Here Comes The Sun

 

A London Exhibition, a Degree Classification and the Big Wide World

A quick update on the past few weeks – I had my work shown alongside other graduating students in an exhibition in Hoxton, London on the 24th of June. It was a great evening, with plenty of people popping in to take a look at the work (and to make use of the open bar).

A Week on the Rochdale Canal

I recently spent a week on a canal boat, travelling the Rochdale canal from Sowerby Bridge to Littleborough. The six of us were in very close quarters, like sardines in a tin, on the 56ft long boat!

Whilst not as relaxing as we first thought, the holiday was very fun, and we were mostly lucky with the weather. After we got the hang of opening locks the holiday mostly ran smoothly!

I decided to document the week and this started well, however after a few days of photographing instead of grafting I was told I did actually need to help – this resulted in less photographs from the week than I’d first thought there would be.

Below is my week, in photographs.

Day One

First much needed item for the week – job titles

After assigning jobs, we set off…

Being shown how to open our first lock

Going through our first tunnel

The deepest lock in England

The lock keeper and his dog

Throwing the ropes up

Arriving at Hebden Bridge

Our goose friends

We moored up at Hebden Bridge…

And settled down for a cuppa

Day Two

Bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast

A walk along the tow path into Hebden Bridge

Interesting ‘lost camera’ poster – have a read!

A wander around Hebden Bridge

Lovely little food market

A little look into the beautiful Willow Garden florists (more info here)

Wandering back to the boat

Back to work!

Filling the water tank on the boat

And then the rain came…

We moored up at Todmorden and settled down for the night

Day Three

Opposite our mooring spot

We made some furry friends

We ventured into Walsden for lunch, which I wouldn’t personally recommend, and ended up crashing a funeral which made us feel like this –

We also saw the longest ‘barred’ list EVER

And we were left with hotdogs and ice creams

Back to the boat

The kitchen floor after a small half-capsize (and after I’d cleaned up 20 smashed eggs)

We moored up for the evening not far from Littleborough, just before the Summit, a large lock requiring supervision from the lock keeper

Day Four

We spent half of the morning watching a removals van attempt to cross a tiny muddy bridge (quite amusing)

After this the sun came out, so we took full advantage…

In the evening we went to The Waterside, a lovely restaurant in Littleborough which serves gorgeous food (more info here)

Day Five

Today, we started the journey back to Sowerby Bridge

More friendly locals

Turning the boat around (quite a feat!)

Lunch at the Moorcock Inn, near Littleborough (more info here)

Lovely view from the outdoor seating

A walk up to the Higher Chelburn reservoir above the canal

Day Six

The dividing line…

Taking the boat through the bridge lock

Beautiful gothic railway bridge

Guillotine lock near Todmorden

Day Seven

A three-legged friend

Lost shoe

Something slightly sinister about this…

Your typical canal boat owner

Poor photograph, but a beautiful Heron

A lovely meal at The Moorings pub, Sowerby Bridge (more info here) with a starter of Pimms!

A slightly creepy nod to the olympics

A sculpture which perfectly reflected our week!

Whilst a week on a canal boat is certainly hard work, it’s a holiday I would recommend. A trying experience, but a rather fun and interesting one!

Tunisia

Just a few snapshots from my two week holiday to Tunisia. We stayed in the lovely Iberostar Averroes hotel in Yasmine Hammamet.

Dragging out the jet ski

Windswept after a jet ski ride

Beach volleyball

Hammamet medina

Boats at Hammamet

Gorgeous clear sea and white sand at Hammamet

Baby sparrow

Baby tortoise

Parasailing

Beautiful sunset