More Christmas trees

More from St Paul's Church's Christmas Tree Festival: 

There were gingerbread men in abundance, appropriately enough, on the tree decorated by Shipley Area Gingerbread, an organisation that supports single-parent families. 

1st Shipley Guides, Shipley CE Primary School and Wellington House Nursing Home brought the generations together in a row of trees in the side aisle. 

The HALE Healthy Living Project Helps people to live healthier lives, in an area that has high health inequalities and low incomes. Shipley Area School Uniform Support, run by the Salvation Army, provides affordable recycled school uniforms for all our local schools, to support families with the often quite high cost of kitting out growing children. 

Most of the trees had beautiful hand made ornaments, like the rainbow circles on the tree above for the 1st Shipley Rainbows. They're a group for girls aged 5-7, before they are old enough to join Brownies and Guides. They work in a similar way, with 'badges' for learning new skills. The 1st Shipley Brownies (below) made good use of old socks! 

It's heart-warming to know just how many charitable and community groups operate in our area. These represent a huge number of volunteers, all putting in lots of time to encourage and support our young people and those with particular needs.

Christmas Tree Festival

Quite a few churches these days seem to hold Christmas Tree Festivals, and St Paul's Church in Shipley was open one evening for the viewing of trees sponsored by local clubs and charitable organisations. It was foul weather that day - snow in the morning and then heavy rain later - so I nearly didn't go, but in the end the effort was worth it.  There were about thirty trees on show and the atmosphere was warm, festive and friendly. Mulled wine and mince pies were offered, though I didn't indulge. 

The 'book tree' (above) was my favourite - offered by The Children's Society bookshop that featured in one of my posts last month.  The one prettily covered with blue and green fairy lights (below) was from The Activity Den, a community hub for wellbeing, health and fitness. 

Gingerbread men featured on the tree sponsored by our local CAP (Christians Against Poverty) debt centre.  I rather liked the autumnal branch cleverly decorated with sheet music folded into angels and garlands, a rather different 'take' on the theme.  It was sponsored by Shipley Recorders and Wycliffe Primary School Recorder Club - and I think it was a few of their members that were serenading the gathering from the choir stalls. 

Painting the Nativity

Our new vicar is wonderfully enthusiastic and encouraging, and the source of some great new ideas for 'being church' and community. She has decided we need a Christmas display outside church to attract people's attention and invite them in - a series of characters in the Nativity story, with new figures added as we go through Advent. So we held an Action Day when people came together to paint, and to start to decorate the church inside. Our wonderful team of flower arrangers have made Nativity scenes on each window sill (which I'll show at some point later). 

I offered to join the painting team and I was given a plywood piece shaped like a donkey. Well, that was a challenge and I rather surprised myself by painting what I think turned out to be quite a credible young donkey. One lady said she thought he looked friendly, so that was a positive.  

At least I didn't make an ass of myself! 😆

One of our more talented artists created a beautiful shimmering angel. 

I had a minor role completing Mary's face...

Someone managed to give Joseph a rather wonderful golden-toned undergarment... very clever, as there was no gold paint. 

There's a slightly cross-eyed shepherd - and, of course, some sheep, two of which I turned my brush to: 

I suspect our version of the Nativity bears little relation to the actual scene of Jesus' birth. I can't remember seeing any fluffy white sheep in the Holy Land when I visited some years ago. In fact, their sheep and goats were virtually indistinguishable from each other. (Isn't there a Bible story about that?) 

Anyway, we tried! There's something quite pleasing about the naivety of it. (Naivety of the Nativity? Well, yeah...) 

Kingdom Wrestling

Always up for a new experience, I went to a pro-wrestling event held in my church. It was organised by Kingdom Wrestling: 'the UK's first faith-based pro-wrestling charity, using sports entertainment to transform lives and communities'. They have just moved into a room in our extensive church halls, from where they run groups for children and young people, women's self-defence classes, adult wrestling training and a support group for mens' mental health. It's a way of connecting with and providing community for people who would never normally come into a church. 

It seems to be working! There were well over 100 people in the audience, a lot of families. Our vicar welcomed people with a short sermon and prayer, so the faith element is forefront. It was all very noisy, partisan and exciting! I used to watch wrestling on TV with my dad but that's years ago and I'd largely forgotten all about it. It's a kind of athletic, performance 'theatre'. Each wrestler is a 'character' and there are 'goodies' and 'baddies' and associated storylines. There were bouts between pairs and foursomes, the teams including a few enviably fit young women, and then an ongoing contest between about 20 different wrestlers, who kept swapping in and out of the ring. There's music and lights, and lots of parading around and high-fiving the kids. The wrestling itself looked fearsome but you could see that the holds, kicks, punches and slams were all carefully controlled so, although they writhed about dramatically, I think little harm was done beyond perhaps a few bruises. The body-slams from height made a tremendous thud and really made the ring bounce! It was certainly entertaining. (See HERE for a proper explanation of the sport.)

'Pray, Eat, Wrestle, Repeat' was the logo on the club T-shirts. The top photo features Gareth Angel (the club's main organiser and heavyweight wrestling champion) and Jimmy Jackson, with referee Katie Crosby. My second and third pictures are Leonie Rose (women's champion) and Kiara; last one is Jack Johnson and - ooh, not sure, Andy Poole possibly?

I wasn't sure whether it would be possible to take photos, so I didn't take my camera. As you can see, it was pretty dark so my phone was struggling and most of the action shots were far too blurred to be useable. (Not sure my camera would have coped either.) These are the best of a bad lot! There were two TV crews there (French and Japanese, apparently). It's been getting a lot of publicity lately, even mentioned on 'Have I Got News For You' (a satirical/comedy TV quiz show) last week. 

There's a short YouTube video that explains it all brilliantly, HERE, and is worth watching. 

I'm glad I went, as I was very curious to see what went on. I'd go again, though perhaps not regularly... but I'm assuredly not the target audience! 

Settle

Settle is an attractive small market town in Ribblesdale, in the south of the Yorkshire Dales. It was originally a local rural centre, served by packhorse trails and drovers' roads but started to grow in the 17th century when a turnpike road was constructed to benefit the local textile trade and connect the area with the more industrialised towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The coming of the railway opened up the possibilities still further and the town became a centre for cotton spinning. Nowadays, tourism is the main focus, as the town is quite near the famous Yorkshire Three Peaks and attracts walkers. 

It's an interesting place to rootle around, with old buildings and narrow streets, some still cobbled. It fascinates me how the rooflines go up and down, buildings obviously shoe-horned in at various points of its history. 

My friend wanted to get a few things in Booths supermarket (a rather superior store), so I waited in the car, enjoying the scenery around. The newish flats opposite the car park looked very attractive (I now have a vested interest in apartment buildings!). They are part of the McCarthy and Stone chain... rather expensive. There's a two bed apartment for sale there at the moment for over £300,000, with an eye-watering service charge of over £5000 a year plus ground rent plus a car parking charge! (You can, however, watch cricket from the roof terrace, as it's next to the local cricket ground.)

Lines, light, landscape, body

The exhibition I went to see in Settle was 'Translating the Body', curated by an artist's life model, Sue Vickerman ('Suki'). Here she has turned convention on its head, showing works created in modelling sessions she has had with various artists. In some cases she has taken photos or amended the artworks, taking control of and questioning the power dynamic between artist and model. 

I can't say I liked most of the work but I did find it interesting - and I did like the wire sculptures by Judith Glynn. 

The exhibition was paired, in a rather inspired way, with one called 'Land and Light', monochrome Yorkshire landscapes by Elizabeth Smith. Chalk and charcoal lines and smudges, powerful though minimal, evoked the hills and moors and the movement of light across the landscape. I did like these, very much. You could not help but see parallels with the lines, shapes and shadows of the nude human body, exemplified in the other displays. 

The Folly, Settle

I went to Settle recently, to see an exhibition in The Folly. It's a wonderful old building, dating back to the 1670s. Originally built as a home and offices for wealthy Settle lawyer and landowner Richard Preston, it has a chequered history. When it was sold to the Dawsons in around 1702, after Richard's death, they leased The Folly to a succession of tenants and its uses included a farmhouse, bakery, warehouse, furniture shop, refreshment rooms, fish & chip shop, bank, salvage business and antique shop. Nineteenth-century census records show that The Folly was occupied by two or three different families and their lodgers. In 1871, there were 21 people living in the house. Recently, it has been restored and the whole building brought back into use as a museum (with a nice café).  

You initially enter the hall, a grand room that would have been the main reception room for Richard Preston's visitors and clients. It has beams, panelling and a massive fireplace, with unusual stones forming the arch - called, apparently 'joggled voussoirs'. 

A magnificent oak staircase connects this room to the rest of the house. It has clearly been bashed about a bit over the years. There's evidence of woodworm and its timbers are twisted. The rounded finials on the newel posts looked to me like two people hugging! 

Upstairs the light through the mullioned windows was casting bright bands across the polished wood floor. 

The exhibitions change from time to time, but there are displays describing some of Settle's history, with some interesting local artefacts and furniture. There is an oak seat made in the workshop of Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson, so named because of his trademark mice carved into every piece. 

Something different

And now for something completely different... I spotted this when I was looking for 'yellow' things a while back. Reviewing my images, I decided it was more orange than yellow so I didn't include it but I keep going back to it as an abstract composition. There's something about it that appeals to me. It is, of course, the lighting panel of a car, with the orange indicator (you know, those things that people never seem to use any more 😂  - at least round this neck of the woods they don't).

I did not take note of the make of car or anything. For me it was purely the shapes and colours that caught my eye - and those perfectly spaced raindrops that echo the punched holes at the top. 

Tall Paul Kelly

I've recently become aware of the work of a Saltaire-based artist called Tall Paul Kelly. A graphic designer and illustrator, in the Covid lockdown he started to produce posters depicting locations in Yorkshire. They give a nod to old railway and travel posters. He uses bold colour and striking compositions, most of which have a playful twist. I love his work and was delighted to see that he is this year's recipient of the Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair Prize. His work is currently on display in The Hepworth café. 

I was rather tempted to invest in his print of Saltaire. (It was only lack of wall space that stopped me!) It's a clever fusion of Salts Mill and the alpaca whose wool underpinned Sir Titus Salt's success in textiles. (Apologies for the reflections in the glass, which were impossible to avoid.) 

I also loved the picture of Malham Cove, which brilliantly incorporates the peregrines that nest on the cliff face. 

After a moment or two of studying his depiction of Brimham Rocks, you notice the people and birds included in the spaces between - and a dog too. The man looking up, bottom right, reminds me of the statue of the poet John Betjeman in St Pancras Station, but that may simply be coincidence. I'm not aware of a link between Betjeman and Brimham Rocks. 

 

The Force

I had errands to do in Bingley that coincided with the Christmas Market and the Christmas Lights Switch-on. It was difficult, however, to get any decent photos. For one thing, there were inevitably lots of children around and I'm always very wary of including recognisable children in my photos. It was safer on the whole not to bother trying. I did manage to snap a few Star Wars characters wandering around. Not that I recognise them, having never been a real fan of the series. I do recognise Darth Vader! 

 

T'Co-op

This is my nearest supermarket, the Co-op. It's on the expensive side for most things so I only tend to get odd bits there - milk when I've run out, and bread, as they sell a decent gluten-free loaf. For a larger shop I go to Asda in Shipley, Aldi in Bingley or Sainsbury's in Keighley, depending on what's on my shopping list. The Co-op used to be at the far end of the shops here on Bingley Road but moved last year and is now bigger and much better stocked. 

The Co-operative has been a staple of our main streets since mid-Victorian times. Back when I was a child, there was a large Co-operative store in my home town. I remember that when you gave the shop assistant your payment, she would put the money into a metal canister and send it zinging along a suction tube to the cashiers' department, who would issue change and a receipt and send it clanging back to the shop counter. Most exciting! You've always been able to be 'a member' and share in the profits, and they pride themselves on their ethical policies. These days, however, there seems little difference between them and the other stores who have 'loyalty cards'. 

I'm glad it's so convenient though. As I get older, if I'm not willing to drive far, I will still be able to get most of what I need from here and the other shops along the street. Lots of people in my apartment block get groceries delivered and so that is an option, but I like to choose goods for myself, looking at their expiry dates and suchlike. 

Wild!

Well, I didn't know I was going to create this! I started with a photo of light coming through autumn leaves - and in Photoshop layered it and blended it a few times, just experimenting. It's fun to 'play' sometimes. It's turned into a weird insect family or something! I'm never sure whether these kinds of experiments have any real merit but it was certainly a surprise once I finished. 

This was the original:

 

Shadow play

Two very different depictions of shadow and light, one geometric and created from the built environment, the other organic and flowing.