Deepcar Band goes to Butlins
This past weekend, Deepcar competed at the Butlins Brass Band Festival.
The band played in the 4th Section and was pleased to be placed a very creditable 8th out of 15 fiercely competing bands – it being only a few years since Deepcar was an unregistered village band. Although there were many great bands to hear and superb evening concerts, the thirst that one experiences from blowing a brass instrument meant that much beer was consumed and so it all became a bit of a blur (a bit like the quality of these photos).
Boggle Hole and beyond
So this past weekend I went off to the North Yorkshire coast with two very good friends for a few days out from everydayness in order to celebrate a significant birthday.
We stayed at the excellent Boggle Hole hostel, near Whitby, risking treacherous walks along the coastline to Robin Hood’s Bay and Ravenscar in search of good food, beer and wine.
A recommended retreat. But watch out for the tides though, coming right in from below even as the land is also eroded by water from above.
Parkhill revisited
I lived in Sheffield’s Parkhill flats for a few years from late 1997 and so I jumped at the chance to take some pictures of them yesterday.
In more recent decades, Parkhill was a sink estate with problem families and druggies dotted amongst decent people, some of whose families had been rehoused there at the start of the 1960s after slum clearances across the city. Despite its ’60s brutalism, the concrete behemoth was awarded Grade 2* listing about a dozen years ago.
Now they are in the process of being modernised – with a mixture of flats for sale and others for social renting – and already there are show flats for anyone thinking of buying. Urban Splash is the name of the development agency tasked with what has turned out to be a pretty radical but sympathetic redesign that they say will take 15 years to complete.
Despite liking what Urban Splash have done, in terms of modernising lifts and dwelling interiors, I do admit to a touch of nostalgia for 32 Norwich Row that I rented from Sheffield City Council all those years ago.
Lowland Scotland
Last weekend, my good friend Mr. Smith and I decided to visit a couple of ruins and have a drive about.
Usually, we go off into the Scottish Highlands, but this time it was the Borders and some of Lothian.
Here are pics from the trip, covering Linlithgow Palace, Black Ness Castle, Jedburgh Abbey and more!
Dirty Leeds
Affectionately referred to as “Dirty Leeds”- thanks to the reputation of the city’s football team in the 1970s – West Yorkshire’s unofficial capital is a pretty groovy place.
Leeds boasts loads of cultural, leisure and sports attractions and was England’s fourth largest city until boundary changes dropped it to fifth place behind South Yorkshire rival Sheffield a dozen or so years ago.
For shoppers and those who like to hang out during the day, there is a Victorian-era Corn Exchange (pictured below), an indoor market and a sizeable pedestrian precinct with shopping arcades.
The indoor market is just along from the beautiful Corn Exchange and caters more for those needing essentials at a decent price. However, the arcades crossing the city-centre precinct are filled with classier shops – er, including Ann Summers (see pic below) – and out of the eight arcades built between 1870 and 1900, four remain intact.
As in most cities nowadays, you’ll find a Greggs, Caffè Nero, River Island, WH SMith, etc, etc. But Leeds does boast a Muji store and so, for me at least, exudes added class.
On and around the precinct this fine Saturday, I found buskers, preachers, street-photographers, charity collectors and a Pot Noodle promo. The place was packed, but there were plenty of places to rest weary feet and recharge with good coffee.
So here are some photos from today:
