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! 😂

Mad dogs and Englishmen...

I often struggle to adjust to 'normality' again when I return from holiday but that has been even harder to achieve since I got back from Scotland, given the record and sustained high temperatures we've been having. Hardly 'normal'! I've taken to having a walk before breakfast on the warmer days, as it is only then that the temperatures are bearable. 

On Saturday (27 June, I'm lagging well behind in posting) I was out by 7.30 am, and decided to do the longer route out along the canal and back along the river. I'd forgotten there was a regatta at the rowing club. As I walked downstream, marshals were setting up at various points along the river bank. As I neared the rowing club, it was all hands on deck prepping the boats, with more teams arriving by the minute from as far away as Durham and Hull. This was shortly after 8 am and the first race was due to start at 8.30 am. It was already pretty warm! 

The local clubs included Bradford Grammar School's enthusiastic rowers whom I've seen practising here a few times. 

The races were due to start some 600m upstream and finish in front of the clubhouse. The line of flags marks the boundary beyond which the boats must not go, as they'd risk being swept down the weir, currently not full and a very rocky incline indeed. 

These regattas must take a huge amount of organising; the Risk Assessments alone must be colossal. It was lovely to see the anticipatory buzz around the clubhouse. I hope it all passed off smoothly. 

Walking further on, to Roberts Park, there was a buzz around there too, as volunteers were getting ready for the weekly Saturday morning 5km park run (or walk or jog). It was a very hot morning for running but on my way home I passed lots of people making their way down to the park to join in. Often there are over 500 runners taking part! This is another event that needs masses of volunteers to organise and manage safely. They run throughout the year, winter and summer, never mind the weather (unless the course is flooded.) Hats off to them. 

It's the first time I've seen it since I'm not usually up and out before they've finished and had their coffee! 

All that jazz

We've had some unbelievably hot days recently - and it's barely summer yet. I had my younger granddaughter over for the day and we wandered down to Roberts Park for an ice cream. 'Guiseley Jazz' were playing in the bandstand, and a few folk got up to dance to the infectious rhythm. It was heartwarming to see the older couple teaching the younger girls some of the moves. It all felt very relaxed and lovely - and the ice creams were good too. We even found a place to sit in the shade and the slight breeze made it feel bearable. Neither of us are sun/hot weather lovers. 

We paid a visit to Baba Jaga's hut, and I found she knew the legend quite well. She's bright as a button and quick on the uptake about most things. 

Before long she was in her favourite habitat - up a tree! 

Any railings or low walls we pass also get clambered on. From here we got a grandstand view of the Canada geese taking their babies for a paddle on the weir. The river is currently very low, but it will soon fill again as we have rain forecast for next week. 

A busy day in the park

There was something for everyone in the park last Sunday. 

It must nearly be summer as the bandstand concerts have started. The wonderful Hot Aire Concert Band was playing. They are very polished and have a great repertoire of mostly lively and well-known music. I really enjoy listening to them (despite my less than good hearing) and their sound is loud enough to fill the bandstand and carry really well. 

The cricket season has started, so there was a match going on...

and the once-a-month farmer's market was lining the promenade. 

For children, the land train has started running, doing regular circuits of the park (though I didn't manage to get a photograph of that this time).  It's all happening in Saltaire! If only the weather would warm up a bit... 

Blue hour

Blue hour, just after sunset, lends an air of mystery to Saltaire's scenic spots. 

Falconry display

There was a Falconry display in Roberts Park. It's lovely to see these magnificent birds close up. I'm afraid I didn't take note of the team running the exhibit. There are a few local falconry centres. I'll hazard a guess that this is the team from the Shibden Valley Falconry in Halifax. They had a kestrel (above), owls, a hawk and a couple of gyr/saker cross falcons, all beautiful birds. I think falconry centres usually have rescued birds that could not be released into the wild. 

 

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. 

Roberts Park blossom

I wandered down to this month's farmer's market in Roberts Park. There's usually a stall selling delicious, pressed apple juice blends. I don't drink much juice as it's not supposed to be all that good for you but, as an occasional treat, it's fine, I think. I'm trying the apple and beetroot, which is a pretty pink and very tasty. 

In the park, the mature cherry trees are a splendid sight, covered in blossom. 

I also spotted a little patch of cowslips, which remind me of my childhood. They seemed more common years ago.