Cartwright Hall - Clock

This picture shows Cartwright Hall and its formal garden, the circular flower bed in the foreground is actually a large clock.

Lister Park - Stream

I've been keeping an eye on this stream in Lister Park for the last three months, waiting for the plants to grow and flower. My phone rang when I had only taken two or three pictures, 'could I go into work as they were desperately short of staff,' so I packed up and went off to work. I really must switch that phone off in future.

Jive Dancers - Centenary Square

I like watching people enjoying themselves, there's a sort of feel-good factor that somehow transfers itself from those having the fun to the observer (me). These Jive Dancers certainly knew how to enjoy themselves at yesterdays Veterans Day celebrations in the centre of Bradford.

Veterans Day - Centenary Square Bradford

An event to honour service men and women was held today in the centre of Bradford as part of Armed Forces Week. The day started with a Drumhead Service followed by an afternoon of live music with Jazz, Swing and Military bands performing and a chance to meet and chat with veteran service men and women.

Refugee Week - Bradford Urban Garden

Celebrations were held today at the Bradford Urban Garden with food, music and dance from different parts of the world The event was part of National Refugee Week. Bradford is recognised as a 'City of Sanctuary,' a place where community groups, faith communities and local government are committed to welcoming people seeking sanctuary.

Wayside Shrine

If you leave the centre of Bradford via Westgate and White Abbey Road, after five or ten minutes walking you will come to this shrine. The inscription beneath the shrine reads:-

To the memory of the 186 soldiers and sailors of this parish sacrificed in the Great War 1914-1919 and to obtain the suffrage of your prayers for their souls eternal repose, this wayside shrine has been erected.

I'm embarrassed to say that my knowledge of the events of the First World War is a little sketchy and the dates 1914-1919 instead of 1914-1918 puzzled me a little. The answer is that the ceasefire was in 1918, but the war was not officially over until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.

Time Capsule - Bradford Business Park

Picture by Vicky Singleton.

This picture is a little more interesting than it first appears. The lady on the right is the Mayor of Bradford, Naveeda Ikram, the country's first female Muslim Lord Mayor. The children in the picture are from local schools and have brought along items which will be buried in a time capsule beneath this new building. The building itself is interesting as it is designed to have a low impact on the environment, will use straw bales in its construction and will also use geothermal energy from a borehole. At bottom left is Tony Holdich, CEO of Newlands Community Association which will own the building, top left is Andrew Mason, director of NCA and centre is Alan Roderick, site manager for Stainforth Construction. My daughter Vicky is a site engineer on this project and took the picture as I was unable to attend on the day.

Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars

These Peacock butterfly caterpillars were busy chomping away at nettles down at the Denso Marston Nature Reserve at the weekend.

Poetry Reading At The Nature Reserve

I spent a very pleasant couple of hours yesterday afternoon listening to poetry at the Denso Marston Nature Reserve. The event was organised by warden Steve Warrilow who seems to be as enthusiastic about poetry as he is about nature and the nature reserve. People attending the event could, if they wished, read out their favourite poems, or poems which they had written themselves, or as in my case, just listen. Steve writes poetry himself and has had work published recently, he is also a Yorkshire Longsword Dancer, something which I have never heard of before (will have to find out more).

Bradford's Last Trolleybus

This trolleybus was on display at the Bradford Industrial Museum earlier today, as you can see from the lettering it was the very last trolleybus to run on Bradford's roads when the service closed in 1972. If anyone reading this doesn't know what one of these vehicles is, well it's an electrically powered bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using trolley poles. This particular bus is a bit posher than the ones I remember, it has a closing entrance door just behind the drivers partition. The ones I travelled on had an open platform at the rear, very useful if the bus was just pulling away, you could run and jump on, also very useful for showing people how clever you were by jumping off the bus as it was coming to a halt, my wife was a past master at this skill and now has a crown on one of her front teeth.

Bradford Central Library

This is Bradford Central Library, officially opened by Princess Alexandria (cousin of the Queen) in 1967 and at the time was the largest library in England (in terms of number of books). The building has a distinct 1960's look to it and is starting to show its age, it hasn't changed much since I borrowed my first book there in , I think, 1970. My school was about ten minutes walk from the library and I spent probably three or four lunchtimes each week just browsing and sometimes borrowing books, books on anything really, astronomy, tape recorders, repairing motorcycle engines, microphones, or my favourite subject, Science Fiction.

Bradford Mela - Bollywood

These Bollywood style dance routines probably drew the largest audiences at the Mela.

Bradford Mela - Wayzgoose Morris Dancers

There seems to be a bit of everything at the Mela. This is the Wharfedale Wayzgoose Border Morris Side from the town of Otley.

Bradford Mela - Chhau Dancers

These Chhau dancers from East India put on quite a performance at the Mela. The performers wear elaborate masks and costumes and act out a kind of dance drama with swords, bows, and lots of acrobatic leaping and somersaults.

Bradford Mela - Taal Tarang

I'm not really familiar with Indian music or traditional Indian musical instruments but I was really impressed with the performance by Taal Tarang at the Mela. The musicians were R N Prakash on the Mridangam (on the left), RR Prathap on the Ghatam (centre), Sithambaranatham on the Jewish Harp (right) and Bernhard Taalis on a western drum kit (out of shot). The music was a mix of Indian and western percussion and not something I would normally listen to, but I did listen, for the best part of an hour, and in the pouring rain, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Bradford Mela - Cuisine

The Bradford Mela was held in Peel Park on Sunday. This years event was slightly smaller than in previous years and held on the Sunday only instead of Saturday and Sunday. The entertainment was still to a very high standard with both traditional and contemporary dance and music from the Indian sub-continent, plenty of entertainment for children, and as usual a wide variety of food stalls. I found it quite interesting to watch the food being prepared and took quite a few photos, the only problem is, it's making me feel hungry looking at the pictures.

Race For Life - Lister Park

I went along to Lister Park this morning to watch the 'Race For Life' event which raises money for cancer research. The picture was taken in the ten minute warm up session before the race. Going through the pictures at home I noticed that mum's race number is 5238 and daughter's number is 5238 and a half.

Aussie Mossie From Down Under

We don't get that many visitors from Australia here in Bradford, and I would say that not many arrive by canal boat either. The unusually named boat belongs to John and Jenny Ellison from Wellington, South Australia who spend six months of the year here in the UK and six months in Australia. John is a big fan of traditional jazz music and the couple are hoping to attend a jazz concert at a Leeds pub tomorrow. The pendant at the back of the boat (I think I've got my facts right here) is from John's boat in Australia, a beautiful replica paddle boat, a lovely picture of the boat is on John's card here in front of me. John did comment on how beautiful the countryside was along this stretch of the canal, which pleased me as I often wonder if local people really appreciate what is on their own doorstep.

Cobden Statue

This statue of Richard Cobden stands in the Wool Exchange which is now a Waterstones book shop. Cobden was the Member of Parliament for the West Riding of Yorkshire (1847-1857) and was a prominent peace campaigner who spoke out against the war in the Crimea.

Centenary Square and Town Hall

This is the view across Centenary Square to the Town Hall. Bradford became a city back in 1897 and this square was created 100 years later to mark the occasion, it was officially opened by the Queen on a royal visit in 1997.

National Media Museum

I used to walk past this building on my way to school, it always seemed to be windy here, even on a day when it wasn't particularly windy, maybe that's why entry to the museum is through those little airlocks protruding from the glass frontage. The museum is well worth a visit if you are in the area, it contains an Imax cinema, displays of photographic equipment, galleries and various interactive exhibits.

Jan and Paul Cope - Settle Marketplace

This is Jan and Paul Cope taking a break in Settle Marketplace. The retired couple are on a one hundred and seventy mile cycle route called the 'Way of the Roses' which runs from Morecambe on the West coast to Bridlington on the East coast of England. The couple have recently cycled the one thousand and eight miles from Lands End to John'o'Groats raising £11,000 for the charity 'Help for Heroes' and their next trip is to cycle from Guildford to Monaco, Phew!

Johnny - Lister Park Lake

This is Johnny who looks after the boats on the lake at Lister Park. He says that he is photographed quite a lot and he asked me if he could have a copy of this picture, he likes to compare the different photographs to see who is the number one photographer, somehow I don't think I will be number one photographer with this picture.

Prince's Way and Odeon Cinema

I quite like these newly planted trees in Prince's Way in the town centre, they kind of lead the eye towards the domed building, the former Odeon Cinema, in the distance there. The domed building, or should I say doomed building closed for business over ten years ago and has been slowly deteriorating since then. The building has quite a history, it was opened in 1930 as the largest cinema outside London, with a seating capacity of 3,300, a Wurlitzer organ, ballroom and restaurant. It was visited by the Prince of Wales (later the abdicated Edward VIII) who was 'most impressed', the BBC installed microphones and broadcast organ concerts from the building, visiting rock and roll stars from the United States gave concerts there in the 1950's, and I saw Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey there in 1968, and like the Prince of Wales, was 'most impressed'.

Saturday Morning In Ivegate

This is Brian from Buttershaw Congregational Church who uses this unusual way of putting his message across to Saturday morning shoppers in the centre of Bradford. As well as being a really good communicator (I'll give him nine out of ten for that, and nobody gets a ten) Brian is also an amateur photographer and likes to optimise his pictures in Photoshop.

Canal Boats - Leeds-Liverpool Canal

There is something about canal boats, chugging along at four miles an hour, it's supposed to be a very relaxing way to take a holiday, I don't know, I've never tried it but it certainly looks relaxing enough. I waited quite a while at this spot on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal for a boat to come along and then two came along at the same time, a bit like waiting for a bus.

Roberts Park In The Rain

There is something mildly satisfying about walking in the rain, as long as the wind is not too strong and driving the rain into your face, and you have a decent set of waterproofs, it could be quite a pleasant experience. If you are a photographer, think of the advantages, reflections on wet paths, water droplets on leaves and spiders webs, people in the street with brightly coloured umbrellas, wet cobbles, the steamed up windows of a fish and chip shop.... On the other hand, you could just pull back the curtain of the bedroom window a little, take a quick peek outside, and then get straight back into bed.

Flag Iris - Denso Marston Nature Reserve

This Flag Iris was growing at the Denso Marston Nature Reserve. The reserve is a small area of land (approximately seven acres) which is sandwiched between a large factory and the banks of the River Aire at Thackley. The site contains ponds, grassland, woodland and a bird feeding station, and is managed by a part time warden and a group of volunteers. I visit the reserve from time to time and hope to post some pictures of the dragonflies and other insects in the near future.