And so home again, a 7-hour train journey from Aberdeen to Hebden Bridge. My second return trip up the east coast of Scotland in the last few weeks, so a chance to revisit a theme hit not so long ago, the crossing of the River Tay. The stumps are those of the first Tay bridge which collapsed (due to crappy construction) in a storm shortly after it was built.
i3 (Information, Interactions and Impact) has been a good conference, and though Aberdeen, and particularly the Robert Gordon University campus, has done its bit to help, conferences are in the end about the people. So here are some of them, giving it a right old Scottish knees-up at the conference dinner.
The city of Aberdeen makes a picturesque debut on the blog. If you’ve never been I guess you might imagine it to be a rather dour place but this shot proves otherwise. OK, it’s not taken in the city centre, but it’s still well within the municipality — this is taken from the edge of the Robert Gordon University campus (location for my conference) and the large Auchinyell council estate is not more than 300 yards away from this point. If only it had delivered some nice golden light as well, but alas, this was not to be.
Another trip to Scotland, this time for a conference in Aberdeen. Another long train journey north, which took hours but was mostly worth it thanks to the views, including this one of Arthur’s Seat — its second appearance on the blog (after this more close-up shot in April 2014). Not a bad shot considering it was taken from a moving train through a very grubby window.
Another day where the weather can politely be described as ‘mixed’. But at least this evening burst of sun brought dramatic light for a time. Today brings to an end what has been (for me) a relatively long period at home, but the next ten days see me mostly elsewhere.
Cripes. Can it get any more English? Midsummer’s Day, the weather wasn’t great, but then again it wasn’t terrible either (certainly better than three years ago today, and its aftermath); in all, a good day was had. I have no idea how this match turned out by the way — I was just passing.
The pigeon/duck conflict is one of the great unseen wars. Where the river comes through the town, where waterfowl meets urban scavenger, the two species battle for the prime pickings from the humans. The pigeons sent an emissary to demand more territory, but the ducks, insistent that they were there first, just ain’t talking.
It’s the midsummer weekend, but right now the weather isn’t so as you’d realise this. If it were midsummer weather these benches would be packed, but it’s chill and rather grey so only Paddy braves the pub forecourt, and that’s only because he needs a cigarette.
Unfrequented alleys in Manchester city centre are typically called “Back Something Street”. Back Turner Street is right in the city centre but looks little changed from decades ago. In fact Clare has just stared at this photo for a while before saying ‘is that 1920s America or something?’. Which was the kind of vibe I was seeking with this shot, so I’ll take that.
A metaphor for my own day working at home? As it took this mollusc ninety minutes to cross the doorstep this morning, perhaps.
Being 42 