Aire Do - Samantha Binns

A good performance from singer/songwriter Samantha Binns in the Musicians Centre marquee at the Aire Do. 

Aire Do - Dawn Chorus

Talented Acoustic duo Dawn Chorus in the Musicians Centre Marquee on Saturday, and they are from Bradford.

Aire Do - Madonna

Not actually Madonna, but Jam Radio presenter Sharon Cooper who happens to be a really big Madonna fan, and does a pretty good tribute to the pop superstar too.  Sharon is originally from Dublin and hosts the Friday evening 'Suki Sounds' slot on Jam Radio, Keighleys community radio station.

Aire Do - Jam Community Radio

This is Jordan Cooper outside of the Jam Radio marquee at the Aire Do in Keighley.  I had not heard of Jam Radio before today, so my thanks to Jordan for telling me a little bit about it. It's a community radio station based in Keighley (about eight miles west of Bradford) which is available to listen to via the internet, and Jordan is one of the presenters.
The Aire Do is an annual two day open air music festival held in the grounds of Cliffe Castle on the outskirts of Keighley, hosting bands, singer songwriters and tribute acts both from the Keighley area and further afield.  I did visit the festival last year and it rained, heavily, all day, but today the weather was much better and there was a much larger crowd.  I will hopefully be able to post some more pictures of the event in the next few days (I'm having some computer problems at the moment, so don't hold your breath).

J. B. Priestley

Bradford born novelist, playwright and broadcaster J. B. Priestley looks out over the city.

United Reformed Church - Saltaire

The Italianate United Reformed Church in Saltaire looking resplendent in the (long awaited) summer sunshine last weekend.  The Queen and Prince Phillip paid a visit to a Saltaire based electronics company in Salts Mill last week as part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour, which might explain the bunting in front of the church.  Unfortunately I was working on the day of the royal visit and it was apparently more of a private visit than a public occasion, but a picture of the Queen would have been nice!

Preacher - Shipley Market Place

A billboard, a Bible, a voice, and a message.  Baptist preacher, Shipley Market Square.

Bounce For Bradford

Contestants warming up with their spacehoppers at Bounce for Bradford yesterday morning.  The event was organised to raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research and to try and set a new world record for the largest number of people on spacehoppers at the same time.  Turnout was a bit on the low side, too low for a record attempt, I think mainly because the weather has been so poor lately, those that did turn out certainly had some fun though!

Bearing The Torch Exhibition - Shipley Focus'd Gallery

Yesterday was one of those days when things just seemed to happen.  It was a beautiful morning and I decided to have a walk around the historic village of Saltaire where I happened to bump into Jennyfreckles who does the excellent Saltaire Daily Photo blog (http://saltairedailyphoto.blogspot.com/) and who just happened to be the first follower on my blog (thanks Jenny, it was a big boost to my confidence).
From Saltaire I walked the short distance to the Focus'd gallery in nearby Shipley where, according to my local  newspaper, a photographic exhibition was due to open on the Olympic Torch and its journey through the Bradford district.  The newspaper didn't give any further information and so I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was a joint exhibition by local professional photographers Roger Moody (http://rogervmoody.co.uk/) and Dean Smith.  As it happened, Roger Moody and Dean Smith were due to attend the opening of the exhibition along with some of the torch bearers who took part in the Olympic Torch Event.  I know Roger a little as he regularly photographs events taking place in and around Bradford and he was happy to let me take a few pictures of him at work.  The picture shows the director of the Q20 Theatre Company John Lambert (the master of ceremonies at the Olympic Torch event in Centenary Square) with the city center manager of Shipley and some of the torch bearers, and of course Roger with his young photographic assistant (his son).
I also bumped into local sports photographer Tracy Laycock (http://tracylaycock.com/) who just happened to be shopping in Shipley.  Tracy was at a cycling event a couple of years ago, when I first started doing this blog. The borrowed digital camera I was using at the time was causing me a few problems, and Tracy sorted the camera out for me and gave me a few tips on sports photography which  I greatly appreciated.                                                                                                                                            
The Bearing The Torch Exhibition is on until September 3rd 2012 and the gallery is open on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and is well worth a look if you are in the area.

Mural - Shipley Baptist Church

The summer has finally arrived here in Yorkshire and I decided to take a short walk from Saltaire to Shipley this morning and took a slightly different route taking me past the Baptist Church and this mural.  I honestly didn't know the mural was there until today, I will have to take a walk around my own back yard a little more often and see what else is there to be discovered.

Big Dance 2012 - Plague

Member of the street dance crew 'Plague' at the Big Dance event in Bradford last Saturday.  If I've got my facts right, Plague are the current Hip Hop world champions and have worked with various artists including Kylie Minogue and Lionel Richie.

Little Rows Of Trainers

Little rows of trainers, or is that rows of little trainers, beside the mirror pool on a warm day.

Big Dance 2012 - The Urban Playground Team

This was part of a choreographed work, described as performance parkour, a kind of gymnastic theatre set to music and performed by the Urban Playground team at the Big Dance event last Saturday. 

Street Vendor - City Park

Whenever there is any kind of outdoor event in the town centre these street vendors appear, I think this one was expecting rain.

Big Dance 2012 - Gemini School Of Dance

These young dancers put on a good performance yesterday at the Big Dance 2012 event in the city centre.  One of the two boys in the picture also gave a short solo performance later in the day. I'm quite envious, I couldn't dance when I was his age, and I can't dance now, ask my wife!

Team Extreme - Big Dance 2012

This skateboarding display was part of the Big Dance event in Centenary Square.  To be quite honest I didn't think that skateboarding was all that interesting, until today that is.  I now realise that there is a lot of hard work and skill involved in the sport, and it's also quite dangerous, the skateboarder in the picture is quite high up, and he did manage to hit the deck a few times.  The team also did a bit of coaching to aspiring youngsters between their displays, I don't think any of them managed to become airborne though!

Dancin' In The Streets

This was taken at the Jubilee Big Lunch, a few weeks ago.  Tomorrow it's Big Dance 2012 in Centenary Square.  I only hope it doesn't rain like it has done over the last few weeks.

Pontefract Liquorice Festival - The Buffalo Skinners

The Buffalo Skinners outside of the Red Lion Inn, Pontefract, and not a microphone in sight, and it was loud enough!  I enjoy live music, but if I'm in a small venue like a pub and I see a drummer miking up his kit I usually leave.  My brother was a drummer at one time, working in the pubs and clubs around Bradford, he would practise at home, in his bedroom, and I can remember people in the next street complaining about the noise.  I realise I'm going a bit off topic here as this blog is supposed to be about Bradford and it's more about drum kits, but you really don't need to mike up a drum kit in a pub!

Pontefract Liquorice Festival 2012

I spent Sunday afternoon in the town of Pontefract, famous for its association with the liquorice plant and its annual Liquorice Festival.  It is thought that a member of the land owning De Lacy family may have brought back a liquorice plant from the crusades.  The family were the builders of nearby Pontefract Castle and owned land across the north of England, including Bradford, so you could say there is a somewhat tenuous link between Bradford and Pontefract.  The picture shows one of the street entertainers at the festival.

Audrey

Audrey, licensee of the Boy & Barrel, one of the oldest pubs in the centre of Bradford, helping out with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance collection at the Wrose Carnival on Saturday.

Damon, Audrey and Rashid

Meet Damon, Audrey and Rashid, helping out at the Wrose Carnival yesterday.  Damon is a sheet metal worker, Audrey is a pub licensee in the city centre and Rashid is a former professional rugby player.  All three are Bradford born and bred and all three have appeared in the (controversial) Channel 4 documentary series 'Make Bradford British'.  I must confess that I hadn't seen the programmes on TV and only recognised Rashid from a picture in the local paper.  The start of the carnival was delayed a little (Thomas The Tank Engine was running behind schedule) and I ended up chatting to Rashid.  I can tell you that he is a great bloke, genial, deeply religious, down to earth and a great communicator.  The programmes are available to watch on the Channel 4 website, so you can take a look yourself.

Major Jack Union

This is Major Jack Union, Major in the Royal Order of Dragons, chrononaught, monster hunter and veteran of the Mars wars, and also author of a new book 'How To Bag A Jabberwock:  A Practical Guide To Monster Hunting'.  The Major was in Bradford today to read passages from his new book, accompanied by a group of Steampunk enthusiasts in full regalia, quite a spectacle. 
I didn't actually know there was a book signing taking place until I spotted a Steampunk enthusiast heading in the general direction of Waterstones book shop, sandwich in his hand, and thought I would go and investigate.  The event was over when I arrived but the Major kindly allowed me to take this picture, he also mentioned Bradford in a brief conversation afterwards, its Victorian industrial heritage and the fact there seemed to be quite a lot happening in the city.
Incidentally, the Major has a Facebook page and lists his hobbies as hunting, drawing, photography, writing in his memoirs, and the ladies! 

1224 (Wharfedale) Squadron Air Cadet Band

Members of the 1224 (Wharfedale) Squadron Air Cadet Band in Centenary Square at the Armed Forces Day celebrations in Centenary Square last week.  These young musicians must put in a lot of practise, I'm no musician myself, but they sounded good, really good!

Sandwich Bar & Washing

When you want to dry your washing and there is nowhere to hang it, what do you do?

Skyride - Manningham Lane

Roads between the town centre and Lister Park were closed to traffic during the Skyride event on Sunday.  I wouldn't normally recommend cycling along Manningham Lane with young children, but on Sunday it was actually a pleasure to ride along this normally very busy route out of the city.

Skyride - Man On A Unicycle

This onion selling unicyclist looks a little worried as he watches a Skyride participant wobble his way around Centenary Square on the borrowed unicycle.  I don't think the rider was a complete novice as he managed to stay on the bike for around thirty seconds or so.

Bradford Pals Commemoration Service 2012

A service was held yesterday to commemorate the sacrifice made during the first world war  by the Bradford Pals, recruited and trained together, and ultimately perishing in large numbers together at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  The picture shows two members of a re-enactment group at the service.  The uniforms are from the first world war period, the left hand one is from the early part of the war with canvas belt and straps, there was aparently a shortage of canvas as the war went on and it was later replaced by leather which tended to rot in the wet conditions of the trenches.  The brass buttons are nicely polished on these uniforms, but soldiers in the trenches did not polish their buttons, glinting metal would draw attention from the enemy when they went over the top.  My thanks to the two 'Tommies' for the information on the uniforms.

Skyride 2012

This was a real family friendly cycling event which took place today on traffic free roads between the new mirror pool in the town centre and Lister Park.  The main aim of the event is, I believe, to encourage more people onto bikes, and with an estimated 7,000 people taking part in todays Skyride I would say it  has been quite a success.  I did manage a lap of the circuit myself on my folding bike and really enjoyed it, the rest of the time I spent taking pictures, which I also really enjoy, so a doubly enjoyable day for me then!