My Dad ..

It's the morning of Saturday May 23rd .. 2009. The morning my Dad died. Eleven years on and I still miss him so much. I have so many good memories, like the night he won this giant bottle of Bell's whisky in the pub raffle. Once it was finally drained he used it to collect loose change and, when it was eventually full, he donated the money to charity. He was nice like that, my Dad ..

On yer bike, China ..

First bike ride after the end of lock-down yesterday .. and wonderful it was, too. Just waiting for the achy legs to kick in now. By sheer coincidence, I dug out this shot the other day - a kodachrome slide from a trip I made a long time ago. I know China is a dirty word at the moment, but this is a picture from Canton and I look at it now with a sense of dismay, that a country can have as many cyclists as it has and still pump out all the pollution it does. How depressing to hear that pollution levels are on the rise again as things there get 'back to normal'.

I don't want normal anymore, thank you very much ..   

Look, don't touch!

What was it like before the pandemic, Grandad? I've heard there was a time when people could go into pubs and clubs and sit next to each other .. without masks .. and they could shake hands and kiss and hug and not be afraid of catching anything! Is it true, Grandad? Is it true?..

 (A shot from my archive: The Talk of The North club, Eccles, circa 1977. That's my grandma, trying to hide from my camera!)

Leaving Lock-Down ..

Freedom! Erm, apart from the weather ..

Today is the first day we in France are being allowed to move around more freely and, wouldn't you know it, it's blowing a gale and pouring down.

It's also the day my Lock-Down Landscapes project must come to an end even though, ironically, the weather of late has been too good to come inside and actually design any. So, you can thank the horrible conditions for the fact that I've actually been indoors this morning and it gives me great pleasure to present to you my final three montages. All were shot in, or from, our garden, apart from half a dozen that I photographed on our permitted one-kilometre walks ..

God, imagine only being able to walk a kilometre from your home. Yes, they've sure been weird times. Let's pray to God that people are sensible and we never get a restriction like that ever again ..

Ten out of ten ..

It's the tenth of May, 2010 ..

I'm pulling into a pub car-park, heart-thumping, about to meet - in person - a girl I've met on-line.

Her name is Lesley, and she's lovely.

______


It's the tenth of May, 2020 ..

I'm in France, with the girl I love.

Her name is Lesley, and she's lovely.

_______


Our tenth anniversary. Wow!

Oh, the picture? Well, she'd kill me if I put up a picture of herself. These are Lesley's grand-daughters. What? I'm going out with a grandma?..

;-)

x

Ten years into the future ..

I had the most lovely surprise yesterday ..

"Just wanted to say hi .." said a message I received. "Ten years ago today you photographed our wedding at Manchester Town Hall. You probably won't remember it as you've done hundreds but you did make our day and we've got lots of captured memories thanks to you."

Well, of course I remember it, and what a lovely message .. and how absolutely wonderful of the couple to think of me on their wedding anniversary. It really made my day ..

'Future Everything' said the poster that I posed them by all those years ago and now that we're in 'the future' it just reinforces the importance of a good set of Wedding photographs. It makes me feel great to think of all those 'hundreds' of couples who now have a set of my photographs in their homes ..

Happy anniversary, Judi and Chris ..