Rowntree Park

Rowntree Park in York was given to the city by Joseph Rowntree [a less favourable telling of the tale has JR donating the land by the river to the city so that Terrys - a rival chocolate maker - would not be able to use the land as a wharf for their factory just up the hill]. Either way it is a lovely park with a great library/cafe in it. We went on Sunday.

Lem Selfie

Here is the traditional selfie from our trip to Lem.

Day Trip to Leamington Spa

Friday evening we were at York University Court [Danielle is a member, I am the plus-one] with Robert and Helen. As usual we were sat with some really interesting people, so we had a good evening.
Then Saturday we got the train down to Lem to see Rowan for a walk, and lunch. We took the dog on the train, which surprisingly to me worked out OK. Lovely to see Rowan so happy.

This is on the canal towpath that Rowan has discovered is a good running route.

Humberhead 3

The Humberhead peat bogs and the birch scrub are managed to a degree; although it is rare to see anyone else there. This area, recently worked, looks like a cold weather mangrove swamp; a very wet place.

Gimme More

Another shot from the lonely Humberhead moors.

Last night was book group. We discussed Gimme More by Lisa Cody which was a rock and roll novel; that is a hard genre to be successful in, and it was not a total success but we both enjoyed it anyway.

Band practice today; ten days to the gig. Egos and volume controls in check [just].

Humberhead Again

I was back to the Humberhead peatlands National Nature Reserve. I have not been in the autumn before, so the colours were very different. As usual it was deserted [apart from the deer that Milo delighted in chasing] and totally magical.

Liz and Nicky

Friend Liz from London and her friend Nicky came up to stay as another friend was having the private view for her show at York Art Gallery https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/sara-radstone-more-than-words/ . We then all went to Cafe Concerto for a meal. The company was great, the show? not so good. Turns out Liz had been to Wuppertal for a school exchange in 1966, so she [uniquely] knew about the city and the monorail. So that is all the excuse I need for another photo.

Once Upon A Time in America

1998. Rowan her father and her grandmother in Virginia.

Rocky Times

Same road trip in 1998. Rowan and Danielle on the continental divide in the Rockies

The Start

The scanning goes on. This is of me on my very first trike.

Pendle 2

Delicate beauty is not what you normally hear associated with the Lancashire Moors but that is what you get sometimes. It was a still day.

Pendle Hill

I know not why I have never been up Pendle Hill. A magnificent shapely moor high above the Ribble Valley. We never went when I was a child and it has taken me 20 years in York to get over there; this despite the witchcraft and Quaker connections. Anyway, this week I made it and was not disappointed.

Man and Dog at Top

Festival 2

Other highlights of the Festival were from India, Russia, Norway and so on. York was at its best all weekend with lovely clear autumn light. This is Kings Manor and the old city wall.

Short Film Festival

This week was the York BAFTA Short Film Festival - it is our favourite York event of the year. Rather than just say - it was brilliant, I have listed the films we saw. The films came from all over the world and really lived up to expectations. They are grouped together as 5 or 6 films of various categories [drama, comedy, experimental etc] and if you don't like one, then another is around the corner in 12 minutes or so. The whole city is awash with people going from one venue to the next, a very dynamic event.

The photo is a shot I took as we rushed from one venue [The Yorkshire Museum] to another [The City Screen cinema]. I have no idea what the people were doing but I liked the light.

Drama

• Adult - Australia. Just your everyday tale of guilt, gay porn, Greece, Australia, LA, family rejection, drugs and death. All in 12 minutes.
• Hymen - Morocco. A young couple on their wedding night working out how to shut up the baying expectation of the wedding guests.
• Elegy - Spain. Peer pressure and bullying and guilt in a high school.
• Backstory - Germany. A life story told at high speed in 8 minutes.
• All The Rest is the work of Man - France. An Algerian refugee looks for his sister - or is it his sister?

Experimental

• Noche - Spain. Just great arty filming
• Reverie - UK. Young Londoners sounding off
• Plasma Vista - UK. Weird CGI stuff about prosthetics
• Alexithymia - UK. About feeling no emotion.
• Leisure - Australia. Contrasting lives of a lonely old vacationer and a maid at her hotel.
• Rope - Germany. Photo-montage version of an Ambrose Bierce short story.

That lot was Wednesday evening: more to follow.

Skipworth 2

One of the ponds in the Skipworth Common bog. Still, beautiful and other worldly. As I wander around this pathless wilderness it is hard not to start feeling a little post-apocalyptic about the landscape: where are the people?

Skipwith

A walk on the wild and lonely Skipwith Common this week. A WW2 airfield reclaimed by moor, bog and birch. This pile of logs looked suitably sinister.

Laurence

New member of the family: Sarah and Markus have had a third child, welcome to Laurence Eberhardt.

Chapmans Pond

This is another of our local ponds - Chapmans Pond near the cafe. All of the ponds were created by the extraction of clay to make bricks to build York; there is no building stone within 12 miles or so. It is a great legacy. We saw a Great Crested Grebe looking a little lost.

Local Walk

Sunday we walked around the neighbourhood. Our local cafe, usually shut at the weekend, was open for a surprise coffee and parkin. When we were walking back across the Moor the sun caught the Minster in the distance.

Agatha Christie

Rowan was up for part of the weekend, so we all went to see the new Murder On The Orient Express; it was an enjoyable entertainment, no more no less.

Saturday night we were at Sue & Eddy's housewarming, lots of people to catch up with, nice house.

The endless fireworks for bonfire night cause the dog a lot of grief, we shall all be glad when the month of explosions is over.

Another shot from Nottingham and the rowing last week; I am pleased with this one.

Erics

The last membership card I had for Erics; my first was 1976. It was a constant joy through my time at Liverpool to do down there. Pretty much everyone played Erics; it always felt good there, a great place.

Club Alpin Francais

Five years later in 1983 I was a member of Club Alpin Francais and about to start the first leg of the Walk.

Passport Photos

As I near pension decision time I am having to search through many old documents. I found this passport, with photos of me at 15 and 20. A time of great change.

Pilot Palmour

45 years ago I was a reluctant pupil at Rossall boarding school. I was also a reluctant member of the RAF cadets [no choice]. I did however enjoy flying a chipmunk plane above Southport.
Two things I remember
Pilot "When we do a loop it can be pretty unsettling"
Me "Yes I can imagine {unsaid - please don't do one}"
Pilot "Here we go then..."
Coming out of the loop I was amazed to see the ground where I thought the sky would be.

then

Pilot "I'll just switch the engine off. Now find a field to emergency land in"
Me "OK"
Eventually he put the engine back on - a bit of an adventure though.

Shooting into the Sun

It was a beautiful sunny autumn day at Nottingham for the rowing.