So much for Sunday being the day of rest! Sometimes I envy those people who can sit with their feet up on a Sunday because they’ve nothing to do. Today’s been a mix of DIY, researching articles, scanning pictures, ploughing through emails and dodging showers whilst exercising.

The weather here has couldn’t have been less summer-like. We’ve had heavy rain and gusting winds, which has made walking through our local woods adventurous to say the least! The amount of broken branches and leaf detritus that’s evident makes you nervy to say the least. I felt as twitchy as Corporal Fraser in the opening credits to ‘Dad’s Army’.

Dawn’s been just as busy too as today was the final day of her ‘virtual retreat’ so the living rooms been pretty much out of bounds to me as it was converted into Dee’s gym and yoga centre (amongst other things)…

Another thing I’ve been working on is a long HS2 blog detailing what’s going on with the project right now – which is a huge amount. I’ll try and get it finished tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll end with…

Picture of the day.

This is another from the series of pictures from India that I’m swapping between with railway shots from 1995. The picture was taken on the 12th February 2000 in Rajkot, India. The building is the Alfred High School, which was founded on the 17th October 1853 during the days of the British Raj. Why was I interested in taking pictures of the school? Because of an old pupil, who changed the course of history. His name? Mohandas K Gandhi – although most people only know his last name…

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…
Thank you!

We’ve had a fun day here in the Calder valley as the weather really hasn’t known what to do with itself. One minute the valley’s blanketed in murk, then that clears to welcome clear blue skies, then the next apocalyptic cloud front appears to literally darken our door and the heavens open for a few brief minutes before the sun’s cracking the flags again!

If nothing else, it’s been fun to watch. Dawn’s into day 2 of her ‘virtual retreat’ but we did get out for a walk together earlier, kitted out in waterproofs and with brollies to start with, then the sun arrived so we stripped off, then the rain came back! Still, it keeps us fit – and occupied, plus – it’s glorious to watch the skies change as we have a grandstand view. Here’s how the skies over Sowerby Bridge looked like earlier as the next storm blew in.

Whilst Dee’s been busy on her retreat I’ve been keeping myself occupied researching articles and sorting out old images, which brings me on to…

Picture of the day

Here’s another one from India. This one was taken in Rajkot in the state of Gujarat on the 11th February 2000. I’ve always loved Indian street scenes. You just never know what’s going to appear. I often find a strategic location to sit and wait to see what might catch my eye. It doesn’t normally take long for something of interest to happen, especially as Rajkot’s a busy little place with people flocking in from the countryside to bring their produce to market.

Here’s a group of women sitting atop their wares as they arrive into town on the back of a three-wheeler which is the front end of a motorcycle with a trailer tacked on the back.  They’re very common in the countryside but you used to see a variant even in New Delhi back in the 80s-90s where a Harley-Davidson was converted into a taxi trike. They were almost always driven by Sikhs and plied specific routes around the capital. They were horribly polluting so they were banned many years ago but out in rural areas these contraptions still exist.

If you want to see the rest of the pictures from India that I’ve added to my website, follow this link, which will take you straight to the India gallery.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us locked-down freelances need all the help that we can get…
Thank you!