The Yorkshire Dales has some great scenery. These pictures show the landscape in panorama format, allowing a wider angle than usual. Click to enlarge photo.
Panorama of Lower Wharfedale, near Bolton Abbey.
Panorama of Middle Wharfedale – looking towards Barden Fell. (more…)
I was walking down the road when I heard a loud, impatient beeping from a car. It was stuck behind another car which had, for some reason, stopped in the middle of the road. The first instinct is to sympathise with the car which was impatiently beeping. But then, on closer inspection, I saw a very small hedgehog scurrying across the road. The hedgehog looked frail and tiny compared to the scale of the motor cars.
The careful driving of the first car had prevented a squashed hedgehog.
At the 2012 London Olympics, I participated in an event “A Moment’s Peace” – it was an event run to celebrate the true Olympic spirit – promoting the ideal of peace, unity in diversity and the hope for creating a better world.
The London 2012 Olympics was a special time. There was so much good energy and positive feeling across the country. I attended the mens Olympic road race and felt a unique atmosphere amongst the crowds watching by the side of the road. After watching the road race, I went to this ceremony at University College London. The ceremony involved unveiling a bronze sculpture of Sri Chinmoy holding an Olympic style peace torch. Tegla Laroupe said:
“This statue embodies the same spirit of oneness, brotherhood and friendship which has infused the origins and traditions of the Olympics, both ancient and modern, and which to this day gives the Games their unique appeal,”
I have written an article on the inner significance of the Olympics at Sri Chinmoy Races.
One night in 2012 is a documentary about the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. It is available on iPlayer for a short time.
The London Olympics of 2012 seems a long time ago now. But, I do remember the wave of optimism and positivity which swept across the nation for those balmy three weeks. The nation caught the Olympic spirit, and it was a wonderful occasion.
Part of the success of the London Olympics was putting ordinary people at the heart of the movement and organisation. It wasn’t committees or powerful people, but volunteers freely giving their time which made the event special.
The Olympics is also a wonderful opportunity for the world’s nations to come together and – through sport – remember we have much more in common than that which divides. (more…)
I am continuing with my cycle training this month, but am paying as much interest to the wildflowers by the side of the road.
A field of wildflowers near Charlbury.
I caught a glimpse of this field through a gap in the hedge. (more…)
Some of the wildlife in my garden.
Bees are my favourite. Here the lavender is rich pickings for the bees. (more…)
I often do hill climb intervals up the Chiltern ridge. There are numerous different climbs, which make a varied and testing training route. Today I tried a quiet road, which I had not been on before. After 500m, the road petered out and became a farm track, so I stopped the hill climb interval mid-flow. I was going to do a u-turn and search out the next hill, but felt inspired to take a rest and went into a nearby field. The field happened to be a nature reserve with a profusion of wildflowers; I have rarely seen such a rich diversity and carpet of wildflowers in Britain.
The site is just next to the M40 motorway. I have been on the motorway hundreds of times, but you never get to see any wildflowers, just some green fields from a distance. (more…)
Around the turn of the century, the great yogi Swami Vivekananda visited Britain. He gave lectures and taught the basics of yoga and meditation to British seekers – Vivekananda was one of the first to bring the great spiritual traditions of India to the West. He stayed several months and it included a trip to Loch Lomond, where he chose a spot on the lake to meditate.
Last week I was in Yorkshire. When in Yorkshire, I often like to cycle into the picturesque Yorkshire Dales – picture postcard villages, limestone crops and sweeping meadows.
But this time I was drawn to the rugged industrial towns and moors of Calderdale – the windswept moors above Haworth and the old industrial towns of Todmorden and Burnley.
Just out of living memory, this part of the world was at the heart of the industrial revolution – with cotton and steam transforming the world. Yet, this once brave new world now stands forlorn as industrial history; derelict buildings stuck in the wrong age; the odd chimney retained as a tentative tourist attraction for towns struggling to cope with relentless economic change. (more…)
One of my favourite comedy sketches - The Four Yorkshiremen. "Corridor, we used to dream of living in a corridor." Related I managed to use the Four Yorkshiremen Sketch as…