An excuse today to walk through some parts of Manchester that I don’t frequent often. Although the brick rectangle to the bottom left annoys me somewhat, I think that this shot reflects, for me, the way Manchester seems to have developed in the last ten years or more. Significant parts of it aspire to be the hypermodern ‘skyscraper forest’ these days, but the old industrial landscape hangs on here and there.
Actually, home, in the strictest sense, is a little to the right of this shot. But this is, near enough, where I’ve located myself for the last 21.75 years. There are reasons.
Ivy House FC (of Halifax) come out for the start of the second half at the rather picturesque, if basic, ground of Midgley United. They were 1-0 down at this point but recovered for the draw. But who cares about the game today? I went for the landscape, and it did not disappoint.
Midgley has appeared once before on the blog, on 17th December 2013, day 845. Returning after 3,035 days, this little village on the hillside between home and Halifax now takes over (from Nottingham) as the place with the longest gap between appearances.
I continue to not get out: this is the 9th of the last 12 pictures to be taken in Hebden Bridge and the coming weekend ain’t gonna see me explore the world much either. Today, the stall full of digital info (DVDs, CDs) at least offered a new perspective on the Friday market of which it is a part. No purchase today though: a quick review suggests that any of these I might be interested in watching, I already own (Ted, Black Swan, Gravity and I am Legend — happy hunting)…
Brighouse Town celebrate winning the West Riding County Cup — and against Leeds United, no less. The need for a penalty shootout was just an additional hurdle of no consequence. They look happy about it, and rightly so; as was I, this being the first time I have ever actually seen a club I follow win a Cup of any description. There are worse ways to spend a Thursday evening in south-west Leeds.
A tough assignment today. Online classes late in the afternoon then another in the evening meant I couldn’t go out. The world outside was grey and dull — though at least, still light, at approaching 8pm. This is the kind of day that will eventually kill the creative spirit in me, and thus, this blog. But here’s my best effort.
We don’t normally do spring graduations. These are replacements for the ceremonies that were going to take place in December and then were cancelled at two day’s notice because everyone in ‘Authority’ had another outbreak of paranoia that — let’s look back and be honest about this — turned out to have very little basis in sensible judgments of risk. Anyway, I’m glad they finally made it. It offers a, hopefully singular, opportunity to picture the daffodil/graduation conjunction. And yes, the litter is there but let’s try to work it into the composition somehow.
It’s that time of year again. You buy the seeds and put them in some mulch, and await the first shoots. Eventually some of them might turn into the thing illustrated on the packet. But that remains to be seen.
It’s Sunday afternoon in the Railway. Meaning, it’s Karaoke Afternoon. This is a regular Sunday thing, like church. And the singing is no better. The arrival of the m.c. — here, about to start his set-up — is a sign to head to a different part of the building, out of earshot.
My debut attempt to ride a scooter — which took place at a sports day in about 1991 — was so phenomenally embarrassing that I have never got near another one since. This is quite a hill the guy is about to head down, too. He has my admiration. At least it’s a one-way street.
Being 42 