Review Of The Year - March & April

Most of March seemed to be a really snowy. Marmalade certainly knew the best place in the house to keep warm. It wasn't a very good one for me either, as I had to start a new job, after nearly 12 years in the old one

The bad weather had gone by April and Gail & I took a trip up to Whitby in Yorkshire to see the Steampunk and Goth festival that takes place there twice a year. There were certainly some interesting costumes, and Whitby is a very nice, old fashioned seaside town, with quite a picturesque harbour.

Faded Grandeur

Today is June 1, and Theme Day in the Bloggersphere. This month's theme is 'The Beauty of Decay'.

Although there are a number of spots in Nottingham that I could have taken a photo of for the theme, I wasn't sure whether I was going to participate or not. But now that I have, what to show you?

Well I have gone for this shot of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, where we went a few weeks ago. It is one the sides, and I took it with my fisheye lens, to give it that distinctive look. Most photos you will see, will be of the front; but I wanted to be a little different.

Being so old, the abbey is very slowly crumbling away, but as it belongs to English Heritage, they are doing what they can to preserve such an impressive building, which dates back to 664AD.

Sutcliffesque

Frank Meadow Sutcliffe was a Whitby based photographer, who in the late 19th and early 20th century recorded many images of fisherfolk, street scenes, buildings and ships in his adopted town.

The images he took are quite striking and make for excellent historical records of how the people lived and worked there over a hundred years ago.

Sadly we didn't get to see any of his original images at a local art gallery, but in recognition of his art, I have tried to emulate his style by using Lightroom on one of my photos that I took in Scarborough yesterday.

Hello Whitby

Here are three shots from this good old English seaside resort, that fortunately hasn't changed that much since the Victorian times.

The first shows the famous abbey which was founded by Benedictine monks in 657AD, and like Beauvale Priory here in Nottingham was closed by Henry VIII during the Reformation of the 1530s. It is a Grade I listed building and now owned by English Heritage.

The second shows the harbour area and the inlet of the River Eske. Whitby was, and still is famous as a fishing port, and we've eaten some very tasty fish and chips using local ingredients.

Also on a fishing theme is this pile of cages that are used for catching crabs and lobsters. There were loads of them all piled up, ready for the next trip out into the North Sea.

Horseplay

On the way to Saltaire we passed a field of horses. So I stopped the car and we went to say hello to them.

An elderly chap was already there, but as there were quite a few horses around, we left him alone. We had parked on a grass verge, so we started picking some of the long blades of grass and started feeding those that got to the wall first. They seemed to enjoy their impromptu meal, even though they were in a very large field of grass. Gail was a bit wary of getting her hand too close to their mouths, in case it got bitten. But they were quite gentle towards us.

We then started taking some photos. Here's a rather unusual shot of one of them. I'm not sure if he was posing, or laughing at me! Whichever way, he does look a little bit comical and something of a dentist's nightmare.

Salt, But No Vinegar

Yesterday we decided to take a trip to Saltaire, a small town that was created for the workers of the nearby wool factory by Victorian industrialist Sir Titus Salt.

The town had it's own church, hospital. Almost everything that is, except a pub. There is some debate as to why. But he certainly knew how to look after his employees better than the other factory owners at the time. Similar in a way to that of Cadbury's, who built the village of Bourneville near Birmingham.

Nottingham's own Jesse Boot, or Lord Trent did something similar and provided land for the new university.

Wouldn't it be good if today's industrialists were more philanthropic and did the same sort of thing for their employees, or for the towns that their companies are in, instead of wasting it on sports cars, yachts and other personal indulgences.

Exterminate!

Grrr, somehow I forgot to set up a post for Saturday. And I really hate missing a day, as I like to blog everyday, and so try to generate a page, even if I am not able to blog at the time.

Most of Saturday was spent at the National Media Museum. What a fantastic place. Eight floors of film, television and photographic memories. It was almost like all my boyhood memories had come to life for everyone to see. From Rainbow's Zippy and George, to Captain Scarlet and Thunderbird 2 via a bit of Rhubarb and Custard.

There was of course one character that is part of most people's childhood, and that is of a Dalek. Whether you hid behind the sofa, or sat glued to the action, as the good Doctor, whether it was Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee (my first) or Baker (the best) fought them with cunning and ingenuity and saved the day. Only you knew, just knew that they would return to have another go next year.

Gone Up North

Another little jaunt away for the weekend. This time to Bradford in Yorkshire; famous for textiles, a thriving Asian community and the National Media Museum, which moved from London a few years ago.

We arrived late in the afternoon, and found our hotel fairly easily. A small boutique style opposite a lovely big park. Nothing really to write home about though. But adequate for our needs.

After dinner, we went for a stroll around the area. We came across two very large buildings that was a former textile mills. One had been converted into fancy apartments, while sadly the other one called Manningham Mill has fallen into disrepair. But plans are afoot to turn it into a fancy apartment block.

For further details on the history of the building and plans for its future can be found on this Wikipedia page

Here is a bit of an arty shot of a cobbled street that runs at the side of the said building. Something a bit different.