Teepee

This teepee was in light oaks park a couple of days ago, some sort of council thing


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Early Morning Run

I've been up a little bit earlier than usual this week, as the Race for Life draws ever near, I've had to start training more with my runs.
Yesterday morning the park looked so beautiful in the morning light that I managed to slow down long enough to snap the sun coming through the trees

Square Plinth Update

Previously seen square plinth thing, has now been filled with plants!

Lost Trolley

This trolley was a bit off course, being in the park which is about 1.5 miles from the nearest wilko's store!

World Cup Fever

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Salford' love of the England Squad. Flags on cars, across houses, out of windows, everywhere!

Gate Locking

Something of a bone of contention on my part, this is the sign for the gate opening hours in the park. When I first moved here, the gate nearest my house was opened around 7.30am, but gradually that time has been pushed back so now it's normally past 8am (by which point I have left for work already). Like many other residents in the area I walk my dog here, the park has 5 entrances and only one of these now still has 24 hour access by way of a squeeze gate. But in some twisted turn of fate, it is this gate that has 24 hour access that is opened first, usually before 7.15am! god knows what the key holder does for the next 45 minutes or so, as the park really isn't big enough to get lost in, you can walk the perimeter in 20 mins tops.

Secret Doorway

I pass this doorway virtually every day, or rather bricked up doorway, it appears to have once led into a garden area, and it in the perimeter wall of a large property.
It reminds me of the book 'Secret Garden' that I loved as a child.

Stormy Weather Ahead?

Again today I'm not in the area so another archive photo. Today's weather has been predicted as rainy/stormy. So here's a moody photo of some storm clouds over Irlam's O' Th' Height round about.

Cobbles

As I'm not actually anywhere near Salford (or Manchester) this weekend, I've dug something from the archives. This is a wonderfully romantic view of the cobbled alleyways that run in between the streets and houses. Of course when it's raining it doesn't feel very nice at all, amazing how a blast of sunshine makes everything look better x10!

Looking Through

Noticed this building last night as I was leaving the print studios on Cow Lane, there was a couple of lads climbing down off it - looks like they had been exploring. Not sure what used to be in there though..

Sainsburys

Gorgeous weather of late, this was just a quick snap, I liked the silhouette of the lettering.

Play Area

Probably the quietest time to visit this children's play area is early morning, especially as this week has been half term and there has been organised kids activities in the park each day.

The only things playing at this time of the morning is squirrels

Icelandic Poppies

I bought some seeds to grow Icelandic poppies a couple of years ago, they failed miserably sprouting nothing at all. This photo was taken in one of the alley ways near my house, they are growing wild everywhere, even in people's gardens. So far i've just seen yellow & orange.

Bank Holiday

Well Monday was another Bank Holiday in the UK, which is nice because 4 day weeks rule (well for those of us who don't work weekends).
On my way into Manchester I did a bit of bus hopping, and stopped off briefly outside Walk The Plank


The building is quite non de script,  just the end terrace of a row of shops, but Walk The Plank do amazing Firework displays, including ones at Buile Hill Park for Bonfire Night and in the North West Finals of the British Firework Championships.

Busy Week

I need to get into the habit of uploading my photos everyday...
Monday:

The delightful M602 into Manchester, this was actually intended to show how you can see Manchester's Beetham Tower from miles away.. but marvellously I managed to obscure it with street lighting!

Tuesday:

This is an example of back to back housing, quite common round these parts - people's yards are to the back of the houses and you overlook each other's property.

Wednesday:

A general sunny shot taken on my way home from work, the clouds were rather uplifting.

Thursday:

Chomlea Stores opened up for a few months in the former premises of Global Video, they never seemed to have many customers (probably the cause of their closure), but then they didn't seem to have long opening hours - some days (especially during school holidays) they wouldn't be open by 8.30am so they missed the people pass on the way to work, and would be closed again before 5pm! In this cut throat market of local shops, you have to be open long hours especially when you're not selling the staple items of tobacco & alcohol. 

Today:
Moore's House is an newly built retirement development for people from the retail industry. It sounds really nice from the website description.

Hot Hot Heat

This weekend surely has to be the hottest on record, we knew were in for a treat when everywhere forecast 24c weather, but as my trusty thermometer shows, it was much hotter than that here. No wind made it in the high 30's until late in the evenings, it really was like being on holiday. that also means I haven't done much other than sit in my garden enjoying the weather, catching up with reading etc..

Week almost end

The weather has gradually been building up to the heatwave weekend. As I didn't manage to post everyday, here is the photos for Wednesday - Friday
 Wednesday I went into Manchester to meet with friends, and ended up in Ancoats where there is still loads of redevelopment going on including the Cutting Room


An outdoor square in the middle of the old textile mills, these are large scale photographs taken of what we assumed were the remains of the buildings before being torn down.
On Thursday I took this photo of the old park keepers hut in Light Oaks Park, it's now used to house tools etc for the council staff responsible for maintaining the park areas and has been painted a delightful green colour.



Friday's photo is the bluebells in the park, I took this is the evening as I was walking my dog, the sunlight always looks so magical as it streams through the trees, and no matter what camera i use to photograph it (camera phone or SLR) it never looks as good 'on film'

Manchester University

Ok so not Salford, but I've been in Manchester all day on a course for work at Manchester University, so I decided to photograph the rather new shiny building we were in as it looked super sparkly in the sun

What remains a mystery to me is that usually when new fancy buildings are finished (especially expensive ones) there is plenty of information on the architect, but my searches have brought up nothing.

May 17th - Plinth Type Thing

Not really sure what this will be? Well obviously some sort of receptacle for plants/flowers, it's nice that even with all the budget cuts & recession that money still gets spent on parks.

May 15th - 16th

Sorry not a fantastic start to the blog, haven't been anywhere too exciting, just the park in fact. However it was glorious sunshine pretty much the entire weekend. Not sure what these flowers are, they were just growing in the park at the side near some bushes. On the right the cherry blossoms were .. moulting?
 thousands of pink petals everywhere, almost looked like snow

New Day

OK I've been thinking about setting one of these up for a while now, and while I doubt it will be as varied and interesting as the Paris Daily Photo I hope it does encourage me to get and see more of the city I live in. Of course event/activity suggestions to photograph in Salford are always gratefully received :)

I'll start today with a shot from Light Oaks Park, Irlams O' Th' Height, this is my favourite park and I spend a fair amount of time there photographing it throughout the seasons. Today it looked so summery, but felt like February!