Luddenden valley...

Licenced today: Oats Royd Mill, in the Luddenden valley, near Halifax…

Blackwell...

Though both the sacred and secular versions of Christmas leave me unmoved, I’m not immune to the grim satisfaction of arriving at the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year… and that’s today, December 21st. 

Licenced today: the main hall in Blackwell arts and crafts house, near Bowness…

Piece Hall...

In a Sun article, published on Friday, Jeremy Clarkson wrote that he loathed Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, “on a cellular level”. He said he was “dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”. He added that “Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way.”

It’s just Jeremy Clarkson being Jeremy Clarkson, of course, emboldened to crank up the misogyny because no one is taking enough notice of him these day. But Victoria Newton, editor of the red-top rag, must have read his column and decided, for whatever reason, to publish, when she should instead have spiked it. And her paymaster, Rupert Murdoch, is equally culpable, for giving the Cotswold-based ‘rent-a-gob’ the opportunity to vent his spleen in the first place.

Licenced today: the Christmas fair in the Piece Hall, Halifax...

Santa's sack...

I called in for breakfast this morning at the Viking pub, on the way into Goole. Father Christmas was there, preparing to bring some festive cheer to the first customers of the day, though it kinda spoiled the magic to see Santa struggling into his outfit in the public bar of a flat-roofed pub. Just in case he had some spare presents in his sack, I told Santa that I’d been a very good boy this year. Santa was unimpressed. “That’s what they all say", he harrumphed…

2-0 up in Karachi...

England are playing Pakistan in Karachi tomorrow, already 2-0 up in the three-match series, with leg-spin bowler Rehan Ahmed due to become the youngest man ever to play test cricket for England. When he runs onto the pitch he will be 18 years and 126 days old (the previous record-holder, Brian Close, was 18 years and 149 days old on his debut 73 years ago). Jimmy Anderson, who made his own test debut in May 2003, a year and three months before Ahmed was born, is being rested for the final match. Skipper Ben Stokes captured the mood of the nation when he pointed out that “you only make your debut once, you can never make it again”…

Licenced today: guys delivering barrels of beer to the Dog & Partridge pub in Wigan, Lancashire…

Cliffe Castle...

Licenced today: Cliffe Castle in Keighley...

"Pride in Islam"...

Tonight is Morocco v France, the second semi-final, to see who will play Argentina in Sunday’s grand final. I’ll be rooting for the Moroccan team (supporting the underdogs, in any sporting contest, is a trait I inherited from my dad). A short article in today’s Guardian is entitled “Morocco’s pride in Islam should inspire us all”. The writer rhapsodises, rightly, about what the occasion will mean for Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora, dispersed around the world.

So far, so good. But then he continues. “There is no World Cup of discrimination nor should there be; every minority and every ethnic group has its challenges, and the way these are overcome is with unity not rivalry. But anyone whose eyes are prepared to see knows that Muslims are persecuted in many nations. And as with many forms of prejudice, it is women who often bear the brunt”.

Hmmm… there is nothing in Islam about this kind of unity. Even before they open the Quran, or lick a finger to turn a page, Muslims know that paradise is reserved for fellow Muslims. For the rest of us - atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Christians, Jains, etc - the fires of hell are stoked. As for women “bearing the brunt" of Islamophobia, the Quran is the source - not the solution - of this kind of discrimination.

The writer swoons. "To see Moroccan players paying homage to Allah before applying Allah’s teaching to pay homage to their mothers - who were wearing hijab! At the game! On global television! - was not only beautiful, moving and uplifting, but important".

This match is the first occasion that an African country has reached the semi-final of the World Cup. That’s something worth celebrating. But the “unity” and inclusiveness of Islam? Not so much. And instead of the "beauty" of the hijab, I see coercion, oppression and control...