Bolton bluebells

Sorry but I can't resist a few more bluebell shots... It's May Day so I need to celebrate. 

These were actually taken on April 22 at Bolton Abbey. I met a friend there for a walk. This was only about a week after I visited previously, when the bluebells were just coming into bloom. A week on - and some sunshine - and the flowers had mostly unfurled right to their top bud - 'peak bluebell'. As I mentioned before, they're a good couple of weeks earlier this year than one would usually expect. 

They look better when photographed in soft light rather than sunshine - but glorious nevertheless. 

It's by far my favourite time of year. If I was condemned to spend the rest of my life in an English bluebell wood in spring, I wouldn't complain! Happily there are a few very good local sites where you can be sure of seeing them. 

In the space of a week, the wild garlic has gone from being just leaves to being studded with white flowers too. So pretty. 

Mandarins

I spotted a pair of Mandarin ducks on the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey. Aren't they attractive? The males are very showy with their bright colours and 'sails' but I love the more softly coloured females, so dainty-looking. Originally introduced to the UK from China, they have become established in the wild following escapes from captivity. They're not particularly common here but always nice to see. 

Tiptoe through the bluebells

Our bluebells this year have flowered quite early, by at least a couple of weeks I would estimate. Always beautiful, I think our local Hirst Wood is as good a place as any to see them. They are most prolific in the woodland along the edge of the canal. It was a bit too sunny really! The colour gets bleached out in the sunshine on photos so hazy conditions tend to be better, but you get what you get when you go for a walk. My mind and body welcomed the sunshine, even if my camera lens was a bit choosy. These pictures were taken last week and I suspect the flowers there will be even more abundant now. 

Lilac

We need smell-o-vision here! On my walk down to the canal I pass a small lilac tree in someone's garden. At this time of year it is glorious, with lush clusters of blossom and the most heavenly scent. I've sometimes wondered whether to knock on the door of the house and beg a few sprigs... but I'm not bold enough! I do enjoy it though, stopping to inhale the fragrance as I pass. 

I like it especially because it reminds me of the little white lilac tree in the garden of my childhood home. White ones don't tend to be quite as strongly scented but I still loved that scrappy little tree. I've even managed to dig out an old photo of me standing in front of it. I guess I was about twelve at the time. Nostalgia! 

 

Sunny Shipley

On sunny days, people seem to be enjoying the newly landscaped market place in Shipley. What was previously a rather boring paved area has recently been improved with curving flower beds and lawns, ramps and safer steps. The old wooden market stalls have been replaced with umbrella canopies, and on market days portable booths are set up too. It's all quite a lot more pleasant - though the iconic 1960s concrete clock tower at the front of the covered market still needs some attention. People either love that as a feature or hate it - and the clock doesn't work any more.

Cavendish Seat view

This a gorgeous view in colour but, for a change, I'm enjoying the monochrome version, bringing out the shapes, tones and the contrast between the glassy surface of the river and the tangled tracery of the woodland. 

It's the view from the little bench at Bolton Abbey known as 'The Cavendish Seat', high above the River Wharfe and looking upstream towards the Strid gorge. 

Babes and bluebells

It was 14 April and I had not realised that the Leeds schools had another week of the Easter Holidays left. (Bradford's schools had already returned.) It meant there were more children around Bolton Abbey than I had expected (which means photography can be more difficult) but the bonus was that there was a coffee van parked at the Strid, only there at holiday times. It was very pleasant to sit sipping a cappucino, overlooking the water. I snapped the little group of youngsters from the back, so I don't think that's violating any principles. I thought they looked very sweet in their wellies. 

I chose the top path from the Cavendish Pavilion to the Strid, which took me right through the middle of the bluebell woods. They were just beginning to unfurl, not yet at their peak but still leaving a flush of blue across the woodland floor, as though someone had dashed a brush of watercolour paint across. There were plenty of wild garlic leaves too, with a few of their white flowers starting to poke through.

Square eyes

My mother used to warn/threaten us, as children, that we'd 'get square eyes' from watching too much television. (Worries about 'screen time' have been with us for decades!) Nowadays, I sometimes decide I'll take my 'square eyes' on a walk, just for a change. It's funny how imposing a restriction, like setting my camera to a different ratio, can sometimes make me more creative, or at least free me up to look at things a little differently. 

I made the most of a bright, dry morning with a trip to Bolton Abbey - and timed it perfectly. The rain started just as I drove away from the car park to come home! It was all very beautiful, quite possibly my favourite time of year when the new leaves are bathing the trees in varying shades of soft green and amber, interspersed with a few bursts of blossom.  

I just blissed out and really enjoyed finding square compositions. When I got home and uploaded the photos, I wasn't sure that my bliss in the moment had translated into all that many wonderful images, but it doesn't really matter. I had fun. 

Lantern Parade

As part of the World Heritage Day celebrations in Roberts Park, Cecil Green Arts collective organised a lantern parade. The puppets are amazing. Lots of children had attended workshops to make illuminated willow wands and colourful paper lanterns too. The atmosphere was wonderful as they paraded around the park at dusk. It was actually darker than it looks on some of my photos, but I've lightened them so you can see some detail. 

 

Kirkgate Bateria!

Kirkgate Bateria! are a relatively new, local, percussion group bringing 'high-energy Afro-Brazilian drumming' to our celebratory events. Here they are in Roberts Park, playing as part of the World Heritage Day festival. Seemed like they were having fun and it was certainly an infectious rhythm. I did video them but the clip turned out to be too big to upload. Boo. 

World Heritage Day

World Heritage Day brought a day of celebration to Roberts Park, marking the special milestone of 25 years since Saltaire’s inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was music in the bandstand, a craft market along the promenade and a fun fair and street food stalls on the lower field. 

Conversations were going on at the Dog Show: 

and I spotted a small dog that must surely be called Yoda? 

There was a lady playing a rather lovely vintage hand organ ....

   ... and Sir Titus Salt leaping around on his alpaca. He often turns up at our festive events. 

Meanwhile the cricket season has begun and Saltaire Cricket Club weren't going to allow a festival to get in the way of their fixture list. Thankfully there's enough room on the bottom meadow for the funfair and the cricket. 

More blossom

More cherry blossom! I can't get enough of it and I'm always sorry when it's over. Sadly it doesn't last long but we are lucky enough to have some quite large trees around here and can enjoy it. 

These pink trees are in the gardens - Alexandra Square - in front of Saltaire's almshouses. Built in 1868, the almshouses were intended for the aged and infirm, who were initially chosen by Sir Titus Salt himself (and later the Trustees), to receive housing and a small pension. Many of them are still used as social housing. 

And here's one a little closer to home: