Epilepsy Action 10K

Runners in Market Street at the start of the Epilepsy Action 10k yesterday morning.  Number 1612 Tesfaye Debele was the first over the finishing line with a time of 31min 42sec.  It was a fairly level course but there were some quite strong winds for the 1400 plus runners to contend with.

Downreno At Al's Dime Bar

Local band Downreno at Al's Dime Bar. The four piece band went through their repertoire of American folk pop in front of a very appreciative (and very tightly packed) audience last Thursday.  These guys are real musicians!
(Rick on the upright bass at the back there also plays in the John Palmer Band, another great local outfit).

Michael Hann - Rejections

Stockton based musician Michael Hann made an appearance at the recently opened Fuse Gallery and Art Space yesterday afternoon.  It's a bit difficult for me to describe the audio-visual performance as it's a genre that I am not really familiar with.  I would describe the improvised work as an electronically generated soundscape of industrial noise, haunting, disturbing and captivating.
Michael had an unusual upbringing, spending his early school years in the Middle East before returning to the UK to finish his school education, and then going on to university in the nearby city of Leeds (where he apparently made the occasional foray into Bradford, so he's not a complete stranger to the town).
The Fuse Gallery is currently running The Portrait Salon Photography Show, a 'salon des refuses', work turned down from major art shows.  Apparently, due to the very high standard for exhibitions an awful lot of really good work is refused and not seen by the public, this exhibition redresses the balance a little.  It's a diverse collection of portraits though, great differences in style and technique, but there are some real gems in there.

Memorial Wall Dedication Ceremony

The Bishop of Bradford led a service of  dedication for a new memorial last Saturday.  The memorial, a wall bearing the names of thirty  men and women from the Bradford area who have given their lives while serving in the armed forces since 1947 stands in a small garden close to the existing war memorial.  The service was attended by friends and family of the fallen, local dignitaries, the Royal British Legion and quite a large crowd of the ordinary people of Bradford.

Al's Dime Bar - Open Mic Night

A New York style bar in Bradford with an irresistible combination of American style beers, cocktails and live music, that's Al's Dime Bar on North Parade.  I went along on open mic night and really enjoyed listening to some of the talented local musicians performing there, some young and some maybe not so young, a great evening out.

Fifty Years of Doctor Who Fans

The National Media Museum in Bradford is currently running an exhibition celebrating fifty years of Doctor Who fans (running till 14th Feb 2014).  I was a fan myself back in the distant past but never collected memorabilia, many people did though, and this exhibition is a collection of souvenirs loaned to the museum by members of the public.  The Cyberman outfit brought back memories for me, memories from the 1960's and an army of Cybermen invaders emerging from the London Underground, not really all that scary by todays standards but scary enough back then.  Looking back at the pictures though, late at night, my mind did begin to wander a little.  Could that suit contain a real Cyberman and could there be a plot to take over the world using the Media Museum as the Cyberman headquarters.......and where is the Doctor when you really need him?

Barristers Protest

Barristers gatherer outside of Bradford Crown Court earlier today to oppose further cuts in funding to the criminal legal aid system. The protest is part of a national campaign to highlight government funding cuts to criminal law cases, cuts which may make some cases uneconomic for barristers and solicitors to take on.

Reflections At City Park - Haworth Brass Band

From the Reflections At City Park event and the Haworth Brass Band who gave two really nice performances at the Mirror Pool.

Bradford City Run

There were four hundred or more runners taking part in yesterdays Bradford Run with distances of five and ten kilometers and a half marathon.  The weather was quite windy with a few heavy showers thrown in for good measure.  The picture was taken at the start line, most of the winners are in the first and second rows!

Bradford Sea Cadets - Trafalgar Day

This post is a little late as this event happened last Sunday. Around 150 cadets from all eight of West Yorkshire's Sea Cadet units assembled in the town centre.to mark Lord Nelson's victory at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and also to mark the 75th anniversary of Sea Cadets in Bradford.  Cadets assembled in Centenary Square before proceeding through the streets to Bradford Cathedral where a service was held, the procession then returned to Centenary Square. Pictured is the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire Virginia Lloyd chatting to young cadets.

Reflections At City Park - Punjabi Roots Academy

A Bradford based organization teaching Bhangra and Bollywood dance, dhol drumming and DJ skills.  Punjabi Roots Academy have recently appeared on a number of UK television programmes including The One Show and Blue Peter.

Reflections At City Park - 'Irresistible' By Mind The Gap

A burning car, a motorcycle and singing Sirens suspended over the mirror pool were just part of the story in a performance by Bradford based theatre company 'Mind The Gap'.  The theatre company works with learning disabled and non-disabled artists as equals.  Incidentally, the performance took place in the mirror pool and the water coming down is nothing to do with the mirror pool fountains it's genuine rain.

Reflections At City Park - Brazilian Samba Parade

I spent an enjoyable day yesterday at the Reflections event, a bringing together of local  dance artists, musicians and street theatre performers at City Park in the centre of Bradford.  I am really starting the wrong way around here as this is a picture of the final outdoor event of the day, a Samba Parade from City Park to St. George's Hall (where the entertainment continued indoors with a world dance and music extravaganza to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Kala Sangam, the Bradford based South Asian arts group).
As you can probably see from the picture it was raining quite heavily at the time, the heavens opened during the final ten minutes of the day's performances.  I managed to see things through to the end though and went off to catch my bus thoroughly wet through (that's when I found out how abysmal my bus service is after 6PM, but that's another story really)!

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame - Bradford Cathedral

This picture was taken last Friday when I made a short visit to Bradford Cathedral.  The large screen had been erected for a showing of the 1923 version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame accompanied by the cathedral organ, which I imagine would have been quite impressive in the darkened cathedral.  The flowers were left over from an autumn flower festival which had been held the previous week.

Bamboo Sandals - Saltaire Festival

I never got around to posting anything from the Saltaire Festival last month, so here is a picture of the lead singer of Bamboo Sandals, a talented four piece band that perform regularly in the Leeds and Bradford areas.  The band went down well with all age groups at the festival, particularly well with some of the younger members of the audience, and quite well with myself.  I'm sure the band will be going places in the future!

Positive Bradford Day

It's a bit of  a late post as the event took place a couple of weeks ago in the town centre. The weather on the day was considerably better than that of the previous year when wind and rain caused a few problems.  The event is organised jointly by education, arts and business organisations to highlight the positive things going on in the city.  The picture shows drama students from Bradford College entertaining the crowds in Centenary Square.

Bradford - United Against The EDL

A peaceful counter-protest was held at the Bradford Urban Garden on Saturday afternoon.  Faith leaders, student union representatives and Bradford West MP George Galloway were present at the gathering.

EDL Demonstration

This was the scene yesterday afternoon in Bridge Street with the EDL contained in an area adjacent to the Queen pub on the right of the picture.  For safety reasons this was the closest that photographers were allowed.  The demonstration caused some disruption to travellers as the main entrance to the bus and rail terminal remained closed for most of the day.

Bradford Prepares For EDL Demonstration

There were more police officers than shoppers in the town centre this morning as road closures were put in place and barriers were erected to segretate the visiting English Defence League from the main part of the city.  Bradford residents had been urged to carry on as normal, but most stayed away.

Bradford Together

A number of groups came together in Centenary Square yesterday afternoon in a celebration of peace and unity in the lead up to the English Defence League demonstration which is to be held in Bradford today.