Bearded Lake

We all walked up to the Bearded Lake above Aberdovey. It is a truly lovely place to arrive at.

Bike Ride

Danielle and I got a bike ride in; always enjoy riding together but we don't do it that often. Our ride took us along the coast to Towyn (cup of tea at the Talyllyn Railway station) then through beautiful valleys below Cadair Idris and past Bird Rock to the castle at Castell Y Bere which is both amazing and hidden. Then across the hills to Abergnolwyn for lunch on another Talyllyn station, before whizzing home to Aberdovey where Milo and Rowan had been charging around the beach.

Wales 1

For 11 years we all went to a hotel in Aberdovey in Wales, 2002 - 2011. This year we were all back, and loved it still. A pretty timeless place. To enjoy a beach I need at least a 100m exclusion zone, and as you can see, that is not a problem on the beaches of mid Wales.

Degree Results

2014 Rowan gets hers GCSE results

2019 Rowan gets her degree result. 

2.1 in Economics from Warwick.

Danielle's work

I often get asked what Danielle does in her job. It is very hard to describe (especially as I don't really know). The people and organisations listed in this article are nearly all supported by her organisation, and I have come across many at  places like Cleveland Ohio earlier this year. So reading this article is a good place to start if you are interested.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jun/25/the-new-left-economics-how-a-network-of-thinkers-is-transforming-capitalism?

Preston has become an example of how to reverse the decline of cities under the austerity cosh, here is an article from the New York Times that explains.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/world/europe/uk-austerity-preston-ashford-lancashire.html

Ten Years After

Same girl, same place - Tallylyn Railway - ten years difference. 2009 and 2019.

Geneva again

Scattered around Geneva are these fake-grass covered beds to relax and sunbathe. Here we are .

Live at Leeds

Here is the event at Leeds. We left after Elizabeth's performance but it seemed a pretty good atmosphere. Danielle and Rowan getting into the spirit.

Lets Rock

So here are Elizabeth, Rowan, Danielle and a happy and calm Milo. Ready to Rock.

House Guest

Friend Elizabeth stayed the night before her gig as part of Lets Rock Leeds festival. Great to see her, and for her to meet Rowan and Milo for the first time and Danielle again after 25 years or so. All went out for a south Indian meal at the Coconut Lagoon (far far better than it sounds).

Outside the UN in Geneva

Dough

Danielle's sourdough odyssey continues. I think she should go commercial. 

Looks and tastes at least as good as loaves you buy.

Garden News

This group of foxgloves has self seeded from one plant. They seem to enjoy the plentiful rain.

Geneva 4

As we departed on Friday morning the rain started: strangely satisfying after the perfect weather we had been blessed with for our stay. The train journey was another delight, all on time.

Geneva 3

On our third day we walked up the other side of the lake through the botanical gardens and the UN compound, which was disappointingly secured out of reach. Even the flags of all the nations of the world could only be seen through bars.

We walked on through the city and crossed the Rhone, on the left its clear waters emerging from Lac Leman, and the Arve, straight from the glaciers of Mont Blanc and full of sediment. I have never seen such a starkly different rivers merging before.

Geneva 2

Had a great walk along the lake, then contouring the hillside back to the old city and Cathedral quarter. Beautiful weather, we came across a great place for lunch by chance. The figure in this shot is Rowan.

Geneva 1

Danielle and I were going to go to the States this summer for a family reunion in Minneapolis. Then with the dog having inoperable aggressive cancer we thought it'd be best to stay here. So instead Danielle and Rowan are going for a beach holiday in Crete [pass] and Rowan and I went for a rail-break for three nights in Geneva. It was a great trip. Left London at 11.45am, in Geneva by 19.15. Our hotel was five minutes from the station and, apart from looking directly down into a brothel, perfect for our stay. We were recommended a local Swiss-Italian restaurant which was really good.

The water spout in Lac Leman originated as industrial collateral in the 19th Century. I imagine locals thought it would ruin tourism. 150 years on it is their iconic tourist attraction. 

Askham Bog

This is Askham Bog a local Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve that is under threat from a housing development that will lower the water table that keeps the bog a bog. David Attenborough has been to add support to the campaign. It is a beautiful place, and there is no need for the area to be developed, there is plenty of other suitable land elsewhere in the vicinity.

Jodrell Bank

Driving back from Cheshire I headed cross country, finding the turgid motorways too much to bear. Came across Jodrell Bank Telescope peering over the trees. Never been there before, seen it all my life from the M6 and the railway, here it up close on a tiny little lane. Saw signs for Oulton Park where I saw motor racing with my father on Good Fridays when I was young, and Tatton Park where we went on a family trip the day before I was sent away to school. So quite a few memories.

The Wet West

I was in Cheshire for work last week. In terms of farming Cheshire = dairy cattle. These Frisian calves obliged.

Rowan home

It was great having Rowan home for a few days. This shot is from a walk along the river in York.

Acomb Wood

Rowan has been back for a few days before flat-hunting in London for her job which starts in July. It meant we could get some good local walks in, this is nearby Acomb wood where I saw a Nuthatch not long ago.

Mugs

I have had 12 mugs produced with photos of 12 cities for our day to day use. Pretty pleased with them, the more geometrical and garish work best I think.

Gig

Last Sunday we played our gig in the park here in York. It was early, there was some rain, a traffic jam delayed Robert and his drums. But we pulled it off and it went well. We got the volume up to a decent level without complaint (you could hear the bass on the other side of the river) and it was good fun. No photos as yet, will try and find some.

After we played there was a women's choir singing Finnish songs. We knew several of the people in it, and it sounded great. 

Newcastle 4

Last shot of Newcastle for now, I promise. Four great bridges in this shot. The high level (with the train on it), the low level swing bridge, the Sydneyesque Tyne Bridge and the Millennium tilting bridge.

Newcastle 3

On the left, the Sage where we saw Kamasi last week. To the right Newcastle.

Newcastle 2

Taken from Newcastle looking across the Tyne and the tilting Millennium Bridge towards the Baltic art gallery. It is hard to keep the camera away on days like this.

The Wirrall

I did some work in Ellesmere Port the other week. This is what used to be the Station Hotel. It has seen better days.

Walk in the Woods

Bank Holiday Monday we went a walk with Robert and Helen around Bramham. In this shot Milo is howling with impatience; he would make a good wolf.

Picnic in the Park

Rowan still has one Final exam left, but has had time to relax a bit as well. This is a picnic in Green Park she went to last week.

Yearly Meeting

Britain Yearly Meeting is the main annual event for Quakers in Britain. I have never wanted to go, but Danielle felt it was time we both experienced it. It is held at Friends House on the Euston Road in London, and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Over a 1000 Friends including visitors from around the world gathered in the impressive meeting hall for the plenary sessions. Danielle felt moved to speak in one session, and spoke well. I could even imagine going again.

Here is my friend Debbie are husband Roberto who I caught up with on the South Bank a couple of weeks ago.

Gig

Straight after Mike's funeral I caught a train up to Newcastle to see Kamasi Washington playing at the Sage. It was a brilliant gig, one of the best musical experiences for a long time. Two drummers, stand up bass supreme, great funky jazz. We stayed in a hotel on the waterfront by the Millennium bridge at Gateshead.

As usual the Newcastle urban industrial landscape proved irresistible.

Funeral

Tuesday I went down to Mike's funeral at West Ham cemetery. It was a strangely positive event. There was family (his mother Bridget and brother Gerald), and friends from long ago (Sally from Major Matt Mason and Elizabeth from Westworld) as well as people who knew (and loved) him from Dalston, including a young couple who I was talking to who brought their 1 year old with them: it gave a lovely positive feel to the service, to have a child babbling away. The chapel was full for the service.

Photography

The varied life of a photographer. In the morning I was photographing a client on his motorbike in the Wolds. We had already scoped out some good locations and now just needed to get everything together. Pretty pleased with the results.
In the evening I was one of three judges of an annual art competition at York University. This year the theme was Censorship and the standard to entries was incredibly high. The overall winner was a piece of performance art. A really uplifting event.

New Leeds

The river and the canal in Leeds continue to be regenerated. In the background are flats that have a great colour scheme. In the foreground a new bridge being built across the Aire.

Water Taxi

Goosanders are common in these parts nowadays. There was one of the pond a couple of years ago. This mother and her offspring were on the canal in Leeds last week. The two ducklings in the foreground were running across the water to catch the water bus with their siblings.

Warwick Economics

Rowan is featured in the Economics prospectus for Warwick. Here she is.

In Flower

This broom is on the Triangle, a part of Hob Moor. This time of year it is in full flower and a great harbinger of spring and summer.

Bollocks to Brexit

This bench of Hob Moor has been redecorated with Bollocks to Brexit stickers. A fine piece of decoration that enabled me to get talking to other people on the moor about who they were going to vote for. Here's hoping.

In Season

The salad is rolling in from the garden, tastes great.

Cottam Chapel

This is the chapel on the cover of The High Wolds. When people see it in real life (and not a black and white photograph) they are sometimes disappointed to find it is made of brick. It is still pretty dramatic though; in this shot Milo rests and Eddy seems to be going all Don Quixote with the poor building.

Wolds Walk

Went a walk with Sue and Eddy in the Wolds, to Cottam Chapel and Philips Slack which is one of my favourite walks. A perfect May day.

TPT 3

The great weather of the first two and half days was countered by a windy wet Wednesday afternoon as we crossed the Pennines on the old Woodhead rail route. This was a line that was the first main line to be electrified in the UK. Typically it was scrapped; a ludicrous waste. Now it is great for us on bikes, but the freight that the line would be ideal to transport forms a solid queue across the Pennines. Trans Pennine Regress.

TPT 2

Day 2 took us around Liverpool through Halewood and Speke to the village of Hale, where this sub-urban scene of horses, shelduck and marsh greeted us.

TPT 1

Dave and I cycled the Trans Pennine Trail for three days last week. We cycled from Preston to Southport where the trail starts. Through the lovely red-squirrel woods of Formby to Crosby where we stayed. The route is nearly all on old railway lines, canal towpaths or other off-road by-ways. A brilliant route. This shot is of the wind farm off Crosby where the Mersey meets the sea. If you look to the left of the post you can see some of the Antony Gormley figures that populate the tidal hinterland.

Baildon 2

A new mispelling of Palmour is a rareity these days, email and word processing have put an end to the plethora that I have collected over the years. One turned up today Palmlur which I rather liked. It is number 120 on the list.

Baildon Cliff

Baildon Moor

I drove Danielle to her meeting at Baildon, then walked on Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen. I have never been here before, but wanted to visit as it is a key part of one of my favourite novels Bright Day by JB Priestley. I listened to a dramatisation of the book as I walked through the beautiful land. Quite a day, and on top of that I discovered a brilliant new cafe atop Shipley Glen as well.

Salts Mill Saltaire from Baildon

Springtime York

York on a spring Sunday morning. Serene

Althea

When Rowan and I went to Chicago in 2015 to look at UChicago we met Danielle's college friend Althea, who looked after us well. So it was great to be able to put her up for the night in York. Really enjoyed having her to stay.

Tour de Yorkshire. Encore.

It was the fifth Tour de Yorkshire this weekend. I have managed to get to see the race each year. It is always a marvel; getting normal people from every town and village to celebrate the race is a fantastic achievement. This shot is on the bridge at Cawood. As you can tell by the sky it was a wet old day. Dave and I cycled back on the old railway line and were glad to keep just about warm enough. That figure in white at the left of the shot is Mark Cavendish who is making a comeback of sorts in this race.