Sewerby Hall...

Licenced yesterday: Sewerby Hall, near Bridlington...

Abersoch...

Though I’m not really a fan of punning headlines, this one, on the Guardian website, made me smile. The headline for a story about the audacious theft of expensive watches: Nick of time.

Licenced today: the beach at Abersoch, on the Llyn peninsular, North Wales...

The Black Swan...

Against all expectations (well, my expectations), the village pub is still open, with new landlord Paul having painted the exterior the colour of vanilla ice cream. He’s installed a pool table and put lights around the dart-board. What’s next? Spittoons? Plans to serve food have been shelved; if you’re lucky there may be a couple of sandwiches on the bar. The Black Swan is reverting to what it used to be: an unassuming local boozer, where men (mostly men) can slag off foreigners, immigrants, women, their neighbours, previous landlords, and - in their brief absense - anyone who goes to the loo or nips outside for a fag. Paul has success with pubs (if you don’t know, he will immediately tell you… including the weekly takings of his other pubs, in Boston, Lincs), and the assumption, amongst Asselby locals, is that he knows what he’s doing. Time will tell. 

Licenced today: the canal basin at Skipton...

Eggborough Power Station...

Most of the people now being hospitalised with Covid are those who, for one reason or another, have yet to be vaccinated. A senior intensive care registrar said it was difficult to witness the look of regret on patients' faces when they became very unwell and needed to go on a ventilator. “You can see it dawn on them that, by refusing the jab, they potentially made the biggest mistake of their lives”.

Eggborough Power Station was decommissioned in 2018, and the cooling towers are due to be demolished this coming Sunday… after which this view will look very different… 

Olympic Loser...

I caught a few minutes of the men’s volleyball yesterday, Argentina v Brazil. I noticed that one of the Argentine players had ‘Loser’ written across the back of his shirt, which seemed either cruel or ironic. Having consulted Wikipedia, I now realise that this was Agustín Loser, who plays volleyball for a French club as well as his national team (Brazil came back from two sets down and won the decider).

Licenced today: sales office and new Barratt homes at Park Edge, Doncaster… 

Dungeness...

Kevin McNair, Marketing Director of KP Snacks, is excited that the company’s salted nibbles are competing in The Hundred. “There has always been a friendly rivalry between our brands and we’re looking forward to seeing who comes out on top”. His enthusiasm is infectious. I can’t wait to see which two teams will make it to the final: Butterkist popcorn, perhaps, or Tyrrells crisps. Apparently there’s some cricket going on as well.

Not my best pic of the beach at Dungeness, but it was licenced today… 

Blind faith...

A California man who mocked Covid-19 vaccines on social media has died in hospital… from Covid-19. Stephen Harmon, a member of the Hillsong megachurch, joked that he trusted the Bible more than top US disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci. Harmon kept his Twitter followers appraised of his ‘progress’, from his hospital bed. "Please pray y'all, they really want to intubate me and put me on a ventilator," he wrote. He eventually accepted intubation. “Don't know when I'll wake up, please pray," he wrote in his final tweet. Despite his struggle with the virus, Harmon still insisted he would reject being jabbed, saying his religious faith would protect him. Maybe his faith wasn’t strong enough.

Licenced last week: the Drunken Duck gastropub near Ambleside...

Bombs away...

Goole has hit the headlines, thanks to builders on a new housing development turning up an unexploded WWII bomb, which is going to be detonated by the army this afternoon. The bad news: Goole may go up in a fireball. The good news: the Guardian used my pic…

The Hundred...

It’s just what cricket needed: a brand new - and abbreviated - form of the game, sponsored by KP, the well-known manufacturer of tasty and nutritious snacks. Each of the eight teams of cricketing mercenaries is sponsored by a different snack, and has been saddled with an aspirational slogan almost as bland and tasteless as a packet of Hula Hoops.

Birmingham Phoenix (Butterkist). “Rise with Birmingham Phoenix, and thrive together as one. Bigger, brighter and better united, this team is a celebration of the strength in diversity. Because different is good.”

London Spirit (Tyrrells). “London Spirit is an iconic team for an iconic city, rooted in tradition and lighting the way to the future, with a unique ability to conjure something special.”

Manchester Originals (McCoy’s). “Manchester Originals. Pioneers. Revolutionaries. Celebrating a global city of firsts. Laughing in the face of limits. Raising the bar forever higher.”

Northern Superchargers (popchips). “Step aside for Northern Superchargers, a team whose drive and determination is matched only by their desire to win. Powered by positivity and people who get stuff done when every ball counts.”

Oval Invincibles (KP Nuts). “Belong to something bigger, with Oval Invincibles. Vibrant, expressive, and free to play their own way, this team leaves a lasting impression long after the last ball.”

Southern Brave (POM-BEAR ). “Follow Southern Brave, and go boldly where others shy away. Endlessly curious, with an insatiable appetite for adventure, what’s over the horizon?”

Trent Rockets (Skips). “Join Trent Rockets for the biggest party in the country. Everyone’s invited – so long as you don’t mind having the most fun. Volume up, ready for launch.”

Welsh Fire (Hula Hoops). “Spark the Welsh Fire. Burning bright with intense passion and relentless energy, their hunger will prove the haters wrong. Get ready to feel the heat.”

According to a spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board, "Across their portfolio of brands, KP has almost unprecedented reach into the lives of all of Britain's diverse consumers and is keen to work with us to help grow the game of cricket.” According to Caroline Cerny at the Obesity Health Alliance, "Junk food brands sponsorship of popular sporting events is just another way they make sure their unhealthy products take centre stage in children's minds”…

Dangerous sports...

In an attempt to improve my social life I’ve joined the Howden branch of the Dangerous Sports Society, with the promise that within a few months I’ll be able to put my life at risk in a variety of entertaining ways. To start with, though, I’m taking to heart the advice of my tutor, ‘Carefree’ Carl, by taking things steady. Yesterday I ran with scissors. Today I’ve been playing with matches. Tomorrow I’ll be tacking a hazelnut yoghurt that’s waaaaay past its sell-by date.

Licenced today: rush hour in Poundbury, Dorset…

Ullswater...

Licenced today, for the best price of the month, so far: the Glenridding Sailing Club, Ullswater...

The numbers game...

Thousands of words have been written about the nurses - and other 'key-workers' - in the NHS, and how they should be rewarded. The juxtaposition of these two headlines, on the Guardian website, says it all...

Calmac ferry...

Out and about this morning, to do some shopping and see what the good people of Goole are up to. Thanks to the mixed messages emerging from Downing Street, what I saw was a curious mixture of caution and reckless abandon. People were shagging in the streets… but still wearing masks.

Licenced today: passengers on a CalMac ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway...

Hot sand...

When Tokyo made their pitch to hold the 2020 Olympics, athletes were assured that “mild” weather in July and August would provide them with the ideal sporting environment. Instead they will be competing in probably the hottest Olympics on record, with high temperatures and brutal humidity making every moment spent outdoors into a test of endurance. Beach volleyball players have already found the sand too hot for their feet during practice. Add Covid into the mix, and this is one sporting event that should not be happening.

Licenced today: change is happening... in Hull... 

Driffield...

An intriguing quote from Krishnamurti arrived in my in-tray this morning. “When you see a mountain, the splendour of it, the great, magnificent dignity of a mountain – when you look at it, you don’t exist. That very greatness drives away the pettiness. But like a child with a toy, they are so absorbed by it they are no longer mischievous or rushing about, restless. They are absorbed by it. In the same way, the mountain has absorbed me. I don’t exist; it is too great. But when the mountain is not there, I am back to myself”.

Another pic from yesterday: waterside living in Driffield...

Langton...

Woke up in Driffield this morning. Not too sure how that happened. By one o’clock it was too hot to be taking pix. Got back home to watch the cricket, and have a cold shower. 

Today in Langton, near Malton...

Cartmel...

There’s less than a week to go until the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, an event which 80% of Japanese people don’t want. With 11,000 athletes and another seven or eight times that number of coaches, support staff and media workers converging on Japan, it is increasingly obvious that staging this potential super-spreader event is a bad idea. The IOC president, Thomas Bach, has claimed, with the optimism of the damned, that “the risk for the other residents of the Olympic village and the risk for the Japanese people is zero”. Yet, even before a flame has been lit, a starting gun fired or a medal presented, the first positive Covid-19 test has been recorded by a foreign visitor in the Olympic village. 

Licenced yesterday: the sticky toffee pudding shop in South Lakeland...

A skip in Chipping Campden...

Ah… the Cotswolds, full of achingly pretty villages of honey-coloured stone houses. Though I have plenty of saleable pix, this is the shot that was licenced today…

Oakham Castle...

There’s a brief hiatus in the sporting calendar (The Open has started, but I don’t count golf as a proper sport. I agree with the sentiment - variously attributed to Mark Twain, William Gladstone, and others - that golf is “a good walk spoiled”). England lost on penalties in the final of Euro 2020. England fans can console themselves that coming second in the Olympics - which begin next week - would win a silver medal. As predictable as night follows day, or a penalty shootout follows extra time, the black players have received a torrent of abuse on social media. It’s time for cricket to occupy the back pages of the newspapers for a few precious weeks. I won’t miss football at all. 

Oakham Castle, licenced today...

Show home...

Pic licensed today: a new housing development near Pickering…

Winchester Cathedral…

Licenced today: the shrine of St Swithun in Winchester Cathedral…

55 years of hurt... and still counting...

Fans, players and pundits had written the filmscript - entitled ‘England’s glory’ - but the Italians obviously hadn’t read it. When the scores are still level, even after extra time, it might be better just to toss a coin to see who wins. Or have a few hands of gin rummy. When the fans’ dreams are dashed, someone has to get the blame… and missing a penalty is on a player's CV for ever (that's what Gareth Southgate was best known for, until he landed the England job). Anyway, the players - and Southgate - exceeded expectations by getting to Wembley, and provided some much-needed relief from masks, social distancing and the endless flow of data about infections, hospitalisations and covid-related deaths.

Another of the eco-houses at Findhorn, licenced today...

A flag in Fleetwood...

It's unusual for images to be licenced on a Sunday, but this one sold today. Apparently there's a football match this evening...

Neighbours...

The Old Sunday School has a square footprint, with the exterior walls being the boundary of my property. I now have neighbours on both sides, which is fine by me… except that the neighbour to the left has erected a garden shed up against the back wall of the OSS, which would make it impossible for me to, say, re-paint the windows or re-point the brickwork. Having exchanged ‘a few words’ yesterday, I was planning to contact the local planning department, for clarification.

Then came a knock on my door. “I’ve had a word with my wife”, Nicky said, “and I’d like to apologise”. He said he’d move the shed to another part of their large garden, and I said that would be the end of the matter. The situation could have got ugly… but didn’t. I’ve forgotten the name of his wife, but from now on I’ll think of her as ‘the voice of reason’! 

Garden shed... but not the one next door...

Holbeach...

I’ve been watching and enjoying the women’s international cricket, England v India. Anyone who says that “women can’t play cricket” - as a neighbour, propping up the bar in the Black Swan, insisted - should take a look at this amazing catch from yesterday’s match. 

Licenced yesterday: a sign welcoming visitors to the Fenland town of Holbeach in Lincolnshire...

The windmill at Brill...

So England beat Denmark, thanks to an own-goal and a dodgy penalty. I’m not singling out Raheem Sterling for ‘diving’, because he was only doing what all players do: running into the penalty area in the hope that they can find a foot to trip over. Why should they stay on their feet and take a shot at goal when they could just fall over and win a penalty? However, even the idea of “winning” a penalty seems to condone cheating. When all the players are trying to con the referee, from the kick-off to the final whistle, the “beautiful game” (© Pele) is irredeemably tarnished.

Son Chas, yesterday, gazing into the distance... or, just possibly, into the future...

Sylvia Plath...

Licenced today: the grave of poet Sylvia Plath in Heptonstall...

George Cross, Ruthwell Cross...

The Queen has awarded the George Cross, the UK’s highest award for gallantry and heroism, to the NHS to mark its public service over seven decades. Tributes… fine. Awards… fine. Recognition… fine. Clattering pots and pans on Thursday nights, to thank healthcare workers… fine, up to a point. But these displays of gratitude should be in addition to - not instead of - a substantial pay-rise. Boris’s offer of 1%, after everything that’s happened over the last 18 months, is a kick in the teeth.

Licenced today: a detail of the Ruthwell Anglo-Saxon cross, in Ruthwell Kirk, Dumfries & Galloway… 

England 4, Ukraine 0...

Watching England play football is usually like watching paint dry: pass the ball side-to-side across the park, then back to the goalie… and repeat as required. But last night’s game - against a shell-shocked Ukraine - was brilliant. Once Harry Kane got the first goal, England didn’t just ‘park the bus’; they got another goal, and another, and another. It was a real team effort. If they carry on playing like that, they'll be hard to beat. England play Denmark in the semi-finals on Wednesday night. Bring it on! 

The towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal...

East Marton...

On the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, yesterday, at East Marton...

Same-sex marriage...

The Methodist church has become the largest religious denomination in the UK to allow same-sex marriages, in contrast to the Church of England. The change leaves me rather confused. The Levitical code seems unambiguous: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13). The Bible configures homosexual acts as a capital offence, with “the men of the town’ usually happy to combine the roles of presecutor, judge, jury and executioner. There’s no need for legal niceties once the mob is roused to moral outrage.

Have the Methodists abandoned biblical teaching, or have they conveniently ‘forgotten’ a few problematic verses? Is it really possible to update the Good Book’s ‘timeless wisdom', after centuries of anti-gay prejudice, with a show of hands at a conference of clerics? One thing’s for sure: our religious representatives really are making it up as they go along.

The word is out that I’m having a pint or two with friends tonight, so the brewery is delivering more barrels…