I had thought that my photo for Street, which is Day 30 of the @hiddenbradford #bradfordphotoaday challenge, would be a line of cherry trees disappearing into the distance with them all laden with blossom. A nice image but the reality was sadly lacking.

Our cherry tree is in blossom (which is my photo for the start of the May challenge – taken with my phone) but the Wrose Road trees are not in bloom. Was it last year that they were all pruned so they are struggling to blossom or is it just a few days too early? I guess that Wrose Road does not qualify as a street either, and it is avenues that are tree lined, not streets. Streets are cobbled – hence my submission for the last day of April is Albert Terrace.

And Yes, that is a terrace but all (?) the streets of Saltaire end there.

• William Henry St
• George St
• Amelia/Ada St
• Edward/Helen St
• Fanny/Mary St
• Herbert/Whitlam St and
• Albert St Rd

As you can see from the photo, Herbert St ends there.

Considering the weather we had over the weekend the sky on Monday was amazing, or should I just say that the sky on Monday was amazing? I spent lunch-time walking the streets (Note that. Streets!) of Saltaire and took several photos.

I composed this one of Lockwood St to try and make the most of the telephone wires. Telephone wires have been underground for many years – but not in Saltaire.

And just for the record I have not done any heavy editing of the sky.

This is another one showing telephone wires streaming from the telegraph pole, and a red telephone box. This is Edward Street, with Baildon in the background.

By this time I think I was using my polarising filter to take some of the reflection off the road and add more contrast to the clouds.

This one is taken on Fanny St that then leads to Mary St and Upper Mary St before it ends at Saltatire Road. It crosses over Caroline St and Titus St.

This is the junction of Caroline St and George St with the United Reform Church in the background and Baildon Moor behind that.

This one is looking up George St.

And the last one is of Titus St.

I think several of these show off the architecture of Saltaire quite well. Note there are lots of TV aerials and telephone wires but no satellite dishes. Does broadband come via the overhead telephone wires I wonder?

I have enjoyed doing these blogs for the #bradfordphotoaday challenge for April but I will not be able to keep it up for May. I think the May challenge will be an experiment in using the camera on my phone. I will still be going out to get photos of Kestrels etc.

Over the weekend I went out to get photos for the @hiddenbradford challenge of Wood and Bridge but what was nice was coming across 2 Roe Deer in the fields on Hollins Hill.

As usual you can click on the images to view them in black on Flickr. You can then view all sizes on Flickr.

Going up Hollins Hill there is a narrow grass verge on the left and hedging and wire fencing. After spotting two deer in the fields I tried to hide behind the hedges and rest the camera on the wire. Cars and wagons were thundering past just behind me and I would have thought this would create enough noise and flashing to prevent the deer from seeing me. Nope. Almost immediately the one in the nearest field lifted its head and looked straight at me. It went back to eating but how did it spot me? I watched it for a couple of minutes and also kept looking across to the next field down where another deer was eating. After a while the deer in the far field started running, leapt the wall, and ran towards the other deer which then ran off. They both leapt the wall into Elm Wood.

As part of the exploring I did for Wood and Bridge I also went on the East side of Otley Road behind the old Fellmongers building – which is now a burnt out shell and took this photo of the Otley Road bridge over Gill Beck. I quite like this photo. Looking through the arch, on the left, you can just see part of the footbridge over the beck.

These shots, along with the Blue Bells, are myfavorites of the weekend shooting.

What a wet weekend it has been to go out taking photos. Still, I did it, with an umbrella to keep the worst of the rain off the camera. The people down by Naylor Bros at Gill Beck probably thought I was a bit strange (nothing new there then) – wondering why I was holding the umbrella to keep my hands dry and not my head.

On Saturday it was my intention to take a photo of the different greens on the trees of Buck Wood, which I did, but I also took a couple of distant shots of Blue Bells. After getting back home I saw that the sun was peaking through the clouds so I decided to go out again and take some better shots of the Blue Bells. They can look really nice as a mass carpet of purple under the trees or as a patch work of light and dark in the shade of the trees. So this is theshot that I submitted for Day 28 – Wood of the @hiddenbradford #bradfordphotoaday challenge.

Earlier in the afternoon I went into the trees, looking for Wood, where Hollins Hill becomes Otley Road – at the bridge over Gill Beck. I took a few photographs in there but I also came across an old footbridge I had not seen before. I assume I had not seen it in the past due to it being hidden by summer leaves on the trees. I then realised that this would be my photo for Sunday – Day 29 – Bridge – and this is it: -

It looks as though it is only the tree growwing over it that is preventing it from falling into the beck. I certainly wouldn’t want to walk over it.

While I was around that area I took a few photos when contemplating Wood but they all got relagated when I had the Blue Bells.

A pile of timber at Affodable Fencing, Old Tannery

Buck Wood. The type of shot I originally thought of.

I also took some other shots, like this one of Gill Beck. If you view if full size you can just spot the white breast of a Dipper right in the middle of the frame

The fellmonger/tannery was presumably called Airedale Leather Works and the units have their own little sub-station. I remember bales of fleeces being pilled up there when we first moved to Baildon in the late ’70s. It also used to stink a bit in Summer

The photo of the Blue Bells I submitted was quite definitely in the Wood – hence it fitting the word for the day. But I also took some other photos of the Blue Bells:

When taking the photos of the Blue Bells there were hundreds of rabbits about. Most thumped and ran off as I approached but others just sat there quietly and let me pass.

I also came across this near the 1st tee on the Marriot Hotel golf course. I need to put it on iSpot unless someone here knows what it is.

There were several clumps of mushrooms around

I took a few other photos and I am going to create another blog for them so this photo of the rail bridge at Esholt is my last for here:

There are lots of refreshing things around but is that the same as Refresh? Refresh being today’s word for the @hiddenbradford #bradfordphotoaday challenge? F5 sprang to mind and I couldn’t think of anything better. But it is not very Bradford is it? Not to worry. I still submitted my F5 Refresh image.

A bit of CTRL+a, CTRL+c, CTRL+v. Throw in some "up" and "down", "left" and "right" mixed with the odd SHIFT. Perhaps some CTRL+z and CTRL+y? And then all finished with a refreshing F5. What more could a Windows web programmer wish for?

Before setting off for home I went round a few of the desks at work and took some refreshing pictures. Fortunately I did not have to touch the keyboards. Some of them looked as though they should carry a health warning; and by that I mean as an infection risk not an RSI risk – though some of them looked in the wrong place, wrong shape or wrong size. Their owners probably like them though.

Before finally setting off home I prepared my desk for the weekend – cleared all paper away (like the tidy person I am) and put a plastic bag over my monitors. This is slightly different to most Fridays. The picture below shows you what my desk was like when I got to work on Friday morning. The plastic waste bin on my desk has about 4 inches of water in it. The one on the floor only about 2 inches. You can also see a rather wet wall. Considering that there is an antique dealer on the floor above and an empty floor above that it is quite impressive. It is almost as if the wall and ceiling have to cry in sympathy with the sky.

On the way into work, across Robert’s Park, the river looked rather high, covering the lower parts of the park. The water was over the wall but it looks as though the path is still useable.

The weir was roaring rather well.

Things are not going to plan this week. At lunch time I went up to Northgate in Baildon to take a photo of the sweet hut – and it’s closed until May!! Anyway, it is still being submitted for @hiddenbradford #bradfordphotoaday.

This hut has an interesting history. Freddie Lambert returned from WWI severely shell shocked and so the members of the Baildon British Legion paid for a Shipley joiner to make the hut. It was pulled up to the common land of Pinfold, Baildon by horse. Pinfold (Penfold) is where the sheep that wandered into the village off the moor were penned until the owner paid a fine to get his sheep back. You can see that the wheels are still on the hut though half buried in the tarmac. The wheels have been left on so that it is exempt from rates – so I am told.

Another interesting shop related thing is shown in these photos – showing a Fish & Chips sign above what is now a Chinese take away. It has not been a Fish & Chip shop for many years.

You can also see a mess of old telephone wires. The photos below are ones that I took in 2003 of the sweet hut. Note that the Units to Let sign is still there but the banner above the hut has swapped the message round. The Coca Cola ad has gone.