Friends

Friend Helen invited us over for a meal with friends Paul & Kelly who were visiting from Spain. It was a great evening, with lots to catch up on.

 

Back to the Moors

Layla Wallows

August 1st is the day that I can take Layla the dog on Hatfield Moors again (having avoided land nesting birds for the summer). It was hot, but worth the visit. Such a beautiful lake, that was equally enjoyed by Milo the dog when he accompanied me back in the day.

 

Macedonia 9

 

We met a Macedonian photographer, Biljana, in Ohrid. She had taken a lot of photos of people in Ethiopian tribes near the border with Sudan. It was great showing her my work of Albanian people in Macedonia. I hope somewhere there is an Ethiopian photographer taking shots of tribes in Hackney. Probably is.

We flew back from Ohrid, all went well. Saw Emilie and Alfie who had been kindly looking after the dog and the house for us. Good to be back after a great trip.

Macedonia 8

 

Our last day, and Danielle had booked us in for a wine tasting in an old monastry north of Ohrid. Great wines, great guide, great cheese. Long snooze when we got back.

Macedonia 7

We went to the old Vlach village of Malovishte in the Pelister National Park. This is the the old abbey. Another beautiful place, with quite a lot of renovation work going on, which was good to see. 

Macedonia 6

Next day was Danielle's choice of activity. We kayaked on Ohrid lake down the east side to a bbq on the beach. It was very loosely organized which suited us. No pictures of us in the kayak, but trust me we managed co-ordinated paddling most of the time. It was the clearest water you can imagine. 

 

Macedonia 5

 We slowly drove back down to the valley. A man on a motorbike, came alongside the car. "Si-mon, Si-mon" he shouted. I realised it was Shpendi, the 6 year old boy with the braces in the front of my original picture.

He is now a  48 year old coach driver in Switzerland. We shared a coffee with Shpendi and it was marvellous to meet for the first time in over 40 years.

Quite a day.

Macedonia 4

 Wednesday was the big day. I was returning to Lomnice, the village in the Sar Plannina mountains that I first visited in 1984 when I was on the Walk. I revisited two years ago, and was overwhelmed by people remembering my visit, and being typically kind and wonderful. Since then I had kept in touch with many new Albanian friends online.

Danielle had no idea what to expect, neither did I. I had been in contact with Enis, a young man from one of the families who were in my original photograph. We met up in the village and were soon in one of the few remaining inhabited houses. The house belonged to Enis's grandmother, whose late husband I met in 1984. Strands of her family (several of who now live and work in Switzerland) were all there. It was very emotional for all of us. Lovely children, Turkish coffee, water melon, just a great day.

Macedonia 3

 We hired a car for a few days, and drove up to the mountains between Ohrid lake (shared with Albania) and Prespa lake (shared with Albania and Greece). Lovely to walk up high with butterfly rich meadows for company.

 

Macedonia 2

 

Monday we walked high up above the lake, had a coffee and a cake in a restaurant then took this mountain path contouring along the mountain. Beautiful.

Macedonia 1

 Just back from our holiday in Ohrid Macedonia. I wanted to share the joys of the country with Danielle so we went together. As the flight left Manchester and 6.15 we went the day before and stayed at the Radisson hotel in the airport, which is a bit of a treat and cheap at the weekend. 

The flight was great, with views of the Alps and the Adriatic before the sweep over Albania to Ohrid. The weather was perfect, around 30° a warm dry heat at 770 metres above sea level. Sitting by the lake as the evening closed in was a good start to the holiday.

Stroll 74 iv

 I also passed near Brindle, on top of a hill to the west of the canal. This is where my maternal grandfather was the vicar for a while, and where my mother and auntie lived when they were children.

This is the nearest the canal gets to Brindle. It was a hot afternoon, some of the cattle were looking for shade, some were just enjoying the sun.

Stroll 74 iii

 

This is where the Walton Summit canal branched off from the Leeds Liverpool canal to connect with the Preston tramway that joined up with the Lancaster canal in Preston (the names get confusing). That canal went north to Lancaster and, ultimately, Kendal. When were kids in Preston my father would show us the old tram bridge over the Ribble. This was out of bounds, as were nearly all the old industrial rail lines even if they were abandoned. Now it is much improved, like a lot of things. 

Stroll 74 ii

A ruined factory beside the canal, well and truly on its way to being reintegrated into the natural world.

 

Stroll 74 Blackburn to Chorley

 

I moved further into Lancashire on the Leeds Liverpool canal. Good to see plenty of Red Roses around. A lovely stretch contours around to head south towards Wigan. I got off at Chorley, then got a train back via Preston. Met the usual assortment of wonderful people. Life is a bit of a privilege sometimes.

Friends

Here are the four friends in Valencia.

 

Face Paint

Whilst we watched the World Cup final here in York, Rowan was in Valencia with three friends for the weekend. A local was happy to give Rowan a Spain flag on her cheeks. Looked reasonably crazy after the win, but in my daughter's words "to be honest it wasn't a patch on when Arsenal won the league"

 

Purple haze

On a bit of a butterfly roll at the moment. I saw this Purple Hairstreak in Museum gardens in the centre of York this week. I take the photos mainly to aid identification. Not works of art, but they do the job.

 

World Cup

 Rob, Mark and I always used to watch at least one World Cup match together. This year Rob's widow Kath invited us with Mandy and Rowan to watch a game at their house. It was a sad but good occasion. 

True to the past, it was the painful England exit to horrible Argentina. Danielle and I watched the final at home, and it was a great relief that Spain won.

Stroll 73 Gargrave to Colne

 

A walk along the Leeds Liverpool canal, from the Yorkshire Dales over to the East Lancs milltowns. A beautiful day, a good breeze and plenty of water for Layla to keep herself cool in. 

This is the reservoir built to keep the canal topped up at the summit of the canal, above Foulridge tunnel.

Where the Meadow meets the Barley

The fields we walk through in Escrick are ever-changing but always lovely. This time of year is no different.

 

Tapas?

 Saturday we were due to go with Shin-Suk and Peter to the best tapas bar in Snaith (near Goole). Until Peter found out it was out of business, so now Snaith has no tapas bars. I cooked a curry and they came round to ours instead. A very pleasant evening, which turned into a very stressful evening after Peter and Shin-Suk left and Danielle and I watched England v Norway in the football. It is never easy.

Danielle and Emilie at the gig.

Self Esteem

 A good weekend. Friday evening we went to see Self Esteem at the Museum Gardens in York. This was one of a series of evening gigs. This was the one we wanted to see. Fantastic performance that really was way better than your average gig. We went with Emilie and met up with Edward, Faye and John. The weather perfect and the vibe pleasant.

   

Meadow Brown

Back at the new forest, this meadow brown was one of hundreds that flitted around the meadow. It is a beautiful time.

 

Stroll 72

 

Looking across the Ribble valley towards Longridge Fell and others. Good to be in Lancashire again.

Stroll 72 Burnley to Blackburn

 A great stroll along the Leeds and Liverpool canal, between the two main mill towns of east Lancashire. It was a good walk, along a route that I cycled when I was a student at Liverpool en-route to Ilkley. I just about worked out where I slept in a field by the canal - it was 47 years ago, so quite a bit of change, not least a motorway. Still a great contouring canal to follow.

Art in Acomb

 On Sunday we walked around the Acomb Arts festival. This included an art show at the church, with a work by Tracy Enim and one by Damian Hurst: not what you'd normally expect in Acomb. It was good fun, we were with Emilie and the dogs, and found a street food pizza truck which was perfect for us all. This shot was taken in the church yard: it took a bit of getting the shot right, and it is not that great, but interesting enough.

Brimstone

 Walking the dog early in the heat today, back at the butterfly meadow. This Brimstone was hiding as a leaf .

Gatekeeper

The meadows in the new forest are alive with butterflies at the moment. Great to see. This is a Gatekeeper, which was one of my Mother's favourites.

 

Back in the Day

Long ago, the first York station was built within the city walls - via a vandalous knocking through of said walls. It has been long gone, but the railway offices at the back of this photo are still there, although now a luxury hotel. The station was replaced by the current one, in the 1860s.

 

Stroll 71 pt2

A beautiful light on the day in the Peak district. 

Stroll 71 Edale to Chinley

 A walk over the Pennines from Edale to Chinley. Followed the start of the Pennine Way up Jacob's Ladder to the top of the Peak district. Famous for unfathomable peat bogs, it was as dry as a bone as we enjoyed the quiet bleakness.

Looking back towards Edale from Jacob's Ladder

Barley News

The barley is looking good ahead of harvest on the outskirts of York.

Bad Bunny

Rowan went with her friend Grace to see Bad Bunny at Tottenham Stadium. He is a Puerto Rican artist singer who has more streams than anyone else world wide. Sounded like a great gig.

 

Going to Meet The Man

In our Music Book Group we discussed the James Baldwin short story collection, Going To Meet The Man. Brilliant writing, harrowing subject matter, worth the effort.

Another shot from the Peak Forest canal.

 

Stroll 70 Marple to Chinley

 

The last day before the heat wave, I got a great walk in, along the Peak Forest canal up to Chinley. This shot shows the Dark Peak behind the village of New Mills. There was a lot of boating activity on the canal, a positive vibe all round.

Stroll 69 Settle to Gargrave

 

A dales walk above the air valley. Varied and quiet with Pendle Hill looming in the background.

Stroll 68 Prudhoe to Hexham

 

Another day, another country. Followed the Tyne path from Prudhoe (pronounced Pruder) to Hexham. A glorious path, this collapsing cliff was a bit of a challenge for me and the dog; we both relished it.

Stroll 67 Colne to Burnley

In Lancashire for today's stroll. The canal passes Turf Moor football ground, and also provided this mosque and canal combo.

 

Stroll 66 Ilkely to Skipton

 Quite a lot of strolling to catch up on. This was a great high level route over the moors. Lovely day, dog off the lead. 

Going on a Bear Hunt

Long ago Liam was introduced to the Bear. This trip he asked "can we go see the bear?" I was delighted to comply

 

Cousin Liam

Nephew Liam has just finished high school. He has been with us for a week, tow days with Rowan, the rest in York. Been good to have him. This shot of him proudly wearing a charity shop leather jacket he found in Brick Lane, was taken by Rowan in her flat.

 

Tandem Trip Last Day

 We left the tandem at Ro and Pete's, took the train home via Preston, then I came back the next day in the car to collect the bike.

Preston was looking a bit more spruced up than in recent years. This is the arcade by the Harris. There were even pavement cafes on Fishergate, including Brucciani's which appears to be going strong.

Tandem Ride 7

We had a day in Kendal, saw the really good art gallery, then in the afternoon Pete took us to the boat museum on Windermere. A really good place to visit.

 

Tandem Ride 6

 

The last day on the bike took us up the west bank of Windermere, across by the ferry, then to Kendal where we stayed for two nights with Ro & Pete. Always good to catch up with them. As is tradition we went to the local pub and had a pint.