If you have to be locked down. If you have to be restricted to just one hour's exercise a day. Let it be Spring. Let the sun shine. Let the waters of the Black Brook flow through the green fields.

Can something be too beautiful for these difficult days? To idyllic for the dark times within which it is set? This footpath through the woods in Fixby tests the theory to its extremes.

They loved churches and chapels in these parts. In the nineteenth century, every street corner or half-empty plot became potentially sacred ground - if it hadn't been occupied by a beerhouse already. The churches and chapels they built were often grand affairs, signalling piety without recourse to subtlety.  And when the praying stopped, other uses … Continue reading Bridge End Congregational Church, Brighouse

BRADLEY WOODS, FIXBY, HUDDERSFIELD Being limited in the distance you can travel allows you to discover beauty close to home. All too often we are fooled into the belief that grand sights have to be paid for with mindless travel over great distances. Only if you have sat crumpled up on a noisy plane for … Continue reading Bluebells In The Woods

On the concrete wall of Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield someone once painted scenes of the wondrous activities that took place inside: greyhounds racing, speedway bikes crunching into sliding corners. They are faded now as are the wonders they depict.

LINDLEY CLOCK TOWER, HUDDERSFIELD : An inscription above the door reads "erected by James Nield Sykes Esq JP of Field Head, Lindley, for the benefit of the inhabitants of his village" It was built in 1902, and, at the time, the word was that it was erected to make sure the villagers arrived on time at Sykes' … Continue reading Clocking In

HERITAGE EXCHANGE, LINDLEY : It was a mill, full of clacking looms and potent frames; now it is urban living and prime office space. One heritage exchanged for another.

We went to Manchester and walked along the Rochdale Canal. The water seeping up through the stone sets mingled with the water streaming down from the sallow sky.

A cold and wet night: fog keeps the light from the street lamps close to home, rain shines the footpaths, a bus stop looks forlorn.