Not quite to plan!

Lovely early walk, which was back to being really early today, with almost a full crew so I was up at 6.15am. There were lots of tiny ducklings on the pond and the cygnets and Greylag goslings are now pretty big. No sign of the juvenile swans ( last years brood, so maybe they’ve been moved on ). A much warmer start to the day but rain forecast.

Chris was doing his luncheon club duty today so I had a plan. I thought I would spend the rest of the morning in Leeds and, thanks to blipper Sgwarnog: In the Field, I would visit the photography exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery called ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ by Peter Mitchell.

Chris offered to drop me into Bingley for the train on his way up to church. Amazingly a train was just pulling in so I was in Leeds at 10.02.  I headed straight up to the Headrow thinking first a coffee in The Tile Cafe (seen in the blip) and then see the exhibition. Nope! A notice on the door said ‘Thursday June 13 the gallery and Tile Cafe closed till 12.30 for training’. So did I hang around or leave it for another visit?

I headed to M&S for a free coffee and decided just to play it by ear. From there I had a look around the Victoria Quarter.

Walked back up to Waterstones, which is just below the Headrow and decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich to pass some time and then of course spent an age looking at and eventually buying some children's books. Back to the Art Gallery with just 10 minutes to wait. 

The exhibition was of a similar style and period to the Ian Beesley exhibition currently on in Salts Mill, charting decline in the 1970’s in industrial Leeds focusing mainly on local shops and houses. For me the Ian Beesley one is better because the photos are black and white instead of colour which seems to suit the subject but I’m probably biased as I know Bradford better than Leeds. What I really liked was the series showing the demise and demolition of the Quarry Hill flats. Iconic or infamous depending on your point of view. Without really knowing them I knew of them. There was a book available about it in the shop entitled ‘Epilogue’. Another area of the exhibition focused on an aging fairground - you can see the entrance to the exhibition ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ in the fur right of the picture.

Of course I had to go into the Tile Café ( blip ) for tea and cake! So somewhat waterlogged and foot weary, I headed back to the station: train in and by some miracle a bus due in 3 minutes when I got into Bingley. Carried my waterproof with me there and back and the first drops of rain arrived just as I’d got into the house so in many ways a successful morning out and would certainly say the exhibition is worth a visit if you’re anywhere near.