Jake & Elwood - Otley Stretcher Race

This charity event, held yesterday in the centre of Otley was immense fun for participants and spectators alike.  Teams of stretcher bearers carrying a patient followed a route through the town centre, stopping off at each pub along the way (and there are a lot of pubs in the centre of Otley) to down a quick drink.  It was all good fun and raised money for Cancer Research.  The team in the picture were, I think, the only family to enter the race and were being directed to the next pub by a helpful member of the public.

Easter Morning at the Chevin Cross

A crowd of worshippers gathered at this wooden cross this morning for a 7 AM service. The cross is erected each year at Easter on Otley Chevin, a viewpoint which overlooks the Wharfe valley. The cross stands 32 ft high and is around 16 ft wide and is made from timber salvaged from the IRA bombing of Manchester on 15th June 1996, there were no fatalities but 212 people were injured, some of them seriously.

Wharfemeadows Park - Otley

Alongside the river Wharfe at Otley there is a sixty acre area of parkland with tennis courts, a skateboard park and a fantastic children's playground, this is one of the playground features, a sort of mini roundabout.

New Year River Swim - Otley

I suppose there is nothing quite like a plunge in the River Wharfe on New Years Day after all that eating, drinking and watching TV over Christmas. These swimmers do it every year, (the swim that is, I don't know about the eating and drinking), they seem to enjoy it, the event also raises money for local charities. Did I go in? No I didn't, I think I'll just stick to the photography side of things for now.

Petrol Cans - Otley Vintage Transport Etravaganza

People collect some unusual things, petrol cans for example, and if you look closely at these cans each one has had a label attached to it with its year of manufacture. I don't collect anything myself, but if I did it would probably be miniature 35mm cameras from the 70's and 8o's, like the Olympus XA, Rollei and Minox models. I wouldn't want to pay a lot of money for them, and I wouldn't expect them to be worth a great deal in the future, but I think I would enjoy just collecting them. The collectors of petrol cans would probably regard my hobby as 'unusual', but would understand, I think, why I was doing it.