The first shot taken in Hebden Bridge since 25th January. It’s nice to travel, but it is also nice to come home. Even if the weather while I was away was wintrier here than in Canada — this much is obvious.
Castleford is a biggish place (45,000 residents) and I’ve lived not far from it for 30 years now, but today was the first time I had visited. (Yes, it was for football.) I was struck by how unreconstructed much of it was, rows of terraced houses and back alleys like this one. Most now filled with cars, spoiling the ambience a little, but this alley was clear, and with a bit of post-production I think this is not a bad facsimile of how it probably looked 60 years ago. There’s only one anachronism — the wheelie bins — but even those I will let pass.
A bright day, but cold. This was a shot where, contrary to almost all other occasions, I actually wanted a car to come past. The wire annoys, but only a little.
The uneventfulness of today was largely determined by this crap. Really, what’s the point in facing it? It is forecast to improve, so I just got on with stuff indoors.
Another day at home, musing on the existence of portals to other dimensions, as possibly manifesting on the Birchcliffe hillside, around the upper floor of 7 Chapel Street I reckon.
I apologise, as much to myself as anyone else, for the uneventfulness of life at this time. The scaffolders are busy in Hebden however; there were already at least four major scaffolding installations visible from home (including next door), and this fifth went up during the day. A growth industry it seems.
I’ve said it before, but it’s days like today — spent entirely in my house, day 1 of the latest batch of marking — that will eventually do for this blog, will drain my creative juices dry and leave me with simply nothing to photograph. But there’s always the view. Same comments as yesterday re: the hours of darkness, only today, half an hour earlier. The car headlights coming up Birchcliffe Road, and about to turn behind the buildings, give the necessary additional touch.
After getting out and about yesterday, I kept closer to home today. But it’s also a nice part of the world. For once, I don’t object to the cars on this shot, which I think help give it a sense of scale and perspective.
A fairly standard ‘tourist’ shot of my home town, but what the hell, it was a nice day and it does look good from this particular angle. I nearly took it monochrome, but that meant the two figures on the bridge became very camouflaged, and I think they set it off nicely.
And from the evening, to the morning — not having moved very far. These houses constitute home; although I have neatly covered up our own windows with a tree trunk.
Being 42 