Sometimes it's easy to forget that 'small is beautiful'. Also, how much of that beauty can be found very close to home. There may be a whole wide world out there, but that world begins as soon as we step out of our own back (or front) door.
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While significant parts of Hull were bombed during WWII, and many lives tragically lost, its Old Town survived and has been well preserved. The historic buildings and cobbled streets make it an ideal stand-in for Victorian or Georgian London. These streets have been transformed many times by film and TV studios for productions including The Crown, Victoria and Blitz.
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On Crosby beach north of Liverpool 100 cast-iron, life-size figures stand looking out to sea. The figures each weigh 650 kilos and are made from casts of the artist Anthony Gormley’s own body.
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We have had plenty of sunny days this past April; however quite often the warm sun was tempered by a fresh wind. But we have also had some almost summer-like days; indeed, on one day quite early in the month the temperature reached 26 degrees in London and that IS summer weather.
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The Regents Canal links the Grand Union Canal in Paddington with the Thames in east London, via the Limehouse Basin. It is 8.6 miles (13.8 kilometres) long and like most canals has a towpath. These towpaths were originally used by horses to pull barges but today are popular places for walking, jogging and cycling (where wide enough).
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In England we have this saying about the weather in March and years ago most of us would have recognised it as pretty accurate. But these days the weather is much less predictable it seems. This year March came in like a lamb, turned lion-like, then back to lamb for a short spell before becoming very fiercely lion until the very last day when the lamb reappeared!
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The days in January may be short, and the sun in short supply. In England we’ve had more than our fair share of rain this month, or so it seemed. But there were also some brighter, if colder, days. And at the start of the month even some snow (relatively rare these days).
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I often find myself drawn to photograph the little details I see around me, whether close to home or on my travels. So much so that I often come home to find I have lots of photos of the details of a building and none of the building as a whole to provide context.
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As we start a new year of Monday Walks I want to look back to one taken right at the end of last year, on New Years Eve. We were staying in Newcastle over the new year holidays with bright if chilly weather, perfect for a walk by the sea. So we took the Metro to Cullercoats and set off on the short but always lovely stroll to Tynemouth.
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Long or short, every year ends with December, which for many of us means the build-up to the Christmas celebrations. And for those who like me live in the Northern Hemisphere, it also means short days, long dark nights and cold weather.
