Dragon Boat racing

Dragon Boat racing is now an annual event in Roberts Park, over a whole weekend. It started in a small way in 2015 (and indeed the first such event had to be on the canal as the weather was awful and the river was in flood.) Now it's a very big occasion indeed, and raises a lot of money for various charities. I've generally stopped attending as, once you've seen one race, there's not a lot different that happens. There's a lot of waiting around whilst the teams disembark and embark and row upriver to the start and then just a couple of minutes of the excitement of an actual race - and it's not all that easy to watch the races, with limited viewpoints onto the river. The all-important leader board gets updated so you can see who's had the fastest times. 

I wanted a walk on Sunday, so I went down to the park to see what was going on. As well as the racing, there was a street food market, a funfair, a general market and an exhibition by the Royal Air Force, showcasing the many interesting and different career paths in the service. ('Not everyone is a pilot'). 

It was a warm, sunny weekend which brought lots of people out to enjoy the fun, in addition to the dragon boat teams and their supporters.  It's an opportunity too for our emergency services to engage with the public and tell people what they do. Both the police and fire brigade had demos. 

By the time I'd walked there and back and had a wander round the park, I realised it was hotter than I'd anticipated. By the time I got home I was dripping, so I needed iced drinks to cool down and a lazy afternoon to recover!  

(My apologies for the poor resolution of these photos. They look crisp and sharp on my computer but very unsharp when uploaded onto Blogger.)

Cartwright Hall and its surroundings

I always seem to gravitate towards this view of Cartwright Hall, Bradford's civic art gallery, from the Mughal Gardens, a water garden inspired by traditional Islamic garden design. 

Closer to the building, I spent some time studying the elaborate stonework of the grand entrance portico. 'Baroque' style is very fancy, isn't it? 

I quite liked the little angels hiding around the pillars. 

In front of the Hall, formal flowerbeds and seats make a pleasant area to linger in the sunshine. Years ago, the circular planting behind where the lady is sitting was one of those floral clocks that used to be a feature of our parks and seaside promenades. It used to work too!

There are a few pieces of artwork scattered around the gardens. The blue 'pudding' is a work by Osman Yousefzada, who has 'wrapped' the statue of Diana the Huntress that stands in that location. 

The grand entrance gates have history for me, since this was the gate I used to enter every morning on my way from my student bedsit to the Management Centre where I studied (more years ago than I care to remember!)  It was a lovely walk across the park, in all weathers. 

And finally, a simple picture that for some reason appealed to me to take. I think it's the repeated blue elements balanced in a triangle that I like.  Beyond the gallery there are lawns and trees, a large boating lake, a children's playground and sports areas. (Click the Lister Park label below for other photos I've taken in the park. )

The Jameel Prize

As part of the City of Culture 2025, Cartwright Hall is currently hosting 'The Jameel Prize: Moving Images'. The exhibition brings together the work of seven finalists working with film, video, digital and time-based media, in the V&A's international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic culture, society and ideas. 

The winning entry, a clip of which is shown above, is the work of Khandakar Ohida (India), titled: 'Dream Your Museum', documenting her uncle's remarkable collection of objects and memorabilia. 

Marrim Akashi Sani (Iraq/Iran/USA) displayed vibrant prismatic lightboxes 'Muharram', portraying people's lives through their trinket boxes and prized possessions. 

Sadik Kwaish Alfraji (Iraq/Netherlands) offered two hand-drawn animations honouring his parents. Pictured below is a frame from 'A Thread of Light Between My Mother's Fingers and Heaven'. 

Below is a still of Zahra Malkani's 'A Ubiquitous Wetness' (Pakistan), sounds and pictures collected from communities along the Indus river and the Indian Ocean, related to spiritual and devotional practices. 

You really need a long time and the ability to pay attention to these layered and moving works, but they were all quite compelling in their different ways. 

Hockney and Mai

In perhaps an odd juxtaposition, Sir Joshua Reynolds' imposing 'Portrait of Mai' is currently being shown in the Hockney Gallery at Cartwright Hall, as part of Bradford UK City of Culture 2025. It is touring the country, having been 'saved for the nation' in 2023 in a joint venture by the National Portrait Gallery and the Getty Museum. Painted about 1776, it depicts a Polynesian man, Omai, who journeyed with Captain Cook and visited England, being much admired by London society at the time. He is painted in an arcadian scene, wearing flowing robes resembling ceremonial Tahitian dress worn by nobility and the priestly classes. The painting has quite a chequered history (see HERE), belonging to the Howards of Castle Howard for over 200 years. 

In the Hockney Gallery there is information about David Hockney's life and work, including some rather lovely sketches of Bradford scenes (above) that he made while he was a student at Bradford College of Art. There are also some colourful iPad drawings he did while living in Bridlington in the early 2000s. 

Cartwright Hall, architectural details

Rather than being a repurposed mansion, Bradford's Cartwright Hall was actually built as a civic art gallery in 1904, on the site of the former Manningham Hall, using a gift from textile baron Samuel Lister, whose huge Lister's Mill is nearby. 

It's architecture is in the style often known as 'Bradford Baroque', though its architects - Sir John W Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen - were not local and designed many famous public buildings in England and Scotland. It was nice to be allowed to take photos of some of the interior details. The double-height dome brings light down through both the main floors of the building. 

It's easy to miss the details when you're focussed on the artworks on display. I do, however, love the art nouveau-style lights and door handles. 

Artists' materials

We had a camera club outing to Cartwright Hall, Bradford's civic art gallery. I've been lots of times before and found you aren't allowed to take photos inside, which is always somewhat frustrating. (They sometimes actively stop you, even if you're just using your phone.) As a club we had a photography permit, though we were not supposed to take photos of the artwork itself (except incidentally) or identifiable shots of visitors. So really that ruled out 75% of the possible subjects! Still, it was a good opportunity to explore and catch up with the latest exhibitions. 

As well as there being a treasure trove of David Hockney's work in Salts Mill, the art gallery too has a room dedicated to his art and life, him being a Bradford lad and all that. Some of it was set up as if in an artist's studio. The pots of paint and brushes made a good subject to experiment on. 

Evening quiet

It's not often you see this junction (where Saltaire Road meets the Bradford-Keighley road) free of traffic. I just happened to hit a quiet spell on my evening stroll. The prominent building in the middle distance, 1 Albert Road, now an estate agent, was once the home of the chief cashier of Salts Mill. It was the only detached house in Saltaire and marks the south-western corner of the original Victorian village. 

From the opposite side of the junction, we note that The Rosse Pub has been reinvented as a 'Klubhaus' bierkeller. I've recently discovered that behind it at the bottom of Moorhead Lane was once a tram depot used by the horses that drew horse-drawn trams, and then by two steam trams. You could post a letter in a post box on the trams and they'd drop them off at the sorting office in Forster Square in Bradford. The depot was used until 1904 when a bigger tramshed (now Salts Brewery) was built for electric trams. The Moorhead Lane depot is still there, now housing a business. 

The Klubhaus 'garden' was quiet so that gave me the opportunity to photograph the brightly painted chairs and tables - and the artificial grass! 

Further up Moorhead Lane, St Peter's Church is slotted in among the houses, its stonework glowing softly in the evening light. 

 

Pauline Caulfield in The Home Shop

Tucked away behind Salts Diner in Salts Mill is The Home Shop. It sells carefully curated, high-end homewares and furniture, mostly way out of my price range and, though beautiful, often too modern for my tastes. Much of the furniture looks downright uncomfortable to me! The store does, however, have a few interesting displays of mid-century collectors' pieces. 

I rarely go in but they currently have a textile display by Pauline Caulfield that I wanted to see. I guess her ex-husband the late Patrick Caulfield (artist and printmaker) is better known, but Pauline was at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in the late 1960s and, after raising a family and then getting divorced, she successfully resurrected her artistic career. There are just three main pieces on display: Garden, Black Cascade and Odeon, all remakes from her RCA graduation show. Bold, bright and colourful, I did like them and could imagine them in someone's stylish pad. Not mine though... at £2000+ for one panel. 

Blackbird singing...

Blackbird singing... not quite 'in the dead of night' but certainly towards sunset. When it's hot during the day, I find it a better option to go for a walk in the evening when it's cooled down a bit. All that spoils it is the midges! (There was a whole cloud of them up where the blackbird was perched. I tried to 'denoise' my photo, thinking it was camera noise, but it didn't work!)

More from Goddards

Goddards is the kind of garden where you want to relax in the sunshine with a good book, or waft around in a long dress, with a parasol. There were various little nooks to settle in. 

Narrow, secretive paths led you off on winding tracks through the various areas of the garden. Towards the bottom were several linked ponds although, with the dry weather, they were rather silted up with algae and dust. 

As well as roses in bloom, there were peonies, such blowsy, extravagant flowers. 

Foxgloves thrived in the wilder areas. 

There was spiky sea holly (eryngium), though not as silvery as that at Harlow Carr. 

Even the fallen petals of a climbing rose seemed rather pretty: nature's confetti. 

Rose garden

I do love an old-fashioned rose garden. The roses at Goddards were in peak bloom and very pretty, with the most wonderful, delicate scent. It's a real pity we can't do smell-o-vision on our blogs as it would be delightful to share with you.  

This seems an appropriate post for what would have been my mum's 98th birthday. She loved roses too.