Categories
Uncategorized

Fly Fishing on the River Aire – Yorkshire

This scene of a fisherman fly fishing on the river Aire here in Yorkshire is one that I never thought I would see and photograph less than a mile from my home.

I was walking along the riverbank looking to see if I could see the police divers in action on this stretch of the river Aire. The police here had spent a couple of days in and on the river nearby looking for remains or evidence. It was not a morbid thing me being there, my friend who is an editorial photographer was somewhere along this part of the river photographing the divers at work. So I thought I would stroll along and see if he was around.

I had never walked along this bit of the river bank, which is odd because I walk quite a bit. I had always thought that anyone fly fishing on the river Aire would be some miles further upstream. The above photo is slightly misleading because the rocks and grass on his left are a small island and not the bank of the river.

I saw a heron stood in the river Aire, a few hundred yards from this spot, but he was on the other side and my 70-200 lens is not really big enough for that. Also as I got nearer to the heron it flew off.

Categories
Uncategorized

Suprising sight on road to Leeds, Yorkshire

I was driving over to visit Temple Newsam in Leeds to take some photos for the Leeds photo daily. I passed this chap, a rag and bone man, incredible! I did a smart u-turn, very pleased to have my camera on the passenger seat.

As a boy I used to go and spend holidays with my mothers parents in Plaistow in East London, in those days rag & bone men were a common sight. I recall once hearing the sound “raa boh” and going out to swap one of my mothers coats for a goldfish. It took me a long afternoon tracking down the cart to recover mums coat, else it would have been “wait till your father hears about this”. Ooops.!

This chap did not mind me with camera, he just leapt out of the picture. We had a little chat about me not seeing another in the last 30 odd years. When I told him about the goldfish, he said that must have been a long time ago, very true.

His horse is called “Tommy”.

Linda – Gold Coast said…
I so remember the rag and bone man. Our rag and bone man would give us donkey stones (which were scouring blocks to clean stone steps – check out wikipedia.org “donkey stones”). What would he give today I wonder?

Tommy is such a beauty, I just hope and pray he is safe on the busy roads.

Lovely sunny day – thanks again for a terrific photo.

March 22, 2009 9:39 AM
Nancy said…
Fantastic story. I’ve never heard of a rag and bone man before.

March 22, 2009 8:04 PM
Jacob said…
Wonderful photo and great story. I’ve never heard of rag and bone men…what means “bone”?

March 22, 2009 8:07 PM
marley said…
That is a blast from the past! I’ll have to ask my Gran if she saw it. We used to visit Temple Newsam at Easter when we’d stop with my Gran. I hope you’ll share some photos. Do they still have the farm there?

March 22, 2009 9:44 PM
lunarossa said…
Reminds me of old “Steptoe and Son”….Ciao. A.

March 22, 2009 10:32 PM
Lois said…
What a nice picture! It always pays to keep your camera handy because you never know what you will see!

March 22, 2009 10:43 PM
Steffe said…
That is a bit surprising, and a fantastic find for 2009!

March 22, 2009 11:54 PM

Categories
Uncategorized

Summer is coming to Yorkshire

Yesterday a good friend rang me and said I should pop round to her garden sometime soon, the frogs are back in her small pond. The photograph I took in her garden in Baildon, not far from Leeds shows a common frog.

On the same day I was out walking around the villages of Harden and Cullingworth when I spotted this butterfly. I only managed one photo of this Small Tortoiseshell
(Aglais urticae) before it flew up and over a stone wall. Yesterday was the warmest day here in Yorkshire so far this year.

When I started this photoblog I was not sure I could take enough decent photographs of Leeds and its surroundings to post one photo each day. I now take more photographs each week than I used to in around 6 months. Also I am more visually aware of my surroundings and see things as potential photos for the Leeds photo daily.

Jacob said…
Frogs and butterflies – spring must be here. Nice shooting.

March 20, 2009 11:12 PM
Lois said…
Both pictures are wonderful. I really like the close-up of the frog. He is so cute!

March 21, 2009 2:14 PM
Nancy said…
Fantastic frog portrait! We used to have many more frogs around – I wonder what happended to them all…

Have a great weekend!

March 21, 2009 9:18 PM

Categories
Uncategorized

Clamped in Car Park Haworth, Yorkshire

As can be seen in this photo if you should visit Haworth, please ensure you park within the rules, else this could be your car. Haworth has a reputation locally for being very strict about parking within the town. I was not surprised when I saw this car clamped in one of the town car parks.

Categories
Uncategorized

Cute – But Not in Leeds

Picture of a couple of Alpacas on a farm here in Yorkshire.

I stumbled on these alpacas by chance the other day, I had stopped to get a photo of an old wall post box, when I looked around I noticed what looked like 3 alpacas in a field opposite.

I walked over looking for an entrance to see if I could get a closer look and perhaps some photographs too. The farmer was nice and said help myself, so I did. I have only seen alpacas once before other than in pictures, but these were quite curious and shy and were happy at around 8 feet from me. Which was fine by me, close enough for my lens. Also in the field were some sheep and very free range hens along with a couple of donkeys who thought that 8 inches was far more interesting.

I am not really sure of the village boundaries so these cute alpacas are either in the villages of Eldwick or perhaps Gilstead between Bingley and Baildon. I know exactly where they are in relation to the roads but have no idea what the road they are on is called.

One thing I do know because the farmer told me, one reason he keeps them is that the deter foxes, with his flock of lovely brown hens that makes sense.

Categories
Uncategorized

Briggate, Leeds

Picture of Briggate in the heart of the shopping district of Leeds, Yorkshire.

Briggate is one of the oldest streets in the city of Leeds and was founded in 1207 when the road began on the north side of the Leeds Bridge over the River Aire. The name ‘Briggate’ derives from ‘the road to the bridge’.

Today Briggate is a pedestrianised shopping street with most of Leeds department stores on it, including Harvey Nichols. There are also banks, restaurants and cafes along Briggate, there are also some old alleyways leading to old public houses including The Packhorse.

Categories
Uncategorized

Not a Dalmatian…

This is a picture of Muldoon, a very pretty horse here in Yorkshire.

I was driving along a country road and saw in the distance a very spotted white horse and went around the field to get access. He is very friendly but has according to a lady who lives opposite a bad habit of nipping with his teeth.

Sadly I had no carrots or even an apple with me, though perhaps next time I go over to the village of Esholt I may well remember to take one with me. He is called Muldoon after the Peter Cook song, Spotty Muldoon.

Categories
Uncategorized

Route 66 Leeds

Picture of Route 66 sign in Leeds, Yorkshire.

I smiled when I saw this sign down on Granary Wharf on the Leeds waterfront. This is National Route 66 of the National Cycle Network which when it is finished will run from Kingston Upon Hull and Manchester with a branch to Ashton-under-Lyne. The route will run via York, Leeds, Bradford, and Rochdale.

In the back of the photo is a glimpse of the Mint Hotel, this was from launch until around a year back called the City Inn.

Categories
Uncategorized

Fruit Shakespeare Knew

Picture of fruit on a medlar tree in a garden in Yorkshire.

The fruit in the above picture was once commonly eaten and widely known and it features in 4 plays by William Shakespeare. The plays are Measure for Measure, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and the perhaps less well known Timon of Athens.

The fruit is the medlar and I took the photo a few days back in a small garden at a church not far from my place. When I first saw them I was in doubt and asked for confirmation because I had not seen any in quite a few years.

The Romans and the ancient Greeks liked to eat them and Chaucer mentions them, they were a popular Victorian fruit but today they have almost vanished from the modern table. Apparently they can be made into jelly and also chutney but I cannot ever recall seeing either. Wine can also be made from the fruit of the medlar tree.

Categories
Uncategorized

Royal Armouries Museum – Leeds, Yorkshire

Yesterday I posted about the horned helmet that is the symbol of the Royal Armouries museum here in Leeds. Today the above picture shows a view looking towards the Royal Amouries from the Leeds city centre direction.

I would think the museum is perhaps the most popular tourist attraction in Leeds.