
Recent commission, a deconsecrated church in Helmsley, North Yorkshire.

Recent commission, a deconsecrated church in Helmsley, North Yorkshire.


Great jazz in LS7. This is Denys Baptiste on saxophone, and Jon Scully on trumpet.

Had a few days away at Amble, on the North-East coast.
Five minutes walk to the sea – how happy can you be?

A painting from memory.
Helsby Hill overlooks Frodsham Marshes and the River Mersey. Welsh hills in the distance.


The footpath heading south from Corporal Lane, Queensbury, BD13.
Shibden was formerly spelt Schepedene – the sheep vale.
It’s high up and my brother lives nearby. We joke about how it’s always 10° colder there than in Leeds – even though he’s only 20 miles away…

Despite the ongoing difficulties, people of various ages have
been out enjoying the snow.
Or in my case, watching people of various ages enjoying the snow…
This was last Friday afternoon, in Chapel Allerton Park, LS7.
And it was a beautiful day.
New paintings for a new year…
Witch hazel is said to have various healing properties – something
we could all do with right now.

A fishing memory… from 1972, summer holiday on Lake Windermere.
It bent the rod double – nobody thought I could hold it…
Woke up recently with this in my head.
I asked dad about it, and he sent me the slide below…

We gave the pike to the girls on the next boat,
and they cooked it for their tea.
Locusts like damp conditions to lay eggs. Heavier rain than usual has caused a boom in the locust population. The swarms are devastating crops across East Africa and the Middle East, threatening the food supplies and livelihoods of millions of people.
Use of pesticides is the only way of controlling the locust outbreak, but current flight restrictions due to coronavirus are impeding supplies to the region.
