Manchester was hit by a thunderstorm this evening that dumped torrential rain on the city centre — quite exceptional (or are these events happening more and more?). Although it had mostly stopped by the time this photo was taken, I imagine these guys, like the rest of us, were just wanting to find somewhere to dry out.
When are there enough geese for a gaggle? Will four do? When does a gaggle become a flock? Pictured on the canal at Hebden Bridge station this afternoon.
Over 11 years of walking from Manchester Victoria station to my office at uni I have honed my route to reach work in as direct a fashion as possible but to still go down the quietest and most chilled-out streets. I think after 11 years I have finally perfected it. This lane underneath the Mancunian Way is virtually unused now, except by occasional pedestrians like me, the occasional homeless guy and the local graffiti establishment. And yes, this morning it was still raining.
I’ve lived in Britain my whole 46.8 years and it amazes me that there are still people who somehow believe that our month of June is somehow high summer. There are sound climatic reasons why this is not the case, it’s called the ‘European Monsoon’ or ‘Return of the Westerlies’. Look it up. The Westerlies sure bloody returned today I can tell you.
Slightly unsatisfactory because the head of the one in front is a little out of focus — probably it was moving for a peck when I pressed the shutter. Otherwise I like this photo — the graffiti in the background sets them off quite well I think. And I like the way the one in the rear is clearly fluffing up its ruff and giving me the big ‘piss off’ message.
And so home again: London to Hebden Bridge is three to three-and-a-bit hours, the bit depending on how well the train times mesh in Leeds. Time enough today to capture the first blog selfie of 2016, anyway.
As famously drawn by Pete Frame, and currently on display in the British Library’s “Punk 1976-1978” exhibition of photos, fanzines, posters, record sleeves etc. from that era. If you have half an hour to spare and you’re in the area I highly recommend it.
Seeing as these are places I hang out in professionally it is unsurprising that a lot of university campuses have made it onto the blog in some form or another: over 20 by now. Here’s another one, University College London, to where I travelled today to attend this seminar on digital literacy. With big dice, used for an audience participation game of snakes and ladders, if you really want to know.
It’s day 1,750 of the blog, three-quarters of the way to my second thousand pictures. If I keep going — and I may as well — I’ll hit that milestone on 14th February 2017.
He looks comfortable and well-dressed enough to assume this is not some permanent accommodation arrangement. Perhaps the explanation is just that this was another warm June day (though muggy).
Mytholmroyd lies about a mile downstream from Hebden Bridge and was devastated by the 26th December flood, being inundated with over seven feet (more than two meters) of water. The hole in the line of buildings to the left was formerly a travel agency but collapsed into the river that day. I find it sad that in the line of shops behind there are still signs up saying ‘reopening 4th January after Christmas’ and the like. Still, it looked sylvan enough today, though what the guy is doing in the river, I have no idea.
Being 42 