Boom Dang - Honk Street Band Festival

From Barrow-in-Furness here in the UK, percussion band Boom Dang, part of the Honk Street Band Festival yesterday in the centre of Bradford.

Honk Bradford - Street Band Festival

Street band 'Blast Furness' from Ulverston in South Cumbria taking part in the Honk Bradford Street Band Festival.  The festival features fourteen street bands from as far away as France, Germany, Amsterdam, Spain and the USA as well as UK bands.  The bands were spread out at various locations around the city centre before converging in City Park for the Big Honk Showdown.

A Day On The Train

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is not really a Bradford subject, but you can get to Keighley railway station from Bradford by bus in around forty five minutes, or by train in around twenty five minutes, it makes a great day out.  The locomotive in the picture is just pulling up at Ingrow West station on its journey from Keighley to Haworth and Oxenhope.

Just a bit of information about the locomotive, it's a British Rail Standard Class 2 MT built at the former LNER workshops at Darlington.  It was rescued from a scrapyard at the end of the steam era and underwent restoration lasting 18 years.  You can hear the locomotive leaving Oxenhope station for Haworth and Keighley in the link below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11IhgIqZngfmDUYx39nPbeAEASamjf-KK/view?usp=sharing

Looking Up

 It's a great time of year for colour photography.

Saltaire Festival

Finale weekend at the Saltaire Festival and Bradford based rock band 'Punching Seagulls' on the main stage.  Weather was OK today (Sunday) but visitor numbers were well down yesterday as it rained all day.

The Factory King

A bronze statue of Richard Oastler who campaigned against the employment of young children working in the textile mills of Bradford for up to thirteen hours a day.  The three ton statue by John Birnie Philip was paid for by national public subscription and originally stood in Forster Square but now stands at the back of North Parade.

Mirror Pool and Bradford Live

Bradford Live from the Mirror Pool.  The fountains are currently operating only part of the day, between eleven in the morning and five thirty in the afternoon I believe, it's to help conserve water due to the unusually dry summer.  The central fountain doesn't look much here but it is capable of reaching a height of over one hundred feet.  Bradford Live is a newly opened live music venue.

Quaker Burial Ground

The old Quaker burial ground, Westfield lane, Idle, Bradford.  It's not quite as I remember it, the walls were collapsing at one time and there were one or two of the gravestones still standing, they are now laid flat and the walls repaired.

Bradford Stories Bus

The Bradford Stories Bus was in Lister Park at the weekend.  It's a former American school bus turned into a space for story telling, reading and writing, with the aim of encouraging children in the Bradford area to read and write for pleasure.

Darley Street Market

Looking out of the newly opened Darley Street Market overlooking the courtyard area.  The big screen was advertising an upcoming event at the St Georges Hall, The Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group.

Pushbike - Little Germany

The Little Germany area of Bradford.  It's often used as a period backdrop by film and TV production companies.  Most of the buildings were constructed in the late Victorian period as warehouses and offices for use in the wool textile industry, many of the wool traders were from Germany.  As for the man with the bike, I don't know why he's pushing it instead of riding it!

Early Autumn

Autumn colours seem to be starting early this year, maybe it's because of the long dry Summer we've had.  Picture taken in Buck Woods.

The Beacon

The Beacon, a venue that can be built and rebuilt anywhere.  It's currently in Lister Park and hosts music, comedy and a variety of other events as part of the Bradford 2025 City of Culture celebrations

Canal Closed

These moored boats on the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Apperley Bridge are not going anywhere at the moment.  The locks just beyond this mooring point are not in use as there is a shortage of water in the canal system, it's due to the long hot dry summer we've had this year.

Bradford Live

 Bradford Live, finally up and running.  A former cinema fully restored and turned into a live music venue.

Norfolk Gardens In Bloom

The new gardens and cycleway in the centre of Bradford today.  It has been unusually hot earlier in the week here in Bradford with temperatures up to around 30C, today has been much more pleasant with temperatures in the low 20s, more normal for the time of year.

Field Locks - Leeds-Liverpool Canal

It was nice to see a bit of boating activity today on the Leeds-Liverpool canal.  The barge in the picture is just entering Field Locks between Esholt and Thackley.  The old iron bridge in the background once carried a small steam tank engine across the canal, it was part of the nearby Esholt sewage works and last ran, I think, in the early 1970's.

Organ Recital - Bradford Cathedral

An organ recital today at Bradford Cathedral by the organist of Beverley Minster Robert Poyser.  The recital finished with a magnificent Symphonic Improvisation by Mr Poyser.  The Cathedral hosts a regular Wednesday at One organ recital with an optional buffet lunch preceding the performance, details are on the Bradford Cathedral website.

New Gardens and Cycle Path

New gardens and cycle path in Bradford city centre.  This area previously had four lanes of traffic running through it, it's much quieter now.

Tower of Now

Tower of Now, a new structure recently erected in Hall Ings in the centre of Bradford.  It was created by Pakistani born artist Saad Qureshi who moved to Bradford at the age of eight and later studied Art.  The tower is fifteen metres tall and incorporates architectural features from around the world.