Tripod...

My tripod is light and convenient; unfortunately it just isn’t very steady. And a tripod that’s unsteady isn’t much use at all. So I decided to buy something heavier and more rigid, that would stay rock steady in windy conditions and for long exposures. I went into Leeds by bus, and went to the photographic store in the Merrion Centre. I thought it might take me all morning to try out the various models, but no: someone had traded in a Manfrotto tripod, and I got it for £80 - a good deal less than I was expecting to pay.

The bus was packed on the return journey. A man with a limp got off at Lawnswood Cemetery, carrying a bunch of flowers. A young woman got on with a pushchair, and everyone moved so she could sit down. Then a really old guy with a zimmer frame got on the bus, and the young woman made way for him. It was good to see that there’s still a ‘buffer zone’ between the creeping suburbs of Leeds and Bramhope, where I spent my childhood years. We passed Breary Marsh and Golden Acre Park, where I first learned about birds. There was a gardener working there who knew about birds, and he was happy to stop working for a few minutes and help a young lad tell the difference between a linnet and a redpoll, a gargany and a gadwall…