Godwits

Tuesday I took Ro and Pete to Skipwith Common, a re-wilded WW2 airfield. We saw a flock of what we think were Black Tailed Godwits - a great sight.

Family Visit

Sister Ro and brother in law Pete came up to stay for a couple of days. We all got a good walk in down the River Ouse in perfect still sunshine. This is where the old east coast main line crosses the Ouse on a swing bridge. It is now part of the Sustrans route to Selby.

Wind

This is an off-shore wind farm we saw on our Saltburn trip. To me it is as much art as Antony Gormley's figures at Formby.

Pond Light

Adrian and Cathy came round for a meal with the three of us. Danielle cooked a Burn's night menu, all of which was great, and went down well.

The light on the pond across the moor is a beautiful thing. I caught this shot just the other day.

21st

For Rowan's 21st Birthday we three went to Roots, a new restaurant in York. It was a great meal, no doubt about it. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/oct/05/grace-dent-roots-york-restaurant-review-tommy-banks

Don Valley Rides Again

The band have a gig in May, so we are getting some practice in. Great time had by all, sounded pretty good too. There is nothing quite like playing music with other people.

 Here is another shot from the same trip as yesterday

More Elmet

I discovered another piece of magical hidden heath at North Cliffe last week. You have to walk through a wood to get to it, worth every step.

Patience

As you can see Milo displayed stoical resignation when being mass-petted by our little cousins on their visit.

Saltburn 2

Saltburn was a seaside resort for Teeside back in the Victorian day. It still is a little bit, although the hotels are shut. The pier is a reminder of its past function.

Saltburn 1

Some friends have moved to Saltburn, on the coast between Middlesbrough and Whitby. We drove up, did a great walk along the beach and then back on the cliff top. A spectacular place alright.

Busy

It has been a busy few days. Meeting up with lots of people, trying to sort out coverage for the book and so on. Got 4 good reviews on Amazon now, so that is nice. Friend Victor was up for a speaking engagement so we met up on Saturday morning and had a really great catch up. Friend for 30 years.

Me and Bracken (our first Labrador) at Whitefriars in Preston. 1970?

Birthday Meal

I have had a busy few days, meeting up with people about the book and so forth. It is all pretty exciting. 

Rowan sent us this picture from her birthday meal with boyfriend Joe.

21 Today

Rowan is 21 today. She sent us this photo - balloons from flatmates.

Lantern Church

This is the Lantern Church (All Saints, Pavement) in York with the said lantern being in the open tower. The sky looked menacing behind, so I took the shot.

Tallis

York Art Gallery has undergone a revamp and has an ambitious program of exhibitions. The current one has been curated by the Kaiser Chiefs [the band not the football team] and includes a work by Janet Cardiff that has forty speakers in a room for a playing of Thomas Tallis motet for 40 voices. So you wonder around hearing individual voices or walk to the centre and hear the whole thing. It is really good. https://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/motet.html

He.re is Danielle sitting and listening

Newcastle 3

I had never walked across the high level bridge before, just us and the odd bus. A beautiful Victorian creation. We had cut if fine to catch our train, so that is Danielle leading the way north.

Newcastle 2

The Tyne Gorge always impresses. The light got sharp towards the end of our stay, making the bridges across the river look all the more dramatic.

Birthday

For Danielle's birthday on Monday we went on a mystery trip to Newcastle on the train. We visited the Baltic gallery, the Sage, crossed the Millennium bridge and had lunch at a great new restaurant in a container space right under the Tyne Bridge (the one that looks like Sydney Harbour Bridge) called Trakol.

Track 10

And here is the last track of the year's picks. Obviously not new, but the first time I heard this instrumental version by Hendrix of the Albert King song. It is easy to forget just how great he was.

Felix and Laurence at the Railway museum.

Track 9

Rachel Croft is just starting out, but will be big. Hope to see her play here soon.


Niece Sarah and her family [5 in total] came to stay for a few days. Great to see them all; amazing how easy it is to forget the unrelentlessness of young children. Here is a photo of the troupe en route to the Railway Museum

Track 8

We cover this Tom Waits song, but this version is better than Tom's and better than our's. I saw the Five Blind Boys of Alabama at Hackney Empire long ago, and they were powerful.

Track 7

I heard this on coverage of the Tour de France this year [thankyou Shazzam]. The band are Australian, so it was on our playlist for our trip down under. Great groove, lots of attitude.

Track 6

I hear tracks from all kinds of sources. This was on Radio 4 late at night on a programme about Trains put together by Mark Tulley. Considering it is a rap over a WH Auden poem makes it even more unlikely. But I love it. And Auden was born in York.

Another shot from Skipwith Common. Birch are a favourite tree.

Track 5

Rowan was into Grime for a while, and Bugzy Malone from Manchester was one of the rappers who I liked. This track is a good mix of Northern grit and beauty.



Danielle and I walked at Skipwith Common, it is a heathland that was a WW2 airfield and is now reverted to heath; a beautiful place

Track 4

This band are from Halifax, and we are seeing them in the new year down the road at the Crescent, here in York. I like this track.



Meantime here is a photo of man and dog in action - taken by Rowan

Track 3

This is a bit of a mainstream choice for me, but it is great to hear a relevant jazz album once again.

Track 2

Next track of the year. So from acoustic guitar to shiny perfect K-Pop. Always been partial to classy electro-pop; this is nearly as good as ABC.