Category: Gallery

Photos and stuff

WWWP5k

So it’s been a busy few months which have seen me move to the other end of the country (back to London), followed by a trip back to China. In the meantime I’ve been waiting with the utmost patience while BT take 5 weeks to install a telephone line in my new place, just so I can get proper broadband access. Thanks, BT.

Anyway, along with some fellow colleagues, I took part in the Automattic World Wide Walk 5k – a chance for the good people at WordPress.com to feel a bit more connected. It was also a good excuse for me to get out of the house and explore my new surroundings.

My walk took me into the chaos of Sunday in Camden Market, giving me a chance to pick up a Chaboba bubble tea, before heading along Regents Canal into The Regents Park. This was followed by a walk around the park before heading to Primrose Hill for a lovely view over London.

And here’s my less-than-perfect attempt at photo stitching.

Frozen Chatsworth

Before Christmas I took a trip to Chatsworth in Derbyshire. It’s a fantastic house set in the middle of the Peak District, and well worth a visit. It was also probably the coldest I’ve been all year.

You may recognize it from the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which is as good a reason as any to introduce Keira Knightley onto this site. It was also in Benicio Del Toro’s Wolfman, but I’ve never seen that.

First Snow

There have been some fantastic sunsets in Leeds, and this is not one of them (waited too long). Apparently it’s been down to -20°C in some parts of the UK.

Scarborough & Robin Hood’s Bay

The fog has been so thick in Leeds over the past few days that I struggle to see the other side of the road. In an overly proactive mood I found some photos that were taken only a month or so back during summer, and yet seem to be from another world.

These are from Scarborough, a small fishing town in North Yorkshire (and the source of the Simon & Garfunkel song ‘Scarborough Fair‘, although not created by them).

Not far along the coast is the beautiful village of Robin Hood’s Bay, built on a cliff. There was some kind of Morris Dancer dance-off going on.

Further along you have Whitby, which is where Dracula landed in Bram Stoker’s story. Whitby Abbey, on top of the hill overlooking the town, is supposedly part of the inspiration for the story.

Now it’s an English Heritage site (and subsequently overpriced).

Summer seems a long time ago.

Springfield Castle, Ireland

I spent last week with a bunch of Automatticians at Springfield Castle, Co. Limerick, Ireland. It’s a grand old place spreading across several centuries and varying states of repair. The owners were very accommodating and went out of their way to be as nice as possible.

The week was finished with a trip down to Cork and a nice meal with Donncha and family.

Anyway, here’s the obligatory photo gallery (courtesy of WP 3.0).

Designing Prague

I had a short trip to Prague last week. It was great to go back and revisit my favourite places. Little seems to have changed, but that is not surprising in city that generally looks like a fairy tale. I had a lot of homely Czech food (including some Radost FX vegetarian, and the Pivovarský dům microbrewery) and stayed in the fantastic Hotel Sax. The weather was biting but clear, and Prague looks great in Autumn (when it wasn’t raining anyway).