Tag Archives: York

After ride feel good

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Wigginton Village Store

Wigginton Village Store

I’d forgotten how much I enjoy cycling through those villages on the edge of York Haxby, Wigginton, Shipton and Skelton. This morning they were bathed in sunshine in a gentler world – just a few miles out of the city centre.

I was on new pedals – the ones that my also new cycling shoes clip into. By all accounts, falling off is not unusual on the first few rides because you forget to disengage your feet before stopping. I didn’t fall off – this time – and so I’m bathing in a little bit of after ride glory.

Shimano SPD cycling shoes

SPD cycling shoes and pedals

It was a short ride today – just 12 miles – but I must keep it up as the better weather approaches. There will be a fund a raising ride again this summer. My thoughts are towards the Coast to Coast, probably over three days. I just hope it doesn’t rain as it did last year in the Yorkshire Dales.

Steaming Away

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Tornado leaves York Station. I was with my son, Warwick, who uses a wheelchair so I only had time to snatch a few hand held shots over the heads of the crowd. But it has atmosphere and captures the excitement of seeing this loco under steam and hauling at train.
Many thanks to the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust for making this day possible. If it makes money and pays off it’s debts it’ll be a miracle – but the joy of this first trip will be remembered fondly by many. We Brits are still able to match the engineering skills of a generation or two ago.
The chimney belching smoke and steam also reminded me that the golden age of steam never existed. It was without a doubt a coal black age.

Duke Special and Tony Hart

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Tony Hart

Tony Hart

Sad news about the death of Tony Hart. As a kid it never entered my mind to enter a picture for his gallery – let along to imagine seeing it on the telly accompanied by this familair piece of music “Left Bank Two”  BBC NEWS | Magazine | A bit of vibraphone nostalgia

And now he’s gone, taking with him a gentler age of children’s TV shows, although he still had his fans among people much younger than my notalgic age.

I was at the Duke Special gig at The Duchess in York on Saturday. Pete Wilson was promoting his Album Cover Art Competition which was to be judged by no less than Tony Hart. Apparently he gave a moving tribute to Tony Hart at his gig in London on Monday.

The Duke Special gig in York was musically excellent but visually demanding. The low stage and good crowd hid the musicians from view for most of the evening unless you were very close to the front.

Later, Pete moved into the audience and sang at the piano on the audience floor. Very intimate. Good musicians don’t need to stage full of gear to make a good sound. The place resounded with all the fun of a pub singalong. The backing singers were excellent too!

Thanks to Luke for unplugging the cooling fan so that Pete could hear himself sing. It gave a whole new meaning to Duke Special Unplugged.

Tornado to hit East Coast Mainline

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BBC NEWS | England | First passenger trip for new loco

Tornado - A1 Steam Loco

Tornado – A1 Steam Loco

January 31st is the day that passengers will be hauled by the brand new steam loco, Tornado. Built at a cost of £3m it will take members of the society that backed the project between York and Newcastle. I’ll watch it leave York but sadly I won’t be on board – not being a member.

Good luck to her and all who are hauled by her.

Thea Gilmore – UK – Acoustic / Indie / Rock – www.myspace.com/theagilmore

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I thoroughly enjoyed the Thea Gilmore gig at The Duchess in York last night. The performance was simple and sincere. I’ve listened to her music for years and have most of her albums but she was even better live.
The Duchess is an intimate venue and the audience was surprisingly small – even for a cold Sunday evening in York. But Thea’s performance was warm and engaging, supported by her producer and husband Nigel Stonier and Fluff (viola, vocals and guitar).
As long as Thea performs, the spirit of Joan Baez and the folk tradition of social comment and protest will live on.

MySpace.com – Thea Gilmore – UK – Acoustic / Indie / Rock – www.myspace.com/theagilmore