2025 is ending with a very Hebden-bound period of time, but I can’t say I mind. The weather is not conducive to any walking plans (then again, in December it rarely is) and I’m just getting on with the reading. Our ‘Eiffel Tower’ is called thus because it marks the end of the row of houses known as Eiffel Buildings; it might not be as imposing as the one in Paris but it’s still a cute building. The birds and mist add the necessary atmospherics.
The view of Halifax from its northern districts (Illingworth, Holmfield) is as good as one could probably expect of the place. The kids attending Trinity Academy school get this all the time, in fact. Wainhouse Tower, the world’s tallest folly (official), makes at least its fourth appearance on here.
With the main rail line through Huddersfield closed this month — apparently it’s an ‘upgrade’ though that could mean anything — services are being routed along the Calder Valley line and adding further pressure to an already-creaking system. I was not supposed to have 20 minutes or so of hanging out at Rochdale station today, but here it is.
The tower over there has always impressed me — the building used to be a fire station, so presumably this is an observation tower, from the days before 999.
Or should it be, the parked red car? I know there is supposed to be some kind of innate order to English adjectives, but here I am unsure. Anyway it is often seen in this position — this was not a lucky capture. And yes, it tilts to a noticeable degree: otherwise, this shot is faithful enough to the perpendicular.
Getting out of the general area of the hotel was desirable so I did what I usually do under these circumstances and went to a football match; this is taken outside the Zabeel Stadium. There were far more Emiratis there than are typically seen around the city, at least in the bits that I have been (only just over 10% of Dubai’s population are Emirati).
And this also offered an opportunity to add to the blog’s list of ‘Superlatives’ (see the bottom of the stats page) — the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at 2,722 feet/829.8 m, or over half a mile. It really is ridiculously tall. One day I might try to go up it but there’s no time on this trip and apparently the queues are outrageous anyway. I imagine going to the football is a better way of plugging into local culture.
Both these facilities are to be found in Darwen, Lancashire, where concluded my last weekend in the UK until late May. By the time I get back it might have stopped raining — this shot was grabbed in one of the afternoon’s few dry spells. At least, if it does rain on my travels to come, it’ll be warmer rain.
Not as exciting a photo as was planned for the day, and certainly a less extensive panorama, but the reasons for this can be gathered by inspection of the top of the picture. The observation decks of the CN Tower (still the tallest building in the world outside of Asia) were swathed in cloud, making the jaunt to the top, if not pointless, then rather less of an attraction than it might have been. But the woman on the gate did advise me that I could just reschedule my timed ticket for another day — which was very civilised of her (some major tourist attractions would have just said ‘tough shit, sucker, lump it’). So I shall return on Monday. And if it’s cloudy then?…. it will be what it will be.
There was a bit of the sunglow thing going on in the sky this morning but this shot is more the result of me playing around with some filters which my new camera seems to have built-in. Some of them are ridiculous, to be honest. But this one produces a reasonable effect, even if it is me just messing with gimmicks as I get used to the thing.
There still doesn’t seem to be a great deal going on in Manchester, but at least the light was good today. Lancaster House stands on the intersection of Princess and Whitworth Streets, and is a good example of the Victorian tendency to stick these grandiose flourishes at the top of any given commercial building. Does it assert some kind of dominance, or did they just have a lot of stone left over? Either way, I like it.
The first of the drives (mentioned yesterday) is completed. This was a somewhat gloomy day with occasional bursts of light, as the shot suggests. The tower sits on the edge of the moor, above Lancaster. One of those constructions built purely for the hell of it: it contains nothing, provides no service except the rooftop platform from which one can see the good view. So it counts as a folly, I suppose: I’m not even sure whose ‘jubilee’ it celebrates.
Being 42 