Leeds 1

Rowan has been revising with us for the last couple of weeks, for her CFA exams. Tuesday I drove her over to Leeds to take the latest exam. 5 hours, starting at 7.45am. Whilst she slogged through it, I took a great walk through Leeds the garden city. Some beautiful bits, like Gledhow Lake, pictured here early in the morning.

Snow

In amidst the endless storms we have been having (garden fence RIP) we got some comedy snow for light relief; arrived in the morning, gone by tea time.

Sofa

Milo was never allowed on the sofa. Nor was Layla, until she convinced us that she was. No doubt who pulls the strings in the family. She does deign to share it with us, as you can see in this symmetrical snoozing shot. 

Bleak

You probably get the idea of the kind of day it was on the moors. Just right for the three witches to appear.

Trigger

It was a wet old day when I walked the dog on Rievaulx Moors this week, but still good. Layla has worked out that Trig Points are of value to me, so will seek them out and sit by them. A great companion.

Moonshine

This is not a great photo, just an idea of the crazy moon that greeted me last night as I walked across the moor.

Damage

Well, Storm Dudley (has to be said with a midlands accent) got to grips with our fence. We had it put in 20 years ago when we moved to this house. Going to have to replace it.

Santa Fe

Six years ago Danielle and I were in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is a place that we are both keen to revisit at some time. Santa Fe is a surprisingly small town, this shot was taken just a short walk up from the market square.

Snowdrops

The snowdrops in our garden remind me that it would have been my Granny's 122nd birthday today. A bit of a mind-boggling thought.

After The Fire

After the heath fire in 2020 Hatfield Moors has recovered very will. The birch, as ever, are proving resilient in their reclaiming of the moors.

Hatfield

I am conscious that I post a lot of photos from Thorne and Hatfield Moors, and they may seem a bit like more of the same. But it is, to me, the special place. So I have to record it.

Don't Fence Me In

Pablo, one of friend Sandra's dogs, was so keen to see his mate Layla that he managed to enter our garden through the fence. Luckily Layla has no desire to leave the garden so it is still secure.

Portrait

I took a series of photos of various Quakers at meeting in York. One was Danielle, so here she is looking good.

Method

Researching the Elmet book I had discovered that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, had been born on the Isle of Axholme in the town of Epworth in what used to be Yorkshire. As I walked to Old Street to meet Paul, I came across John Wesley's house, statue and Methodist church. All adjacent to what is now Epworth Street. So there you go. 

 

Lanterns.

In the evening before catching the Grand Central train back home, I met Mark for a pint at Euston. A good little foray.

It was Chinese New Year, so there were plenty of lanterns about.

 

Nest

The next day Rowan was off to work, and I walked to meet Paul for a coffee at Look Mum No Hands. On the way I passed this collection of nesting boxes on a tree in Duncan Terrace, Islington.

 

Post-Modern

We also started the Post-Modern tour, and liked this building; The Janet Street Porter House at Farringdon. It seems a bit of a post-modern, steam-punk hybrid.

The Hardy Ash

Another gift from Rowan was a couple of special maps of London. One features notable trees, and the other notable post-modern buildings. So before the show we made a start on them both. In this shot we are in front of the Hardy Ash tree in St Pancras church yard. Named after the novelist Thomas Hardy, an architect as a young man, this ash tree and its buttress of surrounding gravestones was created when St Pancras churchyard was reduced to allow construction of the nearby Midland railway.

Totally

Rowan and I both enjoy the Totally Football podcasts. She got me a surprise Christmas gift of tickets for a Live show from the podcast team. So I was down for a couple of days in London. We both enjoyed the show a lot, really good entertainment; I was very grateful for her making the booking.

Peat

One last shot from the Pennine walk: the peat waters often produce great reflections.
 

Scout

Layla is a great companion on the moors. At a junction, like in this shot, she'll wait to find out which way we are going. (Unless she doesn't of course.)

Pennine Way

Next adventure was off to the grim West Yorkshire Pennines. Walking along Blackstone Edge via the Pennine Way and round various reservoirs and aqueducts, with the hum of the M62 and power lines for added colour. Love it.

Many Laylas

Rowan's google feed collected "similar pictures" together in a collage. No comment necessary.