Amateur Ramblings

Instaview: February & March Lunchtime Walks

It's been a while. Again.

Here are a selection of the products of some of my lunchtime walks in February and March 2012, starting with one of my favourite #lookupleeds images, taken in the underused Grand Arcade:

Not strictly a lunchtime walk; this is the end of one of the remaining back to back terraces in East End Park one sunny morning:

More not-taken-on-a-lunchtime, here's a handful of snaps one sunny evening shortly after the clocks when forward. The first two were taken from the ninth-floor canteen in my office block, while the third is the view looking back up Eastgate towards the eveing sun:

The end of the Brotherton Wing of the Leeds General Infirmary always looks a little like a cruise ship to me:

This is one end of the tunnel that takes the A58(M) Leeds Inner Ring Road underneath the LGI:

Solo M/Cs Only:

And here's the view of what becomes of the A58(M) - the A64 to Scarborough starts here as the York Road:

Here is a wall, in Stanningley. I waited here at a bus stop for 45 minutes hoping for a bus to take me back home across the city. The service is supposedly every 20 minutes. Can you tell I was bored:

Shop wall, East End Park:

The Corn Exchange's magnificent:

Finally, here are the lifts at the House of Fraser department store:

Blaques

Yonbeek (Olly) asked me if he could use my perpetually-almost comprehensive pictures of all of the blue plaques in the Leeds postcode area for a university project he was doing. I said yes.

Now he has completed his website. Take a look here.

Abbey Habit

It seems hard to remember that we had a spell of really quite reasonable weather at the end of March. We both took the day of on Gemma's birthday and drove up to the Dales, soon arriving at Jervaulx Abbey. Here we enjoyed a picnic, surrounded by the crumbled remains of the 12th century monastery, itself nestled within a setting best described as being like the kind of country roads with which postman Pat would be familiar.

We drove home across the Dales. We stopped to let some farmers and their dogs heard a few score sheep from one field to another, and spotted the smoke of a fire drifting over the top of one of the hills, before pausing at Kettlewell for a cup of tea and a paddle in the chilly Wharf.

Back home that evening, I sketched a reminder of the day for Olive as she enjoyed a much-needed bath.

Wild West

The newly developed and much anticipated City Park opened in Bradford a couple of weeks ago. We went there with the Viponds. I didn't see the 'tallest fountain in any UK city' (a fairly qualified boast, that), and the vast throngs obscured and indeed paddled in the mirror pools. After straining and ultimately failing to hear the brass band, we repaired to the relative calm of the Media Museum.

We stayed over, and the next day they took us to a lovely little spot called St. Ives, near Bingley. We'd not heard of it before, but it was a beautiful area on top of a hill to have a spot of lunch and a stroll, followed by a go on the park (for the kids) and a go on the ice creams (all).

Instaview: Photographic products of lunchtime walks

In the middle of 2011 I moved offices, from my base of seven years on Neville Street, to a building on The Headrow.

We all hate change, of course, but I must say that apart from the canteen, which is marginally worse, my new location is better for, amongst other things, its proximity to the top end of Leeds, where more of the shops, bars and restaurants are located.

At first, however, I missed my lunchtime canal- and river-side walks. No longer could I get out of the office for 40 minutes and see only a handful of other people. Now, it was streets chock-full of shoppers, workers, cars and buses. Slowly but surely, I have had to tweeze new routes of interest to occupy my lunchtime pedestrian urges.

And some of these locations have inevitably found their way through the lens of my camera...

The three pictures above were taken around Millennium Square. Home of the seasonal Christkindlmarkt, Leeds Museum, the Civic Hall, the Electric Press Theatre, and numerous bars and restaurants, this area of Leeds is actually one of my favourite spaces. The top photo is of a restaurant at The Spice Quarter, whilst the other two are of the 1930s Civic Hall.

Another nearby shopping centre, in fact the closest to my new office, is The Light. I appreciate the retention of the original buildings in the design.

Talking of shopping, the area to the north of Eastgate is earmarked for development into a new shopping 'quarter'. This would involve the destruction many of the existing streets and buildings, including the small Chinatown area. Presumably in anticipation of this, many of the businesses have either moved or closed down entirely, as evidence in the second picture. The first, meanwhile, shows the long empty British Road Services offices just off Eastgate.

One of the things I have had to do since moving offices is test the perimeters imposed by my lunch hour. I can easily reach both these colourful apartments just off North Street, or the Dental Hospital.

As well as the many thriving precincts and arcades Leeds boasts, there are also plenty of less well off relatives. The St. Johns and Merrion Centres fit the latter category, but one of my early probing jaunts led me to discover the delightful Merrion Market. Largely, though not wholly abandoned, I understand this forgotten consumer corner is set to be obliterated later this year.

Leeds has changed a great deal even in the few years it has been my home. The Civic Quarter and around the Universities are two areas that have seen much development. Tucked behind the Civic Hall is the Rose Bowl, whilst these distinct, shocking (in a good way, I think) student flats stand on the site formerly occupied by the BBC studios.

Here's the surprisingly quiet scene one lunchtime in the upstairs dining area of Bagel Nash, in Thornton's Arcade, off Briggate.

The final four snaps were taken from the top deck of the Woodhouse Lane Car Park. There's another view of Broadcasting Tower, plus views of Woodhouse Lane, The Ship (a pub in a boat) and the A58(M) Inner Ring-road.

There's always something new to notice, or a fresh angle to be had in a large city like Leeds, so I hope the recent wet and windy weather will cease soon, allowing me to recommence my lunchtime walks.

Deutsch Heute

For five weeks, from mid-November until just before Christmas, the Christkindlmarkt comes to Leeds. The convoy of German and Polish lorries end their long westward journey in Millennium Square, and in no time at all a fully functioning Christmas market, including fairground, food stalls, and cavernous beer tent has been erected and is ready for business.

Me and my friends at work have made it a recent tradition to finish work mid-afternoon on the first or second Friday and spend the evening there, enjoying the German food, drink and music.

Free Parking

In December we went for a walk in Roundhay Park with Neeley and Alex. It was a sunny day, but the couple of good pictures I took cannot hope to convey how bitterly cold the wind was that day.

 

Some like it Ot

Yeah, so, one sunny November Sunday we drove out to Otley. Here's what our afternoon in the park down by the river looked like:

Instaview: Saltfest

Also in September, we met up with the Davies' and the Balmponds for the annual Saltaire Festival.

The weather started promising enough, but soon degenerated into frequent heavy showers. We chose oriental food for lunch, before heading to the children's play park to wear out the kids. We walked the length of a classic car display, before having a look at the fair. here are most of the few snaps I grabbed:

Ledston 100

Back in September we popped over to Ledston Luck. Gemma's mum has just moved there, and the still tight-knit ex-mining village was celebrating its 100th anniversary.

This former coal mining settlement seems to have kept its sense of community since the pit closed 25 years ago. The fair was small and felt 'local', but boasted a cake stall, beer / band tent and a barbecue. There was also a modest display of vintage tractors:

From the few visits I have made, I am interested to see that pit buildings seem largely intact and accessible (indeed, they have been explored). Further research has established that a narrow-gauge railway ran from the pit to nearby Peckfield Colliery, where the coal was transferred to trains on the Leeds - Selby line. Again, the few physical remains have been investigated, but I think my friend Andrew would enjoy a trip out there at some point.