As this blog cycles (seemingly endlessly) around the calendar there are certain fixed points, and 26th October is one of them — Clare’s birthday. Here she is celebrating it with lunch in the White Lion — her parents, my in-laws, unseen to the left. Happy happies to her: I shall demur from reporting the exact number, but it’s several years fewer than me, anyway.
This is a very boring photo. In that respect it epitomises my day perfectly. The title of the post says it all.
The Striders are a local running group. Yesterday, they set out to run a 5km lap, on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours. This was taken at the end of the last one. Jilly, in the middle with the white top, did 20 of these laps — thus, she has run 100km (or over 60 miles) since Saturday, with a couple of hours of dozing at about 3am. I am in awe of this; if I walk more than about 10 miles these days I feel knackered and have to rest for a day or so.
Still sunny… but that little bit chillier, as we pass the Equinox and head into autumn.
Determined not to do a post today that was directly flood-related, so this isn’t one, although it’s hardly the best-quality pic of this or any year. The White Lion is currently the only pub remaining open in Hebden Bridge town centre, so the Railway crew have relocated — while they ponder the fact that their home turf may well never reopen.
I do note that the White Lion is the oldest building in Hebden, built in the 16th century when there was literally nothing else here — and that it is the only building in the town centre not to have been flooded on Saturday. It has only struck me today that this is not a coincidence. The builders observed — then they built — and they were right. Everyone else who has since built here has taken a rather more shortsighted view.
The rules I set myself on this blog (which are available on the ‘About’ page) state that I do not pose or stage photos, nor do I light them beyond what illumination is available naturally. These are true, but tonight, while stopping off for a pint on the way home from work, this woman was working on setting up some jewellery-making class in the White Lion, and complaining that she didn’t have good enough light. I noticed that the spotlights above were adjustable so made the necessary changes to help her out — then asked if I could take her picture because the light had suddenly come so good. So I suppose this one is half-lit. But one can bend the rules occasionally to help others.
A highly unexciting day, in all senses including photographically. But exploiting the back of the coffee machine may have given some surrealist quality to my creative efforts this afternoon.
There has been no weather for days now. No rain, no sun, no real clouds even, just this grey pall stuck over the world. Worst possible photography light. So here we are, with the help of some artificial illumination here’s today’s shot of a pub — you’ll be thinking I spend all my time in these places. *cough*
Must say I approve of this recent trend, of the establishment of temporary office accommodation – offering free wi-fi and refreshments of an alcoholic nature – at several points on the way home from work. Just the thing for the tired professional who wants to marry his unfortunate need to do more work with his understandable need for a beer. The service pictured here is provided by the White Lion, Hebden Bridge. There are others. Any one would have been welcome after a day that started early, finished late, and I still have to pack to go back to Norway tomorrow.
Being 42 