Category: Photography

Norton High Street

Following my retirement we’ve been privileged to live in the beautiful village of Norton, Stockton-on-Tees. It’s a delightful village and we live in easy walking distance of the Parish Church, the Village Green and the Duck Pond, with the latter being the obvious destination when out with our young children.

Sometimes we walk up and down the High Street, enjoying its wonderful feel and character. I took the above photograph on a fine day at the beginning of February 2021. I’m hoping to take a collection of photos in the near future which reflect its history and variety, I’ll post them here in due course.

Norton High Street (not to be confused with the High Street in Stockton) is the main thoroughfare through Norton and is a leafy street of some considerable length that is full of charming 18th century houses and it is worth a stroll for those with a passion for old houses to pick out some of the best ones. Some are occupied by pleasing outlets and places to eat. You can read more here.

Norton High Street is very special to Naomi and I because we met twice for coffee and cake in Cafe Lilli and Cafe Maison before our first proper date in 2013. Both are worth a visit after the coronavirus lockdown.

See also: Norton Duck Pond and Norton Parish Church

Halifax Piece Hall

Our half-term day trip to Halifax this time last year (February 2020) was a wonderful family day out, although little did we know how coronavirus would soon become a world-wide pandemic (March 2020) and change all of our lives. It was a wet day (as you can see from the above panorama), but we look back with an increasing fondness engendered through an enforced lockdown.

Halifax is a historic market, mill and minster town in West Yorkshire, England. In the fifteenth century the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture. From New Year’s Day 1779 manufacturers and mercers dealt internationally through its grandiose square, the Piece Hall. Today it houses many small shops and independent businesses, along cafés, restaurants and venues.

Both Naomi and I have lived near Halifax (before we knew each other) and have friends there. It was lovely to visit with our family, and hopefully we can visit again soon when the lockdown restrictions ease.

Norton Duck Pond

Following my retirement we’ve been privileged to live in the beautiful village of Norton, Stockton-on-Tees. It’s a delightful village and we live in easy walking distance of the Parish Church, the Village Green and the Duck Pond, with the latter being the obvious destination when out with our young children.

The Duck Pond is part of the Village Green and is surrounded by mostly Georgian houses and cottages. It’s beautiful at anytime of day or night, season or weather.

I found this interesting story while researching the history of the village: The village was once the site of a market at a spot called Cross Dike, near the pond. The market was established in Norman times but this ceased operating around the time of the Civil War in the 1640s. One story is that the market established by Henry II and Bishop Flambard of Durham was to operate on the sabbath and this offended God who caused the markets to collapse by swallowing them up with the sudden opening up of the ground by some kind of earthquake that then allegedly formed the village pond. You can read more here.

Thankfully, we can visit the Duck Pond in the current coronavirus lockdown, reminding us of the need to appreciate what we have around us.

See also: Norton High Street and Norton Parish Church

Norton Parish Church

Following my retirement we’ve been privileged to live in the beautiful village of Norton, Stockton-on-Tees. It’s a delightful village and we live in easy walking distance of the Parish Church, the Village Green and the Duck Pond, with the latter being the obvious destination when out with our young children.

I took the above photo of the church on a recent walk. Like most churches, it’s very photogenic, and a beautiful building inside and out. You can find out more on the church website where there are some excellent Christian resources.

The church was built as a place of worship and protection in about 1020 CE and so is just over 1,000 years old.

St Mary the Virgin, the ancient parish church that stands on the village green, is the only cruciform Anglo-Saxon church in northern England. Its crossing tower with eight triangular head windows has a battlemented top of later date, and there is a 14th-century effigy of a knight in chainmail.

Residing under the church floor there is claimed to be an escape tunnel used by the Saxons and priests when in danger, though it may be a drainage culvert. The tunnel leads under the church floor and Norton Green, eventually surfacing in the Albany housing estate. The church floor was recently renovated and Saxon remains and artefacts were discovered in the tunnel entrance. Wikipedia

See also: Norton Duck Pond and Norton High Street

National Parks UK

I came across this wonderful website today, one that immediately made me long for the great outdoors (even if we explore it on a screen). It also reminded me of the wealth of beautiful landscapes we are blessed with in the UK.

The website is stunning from the moment it loads, the above screenshot of a moving image can’t do it justice. There are 14 National Parks in the UK, and this site makes exploring them easier than ever.

Having made a few clicks, this is a terrific site. Lots of great photography and comprehensive information. No time to describe it all to you, just go and explore it for yourself. Click here.

Reasons to be Cheerful

Pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and imagine you’re sitting on the bench looking out into the distance. Think about the reasons you have to be cheerful in the harsh realities of today’s world. We can’t make them go away, but we can focus on reasons to be cheerful.

First, there’s the beauty we can see all around us. Nature has remarkable restorative powers; I’ve previously posted about it here.

Second, simply the act of feeling happy and smiling more can have positive effects on our physical health and lift the mood of people around us. People groan at the jokes I post on Facebook, but laughter is a good medicine.

Third, we can learn to be happy. We have more control over how we feel than we might think, and feeling a sense of control over our lives is an important ingredient of happiness. One builds up the other.

Fourth, the happier we are the more we’re able to encourage and help others, and there’s such a need for this now. People are hurting and need encouraging. Doing someone else a favour activates the ‘feel-good’ area of our brains, we help each other. It’s a no-brainer, a win-win situation.

Finally, we need to look for the positives; not the insipid reassuring lies that are so often peddled today, but realistic affirming hopes. We need to train our brains to notice the good things around us and be grateful for them. There will always be negatives, but we need the tools in our emotional toolkit to deal with them constructively.

Photo Credit: I’m grateful to my colleague and friend Shelagh Clift for allowing me to use her photo.

Sound of Silence (Disturbed)

Video Description: I found the images of the emptiness captured in cities all over the world to be heartbreaking and eerie. We are living in a surreal situation. I decided to edit this video using footage from several famous cities; New York, Chicago, San Francisco (briefly), Budapest and Paris.

With the images of the Chinese quarter in Chicago at the start of the video I tried to make a reference to the virus’ origin, and to the Chinese cities that were placed in lockdown. I don’t mean to point fingers with it. Hope you enjoy the video.

The soundtrack is ‘The Sound of Silence‘ by Disturbed (Simon and Garfunkel cover).

Tiago Teixeira

Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park

IMG_20200801_151348

Now that we’re settling into our new home in Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, we’re finding more opportunities to explore the area nearby. Today, Naomi and I took the girls (Freddy was with Grandma and Grandad) and Toby (our dog) to Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park. It’s only a few miles away and I imagine we’ll often be found there, so Freddy needn’t worry about missing out, and he’ll enjoy the trains that pass the park. You can see all the original photos here.