Gaz is a Railway regular, and given enough time and my patience probably all who drink in there regularly have been, or will get, on here at some point. I like this shot, with the glasses behind. It does him justice I think; he’s a nice chap.
I first met Mariam at the i3 conference in Aberdeen in June 2015. She is Tunisian by birth, but at the time was studying in Japan, so the second time we met was when she served as my guide round Tokyo on a (very wet and cold) day in March 2017. And as she has recently moved to Australia, I met her in Melbourne this April; it was her I was waiting for ‘under the clocks‘ — though that picture is of someone else, which also indicates that despite these different meetings each on different continents, this friend has yet to appear on the blog herself.
Let’s rectify that. Mariam speaks seven languages by the way and is a living example of why internationalism is the way to go. It was great today to finally introduce her to the home town.
One reason I didn’t go out yesterday was because there’s always today. Start as you mean to go on? Perhaps. Happy New Year.
A very unexciting day today, not least because I had to work for much of it — but by this point, that is over, and there are only two more working days left for me until Christmas. Whether the break will get much more exciting than this, who knows; but as usual at this time of year, I couldn’t really care.
The Tour de France belied its name and came through Hebden Bridge (and past my front door) in 2014 if you recall, but here it gets seen in less direct and energetic form. The week comes to an end in the pub, instead. Well, this is what normally happens.
The sun shows no signs of going away, so rather than wonder when the hosepipe bans and drought orders will come in, let’s just enjoy it — albeit, under cover. Too hot to sit out in direct sunlight for long, even with a beer. Mr John Bailey makes at least his third appearance on the blog.
As it was on Wednesday, so it was tonight. April 2018 in the UK skipped over spring entirely and went from winter to high summer. A Friday evening, the sun was out, the usual suspects were in attendance.
Sledgehammer symbolism it may be but anyone living in most of the UK today observed that we transitioned rather suddenly from winter into full-on spring. And it’s forecast to stay. On such a day, let us use the Railway as a bridge.
A nice day also to mark the 2,000th picture on this blog taken in the UK. If Cambridge Analytica find it significant that I have spent 82.37% of my time over that period in my home country — there you go, I’ve saved them the bother of doing the maths.
What can I say? It’s Tuesday. I spent the day sat on my arse grading student papers. It’s pub night…
Oh dear, pubs two days in a row. Well, it is Christmas. I need a break. An apposite way of recalling that this place, along with the rest of Hebden Bridge town centre, was under six feet of water two years ago today: this year’s was a rather less eventful Boxing Day, fortunately.
