Wednesday 9th November 2016, 8.05am (day 1,903)
The first snow comes to Hebden Bridge only 194 days, or 6 months and 10 days, after the last snow (29th April).
Winter is coming… In more ways than one, I fear.
The first snow
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: photos
Weeping willow
Tuesday 8th November 2016, 10.45pm (day 1,902)
This weeping willow stands at one end of the 16th century bridge over the Hebden Water after which my home town is named (viz, Hebden Bridge). It has featured in the background or periphery of several photos before, but today I make it the prime subject, thanks to the late night street lighting and the sleet which was barrelling out of a damp grey sky on the way home (see tomorrow’s picture…).
To prove I occasionally still — but only occasionally — have nights out, this is the latest shot in any given night out since my 3am aberration on 9th Jan 2016, and the latest shot in a calendar day since, embarrassingly perhaps, 15th November 2014.
Samuel Alexander Building
Monday 7th November 2016, 9.10am (day 1,901)
Apologies for the delay in posting. Mac fell into a coma on Monday morning. But some TLC from the Genius Bar has restored it to full health. Back on Monday, it was another lovely day in Manchester. Here’s the relatively monumental Sam Alex building (as most people on campus call it), named after a former professor of Philosophy at this august institution. I like the rim-lit shadowy figure to the right.
Old Gate at night
Sunday 6th November 2016, 6.10pm (day 1,900)
Of course, it’s around this time of year that it becomes not only easier, but more obligatory, to take photos in the hours of darkness — because there’s just that much more darkness around. On top of that today was a day spent mostly working at home (yes, I know it’s Sunday, but I’m busy)… so not much opportunity for anything exciting. I like this shot because it’s sharp, not always easy without using a flash, and the general gold-and-black colour scheme.
View from Dove Crag’s summit
Saturday 5th November 2016, 1.20pm (day 1,899)
“This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts.” (Faithless: God is a DJ)
Power
Friday 4th November 2016, 8.25am (day 1,898)
Looked to the left between Littleborough and Smithy Bridge stations, on my train commute into Manchester, and went into a sudden spasm of photographic ecstasy. Definitely one of the better pictures I have ever taken from a train moving at full speed.
New tram lines, St. Peter’s Square
Thursday 3rd November 2016, 9.05am (day 1,897)
Another shot of Manchester’s slowly developing transport infrastructure — but I’m in Manchester a lot this month, so get used to it. Anyway, I like this one, particularly as I didn’t have to crop it at all, so got the symmetry just right when the shutter was pressed. A kind of ‘played for and got’ moment.
Crossing Oxford Road
Wednesday 2nd November 2016, 9.25am (day 1,896)
Sometimes things can improve. When I first started work at the University of Manchester in 2005 the campus was split in half by this traffic-choked urban throughway, one of the main A-roads of the whole country. It was really rather dismal. Slowly, by incremental steps, it has markedly improved, with most traffic now directed around the sides of the campus. The latest round of roadworks have now mostly gone and it is so much better than it was 11 years ago.
And another thing — there have been many reasons to be unhappy with 2016 in a global sense — but the UK’s autumn weather has not been one of them. Since mid-August it has mostly been tremendous. Same again today, for sure, a glorious autumn day.
The Soil, Brick & Rubble skip
Tuesday 1st November 2016, 2.50pm (day 1,895)
After the collapse, the clean-up continues…. I pick this shot also because I like the subtle burst of light. It was another beautiful day today, much like last year’s 1st November: but after that, came the Great Wet of late 2015. Can’t see it happening this year however; but maybe after yesterday that’s just wishful thinking.
The Great Halloween Plaster Disaster
Monday 31st October 2016, 2.30pm (day 1,894)
What was intended to be an uneventful day spent entirely working at home was interrupted by a huge crash from downstairs at about 10.00am, followed about thirty seconds later by another one. The cause turned out to be two huge chunks of our living room ceiling having unexpectedly descended: old lath-and-plaster deciding after what was probably at least forty years, and maybe more, that it had all had enough. Fortunately no one was sat in there at the time. So, I still spent the day entirely working at home, only on unpaid manual labour instead of all that wishy-washy uni crap. This was a couple of hours into the clean-up operations — you should have seen it at the start…
