Saltaire Festival 2012 - Giant Hippo?

I've never seen one of these roaming around Roberts Park before, it's quite a sight when you see it approaching through the crowds, and there were some crowds today.  It's the finale weekend of the Saltaire Festival and I can honestly say that I have never seen as many people in the village, moving around became a bit of a problem by mid afternoon.  There were a number of Steampunk enthusiasts at the Festival, but I think this hippo was a real showstopper.

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! 

Steam Punk - Bradford Industrial Museum

An unusual exhibition is running at the Bradford Industrial Museum at the moment with Victorian machinery alongside steampunk exhibits. I had a vague idea of what was meant by the term 'steampunk' before I went to the exhibition, it's a sort of fantasy world of futuristic gadgets and costumes but set in the Victorian period of steam power and early electrical gadgets. The picture of the phone is part of one of the exhibits, the thing is, there were still some of these phones in use when I was a lad, (I will have to stop using that phrase, it makes me sound like one of Monty Pythons Four Yorkshiremen http://youtu.be/Xe1a1wHxTyo ) which probably means I'm a museum piece myself.