London 2012 Paralympics - Bradford

Citizens of Bradford watching the London Paralympics on the BBC Big Screen in the town centre today, and unusually for this summer, no rain!

Ripley Scarecrow Festival

There are quite a lot of scarecrow festivals these days, this one is a little bit unusual as each scarecrow has the head of a pig.  The village of Ripley, which lies a few miles North of Harrogate has a long association with the boar's head, it is used in the emblem of the Ingilby family, granted to local landowner Thomas Ingilby in 1357 when he is said to have slain a boar which attacked the King.

Trike - Harley Davidson Weekend

From the Harley Davidson weekend at Baildon, I wish I had taken more portraits on the day.  I think the trike is based on a Honda engine.

Work Of Art?

Can an engine be a work of art? I don't know, but I think something like this comes pretty close.  Taken at the Harley Davidson weekend at Baildon.

Harley Davidson Rally, Baildon 2012 - Mr Grumpy

Harley riders from all over the UK and some European countries converge on the village of Baildon for their annual August Bank Holiday meeting.  The bikers tend to be older, more mature guys (and girls), they still party a bit, and enjoy the odd pint of beer, but tend to be on the whole, just nice people.  At mid day the bikers congregate in the main street which is closed to normal traffic and then leave an hour later in a mass convoy to deliver toys to a local Childrens hospital.  The event raises money for charity and draws a big crowd to the village to watch the riders leave.
I like photographing the badges on motorcycle jackets, I thought this one was a bit unusual!

The Great Ripon Raft Race

I enjoyed myself so much at the St Wilfrids Day Parade at Ripon the other week that I decided to have a return trip for the Great Ripon Raft Race.  The event takes place in the canal basin where local teams compete against each other on home made rafts, or as in the picture, baths.  The event is organised by Scuba Diving For All, a charity which enables people with physical difficulties to dive and swim.  The picture shows two of the teams at the turning back point, as you can see one of the baths is taking on water, and went down like the Titanic shortly afterwards, the crew did survive though.

St. Michael And All Angels - Northumberland

The Church of St. Michael And All Angels with its two tier bellcote in the village of Ford in the Till valley.

Church of St Anne - Ancroft

Not Bradford but the Church of St Anne at Ancroft in Northumberland.  The church has been renovated a number of times but some of the original features remain including the bricked up Norman doorway next to the main entrance. As this border area was often raided by the Scots a peel tower was added in the 13C which acted as the living quarters for the parish priest until a vicarage was built at a much later date.

Venetian Gates - Alnwick Garden

I don't want to bore you with my holiday pictures but I did like these Venetian gates at the entrance to the ornamental garden at Alnwick Garden in Northumberland.  The garden as a whole is a peculiar mixture of contemporary and traditional features, not really my cup of tea, but I would say worth a visit if you are in the area. (The entrance fee is a bit on the steep side though, and there can be a lot of youngsters during the school holidays).

Cartwright Hall

Cartwright Hall in Lister Park.  The flower bed in the foreground is actually a floral clock.

Bradford Classic Car Show 2012 - Serious Headlights

Serious headlights on this car, I think it was a rally spec Subaru.  They could be quite useful though in Bradford, picking out all those potholes in the road at night.

Bradford Classic Car Show 2012

I initially thought that this magnificent Jaguar car was an original model, but it is actually a replica, built by the owner, sat in the driver's seat there.  He apparently did own an original model back in 1959 but did not keep it all that long as it was a single seater and was not really all that practical to drive around in.  He did stumble across that original car 40 years later, purely by chance, and it was then valued at 1.5 million pounds, he had sold it for around 380 pounds all those years earlier, quite a substantial sum in those days, enough to buy a house.  If  I've got my facts right, this replica took him ten years to build and he does use it quite a lot, having covered over 10,000 miles since the car was put on the road.  I did have a look under the bonnet at that lovely 6 cylinder Jaguar engine, there was also a spare set of spark plugs mounted on a little rack in the engine bay, what were they for?  " Racing plugs - these cars were never meant to be driven slowly!"

Radio Roy

This is my good friend Roy Hampson from the Yorkshire town of Castleford.  Roy contacted me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that he was appearing at a restaurant in the Yorkshire Dales and would be entertaining a coach party on a mystery tour, and he thought the visitors would be from the Bradford area.  The coach party was actually from Pudsey, not a million miles from Bradford, an over 55's active group who really seemed to enjoy Roy's 1940's style disc jockey (or is that radio presenter, I don't think they had DJ's back then) act.  Roy is also a photographer and writer, his work appears on a fairly regular basis in Yorkshire Ridings magazine and his articles also appear in nostalgia magazines such as Down Your Way.  You can catch up with Roy and see some of his pictures on his Facebook page.

Just A Bucket And Spade - Holy Island

I can remember letting my kids play at this exact spot, next to the causeway on Holy Island.  It doesn't take much to keep kids happy at this age, just a bucket and spade.  This little lad is being called by his father, it's time to go, but he is not going anywhere, he wants to stay right here!

Viking Raiders - Lindisfarne Priory



I'm sorry there have not been any posts for a few days as I have been away on holiday, up to the Northumberland coast and a Holy Island occupied by Viking raiders.  The Viking re-enactors set up camp in the grounds of Lidisfarne Priory to demonstrate Viking skills such as woodworking, braid making and the making of leather goods, and to re-enact a battle using real weapons, very educational and very entertaining! 

Juggler - Ripon Market Square

This juggler was part of the St Wilfrid's Day entertainment in the market Square, Ripon, last Saturday.

St Wilfrid - Ripon

A solemn looking St Wilfrid about to turn the corner into the market square at Ripon. I had to abandon picture taking at this point as the rain was just too heavy, there was still quite a crowd waiting to see the procession pass through the square, and I did manage to catch up with St Wilfrid a little later when the rain eased off.

St Wilfrid's Feast Procession - Ripon

Not Bradford I know, but I thought you might like to see some pictures of the annual St Wilfrid's day parade in the cathedral town (oops, city) of Ripon which lies about thirty miles north of Bradford.
The cathedral at Ripon is dedicated to St Wilfrid and the parade is led by an actor playing the part of the Saint on horseback, followed by musicians, dancers and colourful floats.  The parade lasts around three hours as it zig-zags its way through the narrow streets until it finally arrives at the cathedral where a special St Wilfrid's Day service is held. 

Lister Park Bandstand - Caribbean Samples

I had to do a bit of running backwards and forwards last Sunday, Caribbean Samples were playing a blend of soul and reggae in the bandstand at Lister Park, and the Games In The Park event was in full swing at the same time.  The band play at pubs and clubs in and around Bradford and also play at weddings.  I've also had a quick look at their website and they supply reggae samples and loops (don't quite know exactly what that means), I did have a tape recorder with seven inch reels at one time, but I think things have moved on a bit since then!

Games In The Park - BD4 Youth Dance Group

This was an impressive piece of choreography by the BD4 Youth Dance Group, performed to a Caribbean tinged version of Dave Brubeck's Take Five at the Games In The Park event on Sunday. The group of thirteen to eighteen year olds have performed before in Centenary Square and were due to appear at the Bradford Mela which was sadly cancelled due to bad weather earlier this year.

Games In The Park - Scouts With A Boxing Glove

This enthusiastic and energetic local scout group played some unusual games at the Games In The Park event in Lister Park on Sunday.  In this particular game each scout had to jump in turn over a boxing glove which was being swung in a circle at just above ground level, quite hard work, but fun, and fun to watch!

Games In The Park - Lister Park

This was seriously good fun, Games In The Park in Lister Park on Sunday, an event aimed mainly at children with traditional children's games and other entertainment, such as African dancing, and as you can see it wasn't just the kids having some fun!