Archive - She, who knows nothing

The attempted modernisation of an industrial City

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-31 – 17:49:32

I ventured on a bus into Wakefield city centre today for change.
Like many northern cities it is struggling to modernise itself, what with the mega shopping centre works starting.. then stopping .. then been given the go ahead again .
At the other end of town a new Hepworth museum(in homage to Barbara Hepworth)is being built which looks to me as if it could be one huge 'white elephant' .... but as I strolled about I noticed another attempt at modernising the city centre which prompted me to write this brief post on 'The Bull Ring, Wakefield.

As was the trend in lots of British cities at that time, the historic statue of Queen Victoria was first unveiled in the Bull Ring Wakefield in 1905

She reigned supreme before being moved to Clarence Park in 1950 and then it was returned with great fan-fare to the city centre Bull Ring in 1985.
Here it stayed until October last year to make way for the controversial new fountain which had been commissioned for the city centre.
On Wednesday, the Grade II listed statue was winched into place in her new home in Castrop Rauxel Square in Wakefield's civic quarter, outside County Hall. It seems a fitting place for the historic statue to be, may she remain there for many decades to come.

Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Express

A Huge water feature is now at the heart of the Bull Ring's new look.
A series of 48 jets create a tunnel of water for people to walk through. National water feature experts 'The Fountain Workshop Limited' were commissioned by Wakefield Council to design, construct and co-ordinate the installation of the attraction.
The decision to replace Queen Victoria's statue with a modern water feature has been somewhat controversial and earlier this summer, a short time after the fountain was officially switched on, pranksters twice created a foam volcano in the city centre as washing up liquid was poured into the new water feature's 48 jets, causing it to erupt with bubbles.
Shoppers watched in disbelief as foam covered the fountain, which is the centrepiece of the £2.6m Bull Ring refurbishment.
It started off as a small white mound in the centre and then it just grew and grew.
People thought it was funny and it was quite amusing, but also very predictable. It was obvious something like this was going to be a target for anti-social behaviour.

I am pleased to report though that today, on a pleasant autumn day, things have settled down somewhat in the Bull Ring, as these photos which I took today show.
Both children and elderly people alike seem to be enjoying the novelty of a modern water feature where once Queen Victoria's statue reigned

A visit to Salt's Mills

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-29 – 20:35:18

Last Sunday the girls drove me to Saltaire..not to Victoria Hall but this time to visit Salt's Mills which was built by Sir Titus Salt

When it was first built in 1853 the mill employed 3000 workers, and was one of the most advanced mills in the country. Since the decline of the mill trade, Salt's Mill has been preserved mainly thanks to the work of the Silver family.
Businessman Jonathan Silver bought Salt's Mill in 1986 and rents part of them to a telecommunications company and parts to shops, there is a bookshop (with some entertaining kids books!) a homeware shop (modern but fancy prices to go with it) and galleries devoted to local Bradford artist David Hockney. There are also restaurants and cafes inside
The steam-powered Salts Mill was one of the largest and most technically advanced textile mills of its time. The integrated mill housed almost the complete production process from sorting through to finishing. Known at the time as ‘The Palace of Industry’, Salts Mill it dominates the village of Saltaire and is distinguished by its detached, 68m chimney which is a local landmark.
David Hockney has a collection here and is the largest of his works in Europe ...this picture of the mill caught my eye, a colourful bird's eye view

Miramaze mentioned to me that she visited there herself around two years ago and asked me if i'd seen the crocodile :??: ....well..."no"...I didn't see the crocodile but here are a few of the random objects that I did see whilst perusing Salt's Mill.

Hockney works

Shop displays

The Chimney

...and not forgetting the stray Baa lamb :))

A bit of a grey day

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-22 – 14:54:28

It's a dismal overcast day here in the wild west of Yorkshire but still t'old man ventured into the garden earlier to "give the lawn one last mow for this year"..that's a sign of how bored he is as i'm sure he said the same thing last week
I'd prepared the ingredients to make a warming shepherd's pie but then retreated to the 'box room' to wait for a return phone call hoping to gain some useful advice. Meanwhile my computer is playing up..sometimes I can get online and sometimes it is slow loading up and navigating a site can be problematic. The computer is old now and probably needs a complete overhaul but that means calling in the son-in-law as i'm not savvy enough to do it myself.
Maybe now is the time to buy that long promised laptap but do I buy one with XP or Vista or maybe I should wait until the new windows 7 which is on sale from today has established itself
Questions, decisions .. decisions, questions ..one can get quite dizzy

Ah well... there's an enticing smell wafting up the stairs, it seems like the shepherd's pie is ready for eating so see you later ...if the computer behaves that is!

What a difference a year makes.

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-20 – 15:41:56

PAH! it is almost a year since I was so excited at receiving this!

Build your own Blingee

I whooped and I skipped and shouted out with glee. :oops:

I delighted in flashing it to the bus drivers throughout the winter months and I couldn't wait for summer to come when it would really prove its worth. :DD
It's been redundant for a while :**:

Just goes to show...one shouldn't get too blase as you never know what's around the corner ..and it usually isn't buses! :no:

Be happy

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-17 – 11:28:18

HAVE A

...and if you do happen to stay glued to the computer all day do what KINGKEV says and make it a Blog Happy Day.

As for me i'll probably be in and out of blog all day..i'll try to be Happy but I have been pre-occupied lately with a decision I have to make!...
it is a no win situation..."there are no right decisions ,there are no wrong decisions, whatever decision is made is the right one" :roll:
I've got 'til next Friday to decide (sorry for being so cryptic,I may blog about it soon)
so perhaps a 'blog happy day' is a good diversion for today

Have a good one y'all

Old habits die hard

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-15 – 11:38:56

Yesterday I went to my U3A spanish language class for the first time in months.
Afterwards we usually pop into the fruit and veg shop opposite the library where the class is held, the shopkeeper remarked that she had missed me calling in these last few months.
I deducted that the reason why she had missed me was that I always bought the 'almost past it' fruit and veg she displays in a box which are sold off at a dirt cheap price and judging by the amount of produce in the box no-one else in the village must be bothered to buy them.

I got all these peppers with a couple of bruised apples thrown in for less than 50p, so you see apart from her missing me. I have missed calling in on her too.

I used to make soup or ratatouille with the bargain produce previously, I'm wondering what else I could make with them.

I was also given a bag of pears collected from a neighbour's trees,

Pear crumble anyone?

Nice to see you, to see you

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-12 – 15:22:12

Half an hour ago I waved off two of my blogging friends, La Spice and Murphymole.
They had stopped by to say "hello" to me en-route to Lancashire.

I tend to talk ten to the dozen when I meet new people, but I needn't have worried as all three of us had plenty to say and two and half hours passed by very quickly.
La Spice has visited other bloggers this week and I remarked that she must have met a sizeable portion of 'friends' on her list now.
I couldn't let the opportunity pass by not introducing them to two other
*ahem* 'superstar bloggers'

Here they all are

OVER HERE

It was great to see you both, you were exactly as I imagined..warm, kind, friendly and funny...and thanks for the pressie...it is just what I wanted Xx

For the JOY of it

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-11 – 15:31:41

Thank goodness for friends.
It seems ages since I have been to my classes and mixed with all the 'ladies' who I have a bit of a repartee with most weeks, so I was very pleased when Kathy phoned yesterday morning and asked if I wanted to go along to the twice yearly JOY event in Saltaire (JOY abbreviates for JEWEL OF YORKSHIRE) which we have attended a few times before.
I explained that I couldn't possibly attend any workshops or even stay out for more than a few hours before I would be wanting the comfort of my old settee.
"That's Ok she said" we'll just go along to look at the 'souk' which is set up in the main hall and have some lunch in the makeshift cafe that is also set up for the event.
"Great" I said, "let's go"

It is a hive of activity in the main hall in the middle of the day,with lots of dancers and teachers sitting around, whiling away time between attending workshops, chatting and eating lunch.
I met quite a few people I knew so it was lovely to catch up with them.

I spotted two international male belly dancers( Yes, indeedy, there are one or two of this strange species around)
I have seen them both perform a couple of times and have chatted with them before so they were quite happy to allow me to take their pic whilst they were discussing one of Egyptian dancer Khaled Mahmoud's props 'The Candelabra'also known in the dance as 'Shamadam'.

I found a short video of khaled doing the dance with a female egyptian dancer Aida Noor but unfortunately embedding is disabled so if you want to see how they dance with this adornment on their heads then click the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUqHowxvTCI

Khaled offered Turkish dancer Ozgen a try of his candalabra helmet but his head must be smaller than Khaled's as he daren't let go of it :))

There were lots of lovely things to buy at the souk but my ability to dance nowadays doesn't warrant spending any more money on outfits ..but Kathy did manage to buy some brightly coloured sticks for her class to use when she teaches them a new 'stick dance'
There will be a lot of ducking and diving when she starts to teach them a stick dance :)) traditionally Stick dances are performed by men, here's an example of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsG7Y7C_uno
Shades of morris dancing..don't you think!

Nay...Neigh....

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-07 – 20:40:34

My hair has started sprouting again and I fear that if I leave it to grow 'au naturel' it will eventually resemble the mane of this splendid creature and not the vibrant brunette that everyone recognised me as before

It won't be for a while though as I expect my hair to remain close crop until at least next spring.

.............

Here's another snap which I took in Spain last year of the same horse.
A classic example of how not to take photos

Title...The horse with eight legs

The 'First' Meme

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-06 – 21:06:27

Everyone's been doing it so here's mine.

1. Who was your first love?
Gerry, he was an art student,it was unreciprocated, I was heartbroken for years.

2. Who was your first kiss and when?
It was Pete from the youth club, I was 14.

3. Who was your first prom date?
A prom?...not way back then

4. Who was your first room mate?
At home I shared a room with little sis while big sis had one all to herself!

5. What was your first job, and how old were you?
I left Grammar school a failure when I was 15. Dad made me go straight to work in the shirt factory as a presser.

6. What was your first car?
Never had one as I never learnt to drive. T'old man had a works van(peugot)for years though.

7.When did you go to your first funeral?
Had to think about this..I remember gran and grandad dying when I was little but can't recall going to the funeral so I guess it must have been my dad's about 37 years ago.

8. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?
19

9. Who was your third grade teacher?
Haven't got a clue.

10. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Gran Canaria.

11. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with?
A boy called Rob...we went to the local picture house..it was probably showing Hopalong-Cassiday!

12. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
I never snuck out but I do remember once when I was about 17 I had been on a pub crawl with my mates and me and Corrina, in our drunkeness, decided to hitchhike to London. We got a lift in a lorry and I asked the driver to do a slight detour to my house so I could sneak an explanatory note through the letter box so mam wouldn't worry ( we had no phone in the house back then).

13. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them?
My cousin Iris...I haven't seen her for over twenty five years now.

14. Who was the first person to send you flowers?
I can't remember receiving any before the time t'old man sent me some through interflora when he had gone away to work in Saudi(around 1981).

15. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents house?
I was working and living in a guest house in Great Yarmouth.

16. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
I don't usually ... but I have been known to have a good moan to little sis on occasions

17. Who's wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen?
I never have been

18. What was the first concert you went to?
Lordy lord...Don't remember which came first!...it was about 1967 and it was either 'The Who' at Barnsley Civic Centre or 'Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders' at Leeds Grand Theatre.

Turned tables(or the tables have turned)

by isadora101 @ 2009-10-06 – 12:36:03

When anyone comes to visit me nowadays, t'old man scarpers, he can't do with 'women's talk' he says.
If it is only a short visit he will disappear into the garden with the pretence of being industrious but if it is a visit of a much longer duration he often sees it as the green light to disappear down to the pub
This suits me fine most of the time 'cos why would I want him around when all I want is a girly chat with my visitor, yet on the very rare occasions when he has visitors it is usually me who scurries round organising tea and/or perhaps a finger buffet.

This afternoon he has an elderly gentleman friend visiting, he usually visits about three times a year and is partial to my home-made cheese and onion pie and jam tarts. Today I don't feel like entertaining but i'll put in an appearance 'cos although this gentleman comes to see t'old man he obviously would like to know how i'm getting on.

"What should I give him to eat?" babbled t'old man
"I don't know" I replied " go to the supermarket and buy something.

So off he toddled this morning and 'eureka' he came back with some white baps, boiled ham and a battenbug cake

He's buttering the baps as I type so who was it that said "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"?...we're going to prove that rufty tufty contracters can entertain in other places barr down the pub after all