Tag Archives: 56

St Denys’ church, Rotherfield

Thursday 29th January 2026, 12.40pm (day 5,271)

Rotherfield church, 29/1/26

The little Sussex village of Rotherfield has two things going for it, as far as I am concerned. The first is that it was where I lived through my teenage years, more or less. The fact it has never before appeared on the blog (thus becoming featured place no. 522 with this shot) indicates that I have had little reason to come back here since departing in 1988 — at least not since the rest of the family also decamped from there a few years later. But I did make a day trip there today, for curiosity and something to do as much as anything else.

The second thing Rotherfield has in its favour is its church, a 13th-century masterpiece, a monstrously large building for such a little place. It’s the only thing worth seeing in the village but worth seeing it definitely is. Check out those ancient murals on the wall ahead, visible to the left of and above the arch: not to mention the 1,500-year old yew outside. These things were seen…. and now Rotherfield may well be unvisited again by me for a decade and a half. But hopefully all this will still be there for many years to come.

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Barbican

Wednesday 28th January 2026, 11.15am (day 5,270)

Barbican estate, 28/1/26

I like the Barbican estate in the City of London, particularly on a sunny and pleasant day. If someone were to offer me the chance to live anywhere in London (it’ll never happen) I would choose here, it just seems like a fairly peaceful and attractive spot despite, or perhaps because of, all the brutalism. It’s interesting to look at a map of modern London and trace the outline of the old medieval, walled city: many of the place names make it clear what used to be there — Moorgate, Smithfield, Barbican.

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Approaching the Temperate House, Kew

Tuesday 27th January 2026, 12 noon (day 5,269)

Kew Gardens, 27/1/26

A first-ever visit to Kew, and yes, it counted as work — as the nation’s premier botanical gardens this was a crucial node in the networks of information, learning and capital which formed the basis of the British Empire from the 18th century on, and to which St Helena and Ascension Island were intimately linked. Ahead, one of the entrances to the Temperate House, which at one point was the largest glasshouse in the world, and is still the largest surviving Victorian one.

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Dewsbury station footbridge

Saturday 24th January 2026, 11.50am (day 5,266)

Dewsbury footbridge, 24/1/26

I have been meaning to feature the footbridge at Dewsbury railway station for a while: it’s just got an appealingly old-fashioned feel to it. On the far end also resides one of the best station pubs in the country — yes, almost as good as Stalybridge’s — it is undepicted here but take my word for it. It’s the best thing about Dewsbury, anyway.

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In the doorway

Friday 23rd January 2026, 5.00pm (day 5,265)

Beer glass in doorway, 23/1/26

It’s Friday, it’s 5pm and, well, we’re in the usual place. It’d be great if the golden glow behind the beer glass was some tropical sunset, but sadly not, In fact we’ve barely seen sunshine for two weeks.

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First flowers

Thursday 22nd January 2026, 2.15pm (day 5,264)

Snowdrops, 22/1/26

The snowdrops always come first. Earlier than usual? Perhaps, but not excessively so, and they are sitting in a nice, sheltered spot. This is not some rural woodland though; in fact these are on the uni campus, just next to the Roscoe building.

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The away fans’ enclosure

Wednesday 21st January 2026, 8.40pm (day 5,263)

Away fans at Halifax, 21/1/26

I was wondering whether to go with a picture that is a little less dark, dismal, drizzly and not a little bit depressing. On the other hand this seems to sum up the evening perfectly. I’ve seen some tedious football matches in my time but Halifax 1, Morecambe 0 on 21/1/26 now ranks down there with the worst.

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Hugo, portrait

Tuesday 20th January 2026, 5.30pm (day 5,262)

Hugo portrait, 20/1/26

A fourth appearance for Hugo, and this portrait sums up his general character as well as anything. Since we last saw him I believe he has lost a couple of crucial parts of his anatomy (y’know) but it doesn’t seem to have changed him much.

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Valley mist

Monday 19th January 2026, 8.50am (day 5,261)

Valley mist, 19/1/26

And so, after a weekend out, it’s back to work — at home. I suppose, somewhere to the south (about 25 miles to the south in fact) there might be colleagues buzzing around ‘in the office’ but the online meetings I had today suggested that most people were treating the day in the same way I was. None of this has anything to do with the content of today’s shot as such, but it does explain why, once again, the day required something that can be captured through our windows.

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Moor Road metrolink

Sunday 18th January 2026, 3.30pm (day 5,260)

Moor Road metrolink, 18/1/26

Having managed to avoid going to work in Manchester for several days (a run that is not over yet), I nevertheless concocted a reason to go there on a Sunday, to ‘get out of the house’ — go figure that one out. I did not regret this, but it was a day on which the city lived up to its reputation for a certain dampness of climate. It’s not obviously coming down in this shot, but you can just feel it, can’t you?

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