Monochrome in the Morning

The Yorkshire Wolds are beautiful in their own way: gentle rolling countryside rather than the more spectacular and bleak scenery of the Dales or the North York Moors.  I walked Amber early (well, early-ish) each morning, and if the light looked at all promising I took my camera with me.

More often than not it was cloudy and overcast, so I've decided to convert this particular set of pictures to monochrome.  It seems to bring out the texture in the crops, fields and trees, even though the lighting was pretty weak most of the time.

I was particularly taken with the straight lines formed by the tractors, presumably when spraying, and their interaction with the hedges, trees and cloud shadows.

The landscape is dotted with farmhouses, usually nestling in the valleys like this one.

Flotsam, Jetsam and Then Some

I've just got back from a week in Yorkshire, staying with my sister near Driffield.  One afternoon we took Amber for a burn on Fraisthorpe Beach, between Bridlington and Hornsea.  A huge expanse of sand, famous locally for being a nudist beach until relatively recently; there are signs in the car park reminding visitors that, in 2010, they need to keep their clothes on!

Amber spent a very happy time on the beach eating anything which had been washed up, including the remnants of a filleted fish which had been thrown overboard by one of the trawlers.  Labradors!  We were also treated to a fly-by from the local Air/Sea rescue helicopter.

Although the sun shone for a bit, it was perishing cold on the beach - typical for Yorkshire in July.  I guess the word is "bracing"; or is that only Skegness?

More from the Lowry Outlet Mall

After visiting the Lowry Centre, it was back to earth with a bump as I needed to meet up with the rest of the family in the Outlet Mall.  Quite an impressive place (if you like that kind of thing) but it's clear that there were several empty spaces remaining to be filled.  I love the euphemism involved with such announcements: Exciting New Retailer Coming Soon sounds so much better than Boring Old Retailer Went Bankrupt...

Everything had a "Sale" on, including a rather large kitchen and household goods store.  A bit like a warehouse, with all the charm which that entails.  At least the escalators were rather more aesthetically pleasing!

My final view of the Mall, which seems to sum it up for me.  Several people wandering aimlessly about, buying "stuff" which they don't need and eating fast food which is bad for them.  The bin just about says it all.

Salford Quays and The Lowry Centre

Exactly like the last time I visited, the Manchester weather closed in as soon as we'd reached Salford Quays.  Typical.  This didn't worry Izzi, however, as her prime interest was a retail experience in the Outlet Mall rather than admiring the architecture.  Again, typical!  No problem, as this gave me an hour or so to wander round taking pictures.

I was determined to go into the Lowry Centre as I'd heard the interior was well worth a look.  The exterior wasn't bad either...

I never got to the Lowry exhibition itself as I was overwhelmed by the foyer and theatre.  The whole place is made up of either polished steel or solid blocks of vivid colour: primarily red and orange, but also yellow, blue and purple.  It was one of those places where the main question is "where do I start?".  Well, the following selection of pictures is in no particular order, but I hope will give some flavour of the place.

As you can probably tell, I was totally bowled over by the place.  It was pleasantly empty too, which is more than could be said for the Outlet Mall...

To Salford Quays by Tram

There's something about travelling by tram which is both very old-fashioned and ultra-modern at the same time.  The Manchester tram network is pretty amazing, and we decided to make the short journey from Castlefields to Salford Quays using it.

By the way, that disgusting steel & glass monstrosity with the grid on top is the Manchester Hilton Hotel.  You can see it for miles around - unfortunately...

The trams were clean, quiet and very speedy.  Mind you, we were travelling on a sunny Sunday afternoon - who knows what they'd be like during a rainy rush-hour in November...