River views

Once across Ireland Bridge, my route took me alongside the river, with nice views of the backs of the properties on Bingley Old Main Street. The weir was originally built to power a mill that has now been demolished.

As I said yesterday, the surrounding properties do sometimes flood and I noticed a 'river level recorder', which I assume gives advance warning of potential problems.

You don't have to walk far from the main roads to begin to feel like you're in a different world. The river was very calm and there were some super reflections.

The path follows a track that leads past the newish apartments. A little further along there are three large detached properties, so newly built that only one is lived in so far. Across the river, a small estate of older houses leads to Bingley Cemetery, so the buildings give way to trees and greenery. After that, it all becomes suddenly quite rural....

Banana boat?

I've passed this vibrant yellow barge a few times, as it is usually moored at Shipley Wharf. I've mentally christened it 'the banana boat'! I believe it belongs to a charity, the JAMES Project (Joint Activities and Motor Education Service) which works with disadvantaged and 'at risk' young people to provide: 'an effective, caring and understanding environment where young people and families can overcome disadvantage and lack of provision to achieve their full potential in life through the enthusiastic delivery of relevant education, training and leisure opportunities.' Good stuff. They have workshops in several places and their marine division is based here in Shipley. 

Such bright colours made for equally cheerful reflections. 

In my bones

As a resident of 22 years, I've lived in Saltaire longer than I've lived in any other one place during my life. It's under my skin and in my bones, in much the way that Blackpool is etched through the length of a stick of rock candy. I'd even go so far as to say that I'd be able to identify Salts Mill in most circumstances. It is so iconic and recognisable. (Long term readers of my blog may feel the same! Possibly eternally bored of the same views? There are, after all, only so many photos you can take in a square mile.)


Try these three vignettes: a reflection, the tip of a chimney and a window (though originally, I think, a loading bay to transfer goods to and from canal barges. You can see the opening has been bricked up at the base.) 

Yes, I'd recognise them anywhere.

No 11 Victoria Road

I pass this doorway at the corner of Victoria Road and Caroline Street several times a week and one day - as sometimes happens - the way the light was catching it gave it a whole new beauty. The coloured glass panels positively glowed and I noticed the Victoria Hall's tower reflected in the central window.

The building is now part of the offices of chartered architects Rance Booth and Smith, who have restored and imaginatively reinstated aspects of the original building to provide office space that is both contemporary and historical.

When it was first opened in the late 1850s, the corner shop was a grocer's, before becoming a specialist bakery in the early 1900s. By 1937, trading as H W Ready, it was apparently 'the place to go' for catering for weddings and funerals. By the 1960s, as new, more modern shops opened in Shipley and the mill contracted, demands changed. There were at that time three bakeries in Saltaire in close proximity. No 11 had a change of use and became a furniture shop, then a TV repair shop, later a wool shop and then a seller of artificial flowers. Rance Booth and Smith took over in 1989.  It would be interesting, I so often think, if walls could talk. What stories these old buildings would tell.

Another evening stroll

I sometimes take a walk down to the park in the evening, if it's been a warm day. There are fewer people about and I am always hopeful of catching a good sunset. There were skeins of pink clouds on this occasion but sunset wasn't really a spectacular affair. We're too low down in the valley, I think, to see the best sky shows.

Reflections in the river give double the fun. Reflections in windows, in this case the windows of the New Mill, are also fun to notice.

Signs of the times

A sign of the times in one of Saltaire's shops, due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. It is very sad that businesses are having to close; hopefully some will survive and re-open when they can. Many are trying to innovate to keep going. Some of the restaurants are now doing take-aways and deliveries. I took this photo on a short walk I did, simply to get some exercise, in the late afternoon. There weren't many people about. The sun was low and there were some golden reflections in the shop windows.

Another day, on the outskirts of Shipley, I saw this sign at the gates to a factory. The company, Carnaud Metalbox, manufactures machinery for the production of beverage, food and aerosol cans. It looks like they are continuing to work, though obviously with some stringent checks on anyone entering.

Both these photos were taken before the announcement on Monday night that we in the UK are on pretty much total lockdown, so these measures may also be changed now. We are only allowed out to shop for food (as infrequently as possible) and once a day for exercise. Some people are still allowed to go to work in vital roles, obviously. I'll bet there will still be people who try to get round the rules. As for my photography, I'm sure I can take a few quick phone snaps when I'm walking for exercise but it's all going to be a bit boring and parochial for a while, I'm afraid.

When it's grey

You'll recall the press photo exhibition at Cartwright Hall that I visited in January (HERE). Well, there have been a couple of associated talks by press photographers and I went to hear Danny Lawson speak. He is the photographer who took that amazing photograph (HERE) of Meghan Markle, caught in a shaft of sunlight on her way up the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry, as well as many more instantly recognisable and incredible photos that have appeared in our newspapers and magazines. It was fascinating to listen to his stories and to see some of the camera equipment he uses too. Let's just say that I couldn't have lifted most of his cameras and lenses!

Seeing such brilliant work can either make me feel a little disheartened or inspired. February was such a very wet and grey month, I started to feel a little desperate to get out and find some decent photos. Half the time I didn't want to take my 'big' camera out because of the wet. I came out of the talk and got my phone out and took a few random shots, just to satisfy my urge to 'make something'.

There were plenty of puddles in which to find reflections. I liked the way the tarmac glittered, giving the appearance of stars in the sky. Then I spotted what must be the longest bench in the world. (!) The back of Cartwright Hall has rather lovely windows - and finally I found some colour in a winter flowering heather.

Cool pool

Bradford City Park was looking rather splendid in the winter sunshine when I passed through the other day. It's rare to see it empty. There are usually a few children or youths splashing around in the shallow water but it was really too cold for paddling! It meant that for once you could see the reflection of our beautiful City Hall, just a little blurred by the faint breeze across the surface. Although the sun was bright, it was too cold to hang around for long, so I took a quick snap on my phone and I headed off to Waterstone's book shop in the Wool Exchange, where at least it was warm and cosy. I omitted to take any pictures in there, but you can see the magnificent building on my blog HERE.

Puddle

A puddle... one of many currently around the village. Some are more scenic than others.

A trio of oddments

Here's a trio of things around Saltaire that I may vaguely have noticed before but have certainly never stopped to photograph. The mirror is at the Victoria Road entrance to Salts Mill, above the now-sealed tunnel that used to lead to the Dining Hall across the road. There is a larger mirror further along that I have taken pictures of in the past. Whether this smaller one is a recent addition, or whether I've just never seen it, I don't know. (It is quite high up). It must be to enable the security guards to see the driveway from their office.

The ceramic cat is a David Hockney creation, made when he was a student at Bradford College of Art and later given to his brother. It has been loaned to Salts Mill to display in the 1853 Gallery alongside some of Hockney's other work in the Salt collection.

Finally, corks... I'd be interested to know if any of my local readers know where these are?

In fact, it is a large picture that covers the window of the Victoria Off Licence, on Victoria Road. It's one of those wonderful shops that stays open a lot and sells sweets, crisps, milk and other useful sundries as well as alcohol. The same lovely couple have owned and run it for over 30 years.

Selfie

Me in a blue mood... The theme for my online group for December was 'Selfie'. I think perhaps it was envisaged that we might dress up in the style of Cindy Sherman, whose work consists exclusively of photographic self-portraits where she imagines herself as different characters. Or we might even copy the Japanese grandmother's hilarious self-portraits HERE. That's just not 'me' however. I've always hated dressing up and I haven't that kind of sense of humour at all.  So my submission was a rather more muted affair, reflected in a blue-toned modern artwork in a gallery.

2019 was a rather blue year in some ways. We hope for better things nationally and globally in 2020. Speaking personally, my world will be a little bluer and a little less yellow in a positive way after today, as I am due to have my second cataract operation. With two plastic lenses, the world will be bright! I am not nearly as apprehensive as I was the first time, now I know what to expect. Yes, there's always a slight risk something could go wrong but que sera sera. I won't be driving or doing anything very vigorous for a week or two afterwards, until it settles down. I've some local pictures that I took in the summer and haven't yet posted, so I think I will take you on a sunny walk to remind us of what we're missing.

Glow

I went, for the first time, to the annual winter illuminations at RHS Harlow Carr. This year it is entitled 'Glow' - and they certainly did. In past years, friends have told me it was a bit underwhelming so I never bothered to make the journey on a cold winter evening. But I was in the mood for an outing and the weather forecast was improving after daytime rain so I hopped in the car. I'm glad I went. Perhaps they've made it a bit bigger and grander this year... there was plenty to enjoy and the gardens, familiar by day, take on an other-worldly aspect with the lights.

Street London

The London skyline, quite recognisable I think... I went there for the day recently, to meet with members of the online photo group that I belong to. Some of them I know, some of them I've only met 'virtually' before, so it was very good to put faces to names. Our aim was to try some 'street photography'. That is well outside my comfort zone and not a genre that I have any expertise in but I had a very enjoyable day and was a little braver by the end of it!

We chose the area around Brick Lane in East London, as it is lively, 'alternative' and multi-cultural. It is a well-known area for street photography so a bunch of people with cameras wasn't unusual and seemed to be very well-accepted. There's lots of graffiti - of the genuinely artistic kind, not just rubbishy scrawls - so that makes for some interesting photos too.

It was tempting to start browsing the shops and the many markets but that wasn't my objective and I did manage to resist! Just the general juxtapositions of old and new, lots of colour, buildings and graffiti, were interesting to my eye, so I took some shots like that in between trying for people pictures, if only to bring my stress levels back to normal!

I also enjoyed taking some window reflection shots, like this one into an indoor street food market.

Neon reflections

I've a couple of apps (Enlight, PhotoSplit) that do interesting things with multiple layers, mostly using actions pre-set by the app developers. You can do much the same thing with Photoshop and with a little more control, so I set myself the task of learning to do it 'the hard way' (not using pre-sets).

Here, I was using a couple of images of reflections in the river (actually people standing on the terrace of the Boathouse Inn, with their colourful clothing reflected in the water). Cropped, blended and with the saturation boosted a little, it produced quite a pleasing image, I thought.

Fluid

'Fluid' was the theme for my online photo club for October, so I tried quite a few different images. I was hoping to capture 'fluid' both as a noun and as an adjective in one image. I mentioned the other day that I've become intrigued by ICM (Intentional Camera Movement), slow shutter speeds and generally more impressionistic photography of late. I've done quite a lot of creative playing with my phone and in processing, using various apps and techniques. This image, however, has been created entirely in my camera, using a slow shutter speed, handheld and manual focus. It is, of course, a reflection in water but I like to think I've done something a bit different with it, though I do find it quite hard with these more abstract offerings to tell which images are genuinely pleasing 'per se' and which are just pleasing to me because I've spent time 'creating' them.

Green ripples

Another abstract composite: green foliage reflected in the canal, the water rippling in a slight breeze. I love shooting natural abstracts like this - and these colours are really true to life.

Gibson Mill

One final post from Hardcastle Crags... This shows Gibson Mill from the back, beautifully reflected in the mill pond.

Red lines

Just a reflection, in a window, of an industrial unit in Shipley. I thought it bizarrely cheerful.There's so much distortion in the glass, it made me wonder what the view looks like from inside...

Flood gauge

Well, that snow barely lasted a day until it melted (I made the most of the photos I took!) and since then it has rained a lot. Crossing the footbridge into Saltaire's Roberts Park, I always take note of the level of the river. It's easy to gauge. When the water is 'low to normal', the shallow meander holds a muddy beach where ducks and geese gather. (See HERE) As the river level rises the beach gets smaller, until the water laps up against the little wall that defines the edge of the park. That's what it was like the other day, and the cricket pavilion was rather attractively reflected in the unusually calm water. In flood conditions the water will pour over into the park, flooding the footpath (along which the folks in my photo are walking) and lapping up against the second little wall that bounds the cricket pitch. (See HERE) I've only ever seen it rise higher than that on the notorious day of 'the great flood' in December 2015. (See HERE) That day, it inundated the park all across the grassed area and right over the path at the other side, flooding the Half Moon Café at the far side to a depth of several feet.  I shall be monitoring the situation...

Snowy tree

Happy New Year! It's 2018!

We unexpectedly had a bit more snow last Friday, just a couple of days before the New Year.  There was a light covering when I woke up and it continued to snow heavily for about three hours. Less than an inch fell altogether, but it was enough to change the familiar world - and I love that. As soon as the blizzard eased off a little bit, I got togged up with warm clothes and good boots and went for a wander round Saltaire with my camera. It's a delight to see the way a little snow transforms everything, truly a winter wonderland. I came back with quite a lot of photos that I was pleased with. This one, of a tree reflected in the river near Hirst Weir, has to be one of my favourite pictures of the whole year.

By mid-afternoon, the snow had turned to rain and by bedtime little remained save the lumps where people had made snowmen. It felt a bit like I'd dreamed it all. But I have the photos to prove it - and, like it or not, you will see some of them in the next few days!