This giant wheel, tipped over onto its side but still propped up a little by its axle, lies by the top of New Works Road in Bradford, remnant of, and memorial to, one of the various coal mines which used to operate around here, but no more. These days, it indicates the point at which the chemical factory district turns back into the real world. I’ve done various pictures of the factories in the past, so today (tonight), let’s see the wheel.
Until about 2.30pm on Christmas Day I had not anticipated spending December 26th in Sheffield, but at that point an acquaintance told me of a spare ticket for a coach trip to go there and see the football (Sheffield United 0-2 Burnley, in case you were interested), and so it came to pass. In fact there were quite a few games in the area postponed or abandoned because of fog, which was certainly the main weather feature of the day. This is one of those shots that looks as if I’ve post-processed it and turned it monochrome, but that’s not the case: this is really what Sheffield city centre looked like at about 1.30pm.
Our Clare gets herself about the world entirely adequately on foot these days, meaning that I haven’t noticed any used of this bicycle for at least ten years, probably more. It still sits on our front doorstep though, being gradually colonised by grass and whatever strange growth is currently dying off on the other side of the fence. Perhaps, one day, it will move again — but I doubt this will be with anyone sitting on it.
The Kookaburra Queen is a Mississippi-style riverboat that seems to spend all its time moored at Eagle Street Pier on the Brisbane river: this is its paddlewheel. I assume it does see active service but whenever I go past, it’s there, a feature of my daily walk to work at QUT. I don’t have many of those left however – one week to go in Brisbane (and I’m spending half of that away, with three days coming up in North Queensland after tomorrow).
Being 42 