Cycling

The Times cycling campaign has led to a petition which I urge you to sign http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49196 The government needs a final kick to get it committed to cycling in a real way; this opportunity has never even been close in the past. It is a bit politically embarrassing that it took a Tory mayor to help get cycling up the agenda but I care not - we must seize the moment.

The photo is from the rowing regatta at the weekend; the light caught the boat just right.

Super Sunday

So yesterday I took Rowan to the track for 8.20am where she got on the coach that was taking the York team to the Athletics match in Middlesborough. She is now in the under 17 girls category, which sounds a little daunting. She really enjoys being part of the team with her mates and had a good time. She won the 800m and was second in the high jump to a girl she knows is very good.
Meantime Danielle ran a half marathon with friend Jenny to Beningborough Hall. They finished at the cafe there, where I met them on my mountain bike. So we had a coffee and cake together then she and Jenny got a cab back home and I carried on my ride. I made the off-road route up as I went along and had a great time. Very windy, lots of great tracks including the battlefield at Myton http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/medieval/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=26 which is a beautiful quiet spot. By the time I got home I had done 95k so felt pretty good.
We all slept well.
The photo is of Danielle's rowing team.

Campiones!

Rowan and I got to see Danielle row in competition for the first time yesterday. Sipping our free champagne we saw her eight win their first race when the Bad Girls of St Peters tangled oars with City of York, and managed to tip the girl in front of Danielle into the river; they were disqualified.
The final was against York University who looked fearsome in their race against Leeds. To everyone's delight [and a bit of surprise] they won! Here they are as they close in on victory.

8 Years Ago

Found this photo from eight years ago, when the family went on the London Eye in celebration of Mother's 80th birthday.

Danielle and I had a day in the garden together this week; great to be able to make a start on getting things sorted for the growing season. Mind you, today it is freezing hail again.

Delivery

I love delivering photographs I have sold to people in their houses. It is a very positive thing. They are glad to see their photograph arrive, keen to show me where it will go. I am happy to sell, and always interested in seeing their homes and other art they have purchased. This year I delivered to one recently retired couple who are in the process of converting their old works storage into a house to live in, right in the centre of York; most inspiring. The down side is having to drive everywhere to deliver, but amazingly parking spots opened up in front of all the houses as I arrived. A good day.

The photo is of the Tilmire, a heathland south of York that is another favourite place of mine.

The Desert

I rode my 50k off-road round York route this week. After all the rain of the winter it is almost unbelievable to see how dry it has become so quickly. The aridity, the greedy destruction of hedges and the high wind has led to dust storms being common in the east of England [the train down to London can be quite bizarre across the Lincolnshire flatlands, with dust obscuring the view as if we were making tracks across the Gobi desert]. This is a field near York where the track was obscured by soil blown from the adjacent fields.

Wetlands

I had a meeting in Barnes in west London this week. A lovely  area which now has the London Wetlands Centre http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit/london/ in its midst. It is a beautiful spot, and you can believe yourself far away from the city [apart from the planes incessantly en route to Heathrow].

Meal

Greg and Maxine had us round for a meal Saturday evening. Great time, great food. Grey even made cocktails.

Found out that Rowan came equal second in the High Jump on Sunday, so that is a good start to the season.

High Jump

Rowan was competing at her first athletics meeting of the year - high jump at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. [The magnificent stadium is about to be demolished as a direct result of Government cuts, a truely bizarre and shameful situation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Valley_Stadium ] She cleared 1m 55, short of her PB, but still a good start to the season; she was smiling which is always a good sign. Not the best photo, but there she is clearing the bar.

Little Trains

I have spent quite a lot of time at Thornes Park in Wakefield over the last few years; Rowan has triathloned, cross countried, run and high jumped there. Usually it has rained. But today it was a lovely spring day with many many people enjoying the sun.
At 13.35 I took this photo of the little train plodding around the park

 At 13.37 I received another email from Auntie Alison with this photo attached; in it cousin Richard, Ro, Me and Gill sit behind the driver. It was taken at Blenheim park long long ago...

From the 60s

And today's photo, again courtesy of Auntie Alison, is of me surprisingly squeezing into second place between Ro and cousin Gill. I think it is at Slimbridge bird reserve.

Christening

My Aunt sent me this photo [from her Ipad, natch] of my Christening. From left, my Uncle Geoff, Godmother Bella [never forgot a birthday], me [shocked rather than beautiful] and Godfather [rarely remembered a birthday].A mere 56 years ago.

Ouse Willow

Ouse Willow

I put this shot in the show for the first time. I really like it - it seems as if the saplings are reaching up and pleading. For all of Friday and Saturday and Sunday morning no one even commented on it, let alone liked it. Then two people said it was one they really liked, so I was very pleased at that.
The fact is though that some shots have very limited appeal, and this is one of them. It is something I have got used to; a question of striking a balance between showing what people like [and will buy] and showing what I like.

First Shorts Day

Despite it not really being warm enough, I wore shorts today. So it is officially First Shorts Day. April 16th, the latest since records began.

2003 March 26
2004 March 30
2006 April 14
2010 April 9
2011 March 23
2013 April 16

Spring 1

I saw the first Swallow of the year on Friday, and today the Mistle Thrushes are busy building their nest, so at least some think that spring is here.
The show was a success, we got a lot of footfall, a lot of interest and sales weren't bad.
This was the first time I had exhibited this shot, and it went down very well with three people wanting copies so far.

A Fine Balance

I showed a really big canvas version of it which brought out the layers of the photo to good effect.

The Show Goes On

This shot is going down well at the Mount Show. Only three weeks old but I think it will make the cut. The show is going well - exhausting though.
Rowan is busy revising, and Danielle is rowing [she fell in today] so we are all differently busy.

Busy Times

A good two days. First a presentation with colleague Dan to a client went really well - this is always a relief and not a given. Then cycled through town to Surbition where I stayed with college friend Katie and family. We went for a meal at La Tasca in Kingston with their son Andy and friends - really nice evening.
Then a busy day working in west London. Blasting over Kingston bridge on the Brompton something snapped and by the time I stopped the jockey wheel off of the deraillieur was long gone. I stuttered along OK on it until between meetings I was heading to Hampton and it became unrideable. I still had time to push it to my meeting. Then, in the most unlikely of places emerged a bike shop. With Brompton spares. For £3. And it fitted. And it worked.
Very happy outcome.
Now on the Grand Central train back home busy preparing for the Show tomorrow

Trains

I was getting the 8.55 train to London today. You never quite know what you are going to get at this time of day. Is it going to be packed with early-grannies and chaotic families? Or is it, as today, going to be marvellously empty and run non-stop to London? I grab a table and get set-up for some work. Very pleasant.

At York I look onto the platform and see an old lady waving goodbye to a loved one on the train. Reminds me of leaving Bicester station 29 years ago heading off on The Walk. Mother and Granny waving from the platform as we headed off into the unknown. In my memory I even see them running a bit alongside the train as it moved off. When I returned 7 months later my Granny was in her last few days of life, in a hospice bed.

Wanlockhead

Brompton |Time

I was in London for work last week. I took the Brompton and used it to cycle all over town. A great feeling to be back on the capital's roads. I experienced my first "bike-jam" in Bloomsbury; so many bikes is a queue that we could not all get through on the green light. Stayed with Carl and Jill in Marylebone, always good to see them.

Sanquhar

A ruin and the church at Sanquhar.

Spring is Here the bikes are out

Yesterday was the first real day of spring in the UK. Dave and I went a 100k mountain bike ride on an off road route I have devised. It includes, tracks through woods, fields, inner city Leeds, the River Aire, the Liverpool Leeds canal, Harwood House, Burley Road where I first lived after leaving home. A classic.
We came across these weirdly shaped trees in an abandoned parkland between Aberford and Leeds.

Restaurant

Sanquhar was not a beautiful town. Interesting austere and dramatic but not beautiful. When talking to some locals at the bus stop I said
"The snow was so bad on Saturday we nearly delayed our journey. We were glad to get here"
Old bloke
"Did you hear that Jimmy, they were glad to get here!" much ironic laughter.
So we were pretty amazed to find that it had a Michelin star restaurant amongst its 2100 people. The Blackaddie http://www.blackaddiehotel.co.uk/ had a cheap menu available [not the actual restaurant but still very posh for us]. It was really great, a real treat and a total surprise. Recommended.

Above Wanlockhead

The photo is from our walk over the tops.

Sanquhar 4

Whilst we were in Sanquhar Dave & Emma came  up to stay for the last two nights, then on the Friday friends from Glasgow, Alison & Mike drove down to see us as well. So we all went a walk up to the Black Loch. In the local cafe where we had lunch there was a gig that evening with the legendary and presumed disappeared folk star Shelagh McDonald, we did not go but listened to her music anyway. Good stuff.

Windfarm

Windfarm Over Sanquhar

Another shot from Sanquhar. The Presbyterian past and the eco future.

Speeding

Over the years I have driven more and more carefully, slower and slower. It was somewhat ironic, therefore, to get caught by a speed camera on our recent trip to Suffolk. I had just overtaken a truck, glanced at the speedometer and noticed I was at 70; too late.

I was very annoyed with myself. I have no problem with speed cameras [I think there should be more]I was just cross that I had forgotten my speed. So the initial letter from Norfolk Police was not welcome. Then I got offered the chance to go on a Speed Awareness course instead of getting the fine and points on my licence. I took the chance, was grateful for it.

So at 8.15 this morning 40 of us assembled at the Garforth Holiday Inn. What a random cross section of society it was - age, gender, ethnicity, class - we had it all covered. The trainers were excellent, the participants all pleasant and not cynical about the exercise. It certainly helped me, and taught me aspects of the Highway Code I had no idea existed. All in all a very uplifting experience.

The photo is one I am very pleased with, from the Southern Uplands Way above Sanquhar

Snow Above Sanquhar

Sanquhar 2

We got some great walks in whilst in Scotland. One day we took the bus to Wanlockhead and walked back through an initial blizzard over the tops to Sanquhar. The bus driver looked on with some trepidation as we walked off into the snow. I saw him the next day, he seemed relieved to see us.