles of flammable things. There’ll be a guard on this to make sure it doesn’t get lit tonight, I bet.

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Nov 03 2011
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Daily Post, Urban scene Gallery

Golden light, University of Manchester

Thursday 3rd November 2011, 3.55pm (day 70)

Golden light, 3/11/11

I know if I keep repeating it too long this ‘golden light, golden colours’ theme might start to get a little wearing. But surely we can’t sustain this for much longer, so let’s make the most of it while it lasts.

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Nov 02 2011
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Transport Gallery

Waiting for the late train, Hebden Bridge station

Wednesday 2nd November 2011, 9.00am (day 69)

Hebden Bridge station, 2/11/11

What irritates me most about the public transport in this country is not the unpunctuality (which tends to be concentrated on certain lines at certain times of the day, and after a while you just learn to avoid them – if you can, of course). No, the thing that gets me the most is the stupid ‘no growth in numbers’ contracts which the train operating companies have signed.As a result, public transport is an utterly backwards industry in which there is actually no business incentive to increase custom. (Undergraduate education is becoming another one.)

There is one, and only one, reason why such a state of affairs is tolerated: it’s because every journey by public transport represents  a little redistribution of tax income. The government like collecting tax, so encourage us to use cars, which are enormous sources of tax revenue. They don’t like paying tax back out. so don’t want us to use public transport, which is ‘subsidised’ (I call it ‘invested in’). As a result Britain has the highest public transport costs of almost any country in the world.

But despite everything, it’s still a damn sight better than using a car.

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Nov 01 2011
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Landscape Gallery

View from my house

Tuesday 1st November 2011, 10.20am (day 68)

Autumn view, 1/11/11

Hebden Bridge in autumn plumage. Definitely a good time of year to be here.

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Oct 31 2011
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Daily Post, Urban scene Gallery

Sign at the University of Manchester

Monday 31st October 2011, 8.15am (day 67)

Whitworth Hall sign, 31/10/11

The Whitworth Hall (named after engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth) is the ceremonial hall for the University of Manchester. People say you end up working somewhere appropriate for your name. Well, not only is my family name Whitworth, but my mother’s maiden name is Hall, so I guess that does it for me.

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Oct 30 2011
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Daily Post, Family Member, Friend, Portrait Gallery

The morning after

Sunday 30th October 2011, 11.00am (day 66)

Clare and Caroline, 30/10/11_low-res

Nice to come downstairs and find two beautiful women in the lounge dressed in their bedwear. After that the rest of the day was taken care of.

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Oct 29 2011
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger Gallery

Halloween Burlesque Party

Saturday 29th October 2011, 8.00pm (day 65)

Halloween burlesque, 29/10/11_low-res

Let’s edit out the text that originally accompanied this photo, written last night when I was too inebriated to be lucid and pithy and all those other things I’d like these texts to be. Let me instead just reiterate what a good night it was. The audience were asked not to take photos of the performance and stick them online – so I should respect that – though it’s a shame, as I got some good ones including of the wife making her own performance debut. But the audience were also a sight worth recording. Happy Halloween – a couple of days early, it is true.

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Oct 29 2011
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Daily Post, Landscape Gallery

The summit of Rannerdale Knotts

Friday 28th October 2011, 11.40am (day 64)

Rannerdale Knotts, 28/10/11

No time to settle in at home after returning from Moscow – at this time of year it is necessary to grab the chance to get a walk in when I can. I may not have time to do any more until nearly Christmas, unfortunately, and depend on the weather even then.

But it’s worth it. Trips abroad are interesting but I’d rather be here. So would this sheep, by the looks of things.

(See http://214wainwrights.wordpress.com for other photos from today and a description of the walk.)

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Oct 27 2011
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Daily Post, Interior Gallery

Before the exam board, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences

Thursday 27th October 2011, 11.00am (day 63)

Moscow School colleagues, 27/10/11

My last morning in Moscow today – though I’m returning in 6 weeks. I post this while awaiting my flight back to Manchester in Heathrow’s terminal 5. (‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is on the stereo, which makes the wait more bearable.)

I realised I had got through all my time here without a single actual person (Russian or not) appearing in the pictures so tried to rectify that today. Russians are a paradox. When you don’t know them – the severe woman who checks in your coat or bag, the guy who approaches you and hassles you on the street – they can be phenomenally rude. But when you know or work with them they are among the friendliest and most helpful people I know. There is something deep in their national psyche that closes up to strangers, I guess, and you should feel privileged to be admitted to the bosom. It probably explains a lot about their national history.

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