Royal Armouries Leeds - Not Just Horseplay

Picture of Ben and his horses at the royal armouries museum Leeds.

The rider in the above photo is called Ben and he is very good with horses. So much so that he was taking time out from working on a forthcoming movie called "War Horse" with Steven Spielberg to be here in Leeds at the Royal Armouries.

Picture of horse riding display at the Royal Armouries Leeds.

This weekend the the royal armouries in Leeds held The Queen’s Golden Jubilee International Joust in the tiltyard at the museum.

But whilst the museum is about fun, drama and entertainment it has a much more serious brief "to educate". Many of the jousting knights wearing armour and riding their chargers, the ones that work at the museum are also interpreters of history. These men and a few women bring history to life for the many younger visitors to the museum. Yes they dress up but they know their period and the weapons used. Over the weekend I spoke with and photographed Henry VIII, he recognised me, but the disguise fooled me. Of course I knew he was not the long dead king, but I could not see past the outfit to the interpreter inside. Richard was, the last time I spoke with him playing Tommy Atkins from the WWI period. But more of Henry VIII tomorrow.

To Play The Fool - Royal Armouries Leeds

The above picture is a jester and his assistant at the Royal Armouries museum, Leeds.

This weekend here in Leeds the Royal Armouries Museum has been holding The Queen’s Golden Jubilee International Joust.

This weekend of drama consisted of two heats per day with mounted knights in the tiltyard at the museum. There was also fun to be had around the museum with various entertainments including the above pictured jester and his assistant. This is Ian and Daisy performing for the crowd at the Royal Armouries Square just outside the museum. Daisy is very good on her "mount", does the hoof sound with coconuts and can even ride him sidesaddle.

More from the The Queen’s Golden Jubilee International Joust here in Leeds tomorrow.

Do You Know What This Is?

Do You know what the round metal disc in the above photo is? I do and is is the reason the braking on my car has not been quite as it should have been for a little while now.



In the above picture you can see the old disc fitted on the front of the car, it did not look too bad from the other side of the wheel.



In this picture above is one of my new brake discs and they have now been fitted along with new pads. Thanks Keith.

Leeds Roller Doll - Gritty

This picture of Leeds Roller Doll #8 Rosewhip is a B&W version of my earlier picture of her at the bout last weekend. I think that this one makes it look perhaps somewhat gritty, which is fine, I think to be a roller Doll does take a certain amount of grit. The earlier version in colour and more tweaked I think makes Rosewhip look like the poster girl of roller derby. But you know, this is just my 10¢.

Leeds Roller Doll - Rosewhip #8

I took this photo of Rosewhip the Leeds Roller Dolls #8 at their bout with the Glasgow Roller Girls on Saturday.

I was rather struggling with the light in the Uni sports hall, I much prefer daylight even if indirect or flash. So to compensate a little I have tweaked this a bit in PS. With a landscape it does not matter but with people I always think what will the subject make of it. Hopefully Rosewhip will think that this result is OK.

Charlie Dimmock - On Briggate Leeds

TV gardener and presenter Charlie Dimmock was in Leeds city centre this week and by chance I was a few feet away so i asked if she would mind a few photos for the Leeds Daily Photo. Charlie very kindly said yes.

I did not have my Canon DSLR, only my compact... One thing I love about the city of Leeds there is always something of interest.

Charlie was in Leeds to promote the idea of serious the effects of climate change and global warming could be on Yorkshire by 2080. A couple of street artists Joe and Max had produced an interesting piece of art that looked pretty simple from above but when viewed from the right angle it gets quite like a 3D effect.



I was impressed by the way Charlie prepared for the TV interview, it was quite an overcast blustery day, no mirror, no makeover, just what might have been lip salve and then to work in front of the cameras. No fuss, no bother.

As can be seen from the poster this initiative is funded by the Yorkshire Bank and some of their employees are working with National Trust gardeners at NT properties.

Leeds Roller Dolls vs Glasgow Roller Girls part 2

In this photo the Leeds Roller Dolls #10 goes head to head with the Glasgow Roller Girls #27 at the bout held at Leeds University sports hall this weekend.

I may never be a sports photographer, but the girls are actually moving in this shot, albeit only just started. When they get going they really move across the hall.

This is not the first picture I have post with Leeds Roller Doll #10 in it.

Leeds Roller Dolls vs Glasgow Roller Girls

This picture shows the Leeds Roller Dolls and their opponents the Glasgow Roller Girls after the bout of roller derby in Leeds this weekend.

One thing I like about watching the Dolls in action here in Leeds, they play hardball, but afterwards its all girls together. Win or lose they all hug and have a great time.

This time the score was very close with the Dolls winning with a slight margin 86 - 85.

I now have a slightly better idea of how the bout works, thanks to Lava Croft #ad 79 who put me in the picture.

One thing I do know, I am still pretty bad at action shots. Not that I would want the girls to slow down, thats not how it works.

Thanks to the Leeds Roller Dolls for the invite, there will be more photos over the next few days.

Leeds University - E C Stoner Building Revisited

I was at the University of Leeds campus this weekend to see another bout of roller derby with the Leeds Roller Dolls vs Glasgow Roller Girls "Irn Bruisers". I could not resist getting a few more photos of the campus whilst there.

The above building is the E C Stoner building, with flowers thrown in!

I will bring you some details of the Rack n Roll bout tomorrow here on the Leeds Daily Photo

Vintage Rolls Royce Leeds

Picture of a 1934 Rolls Royce motor car being used for a wedding parked up outside Leeds Cathedral.

I was walking through Leeds city centre recently when I saw this lovely old motor car. I chatted with the chauffeur who demonstrated the starting handle, something I have not seen used in many years.

I can understand why people use wonderful old motor cars like this one for weddings, style and not seen every day.

Since I took this photograph a good friend who is serious professional photographer suggested that I was now good enough to do wedding photography, with some practise. Whoa Neddy!

33rd Foot Musket Fire

Picture of members of His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot at the Bankfield museum, Halifax, Yorkshire firing their muskets.

Until I spoke with some of the men in the above photo I did not realise that about 1/4 of muskets fired fail to go bang. Also soldiers of this era did not aim but pointed their muskets to the front and in the general direction of the enemy



In the above picture can be seen Cpl Nathan Ball of His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot at the Bankfield museum, Halifax, Yorkshire.

I think Nathan and his men would in general parlance be called re-enactors, but I suspect that they would perhaps prefer living history interpreters. Whatever the name, I think that they do bring history to life in a very effective and interesting way.

33rd Foot at Bankfield Museum Halifax

Picture of members of His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot at the Bankfield museum, Halifax, Yorkshire.

This last weekend I was able to visit Halifax, a town not far from Leeds to see members of the 33rd foot at a "living history" event.

The 33rd represent an ordinary line company of red coats of the period 1812-1816. I am a former member of Her Majesty's armed forces, although my service was much more recent than the period of Wellington and Waterloo so I was interested to see the kit and discover more about this period.



Like the real army of the era of Waterloo the 33rd have camp followers, wives of the soldiers who provide cooking for the troops. I was impressed by how tasty the food looked considering it was prepared and cooked under canvas in a field and indeed was a little disappointed not to be offered a taste. Especially the pease pudding, I have read of this quite often in military history books but had never seen it before.

Leeds Whitehall

I took this photo of these apartment blocks adjacent to the river Aire a while back and cannot remember what this development is called. Mostly I guess because I have had a busy and tiring day and it is now late and I just want to post something, any thing...

Wildflowers in Holbeck Leeds

I noticed these wildflowers growing on some industrial wasteland in Holbeck, Leeds.

The area is a little way from the rear of the old Victorian library in Holbeck. I have since discovered that these wildflowers were sown on several plots of wasteland as part of a green corridor plan.

There are poppies, cornflower and several other types of wildflower in bloom on these sites that I cannot name. When on the ground at this site there were perhaps more butterflies in one place than I have seen in a long time.

Poppy Flower - Hunslet

I love to see poppies growing wild and this year I have not seen very many. The poppy flower in this photo I photographed in Hunslet, Leeds on industrial wasteland.

Its a Jungle Out There

Giant Hogweed growing adjacent to Leeds - Liverpool canal by Whitehall foot bridge.

I posted a picture of part of one of these plants a while back and really had no idea of what plant it was. I am reliably informed that this is the giant hogweed, giant is the right word, in the photo I am looking up at them and I reckon that they are at least 10 feet in height, perhaps more.

The giant hogweed is also known as giant cow parsnip, looks quite similar to common hogweed but is a giant among weeds.

In the picture can also be seen the pedestrian footbridge between Whitehall, Leeds and the other side of the canal

Hannah Trigwell - Guitar Player

Picture of guitar being played by Leeds singer / songwriter Hannah Trigwell.

I saw Hannah in Briggate in Leeds city centre a little while back and not having my normal Canon gear on me (I was out getting some macro photos of insects and only have macro lens on my old Olympus camera) I was feeling adventurous. So here we have a shot of Hannah or at least her hands playing her guitar.

Hannah is quite a hit on Youtube where a whole selection of her own songs and also cover tracks can be viewed. I just looked and there are now more than 750,000 views on her channel.



I thought maybe this would look OK in black and white, so above is the same picture of Hannah but in B&W.



Not knowing when to stop and partly because I am now experimenting more with my photography, above is another version of Hannah and guitar in black and white but this time with a touch more grain.

This is is a first on my Leeds Daily Photo, 3 versions of the same photo. Any thoughts, what do you think of them?

Red Cows Above Halifax

Driving towards Halifax last week I was on a country lane high above the town when I saw these two cows on a raised bank adjacent to the road.

Despite my having been to the Yorkshire Show this last month I must admit I have no real idea what breed these 2 cows belong to. They are quite an attractive reddish colour and paid me no heed whilst I positioned my camera between the strands of barbed wire.

Bee on Ragwort

I was walking around Leeds not far from the back of the royal armouries museum and saw some wildflowers growing on waste ground and photographed this bee on a ragwort flower.

Over the last few weeks I have photographed quite a few bees and watched them whilst I was doing so. I never realised until now how many different bees there are here in the UK. I looked into the subject of bees and found that there are around 270 different bees here in England.

I think that we here in England have perhaps lost touch with these little flying marvels. I really think I might try and find someone that keeps bees and perhaps explore further this subject, with photos of course! This is not the first time I have encountered the bee here on the Leeds Daily Photo, but last time the bee house had no bees! Bee Bole at Temple Newsam, Leeds here in Yorkshire.

Colonel Custard - Granary Wharf Leeds

In this picture can be seen Colonel Custard performing on Granary Wharf, Leeds with the Bridgewater Place building in the background.

On my visit to the monthly Pannier Market held at Granary Wharf here in Leeds this last weekend I enjoyed some street entertainment from Muttonchops and Colonel Custard.

Colonel Custard is a Yorkshire based entertainer who amongst other things does a traditional Punch and Judy show. However on this cool and windy day Colonel Custard was playing an accordion and manipulating his morris dancer puppet.

Psycho Sam - Street Performer

This photograph of Sam, better known as Psycho Sam an Australian street performer was taken a short while after his show on Briggate in Leeds city centre.

I have been lucky enough to see Sam at work here in Leeds several times over the past week or so. I caught his performance on Briggate by chance one afternoon, and thought it was very good. I have gone looking for him a couple of times since then, partly because his show is worth watching and partly to get some photos for my Leeds Daily Photo.

Portrait photography is something I do not do often, so I was pleased to get him to pose for me.



Sam is very good at what he does, performing in front of a crowd, here in the above photograph he juggles blind.

Sam will be here in Yorkshire for the next few weeks, I recommend that if you like live entertainment you try to catch him. If you do, say hi, he is a long way from home.

Leeds Pride 2010 - Part 3

More pictures from Leeds Pride held here in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire last Sunday.

I saw this young woman face painting and was pleased that she did not mind me taking her photo whilst she was at work on this young man.



I was a little late to get to the Leeds Pride event, I was already in Leeds but had been watching and taking photographs of an Australian street performer called Psycho Sam on Briggate. Sam has a great act and is a nice guy and I will feature him on my blog in the next few days. I had just arrived to see the procession leave Millennium Square when this young man with a Canon camera saw me!



There was a strong sailor suit tendency amongst the many people attending the Leeds Pride event this year.



Some people like the group in the above photo took quite a bit of effort on their costumes.

Leeds Pride 2010 - Part 2

More pictures from the Leeds Pride event held in Leeds city centre this Sunday here in Yorkshire. I guess these two young men had their photo taken quite a few times during the day, unlike some events that I attend few people were camera shy on this day.



The two women in the above photo saw my camera and wanted their picture taken, so here they are...



I saw the young woman in the above picture adjacent to the New Penny public house and just had to ask if she would mind if I got a photo. I asked if she did a burlesque act or something... but no she just likes to dress like this!! I like the whip, wonder if it is just for effect.



I am not really a fan of handbag dogs, but I thought this young woman looked cute with these 2 bundles of fur.

This was the first Leeds Pride event that I have been to, I like many I think, thought it was just for gays. I now realise that it is much more than that, it is a celebration of diversity and also a great event to do your own thing, whatever that is.

Leeds Pride started in 2006 and this year it was a great success culminating with a street party on Lower Briggate and the Calls with stalls, music and a small funfair.

I will post more photos from Leeds Pride 2010 on my Leeds Daily Photo tomorrow.

Leeds Pride 2010

This years Leeds Pride took place today 1st August 2010 with floats and a crowd of many thousands.

This young man in the above photo wore one of the more striking outfits on the day.



Towards the end of the afternoon most people at the event found themselves on Lower Briggate at the gay area of the city of Leeds.



When I was looking through the many photos I took of the Leeds Pride event this one stood out, I just liked the look the guy in the photo gave as I pressed the shutter.



Quite a few people favoured the sailor outfit and the were several variations on that theme as can be seen in the above picture and the one below.



Tomorrow I will post more photographs from the Leeds Pride event here in Yorkshire on my Leeds Daily Photo.