Sunday, October 25, 2009

Birmingham




Victoria Square & Town Hall

Looking down towards New Street (the main shopping area)

Leaves changing on the walk home

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Saltaire


The River Aire

United Reformed Church--grade 1 UNESCO World Heritage Site. A sign out front said they were doing a marathon bible reading, and had been going for over 3 days straight!

Village & train station

Salt Mills (named for founder Sir Titus Salt--they were textile mills)


Pics from Light Night:

Assembly room in the Town Hall

Richard & me in the stairway up to the Town Hall clock tower

View from the end of the street, over towards Meanwood Grange

On Saturday we went to Saltaire, a village that Sir Titus Salt founded in 1853 for his mill workers. He started it so his workers could have better living conditions than they had in Bradford, and also because it's strategically located on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal of the River Aire, as well as the railway. Saltaire was really pretty, but it has a bit of an eerie, almost too perfect feel to it. It's definitely nicer than Bradford, but I still think I prefer Headingley.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Yorkshire Sculpture Park




Hedgehog!







This weekend we went down to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which is really mostly park and not much sculpture. Note how none of my pics have sculptures in them...
There were some outdoor sculptures, as well as a couple of indoor galleries, but most of the park is just trails around the farms & lake. Finally saw a field of corn for the first time in England, and saw a hedgehog--so adorable! Richard poured a little water in front of it, and it lifted its head & drank some of the water and rooted around a bit. It sneezed at one point, which was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
Tomorrow night is the Leeds Light Night, when they switch on the Christmas lights around the city--isn't that crazy early to be starting the Christmas season? I love it, though!