Happy Easter

Interesting that people decorate their homes for Christmas but not so much for Easter. I passed one garden that had bunnies and chicks but it’s not the norm hereabouts.

Happy Easter to everyone. Hope it includes chocolate (mine does!) 

Going, going....

Demolition is continuing on the former HMRC Banking Centre, making way for a large housing development. The IT centre, archives and stores are all cleared away, with just the office block remaining. The daffodils that used to cheer me on my way to work are still there, bravely attempting to brighten up the days for the demolition workers. I suppose they don't know their days are numbered? Or maybe, one day, in a new home's garden, a daffodil will pop up and everyone will wonder from whence it came.... 

Good Friday

'But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.' Isaiah 53:5

Baildon's Community Garden

I had a drive up to Baildon village centre to look in the carpet shop there. I need to get my entire apartment re-carpeted, once I've redecorated. The existing floor coverings are very stained and dirty as well as not being my style or colours. (I'm not a rust/maroon gal at all!) 

It was a dull, cold, rainy day but I nevertheless walked up to the Community Garden, which is always a little oasis of calm, colour and texture. 

Swathes of winter flowering heathers bring welcome colour. 

The gardener and his dog keep an eye on proceedings. 

Camellias are in flower. These exuberant blooms always look to me like they should be summer flowers, but they brave early spring and are often browned by frosts. Not so this year; they are a little rain battered but mostly looking good. The rich colours are gorgeous. 

 

Signs of Spring

On most of my outings recently I've been intent on errands: several trips to the local waste tip, visits to DIY stores, car service and MOT (it passed), trip to the opticians (I didn't 'pass'... I've to have laser treatment as a follow-up to the cataract ops I had a few years ago. It's common and no big deal.)

Any photos I've taken have been on the hoof, with my phone, but it's pleasing to see signs of spring. We haven't had any real hard frosts lately so the magnolias and camellias are so far relatively unscathed. 

1774 - 2024

On Saturday, Bingley celebrated the 250th anniversary of the opening of the famous 5 Rise Locks. From 1774 to 2024 much has changed and yet not a lot has changed. Boats still go up and down in much the same way as they always did. The canal lock flight is the steepest in the UK and one of the wonders of the nation’s waterways, a feat of 18th century engineering. When it opened in 1774, about 30,000 people gathered, awestruck, to watch the first boats make the 60ft descent through the five linked locks. 

There probably weren't that number there on Saturday but there were enough folk about to create a nice buzz. It was bitterly cold in the strong wind and drizzled off and on, so not the nicest of days but there was plenty to see and do, from guided walks to learning how to canoe. 

Some of the boats that had intended to be there are stuck further up the canal by damaged lock gates. Nevertheless there was a good line of lovely boats, many selling crafts and other delights. The Pendle Witch sweet shop boat was there (see HERE). I had a brief chat with this lovely man (below) who was making dog leads and toys from reclaimed materials. His boat was smart and traditionally painted with 'roses and castles', and he himself had that amiable, weathered look that you see on so many boaters, people generally at ease with themselves and with life. If you take to it (not everyone does) it's a nice, relaxing life on board. 

Another of the boats had some fantastical little sculptures and artworks, again made from found and reclaimed materials. 

Mirrored

One of the houses on Victoria Road has a tiny slice of yard between the house wall and the pavement, boundaried by iron railings. It can't be more than a metre wide but the resident there has filled it with all manner of little objects, pots, chairs, fake flowers and other treasures, including a mirror that - observed from a particular  angle - neatly captures the tower of the Victoria Hall.  It's all a bit kitsch but oddly pleasing too. 

Daffy-down-dilly

'Daffy-down-dilly has now come to town
With a petticoat green and a bright yellow gown.'

Indeed, there were numerous varieties of daffodils in bloom in the little Hirst Wood Nature Reserve, making it all look very cheerful. 

We've had so much rain for months, so to be able to take a walk in the dry and with late afternoon sunshine brightening the scene was very pleasant. The newly-laid canal towpath is open again, at least temporarily. The black tarmac surface is apparently only the undercoat and, when the weather is drier, they will lay a buff-coloured topping of gravel chippings.

It may be that people haven't realised the path is open again, as there were many fewer people walking that way than there would usually be. In fact, for a few moments, as I gazed down the canal from the top of the lock, I could not see another soul. 

Stop - and go

There are not usually traffic lights in the heart of Saltaire village but they have installed temporary lights due to some gas works being undertaken. It said 'Stop!' but I was on foot, so I didn't have to take any notice. I'm not sure what works are being done. There was a rather large hole surrounded by barriers. 

 

Incidentally, the land on the left of my photos (a car park at present) has just received a 'Go!'  Planning permission has been granted to erect a new building as part of Shipley College, which will house some classrooms, new public toilets (much needed) and the Saltaire Collection, which is the archive of Saltaire's history. It will all be fairly hidden in a garden and I think, personally, it will be a good use of the site, though I'm not sure where the cars will go. It has attracted quite a lot of controversy, with some people feeling it will be a modern intrusion in our historic village. It's not as if the present space is at all attractive though; the rutted car park and ugly toilet block are rather an eyesore. A report about the development and some draft designs can be found HERE. My original post about the proposal is HERE.

All the fun of the fair

My daughter and youngest granddaughter came over to inspect progress on my apartment. The little one eventually got a bit bored by talk of decor and plans for a new bathroom, so we took pity on her and went out. We ended up at the garden centre where, as I've mentioned before on my blog, there is an old-fashioned 'Penny Arcade' full of slot machines and peepshows such as you used to find on seaside piers back in the day. £1 coin into a machine delivers a handful of old copper pennies and we managed to get ourselves quite a few more on some of the machines, by hitting the jackpot. I did quite well on the 'coin pusher' game. 

We watched Sooty's Band, a little animated puppet show featuring Sooty the bear, Sweep the dog and Soo the panda, which used to be on TV when I was a child. 

There are all sorts of weird animated scenes. M was fascinated by Frank N Stine, which eventually revealed a mermaid in the box - 'a monster of the deep'! 

As for me, I can now bear the Laughing characters. This one was 'Mick, the Jolly Gardener'. When I was child these used to make me cry! 

We all had our fortunes told by 'a gypsy'. Mine was fairly boring but the card my daughter received had us in stitches. (Obviously no-one told the gypsy that Charles is now King.) Can't wait for Thursday! Pretend to look surprised. 😂

Reorientating

I've only moved about half a mile from my old house to my new apartment yet it's odd how that has reshaped my local world. It's all familiar territory but setting off from a different place means subtle adjustments to my route, whether on foot or by car, with new views of familiar things to be enjoyed. I've always been able to look up to Baildon Moor and the wonderfully named Hope Hill in the distance. From this new place, higher up the other side of the valley, I look across to it - and indeed can see it from my flat's balcony, which I'm thrilled about as I love this view. 

I can also see the church tower from my windows and have to go around either the front or back of it to get to the main road, shops and down into Saltaire village. 

The house at the far side of the road junction (on the photo above) is now an estate agent's office. Built in 1866, it marks the southwest corner of Saltaire village. It is the only detached house in the entire village and was once the home of the chief cashier of Salts Mill. Its history is documented HERE. The road junction, incidentally, is universally known by locals as 'Saltaire roundabout', though the roundabout disappeared a few years ago and was replaced by traffic lights. 

So far I have not forgotten where I now live and arrived back at my old house... but I wouldn't put that past me! I often have to sit and think about exactly which way I have to go to get to where I'm heading from here. 

A brief escape

My days are spent, mostly happily, getting things organised in my new home. There have been many days when I’ve had to stay in all day for various engineers/repairmen/handymen. I’ve had several delightful visits from family and friends, keen to see where I am now and/or (often) to give me a hand with something. In the last few days, since I’ve had a wi-fi connection, I’ve been notifying all and sundry of my new address. Some organisations make that an easy process and some don’t! There's a lot still to do but I’m getting nearer to the fun end of things. I will have to have a new bathroom fitted and that involves a myriad decisions. It will be a long term investment so I don’t want to get it wrong. 

If I’ve been out it has generally been on necessary errands. You wouldn’t believe the number of small things that I thought I’d carefully packed and now can’t find! Today I had to go and buy a plug adaptor in order to charge my electric toothbrush. I expect I’ll find the original tomorrow! 

Really the only leisure outing I’ve had was a walk at Bolton Abbey, on a drizzly, misty day that made for pleasantly soft and muted photos. I’m gradually resuming a more normal rhythm so I’m hopeful of a return to more frequent blogging as my outings increase. 

 

Manna from heaven

This neat little box, my friends, is manna from heaven. It is a mini wi-fi hub that works off the 4G network. I’ve been sent it because, for reasons both complicated and ridiculous, BT have not yet managed to connect me to broadband at my new flat. That is despite 14 days of waiting, numerous ‘no shows’ of engineers and three young, handsome, very nice but ultimately hapless Openreach engineers who did show up at various times but were not briefed and did not have either the right information, skills, tools or authority to do what is needed for a proper connection. Thanks to two patient friends fielding phone calls for me (how many times in the last two weeks have I wished I could hear well enough to pick the phone up myself!) and then, blessedly, the granting of a direct email connection to a relatively helpful (though also somewhat short on knowledge and experience) chap on the BT Complaints Line, I’ve eventually been sent this as a stop gap. And it actually works! I’ve so far been making do with my phone to try and access my emails and so on (but too small to read and too weak a signal to be very effective, not to mention my fingers being too big to type on it reliably - and gobbling up data! 😱) 

I’ve now cranked my desktop Mac into life. I’ll swear I heard it mutter ‘Where have you been?’ My phone is a happy bunny with four bars of wi-fi instead of two bars of 4G signal and my iPad… well, that’s demanding that I re-sign into everything and is chiding me because it’s not been synced or backed up for two weeks. But they WORK! Hooray! 

Not only that but I’ve built myself a sit/stand desk today (from a kit) - so not a bad day for someone who is generally rather technically challenged. With my entire small village of friends helping in various ways with practical and moral support, life here is beginning at last to shape up into a more rhythmic and familiar pattern. Bedroom is tidy and restful, all boxes banished; kitchen is fully functional and even has a little space in some of the cupboards for the several boxes of glassware etc that I haven’t yet unpacked. One end of the sitting room looks like a sitting room. (The other looks like a depository, stacked with boxes, mainly books awaiting shelves). I’m in the process of getting quotes to fit a new bathroom. Currently that’s just a place to try and keep clean in, rather than the relaxing sanctuary I am seeking. My office is a work in progress and currently a shoe box holds all the most important notebooks, pens, scissors, sellotape and Letters/Bills That Must Soon Be Dealt With.

Slowly but surely, my new life as an apartment dweller is taking shape. ‘Phase One’ not yet fully completed but I’m much nearer now than I was to a basically organised and calm existence. I feel as though I’m at last getting on to the fun bit, thinking about decor and sussing out how things need to be organised to work well, everything in its place and a place for everything. My best buy so far? A little machine that prints labels. Boxes, jars, everything getting neatly labelled! 

Unboxing

Well, I got here! I finally moved last Thursday and have started unpacking boxes. The kitchen and my bedroom are now functioning fairly well but there’s a lot I can’t unpack until I get more storage. Much at my previous house was built in (bookshelves and cupboards) so I haven’t been able to bring them with me. There is loads still to do: new bathroom, complete redecoration, curtains and carpets throughout, so I’m going to be busy. Although very unfinished yet, it already feels like home and I think I’ll be happy and contented here.

The biggest issue currently is that I have no broadband. It was installed last Friday but doesn’t work and I’m having a real job to get it progressed. Being deaf, I don’t use the phone so it’s hugely inconvenient to be offline. 

I’ve been humbled and grateful for all the support and love of family and friends, who are going above and beyond to help with various things, making phone calls for me, making sure I’m fed and so on. It clearly ‘takes a village’ to move house, and I’m very fortunate to have my little ‘village’ surrounding me.

Some bits are relatively tidy and I love my new sofa, though it will look 100% better paired with a new carpet.

It’s all a work in progress but I’m so glad to be here and to be starting the ‘fun end’ of the business of moving house. It’s been a long haul to get this far.