Harriers v Cyclists

I was negotiating my way along the rather muddy and slippery moorland at the top of Shipley Glen, when I noticed a skein of brightly coloured vests ahead of me - runners and cyclists. I was just too late to see exactly what was going on but then later, as I turned round to return the way I'd come, they also returned and passed me. I realised it was the annual 'Harriers v Cyclists' race, organised by Bingley Harriers running club.

They start at the Fisherman Pub on the canal, following a course through the Milner Field estate, across Loadpit Beck by the mill pond, through Shipley Glen and up the steep bank to Glen Road (where I took these photos). Their route, a little over 5 miles (8 km) in total but with a steep 300m climb, then circles round Hope Hill on Baildon Moor and back along the same path into the valley. They compete for the Fisherman Trophy. The course record is around 34 minutes. This year, the fastest male runner (Nathan Edmondson) completed it in 36 min 01.7 sec and the fastest cyclist (David Mirfield) in 36 min 56.7 sec, so there is not much in it. The fastest women clocked 43:43 running and 58:25 cycling. Most of the cyclists I watched dismounted at the top of the steep bank where I photographed them, which I suppose slows them down a little. Getting filthy and bruised is one thing, but risking your neck is another, I guess.

I felt a little crazy to be out walking on such a gloomy and damp day, but there are many folk who think nothing of spending their weekends getting all muddy and wet in the name of sport!

The chap with the stick was a marshal showing the competitors where the route down the crag face started, as it is quite hard to see - not really a path, more of a scramble.

Reverse photo-bombing

We're all familiar with 'photo-bombing', when an unexpected/unwanted person or animal sneeks into your shot... I wonder if there is a reverse equivalent, when an unexpected (possibly unwanted) photographer sneeks into your photoshoot? That's what I did the other day, on my way into the annual Peace and Crafts Fair in the Victoria Hall.

Father Christmas is often to be found hanging around at the event. I think he must pick up a few stocking fillers there. As I walked past, a group of friends had invited him to feature in their photo. It seemed a good opportunity to take a quick snap myself! He seems to have suffered, like all of us, from a little austerity over the past year - beard and fur not nearly as luxuriant as last year and he himself looks even leaner (compare HERE).

It's all a bit of fun at this time of year. The Peace and Crafts Fair is indeed a good place to stock up on cards and gifts, ready for the festive season, often supporting charities in the process.

Throwing a pot

Saltaire Arts Trail 2019 - It's always interesting to watch artists demonstrating their skills. In the Maker's Fair, ceramicist Sylvia Glover was showing how to throw a pot on a potter's wheel. She made it look so easy, not a wobbly line in sight! From a lump of clay to a beautiful, even-sided little bowl, ready to be dried, took her less than ten minutes. 

Mawdsley Williams furniture design

Saltaire Arts Trail 2019 - David Mawdsley, of Addingham-based Mawdsley Williams Ltd, designs and crafts the most beautiful, unique furniture from a variety of different woods, chosen for their natural characteristics and grain patterns. His pieces, both the larger items of furniture and the exquisitely crafted smaller boxes and chopping boards, make decorative use of the grain pattern and the effects achieved by inlaying different types of wood.

I've seen his work exhibited at various events like the Arts Trail and Skipton's Art in the Pen. If I had money to spare and somewhere to display it, I'd treat myself to one of his console tables or maybe a bar stool. There's something wonderfully tactile about good wood, as well as the joy of the craftsmanship that goes into each piece.

Here, he was shaping a leg for a stool. I'd love to try working with wood, though since I have difficulty even filing my nails, I'm not sure I'd be much good at it! See David's website HERE for more examples of his lovely work.

Made by Today

Saltaire Arts Trail 2019 - The Open Houses showcase work by local people, as well as celebrated artists from further afield. Séarlait McCrea is a Northern Irish girl living in Saltaire, making understated jewellery in her home and, when on the move, in her trusty campervan. With a love of simplicity and a loathing for excess, she creates minimalist, timeless pieces produced as ethically as possible. Her vision is set out in her 'Made by Today' website HERE, where you can see (and buy) some of her subtle and classy designs. She also runs jewellery making workshops in Saltaire and Leeds.

In my photo, she was carefully shaping tiny crescents from the thin sheet of metal, using a very fine hacksaw blade. She made it seem easy but I'm sure it's harder than it looked. One slip and your finger would be cut or the piece ruined!

Mandy Long - Ceramic Sculpture

Saltaire Arts Trail 2019 - It's interesting to notice what catches your eye as you wander round the Arts Trail... For me, it's not always the most obvious things, and often it is just one piece that stops me in my tracks.

The ceramic sculpture above was in the window of a house on Titus Street. It's called 'Landladies' and is the work of Leeds-based artist Mandy Long, pictured right. I loved the way she has caught the pose of these women. Even without faces, they are still hugely expressive and the piece really tells a story, I think.

Other exhibits displayed were also powerfully expressive, like the one below - the Hurdler. Seemingly suspended mid-leap, the athlete's muscles are straining to clear the hurdle. Much of Mandy's work depicts the physicality of sport in its various forms, allowing her to fuse grace and power very eloquently in her sculptures. The pieces are raku-fired, causing random crackling and blackening of the glaze.

I loved it - and I loved that I dared ask Mandy if I could take her photo and she said 'yes'! I'm getting braver. Look at her website for the full range of her beautiful work - HERE.

Candid camera

April's assignment in my online photo group was to 'take a photo of someone you don't know, either posed or candid'. That's a real challenge for me. Partly because I'm so deaf, I find it hard to engage with people I don't know - and I feel voyeuristic taking photos candidly. I had to have a go though...  

First, I took the photo of Alex at the mining museum. Though I would have liked a less cluttered background, I wasn't entirely comfortable about 'posing' him, so it was a bit rushed. Then I decided to have a go at taking some 'street shots', trying to catch people unawares. My new camera makes street photography slightly easier as it has a tilting backscreen, so I can compose surreptitiously and avoid lifting the camera to my eye. Still a challenge though. Somehow, photos with cluttered backgrounds taken by Martin Parr look OK; photos with cluttered backgrounds taken by me look... cluttered. At least the top shot doesn't have a cluttered background. 

The lady and the two boys were enjoying a picnic. I've blurred the boys' faces a bit as I'm never very happy showing identifiable pics of children on a public blog. I've a friend who is mother to adopted children and, as she points out, it can actually be dangerous to show identifiable children in identifiable locations. Some children's lives are very precarious and you just never know.  

In St. Peter's Square in Manchester there was a small group of 'Remainers' (Manchester for Europe) trying to convince people that staying in the EU is essential. They didn't have to work too hard to convince me... but others perhaps were less open to their message.

I spotted two older ladies just sitting watching the world go by (as the saying goes). It reminded me of my childhood, sitting with my parents on a bench somewhere. I think I asked what we were doing and mum said: 'Watching the world go by'.  After a while my sister asked: 'When is it coming?'

Some friends were having a warm chat over coffee:

and a little girl was running through the water jets, without her shoes but still in her (very wet) tights.

World Heritage Day 2019

World Heritage Day was celebrated in Saltaire (a World Heritage Site) this year with a Sundowner event in Roberts Park. It happened to be Easter Saturday and a wonderfully sunny, warm evening as well. The park would have been busy anyway but it was absolutely packed, as people enjoyed jazz in the bandstand, Shakespeare Comedy Mashes (whatever that means... people were performing but I couldn't hear it), the obligatory Easter Egg hunt and plenty of street food and other market stalls. There was a cricket match too. The park looked wonderful with all the trees in blossom, almost as though they'd dressed up for the occasion. 

The Big Issue seller

The centre of Haworth village is, I suppose, the area just below the parish church, where a junction of cobbled lanes opens into what might loosely be called 'a square', although it isn't square and is barely big enough to justify the term. There is a pub at either end, a telephone box and a building that held the tourist information office until it was closed (more budget cuts!). It was here that the Big Issue North seller was sitting, even though there were very few people about. She looked so very cold. I didn't buy a magazine as I didn't want to have to carry it about, but I did give her a donation.

The Big Issue magazine was launched in London in 1991 as a way to help people struggling to earn legitimate income. Big Issue North developed from that and is now a separate entity. Sellers buy the magazine for £1.25 and sell it for £2.50, keeping the profit. They come from a variety of backgrounds but all face the problems of poverty and inequality (though they are not all rough sleepers). Many sellers locally are women and often appear to be of an Eastern European background. The Big Issue charities work to highlight the issues of poverty and rough sleeping, and attempt to alleviate some of the pressures for individuals.

Volunteers at Bracken Hall

These ladies are some of the volunteers who are keeping Shipley Glen's Bracken Hall Countryside Centre open, through the Friends of Bracken Hall and with the support of Baildon Town Council. They weren't all that sure about having their photos taken but they kindly agreed.

The Centre first opened in 1981 and was run as a private business by the people who lived in the adjacent house. Later it was transferred to Bradford Council, who ran it for many years as an educational outreach centre. Budget cuts meant that could not continue and the centre closed in 2013. A concerted effort by the Friends means it's now able to open at weekends. It organises guided walks and supports school visits to the area, as well as having an interesting and varied display inside, covering the social, industrial and natural history of the area. It also has a nice wildlife-friendly garden. It's well worth popping in if you're walking on Shipley Glen. They even offered me chocolates and a cup of tea!

The adjoining Bracken Hall House is now run as a luxury B&B and has five star reviews.

Wedding day

I was just going down to Roberts Park one day when a bridal couple happened to be posing for photos. I was cheeky enough to ask if I could take one too! They did tell me their names but then said: 'You'll never be able to remember that!'... and I can't! What with my poor hearing and the unfamiliar (to me) Asian names, I didn't really stand a chance - so my sincere apologies to them. They made a beautiful couple. The bride's outfit and jewellery were absolutely stunning, she looked gorgeous.There are often weddings in Saltaire's Victoria Hall and I assume they had just walked down from there to the park, for a greener background to their photos. Wishing them many happy years of marriage - and thanks for the photo.

Salt family heritage

It was a huge privilege to meet Nick Salt, Sir Titus Salt's great great grandson and a great grandson of Titus Salt Jnr and his wife Caroline. He retains a close connection with Saltaire and brought along some hand tools that had belonged to his great grandfather.

As well as being closely involved with the running of Salts Mill and the village of Saltaire, Titus Salt Jnr was an innovator and was interested in practical skills. He himself was a skilled woodworker and turner, and had a workshop or 'Turning Room' attached to the billiard room in the Milner Field mansion (where he suffered his fatal heart attack at the age of just 44). Some of the tools were actually inscribed with 'T SALT JUNr' - rather moving to see and hold.

There were also examples of some of the wood and ivory objects he turned, including the ivory mason's mallet used by his young son, Gordon (Nick's grandfather), who was not quite three at the time, to lay the foundation stone of Milner Field in 1869.

Nick's lineage is, I believe:

Sir Titus Salt (1803-1876) - had 11 children,  Titus Junior being his fifth son.
Titus Salt Junior (1843-1887) - had 4 children, Gordon Locksley Salt being his oldest son.
Gordon Locksley Salt (1866-1938) - had 3 children, John Salt being his middle child and only son.
John Scarlett Alexander Salt (1905-1947) - had 3 children, Nicholas being his middle child and second son.
Nicholas (Nick) John Salt (b 1945)

Summer in the city

I've a few more holiday photos to share but let's take a break from them to see some pictures from closer to home. 

The heatwave summer we've had provided lots of opportunity for people to enjoy the cooling fountains of the mirror pool in Bradford's City Park. It's like a trip to the seaside for some families, who arrive with towels and picnics to make a day of it. 

Chess

I ventured into Bradford the other day to go and see the newly released film: 'Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again'. The Picturehouse cinema, part of the Media Museum, shows a few films with subtitles for the hard of hearing, which is wonderful for me. It means I can enjoy new releases like everybody else, whereas I used to have to wait until they came on TV, often years later. Anyway, it's a hugely feel-good film, with some very poignant moments too (though I wanted to be able to sing - and sob! - out loud, which you can do in the comfort of your own home but is not quite the thing in a cinema...). If you like that kind of thing, do go and see it. I think it's actually better than the first film, which is great but is a little bit hammy in parts.

What has that to do with chess, you may be asking... Well, nothing, except that on the way back I happened to notice these two young guys playing chess on a giant board in City Park. There's a raised area from which I was able to take a shot looking down. I honestly don't know much about chess; I've never fathomed the rules or the play, but they seemed to be quite serious about it and had gathered a small crowd of interested onlookers.

Parade people

Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade 2018

Feminism is for everyone

Some of the colourful costumes worn by marchers commemorating the 110th anniversary of the March for Suffrage on Shipley Glen, 1908.

The act of creation

Saltaire Arts Trail 2018
There were several opportunities this year to watch artists demonstrating their craft and to explore your own creativity too, with a variety of workshops on offer.

Jake Attree, a renowned Yorkshire figurative artist was offering 'Draw Saltaire' workshops, using pen and ink, graphite or oil pastels. I believe he lives in Saltaire although his studio is in Halifax.

You could also drop in to The Craft House to try weaving or making pom-poms and felt marbles.

It was lovely seeing people sitting around the village sketching.

Don't those colourful oil pastels look inviting...?

May Day in Otley part 2

For dancing, you need music and the Otley May Day maypole dancers (see yesterday's post) were accompanied by the musicians that play for the Buttercross Belles and the Wharfedale Wayzgoose morris side.

The Wayzgoose are a border morris side and have very ornate and traditional costumes, with lots of bells, ribbons and feathers.

The Otley Bellman (Terry Ford) also had a hand in the proceedings. He is Otley's Town Crier, an ancient role that involves delivering messages and proclamations to the townspeople.