Friday 4th December – What can come from a chat; changes in pictures

‘The start of something massive’

A sentence said at the beginning of the year which was full of doom and gloom!  But now, we’re really at the start of something truly amazing and massive – a rollout of a vaccine that will take us to a fairly normal life.  Leeds Teaching Hospitals are on the list to receive the vaccines, starting next week – great for all our vulnerable people and NHS staff.

Being quite low down on the list, it’s most likely, late spring before I get a jab, so I will keep doing what I’ve always done to stay safe; let’s hope the time flies by and we can get lip-reading back; yep, without realising it, we’re definite lipreaders and we need to see peoples, FULL FACE to fully recognise, who they are.  I do hope, going forward, shops keep their sanitising stations.  I think it may stop many other things, like the yearly flu from spreading!

Back open… again

It’s been really nice to see some more businesses open this week, Hair, Beauty, Retail, Non-essential, and Gyms.   I know, it’s really unfortunate that hospitality still can’t fully open. Let’s hope the decisions that will be revised on the 16th, will lower us to a Tier 2 and we can have everyone, safely open before Christmas.  Here’s what I said in our Vlog on Wednesday https://www.instagram.com/tv/CIS5k5fnbJp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

What can come from a chat; changes in pictures

I was speaking to my good friend Penny Rowe, who is also one of our great local artists behind the wonderful mural on Emsley’s Solicitors, she was telling me, whilst working on the mural, she got talking to a very interesting local man who had stopped to talk to her, this lovely gent she was talking to sounded so interesting, that after a little search; ‘it’s handy knowing so many people’ I found him and thought it would be a great thing to share with you, meet Dave;

Dave Morrison is a local Garforth resident, you may know him? He told me he was really old, but he didn’t sound so, he sounds like a very interesting man who does lots of great little projects to keep himself busy.  As well as being a very keen photographer, he’s an active member of, Garforth Camera Club (when it’s able to run.)

Dave has taken pictures of Garforth’s local businesses for over 20 years.  He’s such an interesting guy, I had a lovely chat with him on the phone, I asked him a few questions about why he does what he does with a few more interesting facts about these great things that happen in our community, I thought it was a fabulous bit of interesting knowledge I really should share, I asked him:

‘So, what was it that gave you shops as a topic idea, and when did you decide to carry on for 20 years, was this always the plan?’When Tesco moved into the Safeway supermarket store that had been taken over by Morrison’s I realised that Main Street would undergo some changes, because I could not foresee who would need such a large store. So I decided to record the changes to Main Street and it has gone on since then. Once something is lost or gone it cannot be recorded anymore, so ‘old photographs’ have some value if only for their historical context.

‘What changes have you seen through your pictures over this time?’I have seen many changes over the years and I am attaching 4 images to show the changes just one shop has had.

‘Do you prefer Digital or Analogue?’With the cost of film, I took fewer but better quality pictures. With digital, I take lots more pictures but they are more mundane and more ‘point and shoot’ rather than thinking about composition.

‘What’s your favourite image you have taken over this time, or is there one particular shop/business you look forward to taking a picture of?’I do not have a favourite image, but when a shop is closed and gone forever I am pleased that I have recorded it for posterity.

‘What inspires you to keep going building this catalogue of history for our town?’I continue with this project because some quite ordinary photographs I took of life in the 1950s were used by Dalesman Publications in a book they published showing Yorkshire life in the olden days. So photos that can no longer be taken do have a historical significance.

So of we need a look back in history we know who to go too and I hope Dave will make them accessible – I’m a big fan of anything visual as I feel it tells a story, it gives a feeling, it can take you back to a time, whether good and bad. It would be great to show Dave’s work and some of the Garforth Camera Club as we know they too, have some great pictures of Garforth to create something wonderful in a library project – let’s see what 2021 brings

As you can see from Dave’s pictures, in particular, one shop premises has changed four times and in a fairly short space of time. As a community, we grow when we spend, and this picture shows how one empty shop doesn’t stay empty for long when people create a buzz about town.

 

Hamper for a Hero

Our Feastival Team has been spending the money raised last year for the great of good, as we were not able to use the funds raised this year, we decided that helping support local businesses and give you, the community, fabulous giveaways was a great way to use it.  if you have been lucky enough to have received one, well done to you.

Jen, has been our organiser of al lof this, she’s our Wonder Woman Team Feastival and this week she has put together a Hamper for a Hero – All we want you to do is tell us who’s deserving – find out all the details on how you can nominate your local hero here:  https://www.facebook.com/Garfeast/posts/1045001406017259