Give peace a chance

A friend and I paid another visit to The Peace Museum, housed in a large gallery in Salts Mill, having relocated from the centre of Bradford a few years ago with a mission 'to collect, safeguard and interpret artefacts relating to peace, in its many forms, for the benefit of all'. They have a permanent collection on display and also take items from their large archive to mount exhibitions around particular themes.  

There is some information about Sadoko Sasaki, who was just two when the atom bomb destroyed her home city of Hiroshima. She survived the blast but later developed blood cancer. She folded 1000 origami paper cranes, traditionally believed to grant the creator a wish - but she died aged only 12, of leukemia caused by irradiation.

There is a table with squares of beautiful paper and instructions for folding paper cranes as a symbol of peace and healing. It seems quite a few visitors make a crane and others enjoy the craft table where you can make 'protest fairies'. 

These are a response to the current exhibition called 'Tactical Frivolity', an exploration of how humour, cartoons, banners, costumes and comedic acts can be used as a form of protest.

Among the exhibits are two 'pussy hats', worn during the Women's March in Shipley in 2017, part of a wave of protests that greeted Donald Trump's election to the US presidency (the first time!), despite his reported comments about women: 'Grab 'em by the pussy'. (You might remember my photos from that march HERE, HERE and HERE. ) 

There were some amusing videos of protest groups in costume, including some clowns from CIRCA (Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army - a group active in the UK in the early 2000s) larking about outside an Army Recruitment Office, to the bemusement of the local police. 

Other exhibits that caught my eye included this rather beautiful, though untitled, painting by Farzaneh Jafari and Madjid Malakzadeh, presented to The Peace Museum by Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Laureate (below)

and the poster below by Quaker Peace and Service. 

 

Desperate

There has been no significant rain for about a month around here and nature is definitely suffering as a result. Grassy areas are now hay - yellow and dusty - and even the small pond in the nature reserve is drying up. The water lilies that normally float are sticking up like regular plants as the water level is so low, and the water itself is choked full of weed. I don't think it is harmful algae but it doesn't look very nice, smothering the pond. There are still some damsel flies around but it didn't seem quite the healthy and abundant environment I'm used to seeing there. 

I wanted a picture of the water lily flowers - and got a selfie too! It was only when I uploaded the image that I noticed that light green 'thing' at the top that doesn't really look very natural. I'm not sure what it was; perhaps one of those foam kneeling mats that gardeners use? Really needs fishing out, anyway! 

Making hay...

'Make hay while the sun shines', they say. In this case, I was making hay while the sun was NOT shining - that is, going out for a morning walk while the sky was deeply overcast and the temperature quite pleasant. The sun soon burned off the haze and it got hot again later in the day. I suspect too that some of the haze is a result of smoke from the several moorland fires there have been in the valley. 

What I hadn't expected to see was a hayfield just on the edge of Saltaire. I can't say I've ever noticed these fields cut like this before. It's a small acreage where someone keeps a couple of horses; the white horse is visible, the black one is camouflaged against the dark trees. Perhaps the sun-dried grass was just too tempting to leave this year. It'll make good fodder for the winter months, I guess.  

An early start

I'm not the only one who likes to make an early start on hot days. On many mornings, boats can be seen passing through Hirst Lock and the swing bridge. Here are White Knight and Rhencullen making their way from one overnight mooring to the next. Narrowboats often pair up to traverse the canal. Many hands make for lighter work and two narrowboats fit neatly side by side in the locks. 

I wonder whether bright sunshine is really the ideal weather for a narrowboat trip. I imagine it gets pretty hot inside, so finding a shady mooring beneath the trees must be very welcome. Leaping about in locks, pushing heavy lock gates and trying to shift stiff swing bridges will certainly bring on a sweat! It needed three people's efforts to move the Hirst Lane bridge. 

Venus in Blue Jeans

Another evening sky, from my balcony. At a quarter to eleven at night, it was still quite light and the sky really was the most extraordinary shade of blue. You won't be able to see it on a small screen but, just above the third 'E' in my jennyfreckles watermark, Venus is shining brightly, a tiny pinprick steadily sinking below the horizon. 

It reminded me of a long-forgotten pop song, 'Venus in Blue Jeans', which reached no.4 in the British charts in 1962, a recording by Mark Wynter. Given that I was only ten, the fact that I can still remember the lyrics amazes me!  

'She's Venus in blue jeans,
Mona Lisa with a ponytail,
She's a walkin' talkin' work of art
She's the girl who stole my heart.'

Fife doors

Fife holiday 2026 #17

I enjoy creating mini projects as well as narrative photos when I'm on holiday. For some reason I'm always drawn to doors - perhaps because they're both familiar and strangely comforting, whilst also being portals to the unknown. There's generally a wide variety to be spotted, some more cared for than others. So here are six Fife doors! 🤣🤣

Top left, in Crail, had a sign saying 'Bellringer Cottage'. signifying what the original owner's role was. Their house looked directly out to sea towards the Isle of May. If a ship was in distress or shipwrecked, they would ring a bell loudly so the whole village would come and help. These small fishing villages were tight knit communities and their lives depended on it.

Top middle, also in Crail, had a date stone of 1632. It's a listed building but I can't find out much more about it. 

Top right, Downie's Terrace in Crail, built in 1878 by a local farmer specifically to accommodate Victorian summer visitors. 

Bottom left, also in Crail, has a carved relief of a sailing boat above the doorway and some fine stained glass in the door. 

Bottom middle, a cottage called The Sporran in Crail. A sporran, of course, is the traditional leather and fur pouch worn in front of a kilt (since a kilt has no pockets). 

Bottom right, an ornate stone doorway somewhere in Anstruther, with a date stone of 1718. 

Lastly, below, a rather lovely wood carving above a door, said to be St Adrian. St Adrian of May, whose legacy is deeply tied to Crail and the East Neuk of Fife, was reputedly killed by invading Vikings in AD 875. His namesake chapel ruins are located on the Isle of May, while coastal caves linked to him sit just outside Crail along the Fife Coastal Path.

Scottish smiles

Fife holiday 2026 #16

There were many times on our holiday when I had to stop and smile. We were just passing a rather grimy window when this cat popped his head through the blinds - boo! Judging by the rather mangled blinds, it seems it's a regular trick of his. 

Meanwhile in Kirkcaldy we spotted a Wemyss Ware cat. Wemyss Ware was a famous Kirkcaldy pottery, opened in 1882, that made (among other things) decorative cats. They are being celebrated by a sculpture trial around the town. 

For some reason the sign below amused me. I never think of harbours as having gates - and it also reminded me of that famous 'Sun' headline from the 1992 General Election: 'Will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights'.

The 'Beach Library' was, I thought, a genius idea: lots of sand toys to borrow. We have little free book libraries round here but I'd never seen a beach library before. 

I noticed quite a few food-related things. There's an ongoing joke that haggis are small, elusive animals that live in the Highlands. Because of the steep terrain, they supposedly have two shorter legs on one side so they can only run around the mountains in one direction. If a hunter wants to catch one, they simply wait for it to stop and try to turn around. Because it can only run in one direction, it gets confused and tumbles right down the mountain.

Scotland's pride in having a team in the football World Cup was plain for all to see. 'No Scotland, no party'! 

And tattie soup (sometimes with neeps) - potatoes and turnips. 

St Andrews' hotels have long welcomed golfers and this well-polished brass sign assures them they don't even have to take off their shoes. 

We first met Oor Wullie, a famous Scottish cartoon character, in Edinburgh last year, if you remember. In St Andrews, in a sculpture by Matt Low, he wears the red undergraduate gown and a crown... perhaps representing a famous former student of the university called William... 

And finally, a stone on a building called a Mort-house in Crail churchyard: 'Erected for Securing the Dead', with a date of 1826. These buildings were necessary because of the widespread practice of grave-robbing, where newly-deceased bodies were dug up and sold to anatomists for study. The bodies were stored securely until they had decomposed enough to be of no use for research. 

Dreamy mornings

During the heatwave, more often than not, I've been going out for a walk before breakfast, taking advantage of the cooler temperatures. The mornings have that kind of shimmery light that I've hitherto associated with Mediterranean countries. It is rather beautiful, a dreamy effect. Or maybe it's just that I haven't properly woken up!

(And no, we don't have a headless swan on the canal. 😂 It's just that the wayward creatures have no idea of how to pose for the camera!) 

Tinder

As the hot, dry spell of weather continues, everywhere is becoming tinder-dry and the risk of fire increases. There have been some bad moorland fires, which are a real challenge. Added to the difficulty of getting firefighters, equipment and water onto the moors, when the heat gets down into the peat the fires can smoulder for weeks and keep reappearing.

There have been a couple of days recently when I've had to close my windows because of a smell of smoke. I'm assuming no-one is daft enough to have garden bonfires in this weather (though you never know!) so I guessed there were actual fires somewhere in the vicinity. Then one morning I was walking towards Salts Mill along the side of the railway line and I noticed the fire brigade were trying to extinguish a small fire. It was in a yard adjacent to the railway and seemed to be brush or woodchips smouldering. They had a hose and a small digger (presumably belonging to the relevant business in the yard) was shifting the piles of brush. It all looked to be under control by that stage, which is good because just over the wall is a school building and they wouldn't want the fire spreading to the trees or the school. 

You do wonder what sets these blazes going... It's unlikely to have been a portable BBQ in this case (often the cause of moorland and woodland fires) so maybe it was the sun's rays acting on a piece of glass or similar. We can't blame steam trains and their sparks any more! 

I could only see the action because all the trees and shrubs alongside the railway line have recently been felled. It makes this area look totally different and it's very bare, ugly and messy with brush and tree stumps now. I suppose they are trying to avoid leaves on the line or fallen trees blocking the route, but it seems sad to me to lose all the trees. 

The picture below is what the same road looked like a couple of years ago.

Rae Gala 2026

The first Sunday of July is always the annual Rae Gala, commemorating the gift of Northcliffe Park from the philanthropist Sir Norman Rae to the people of Shipley in 1920. It's quite a small event but a wholesome and community-focused celebration. This year it suffered by being on the same weekend as the Dragon Boat Racing, so there seemed to be fewer attendees. Those there had an enjoyable time and were entertained by our local Morris dance team, Rainbow Morris, and by the Shipley Hallroyd Brass Band. 

There was food and an ice cream van, plenty of stalls to browse, some children's races and a display of dancing by children from Stars Stage School. The most popular attraction seemed to be the miniature railway, based in the park, with members of Bradford Model Engineering Society providing rides on the two different circuits. As always, it was a good afternoon out - and, though it was a heavily overcast day, it stayed dry, which always helps. 

Tributes to Hockney

I popped into Salts Mill the other day, just for a browse around. There were a number of lovely photos of the artist David Hockney, who died recently. As you'll know (at least if you've been paying attention!), he was a personal friend of the late Jonathan Silver.

When Jonathan bought Salts Mill in 1987, after it had closed as a textile mill and was in danger of dereliction, it was quite a gamble. It's easy to look at it now and accept as a matter of fact its artistic and commercial success, but that was by no means guaranteed. It was a stroke of genius to persuade Hockney, a Bradford-born lad, to lend some of his paintings to create the 1853 Gallery, and then to start buying some of his work. The mill now holds the biggest single collection of Hockney's art anywhere in the world.   

Hockney's death, though not unexpected I suppose at age 88, has been greeted with profound sadness locally. The tribute (below) from the owners and staff of Salts Mill conveys most eloquently what he means to us all. 

It is always wonderful to walk through the mill among all the vibrant and varied artworks that Hockney created, and was still creating more or less up to his death.

Every time I visit I see pictures that I don't remember seeing before, though the large painting that was David's homage to Salts Mill and Saltaire still takes pride of place in the mill's main entrance. 

Be astonished

'Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.'

Mary Oliver

Living here in my west-facing flat, I do pay attention to the evening skies and sunsets, which are always unique, sometimes unremarkable and occasionally stunning. I am often astonished, often exhilarated. I do like to tell about them - I think we all enjoy a good sky. So here's another, taken at 9.30pm one warm summer evening. 

Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. 

Job 35:5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Psalm 19:1-2

Here be dragons - again

It's that time of year again, when there is a full weekend of dragon boat racing on the River Aire in Roberts Park. This is its 11th year and it seems to be even bigger and better, over three full days. The event raises thousands of pounds for charity as well as providing the participants with some adrenaline-fuelled fun. To be honest though, I don't think it's really a spectator sport. It's all rather slow, since it takes the three teams in each race quite a while to manoeuvre the long boats upriver to the start, and turn them round. Each race takes only a few minutes and then there's a long pause whilst they assemble for the next one. It's all very well organised, with six boats and long pontoons for the competitors to embark and disembark, plus a fast safety craft and marshals. If you have a family member in the races, all well and good, but just for general watching it's a bit unexciting, I find. They do have a lot of land-side attractions: street food, a funfair, charity stalls, a market and the emergency services and forces cadets showing their stuff. This year there was some live music too. 

My first photo is at the start. Teams can have a maximum of 16 rowers plus a drummer and a steerer (yes, that's what they're called). One of the crews in my photo looks a bit understaffed but maybe that makes the boat lighter and quicker? The river is quite low in flow and volume at the moment too, so I suppose that might affect the speed. 

The picture below is of (different) crews arriving at the finish - quite a close race, that one. 

The only day I had free was the first day, Friday, so I wandered down to the park to watch a few of the school and college races. The park was much quieter than it would have been over the following two days of the weekend, I'm sure, but it was a good atmosphere with the young people clearly enjoying themselves.  

The dragons don't look all that fearsome... and neither did the police dog! 😂