Waste land?

There's a patch of waste ground that I pass every time I go on my habitual walk. Mostly I don't even look at it; it's fairly nondescript. One day the light was such that the colours and wildflowers/weeds really stood out and looked rather interesting (to me!). 

The area used to house a council-run care home. That was closed down and demolished, and the land was cleared for a new building... but then the council decided they didn't need it and put the land up for sale. It's still for sale, with planning permission for another care home, but appears not to be attracting any buyers. It's gradually being reclaimed by nature, and I find that quite a fascinating process. Shrubs and trees are rapidly springing up - buddleia, cotoneaster, birch saplings - and round the edges are wildflowers of all sorts. 

The 'tapestry' effect is quite appealing, I think. 

I homed in on some ruby red rosehips. When I was a child my mum used to give me rosehip syrup. It was delicious. I'm not sure you can buy it any more and I would be wary about making my own. 

So... waste land but not wasted on me on that particular day. 

Flu jab and a soaking!

I trotted off for my annual flu jab - offered free here for those over 65 or with particular needs. I consider it a privilege and would not miss it. The GP who administered the shot said: 'You don't look 74' - which pleased me far beyond what you might have expected! 😍 However, 'not looking 74' does entail a rather huge amount of effort these days! 

Part of that effort was to choose to walk home the long way/the scenic route along the canal towpath. Since I moved out of Saltaire village it's not a route I take as often as I used to. It felt a bit like greeting old friends to see the three mill chimneys caught in a shaft of sunshine in the distance.

When I'd walked halfway home, I was caught in a huge downpour. It was a very squally, windy day so the rain was driving into my face. Hmmm. Not so much fun. But I soon dried off when I arrived home and I celebrated with a leisurely cup of coffee. 

Early autumn trees

It's surprising what a difference a few colder nights make at this time of year. It seems the trees get kick-started into their colour change. There are definitely more hints of autumn in the foliage than there were a week or so ago. Of course, golden leaves and blue skies are a winning combination... though the sun was a bit teasing, kept disappearing behind clouds. 

Red things

Another of those 'scavenger hunt' topics was 'Something Red' so here are my results. These were all taken on my phone one day, just to enliven my usual walk. I sometimes wonder if people think I'm mad if they see me photographing a pedestrian crossing signal - but who cares, really?

Stop, do not pass...

This is not the kind of thing I normally record but it's quite a big deal in Saltaire village currently. I guess one day we may be interested to look back and see what infrastructure works looked like in the 2020s! 

Caroline Street, between Albert Road and Victoria Road, is closed for at least ten weeks to allow work ('an upgrade') on the gas supply system. That means a rolling roadblock and complicated diversions, made worse because several of the surrounding streets were blocked off a couple of years ago to direct all the through traffic along Caroline Street. 

Maybe I'm odd but I do find construction works quite interesting. (I'm still a three-year old kid at heart!)  It amazes me what lies buried beneath the surface of our roads. I don't know how many workmen are being deployed on these works. Crews often seem to do more standing around than actual work, in my experience. To be fair, these photos were taken on a Sunday so are not representative. 

I was interested to read that Saltaire had a gas supply right from the time it started to be built in 1853. The gasometers and gas works were on the north side of the canal near to where the New Mill was built. The houses in Saltaire were supplied with gas directly from the mill, via a penny meter. A gas ring in the kitchen connected to the gas point by a flexible rubber hose and supplemented cooking on the black leaded range in the living room. Gas mantles hung from the ceiling for lights and streetlights were also powered by gas. It doesn't seem that gas will be phased out in the near future, despite global warming. 

In the drizzle

My usual walk - in the drizzle! But no matter, it was very fine rain and hardly bothered me. I have invested in a hooded raincoat that comes down below my knees, so even that clammy dampness across my thighs, which can be a problem with a short jacket, is banished. ('There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing!' 😂) 

A few quite cold nights have helped the autumn yellows to develop in the foliage. 

Bingley in the sunshine

It was an absolutely glorious day when I visited the photo exhibition in Bingley (see yesterday) and it was a pleasure to wander through the town in the warm sunshine. The 19th century Bowling Green Mills, now the Damart factory, where the exhibition took place, looms large over this end of the town. It's very noticeable because of that big, black chimney. 

Equally noticeable, just beside the Park Road bridge is a vibrant mural (which I showed once before on my blog). It features moorhens, many of which frequent the adjacent canal. Created by Misc.Etc, it was sponsored by Bradford City of Culture 2025.

On the other side of the bridge, an archway and steps lead down to the railway station. From here you can see the dual-carriageway road that was squeezed into the valley bottom to ease congestion on the town's main street. Sandwiched between the railway, opened in 1847 (right), and canal built in 1773 (left), the road was opened in 2003. To build it, they actually had to shift this section of the canal over to the left. 

Thankfully many little pockets of history have been retained. Just in front of the big mill is what was the Bingley National School, opened in 1814 by the Church of England to provide schooling for poorer children in the parish. It closed in 1824 and then re-opened as a mill school in 1833. The school was the scene of a terrible disaster in 1869, when a boiler adjoining the school exploded and 15 people including several children playing in the school yard were killed. It finally closed as a school in 1999 and has been imaginatively converted into apartments. 

Photo exhibition

I mentioned that I've recently joined Bingley Camera Club. It just so happened that they've had an exhibition in Bingley. It was in the splendid surroundings of Bowling Green Mills, a significant 19th century worsted mill complex in the centre of town, now owned by Damart clothing retailers. The gallery they were using was huge and well suited to such an exhibition, giving them room to display more than 250 prints. 

It was a good chance for me to see the quality and variety of their work. I was impressed. They seem to have some excellent photographers among their members (as we also have in Ilkley CC). I especially liked that there was room to display some of their work as projects, with six or eight prints by one author around a theme; for instance, 'lighthouses' was one grouping that I enjoyed. I am increasingly convinced that it's good to have 'a project' or a thematic core, or some kind of limitation on one's work (maybe just using one lens, or square images or camera movement), I find this can lead to some really creative ideas and images. 

I enjoyed my visit very much, got chatting to quite a few of their members and came away quite uplifted and inspired. 

Tree hugging

I'm very fortunate that, within a fifteen minute walk up or downhill, I can be surrounded by trees. A bit of 'tree hugging' or forest bathing is proven to bring calm and improve wellbeing. It usually works for me. Breathing in all the phytoncides that trees produce apparently triggers a spike in our body's natural killer (NK) cells and anti-cancer proteins, enhancing our ability to fight off infections. I don't really care why it works, I just keep doing it! 

Looking up the valley

Whenever I walk up High Bank Lane (aptly named!) I pause to look back at the glorious view up the Aire valley. ( Well, OK, the truth is I pause to catch my breath but we'll gloss over that!) The town in the middle distance is Bingley, with the wooded St Ives Estate on the left. 

The evening light show resumes

The evening skies have been relatively boring for a month or two. Now, as we enter autumn and the nights are drawing in, there seems to be more colour. I'm back to leaving the curtains open and checking out the light show most nights. It's never the same twice. Here's a small selection. 

Toxic haiku

Canal flows serene
but it’s looking rather green.
Toxic algae - bad!

Blue-green algae, technically known as cyanobacteria, is a collection of microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams. Under certain conditions, blue-green algae can become abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed, nutrient-rich surface waters that receive a lot of sunlight. The blooms can double in size every seven to ten days. It is rapidly spreading in the Leeds-Liverpool Canal over quite a wide area. Not only does it look unsightly (like pea soup!) but it's also highly toxic to dogs (and humans if you come into close contact with it).  Nasty stuff. It probably won't go away until we have more rain and colder conditions. 

Unfortunately it is also harmful to swans, ducks, other waterbirds and to fish - potentially bad news for the family of swans that live around Saltaire. I hope they have the sense to decamp to the nearby river, which isn't affected. 

Scavenger Hunt

I've recently joined a second camera club in Bingley. I'm continuing my membership at Ilkley, at least for now, though I do find the long drive to and fro in the dark in winter is increasingly taxing. Bingley is much nearer and I can get there by public transport too, if I wish. They meet on different nights, so there is no clash. It'll be stimulating to enjoy a different programme and perhaps some new ideas. 

The second meeting I attended at Bingley had a talk for new members about the structure and protocol for club competitions, which of course I listened to (though I'm not sure I'll enter any competitions this year). The rest of the membership went out in small groups on a 'scavenger hunt', armed with a list of challenges. Some of the photos they took were then shared and discussed in the second half of the meeting. 

It was good fun, so I decided I'd try my own scavenger hunt the next day, using one of the lists that was distributed. Here are my resulting images:

1 (above) - A splash of colour (Find a bold, vibrant colour and make it the star of your photo).

2 (above and below) - Leading lines (Use lines to draw the viewer into your image)

3 (above and below) - Movement (Freeze it, blur it or deliberately slow the motion) 

,

4 (above and below) - A different perspective (Shoot from unusually high, low, round a corner... make us see something differently)

5 (above and below) - A door or window (Look for colour, shape, character or symmetry)

It was an enjoyable challenge. You can be the judge of how well I did! 

The Penny Arcade

I met my daughter and grandgirls at Woodbank Garden Centre, where they have a Penny Arcade Museum, full of old slot machines and games such as you traditionally find on a seaside pier or at a funfair. You can exchange pound coins for a handful of old copper pennies and try your hand at various attractions. They seem to have extended the place. I'm sure there were many more machines than last time we went. It is very popular with families and quite a lot of fun. I wasn't terribly successful this time, though I did score a tube of Love Heart sweets, and several more pennies on the coin pusher machine. 

Fortune-telling machines spit out a short write-up predicting what will happen to you in the coming weeks. Thankfully my daughter's card turned out to be very positive! 

Concentration was necessary to hook a duck... not successful this time! 

Some of the machines are really rather attractive - colourful and retro. 

There are all sort of animated scenes and larger models too. All a lot of fun. 

Then, of course, we had to go visit Elvis the parrot and some of the other birds and animals in the centre. I suppose my girls will one day soon feel this is all 'beneath them' as they are becoming cool teenagers - but for now I'm happy to enjoy their enjoyment.