Falling off the radar between London and Leeds
The weeks are slowly turning into a blur at the momentand given that I'm still suffering with the remnants of tonsilitis, the continual travelling and hotel stays have been no fun at all. After spending two nights in Leeds (200 miles away) at the end of last week, I arrived home late on Friday night. After spending Saturday taking 12 kids ice skating, and looking after 6 for a sleepover last night, I'm packing my bag again to leave mid-afternoon for another 3 nights away in Leeds.
At least over the next couple of weeks after this craziness I will be able to slow back down a bitonly having to contend with the journey into London each day. Hopefully as we roll into March, the travelling will come to an end (har harwho am I kidding?).
I thought it might be nice to record some of the moments captured over the last day or two while “on the road”.
The hotel I stayed at last week bore more in common with a prison than a hotelbut it was very cheap, clean, and everything worked (probably more a function of nothing being breakable). I know some people would have been horrified by it, but it was a bed for the night, and the breakfasts were good.
On the first night of my stay the team I was working with took me out for dinner. We walked into the heart of Leeds, and found a table at “Browns”. I have heard of Browns before (they have places in most major cities in England), but had never been in one. Apart from the obviously bored college student hammering out tunes on the grand piano, it was really nice. If his fingers had known anything except “hammer the keys like a pneumatic road drill”, it would have been even better.
While wandering through the streets of Leeds on the way back to the hotel I spotted this pub in a side road, and had to stop to take a photoit seemed like the kind of places that adventures might start. I'm sure my co-workers were quietly bemused by my stopping to take photos from time to time, and always scanning the scenery during conversation.
The next morning I was up and about a good hour before I needed to be back on-site at the client offices, so went for a wander around the various wharfs adjoining the canaland discovered a recently closed retail property who's windows had been covered with comic book pages. I couldn't help stopping for quite some time to read the panels, and take photos. Yes, I am a comic book nerd (even though I own very few).
A little further along I came across the Armouries Museumfilled to the gunnels with suits of armour, swords, shields, helmets, and all manner of things that would probably turn boys of a certain age inside out (our middle daughter too). I wondered if I might go for a wander in the museum at some point during my stay here, but the chances are very slight indeed.
Wandering betweeen the various wharfs in the early morning provided photo opportunity after photo opportunityI took lots, but don't want to bore you too much. I can only imagine how much the apartments alongside the various docks cost (my Uncle reliably informed me following sharing a photo of the narrow boats on Facebook that this had all been chimneys when he last passed through here).
Walking along the banks of the River Aire, I couldn't help thinking back to perhaps 60 years ago when my Grandfather would have been working on these riverstransporting goods on John Harker's boats that left Knottingley (where my family are originally from).
My route to and from the railway station was via “The Calls”I imagine the road is original from the time the wharfs were filled with ships transporting oilnow they are lined with new office buildings, and apartment blocks.
The journey home was uneventfulthe journey from Leeds to Kings Cross was spent listening to podcasts, and chatting with the people nearby. For the first time in recent memory I had a seat on the train! Watching the sun go down while rumbling across the countryside in a train is somehow specialI'm not sure why.
Kings Cross railway station never ceases to impress me. Every time I arrive there I end up gazing at the roof for a few moments, and then wondering where the sea of people are coming from, and going to.
A couple of hours later I had traversed London once more, caught my final two trains, and finally found myself knocking on our front door. A little girl in a monkey onesie ran down the hallway (I recognised her foot-falls), and threw herself at my legswhich of course stopped me from getting into the house.“My teacher had a baby!”“Really?” (she had told me the night before on the phonetwice)I was then subjected to a high speed download of everything in her young head that I might have missed out on over the last few daysincluding everything she had told me on the phone, and everything everybody else had told me on the phone. Wandering into the lounge, dropping coats and backpacks as I went, I waved at my other half, and slumped down on the couch.
I'm doing it all again in a couple of hours time