Ebenezer Row...

Licensed today: Ebenezer Row in Chesterfield. Not really sure why I took the shot, except that I rather like vernacular architecture... especially of the modest kind...

'Promoting' homosexuality...

The High Court has ruled that there should be no more demonstrations outside a Birmingham school, where concerned parents - mostly Muslim, plus a few conservative Christians - are protesting that the school “promotes” homosexuality. This isn’t true, of course. The teachers don’t “promote” homosexuality or advocate a “gay lifestyle”; nor, as one meddlesome imam fantasised, do they instruct children about “anal sex, paedophilia and transgenderism”. I don’t even know how the “promotion” of homosexuality would work. “Go on, shag another bloke. You know you want to”?

Children are being taught to have respect for other people, whatever they believe, and whoever they are attracted to: an agenda we should be endorsing, not criticising. Respect, equality: who could possibly find fault with that? Well, here they are, mustering at the school gates with their placards and slogans and verses from the Bible and the Koran.

Same-sex attraction isn’t even a choice. We’re either attracted to members of the opposite sex… or we’re not. Hard-core believers prefer to think that gay people are freaks of nature who freely choose their “sinful” lifestyle. Otherwise they might have to face up to the uncomfortable idea that gay people are God's children too, made in his own image.

I appreciate that equality before the law is still an aspiration rather than a reality, but at least we’re trying. The High Court has drawn a line in the sand. This is is one occasion when we should back educational standards rather than acquiesce to religious sensibilities.

Licensed today: a Yodel employee delivering the High Court verdict...

Black Friday...

According to an article I’ve just read, Black Friday isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, with only one heavily-promoted product out of twenty being offered at the lowest price of the year. So you're fighting through hordes of sharp-elbowed shoppers, and you’re not even getting a bargain. As with Christmas, now exactly a month away… count me out.

I have a few pix of the Drunken Duck, near Ambleside, and they're regular sellers. This one was licensed today. The Drunken Duck was a gastro-pub even before we were familiar with the term. It gets a mention in every article about eating well in the Lake District... and the view from the beer garden is spectacular...

Leeds-Liverpool Canal...

I shoot lots of pictures of canals - they're so photogenic - and every now and again I sell one...

Dialling 999...

It’s good to learn something new each day. Apparently, anyone calling 999 can remain silent if, for any reason, they are unable to speak. Then, when prompted, they can key in the number 55, which will inform officers that there is a genuine emergency… allowing them to trace the call and take appropriate action. All without the caller saying a word... or calling attention to themselves.

Licenced yesterday: a shot of Yew Tree Tarn, near Coniston...

New neighbours...

I’ve just met the young couple - and their daughter - who will be building a house on the vacant lot immediately to the right of the Old Sunday School. Work starts tomorrow. It won’t look like this for much longer…

Tram...

Licensed today: a Nottingham Express tram, heading into the city. When I last went for a day's cricket at Trent Bridge, I found a good place to park up the van, next to a pub, in the village of Wilford, and the tram delivered me right to the stadium...