Tag Archives: river

Aug 15 2024
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Daily Post, Landscape

The Conwy estuary

Wednesday 14th August 2024, 2.20pm (day 4,738)

Conwy estuary, 14/8/24

As no one really gives a toss whether I turn up at the office or not — particularly not in August — why not take the opportunity to get on a train, do a few hours’ work on the day, but still then take the afternoon off and spend it somewhere nice and sunny? The Conwy/Llandudno region is a fine-looking part of the world (as we discovered when we came here eight years ago). These kinds of regular Days Out are probably what it will take to keep me going for the rest of my life, spiritually — so let’s take the chances while they still come. And when the trains are working.

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Apr 12 2024
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Daily Post, Landscape

Crossing into Namibia

Friday 12th April 2024, 12.05pm (day, 4,614)

Kavango river, 12/4/24

This is the fourth shot ever on this blog to definitely feature the territory of two different countries, and all the other three have included England (two where English land was seen together with Wales, and one with France). However, after departing Manchester on the plane shown yesterday, and changing in Addis Ababa, I am now nowhere near England nor will be for some weeks.

The left-hand two-thirds of this shot, including almost all the irrigated land, is Namibia, where I landed about an hour after this point to begin my fortnight’s holiday. On the right, Angola, with the Kavango river forming the boundary between the two. Google Maps makes it possible to identify the location quite precisely: the irrigated circles are the Ndonga Linena Greenscheme, if you want to check my navigation.

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Aug 02 2023
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Parking place

Tuesday 1st August 2023, 3.30pm (day 4,359)

Van above river, 1/8/23

Hebden Bridge has its share of risky parking spaces — there’s the ‘Wing Mirror Two Inches From That 40-Tonne Truck Descending At Speed’ variety and more than a few ‘Garage Perched Precariously On Thin Pile Of Bricks (Above Terrifying Drop)’. But this is a new variety. I assume Storplan have good insurance.

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Jul 26 2023
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Daily Post, Urban scene

The Calder at Wakefield

Tuesday 25th July 2023, 3.05pm (day 4,352)

Calder and Hepworth, 25/7/23

The River Calder is the one that runs through Hebden Bridge, and I found out today it’s actually rather longer than I have been thinking it is for the last 20 years or so. I knew it debouched into the Aire but I thought this happened not far past Brighouse: in fact it’s about twenty miles further on than that, in Castleford. Here in Wakefield the Calder (not the Aire) is a wide beast, and navigable by barges, at least if those orange things weren’t in the way. (In the background, the Hepworth Art Gallery. It was news to me that there was an art gallery in Wakefield, too.)

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Jul 12 2023
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Salmon leap, Rogie Falls

Tuesday 11th July 2023, 4.00pm (day 4,338)

Salmon leap, 11/7/23

Rogie Falls, near Strathpeffer, are touted as a place where one can see salmon travelling upstream to spawn and doing their leaps: but I must admit on first sight, I was sceptical. These were not minor rapids but a powerful cascade, thundering over several drops, of which the highest one, pictured here, must have been at least twenty or thirty feet high. Surely no living creature could possibly get up this, against the flow — particularly not one without arms, legs or heavy machinery.

Well, I was wrong. And I have to say that I now have a new-found respect for this species. There have to be easier ways to live out one’s lifecycle, though.

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May 17 2023
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Duck-pigeon War: new developments (with optional postscript)

Wednesday 17th May 2023, 2.55pm (day 4,283)

Duck-pigeon war developments, 17/5/23

“Ssshhh. They’re asleep, I think. We can sneak in….”

“I feel scared. The water….”

POSTSCRIPT (feel free to ignore): You should have had a picture from London today. Specifically, I was going to go inside the Houses of Parliament for the first time in my life. However, thanks to an exquisitely timed cancelled train today — eradicated 10 minutes too late for me to get an earlier one — I couldn’t make it to King’s Cross in time for the event. So there was no point going. So Northern fuck up my day, and I get to just suck it up.

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Feb 07 2023
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

The weir

Monday 6th February 2023, 11.10am (day 4,183)

Hebden weir, 6/2/23

Pleasant weather today, which was probably a good thing bearing in mind my need to reacclimatise. The Hebden Water was spilling rather gently over its weir near the centre of town. This is the usual heron-spotting location, but there were none here today.

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Aug 10 2022
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Trying to relax

Tuesday 9th August 2022, 1.55pm (day 4,002)

Cafe by the Ouse, 9/8/22

Despite the various depredations of different kinds of Authority I am trying to affect a state of relaxation, and this gentleman, by the River Ouse in York, seems to be someone I can aspire to right now. I assume he’s not eaing the ‘ice cream for dogs’ though (see sign).

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May 23 2022
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Daily Post, Landscape

Fishing in the Dee

Monday 23rd May 2022, 2.00pm (day 3,924)

Fishing in the Dee, 23/5/22

Aberdeen’s debut appearance on this blog was on 24th June 2015 with a picture of a bloke stood in the middle of the River Dee, presumably fishing. Six years and eleven months on, for all I know this is the same bloke, although he’s further downstream than before. Still, I stand by my first impression of that time: that this is a surprisingly attractive city, this river particularly: it’s hard to believe that this is very near the centre of a place with 200,000 inhabitants. The cars on the bridge are the only real hint of urbanity.

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Jan 02 2021
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Daily Post, Landscape

The Strid

Friday 1st January 2021, 1.15pm (day 3,417)

The Strid, 1/1/21

2021 has limped into existence, and whatever else it brings, it will see the 10th anniversary of this blog (on 26th August). I make no predictions for the year, but I have made some resolutions, mainly that I will continue to live my life in the way that I need to in order to sustain my physical and mental health, whatever obstacles are placed in the way. That’s what it’s about isn’t it? Health? So we are being told, anyway.

This is the Strid, near Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire; one of the north of England’s natural wonders although the reason for this is not immediately apparent on this shot. The river is the Wharfe, and it’s fairly sizeable at this point, where it flows through a band of limestone. Above and below this gorge it is over 10 metres wide. So how does it squeeze itself through this defile, so narrow one could almost cross it with a stride — hence the name? The answer lies below: concealed by the water is a fearful chasm, undercut with potholes and very deep. Fall in here and I wouldn’t fancy your chances.

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