Boxing Day

Boxing Day we went a walk round Appleton Roebuck in lovely weather. Rowan took this shot of Layla and I striding forth.

Party Picture

Nataliia and friend at our party last week

Happy Christmas

Christmas Greetings to all.

The four of us followed our traditional way of having a Xmas meal

10.00 The Starter (smoked salmon and brown bread together with bucks fizz)

14.00 Main Course (this year a vegetarian Wellington, lots of great veg and Ukranien mushroom/eggs)

18.00 Pudding (a chocolate pie, which to be honest were mostly to full to eat.

21.00 Night cap (the Rye that brother Ben had sent us, on ice)

The only way to do it I reckon.

Party Time

We had our first Christmas drinks party since Covid. Good to open the doors again. Between 40 and 50 people dropped in to say hello and raise a glass of class mulled wine (own recipe). Rowan and Nataliia are with us for Christmas which will be good. In the photo friends Emilie, Helen and Philip are with Danielle and Rowan (always in the kitchen etc)

Rescue Dog

Back on Thorne Moors with Layla this week. We ended up having to plot a way through a bog, each time I lost my footing and landed in the water on my backside, Layla would come to me so I could pull myself up by grabbing her harness and start again. It was a relief to find a track and be back on (relatively) dry land. An epic day.

Maria

Rowan and I were doing what we like best - walking around London. En route to London Fields and Broadway Market for street food, I said "this street looks like where Maria lives", a friend I had not seen for years. Rowan encouraged me to ring the bell and we found Maria and her friend Nooran who I had not seen for 30 years, busy baking delicious Cypriot biscuits and cakes for Xmas. When we left we had a bag full to take with us. A great visit.

London Times

I walked on to see Paul & Coral in Muswell Hill, and then to Rob & Kath where I stayed over after we had gone for a meal at the local pub. Paul and Rob were my 2 best men at our wedding. I have known Paul for 40 years and Rob for 47, so not new friends. Avery pleasing day. 

Next day I caught up with friend Wendy who I last saw at my Penn Club exhibition in 2019. Always good to keep in touch. Then in the afternoon Victor and I had our usual good catch up session. We went to the Conduit club in Covent Garden where he is a member. Fantastic food and a great great evening.

Saturday I went round to Rowan's flat off of Essex Road which she shares with her friend Orla. (see sign above.)

 

The Pergola

Thursday I took a train to London and walked on a whim from Kings Cross. Regents Park first then up Primrose Hill, the view from which is one of the best in London. I then worked my way across to Belsize Park and up to Hampstead. I have not been there for a long time, it is a great part of London. I followed paths across the heath to come to Golders Hill Park. 30 years ago I came to the park with a friend and found a way into what appeared to be an abandoned building of some sort. No one else was there and it felt like a secret place that I was not sure actually existed beyond my imagination. So I was delighted and shocked to not only find it, but to discover that it had been renovated, reopened to the public and generally saved from decay since my illicit visit in the early 90s. Luckily it was such a drizzly day that there only one other person in the whole area - I'm not fully sure that they were not a ghost. So a mystery is solved.

Toddler Time

Me as a toddler. Two things to note; one my attachment to bikes and trikes. Two: my imitation of my father holding a camera. Not sure I have really moved on from either interest really.

26 years ago

We had our first run out as a five piece band this week. Bass, drums, piano, two guitars. Went really well, so we hope to kick on in the new year. One of our new songs is one by me which is a setting of one of Robert's poems. First time we played it and it went well too.

I found this photo of my 40th Birthday Party at the much-lamented Pegs Club in Covent Garden that we were members of, and where we had our wedding reception. Long since shut.

Birthday

I've hit Route 66 this week. Danielle took me a walk with the dog to a restaurant down the river where surprise guests Sue & Eddy and Dave & Emma showed up. The six of us met for my birthday in 2002, 21 years ago. Quite a thought. Then we walked home, made it back just as it was going dark. A really good way to celebrate the day. Then in the evening Danielle and I saw the Marian Consort at the National Centre for Early Music: a really great concert, fantastic singing.

Meantime here is me as a toddler (as far as I know)

Gurmeet

 

I moved from Oxford to London in 1980, and started working with disabled people in King Henrys Walk run by Islington council. I worked closely with Gurmeet who had moved there a month or so before I arrived there. He was a similar age to me, and we got on. He was disabled from birth, and used a wheelchair. His Sikh family had moved to Islington from India. They were not well off. His sister and younger brother were also similarly also disabled. It was the 1960s. Gurmeet was sent off to a residential unit in Northamptonshire. Eventually his social worker got Gurmeet a place at King Henrys Walk. Back in the urban environment, and able to use the staff and volunteers to assist him without question, Gurmeet flew. He persuaded Time Out magazine to commission him to do access reviews for every venue in the capital. He worked at the Kings Head Theatre on Upper Street in Islington. Within a year he had his first play on BBC radio 4, and soon after he decided he wanted to make a film with Faye Dunaway in it. Through incredible persistence, some talent, and a lot of nerve, he managed it. Starring Faye and that bloke out of Gregory's Girl the BBC made a film, Raspberry Ripple which was broadcast in 1988. Gurmeet went on to work with, amongst others, Ian Drury and Tina Turner, on ideas for projects. I travelled with him to the Cannes film festival, as his carer in 1982, and we managed to blag our way into the premiere of Fitzcaralldo the Werner Herzog movie. I helped him get his own flat supported by CSV volunteers in 1983. His determination and maximisation of anything he had going for him was something else. I went to his funeral in the early 1990s, and met up in the Kings Head for a wake drink with a few of his friends. Through the door we saw an old light blue Morris traveller slow down outside the pub, then ease off down Upper street. Gurmeet had always had such a car; they were not common. 

Paul

I met Paul when I was working in Oxford. We shared of love of music, when my cassettes were stolen he made me nine or ten C90s of music he knew I would like. A real kindness. He was a paraplegic. I never ask people with spinal injuries how they got them; it is up to people to share what they want. It was only after he had killed himself that I found out his injury was from a previous attempt.

Percy

When I lived in Hereford & Worcester for a year in 1985, friend Chris hooked me up with his friend Percy. Percy, from Longridge originally just down the road from my childhood home in Preston, had moved to an isolated, very rural, totally off-grid tumbledown cottage. It was truly idyllic, and Percy welcomed me to share time at his amazing place. He survived by doing seasonal work, including hop picking with transient labourers, on farms nearby. Then one day in the 90s someone offered him a lift into the nearby market town of Bromyard to run some errands. The car crashed en route, and Percy died. A ironic end to a peaceful existence.

David

When I worked at Taylor House in Oxford there were four staff and four disabled students. Between the 8 of us we worked things out and had a great year. David, who is behind Achille in this shot was a great person to work with, and a great source of tales. He married Shallo, and Marie and I ended up staying with them in Cowley for a month or so when we returned from The Walk. He died of a heart attack (he lived a full life, so it was not that much of a surprise) in the early 90s.

Achille

Quite a lot of a death theme this year. So apologies for a bit more. Scanning old photos I realised I had lost a lot of people over the years - as we all have or shall. 

This shot is of Achille my Italian friend (and Inter fan) who helped me realise that I liked working for disabled people. I carried on seeing him once a year or so (he lived with Jan, his wife, in Oxford) until he died 10 years or so ago.

Joanna

It was Joanna's memorial meeting yesterday. A packed hall, a real celebration, but I felt pretty bad the whole time. At Liverpool Charlie, Jo and me shared a flat: just me left now.

This photo was taken in Cannonbury in, I think, 1982. 

 

On Reflection

Another recent shot of reflected grass. Not all are great but I like the experimentation. 

Saturday

The trains were up the spout, so I collected Rowan from Doncaster station, with my faithful companion. Danielle and I then went for a meal with Sue & Eddy, and fellow guests Barbara (from Spain who cooked some great food) and Richard and Liz. Just as we settled down to watch Rye Lane (a great movie out this year) I had to leave to collect Nataliia from Leeds Bradford Airport. So a busy day.

Thailand

Rowan has been in Thailand for two weeks with her friend Alice. She is back now, and popped up to see us for the weekend. Sounds like a good trip. Train travel, elephant sanctuary, cooking class etc. And swimming in idyllic places like this.

1979

 An early shot. Friend Karin when we were working at Taylor House in Oxford in 1979.

Mike

I am doing a bit of scanning of old snaps. Found this one of the loved and missed Mike Gregovic from around 1986, I think at a squat somewhere near Westbourne Grove.

More Hatfield

Back to Hatfield Moors this week. Another great walk, met two people. One a scientist monitoring something, one a Buddhist monk. 

Here is Layla looking over her domain. I never cease to find new beauty in this place.

Flood

The river Ouse floods at least a few times each year. Everyone knows what is coming and just gets on with it. This is usually a park with footpaths across it.

This & That

Busy few days. Danielle got Covid on Thursday, so she has been home bound for the last few days. Another test will be taken shortly, hopefully she will be clear. Very few symptoms at all.

Wednesday I went to a meeting about North Yorkshire Open Studios (different to York Open Studios), which I will be exhibiting in for the first time next year. All seems a very positive organisation.

Thursday I ate at John's and had a really good evening. Earlier I went a walk with Robert and the dog around a very sodden and flooded York. Friday I got a short bike ride in, on a beautiful day, Saturday friend Emilie (who had invited us for a meal) kindly brought the food round here for us to have. This was much appreciated.

Then today I went to Quaker meeting and enjoyed being back there having missed it recently. 

This shot is from our local park, just down the road. A very beautiful place, especially with the sun streaming through the trees.

Scotton 3

 

Another one from Scotton.

Scotton 2

Another shot from Scotton, showing the wood this time. And the dog.

Scotton

Part of the Humberhead levels are to the east of the river Trent that flows south from the Humber to Gainsborough. It is not a large area, and much of it is bordered in the east by Scunthorpe. So up to now I had not visited it. But whilst looking at ariel shots of  Thorne and Hatfield moors, I noticed that there was an area of heath and forest and bog that I had not heard of. So I headed to Scotton Common on Monday morning. I am glad that I did, it was an interesting and beautiful area. This shot gives a good indication of what the heath looks like. More shots to follow.

In the evening I had a drink with Eddy in memory of Patrick. Patrick and I, and Eddy when he could make it, used to meet up for Monday evening drinks in as many different York pubs as we could get through. Monday chosen as both Patrick and I were deaf, and needed the quiet Monday vibe to hear what we were saying.

Whisky Galore

 Friday evening we had our first whisky session with John and Carol for over a year. Hard to believe it has been that long. Anyway it was a good evening. More chat than whisky to be honest.

A Pennine reservoir in the fog in November might not be everyone's idea of  beauty, but it does it for me.

Joanna

I saw my friend Joanna in the hospice in Leeds last week, two days before she passed away. I was able to say goodbye, and I am grateful for that. Both my flatmates from my last year in Liverpool have now died, first Charlie, now Jo. This shot was taken at a party in my house in Tottenham in 1993 or thereabouts.

This week was Patricks funeral, a huge turnout at the local catholic church, as expected. The priest really read the room well and it made for just the right tone.

Exhibition 2

On the outsides of the group are Sally (print maker) and Catherine (ceramicist), in the centre our guest Nataliia and her friend who is also a Ukranian living in York.

Exhibition

 Been a bit busy. I was exhibiting at the York Cemetery Chapel at the weekend. I was with nine other artists and makers, ranging from woodwork to prints and ceramics. It went well, selling my  books and a few photographs as well. The 60cm circular prints continue to go well. 

Old Photos

I'm scanning photos from my Mother's album that has plenty of family ones not by me. So you'll see some over the coming months. Not sure who took what but they are interesting. I think Rowan is about 18 months old in this shot. 

 

Crater Rim - Azores

Taken looking west from the Azores in the mid Atlantic, next stop would be Virginia in the USA. The figures are people walking on a vast crater rim around a (mostly) extinct volcano. The surface of the ocean is mottled by the cloud shadows.

I thought this would be a popular shot at exhibition. Not the case, it has barely got a mention. No matter, I still like it.

Blackstone Edge

Back in York I took Layla on a walk on Blackstone Edge, the epitome of the grim, drizzly, misty, boggy south Pennines. I loved it, and I think it is fair to say that the dog did too. 

Birthday time

We were down in Islington for a friends 70th birthday. (Can't believe I just wrote that). It was a great party. We met some people we knew, and some new to us. Very uplifting occasion. Here is the host Wendy and her daughter Mia, standing by the harp that a musician was playing in the front room. We were so busy chatting we missed the music though.

 

Patirck RIP

Patrick, on the left of this picture, taken with Eddy and I on the way to watch the football in Harrogate, died from cancer this week. The third friend this year to pass away. He was a great bloke and we did a lot together over the years, a real loss to his friends, family and the city, and the local Labour party. Patrick had his first novel published late last year which was really good.

Relatives

Cousin Gill and Robert stayed over at the weekend. Always a pleasure to see them up here, had a great meal together with Nataliia too. 

I was on Hatfield Moors yesterday. As you can see by this reflection, it was very still; hardly a breath. There was also a welcome increase in the amount of water around. 

I met a local volunteer who records all the birds seen on the moors. His father had worked down the pit at Thorne Moors, then bought a chippy in the pit village of Moorends, where he grew up, before moving to Hatfield. He could not have been more steeped in the area's heritage.

Source Material

I went to my first gig for a while with Paul to see Rakhi Singh: a member of the Manchester Collective of modern classical musicians. It was at the Howard Rooms in Leeds, one of my favourite venues for this sort of music. Great stuff.

This is the pool on Thorne Moors that provided the image I posted three days ago.

Long Ago

 Found this picture of baby Rowan, a mere 25 and a half years ago.

On track

 

There used to be a peat plant at Crowle, which processed some of the peat from Thorne moors. The wooden sleepers / ties can be seen occasionally along the paths that cross the moors, with some pieces of rail also sometimes poking out of the undergrowth. But most of the network is now just a memory. So, inevitably in the this country, a group has been set up to recreate the track and rolling stock that ran upon the line. They have now got as far as having a length of track where it would have run prior to closure. As you can see from this shot, it is not the most parallel of configurations but I think this is probably what the track used to look like - rough and fairly ready.

More from Thorne

A trip to Thorne Moors this week brought me this photo. It is one that I really like, and be interested to get a reaction to. It is an image abstracted from a shot of a shallow scrape. I loved the reflection of the clump of grass, but it looked too understandable. Flipping it top to bottom did not work in this case, it just looked daft. But turning it 90 degrees gave me this image.

Bike Ride

Cycled over to Harrogate on a lovely day. Listening to a JB Priestley play, stopping at the Beryl Burton memorial stone, all was good. I even had the ticket office bloke at Harrogate station helping me get the cheapest ticket home (£2.40 which is ridiculously cheap). 

The Crooked Tap

Friend Paul introduced me to a new bar in Acomb. It is totally different to the rest of pubs in the area (which is a good thing). Basically a rough and ready conversion of a shop to a bar with great craft ale, some chairs and tables and a casual and welcoming approach to all people and dogs who care to visit. So the Crooked Tap gets a big thumbs up.

Produce News

Eating runner and French bean pods is over for the year. Still able to get the actual beans and use in soups and stews. Beautiful things.

View from the Room

A nice welcome from the hosts at our station retreat in Kielder. The birds on the feeder outside were many: nuthatch and chaffinch and tits.

 

The Band Played

The band have been in a bit of abeyance since our gig in November of last year. Peter the bass player has not been well, Robert and I have played a few times but today was our first real jam for close on a year. Really good to be back playing. 

Playing downstairs on account of Nataliia being upstairs. Dog suitably unimpressed. Band out to lunch.

Kielder 5

High up on the moors before the descent to Scotland. It really did feel like another country down there.
 

Kielder 3

I rode off road one day for a great ride. Around Kielder water, then up over through the forest to emerge in what I was surprised to find was Scotland. Just fantastic terrain to ride on, barely saw cars all day.