This sketch was done our last full day in Manchester before heading to Scotland, so we spent most of the time repacking and weighing our bags. Later in the afternoon we wandered down the road for a brief visit to the Whitworth Gallery where we saw the John Lyons: Carnivalesque exhibition. I did this sketch after that, sitting in the textiles area.
Wed-7-Aug-2024
On Saturday 3 August day we took a train up to Stockport from Manchester to meet with a friend and then did a hike from Hayfield to Lantern Pike. This of course included a stop at the pub on the way and we ended up having an excellent simple dinner at “The Village Chippy” in Hayfield before heading back to Manchester. I started this sketch when we stopped for a rest (but didn’t finish, hence the delay in posting it)…there were some scary looking cows in the field behind us (actually bulls I think), with huge horns.
Sat-3-Aug-2024
These sketches were done on our day out to visit where our daughter works, along the Huddersfield Narrow canal. The first sketch was done in the train on the way and the second where we stopped for lunch at Lock No.29 E. The Huddersfield Narrow scales the Pennines and has very narrow locks. We walked as far as the Standedge Tunnel which is the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in the country.
Tue-6-Aug-2024
On Monday 5th August we visited Heaton Park – taking the tram out of Manchester. I did two sketches there – the first when we sat down for a coffee and lunch at the Lakeside Cafe (where the park was crowded with families and lots of push chairs…this sketch is barely finished and was done really quickly). The second was done when we stopped for rest in the animal centre area where there were some Highland Cattle (just about visible as blobs in my sketch).
Mon-5-Aug-2024
While we still had the car we decided to make a trip out of Manchester and picked this historical house. The National Trust describe it as a topsy-turvy half-timbered Tudor house with a moat, that was built more than 500 years ago. It’s amazing that it’s still standing.
Fri-2-Aug-2024
Here is the first sketch I did on the day after we arrived in Manchester. We had planned to go hot air ballooning early in the morning but it didn’t push through because of poor weather in York. Instead we just hung out at our daughters house, filled the rental car with a ‘big shop’ and went out for a little walk (in a little park near the university of Manchester where I sketched this woman snoozing) and a milk shake. My milk shake was banana and peanut butter flavour…so thick it was like ice cream.
Thu-1-Aug-2024
This sketch was started in “Edmundo Lounge” in Bury St. Edmunds where we had lunch on the third full day of our holiday. We drove to Bury to do some shopping for camping gear, in anticipation of the next leg of our trip, when we will camp at the Womad (World of Music Arts and Dance) festival in Wiltshire. I finished off the sketch at home.
Mon-22-Jul-2024
This sketch was done while we waited for dinner at a new vegetarian restaurant (for us) that we went out to for my wife’s birthday. The waiter told us that they opened during the pandemic…they have another branch in Makati, Barangay Poblacion. The food was great, served quickly and the place has a nice atmosphere. It was strange though that there didn’t seem to be a single sign on the road to tell you the place was there – we had to ask someone in order to find it.
Sun-7-Jul-2024
This sketch was done at the local Saint Anne Parish church, where we cycled to last Sunday morning. The first church on this site was built in 1609 but after several earthquakes the present one was started in 1883. I sketched here way back on 12 May 2016, when I first began sketching regularly (see post No.40 on my blog). That time I managed to get the whole tower in…my current small format sketchbook tends to make me focus on details…that’s my excuse anyway.
Sun-7-Jul-2024