The Retirement Thread

[classic33]

Good Morning, another beautiful day has dawned in Lancashire, breezy but lovely. It will be a cold morning and warm afternoon.

Yesterday we visited Bradford to see the Bill Bailey Extraordinary Portraits exhibition, some of you may have seen the TV series. It was very, very good. Quite brilliant in fact. A couple of the portraits are really emotional. The queue to get in was probably the longest, oldest, most middle-class you'll ever see! I had a problem with the portrait of the young woman with Downs Syndrome. My son is DS. Yes, people with challenges, disabilities etc. should be an equal part of our society in every way but the manner in which the media always picks high-functioning individuals fails to tell the story. That is a great shame. People with autism get treated the same way.

Anyway Bradford. What a tremendous city centre. I had no idea. It's packed with huge, industrial revolution era, buildings most of which haven't been interfered with. On a bright, sunny day it was good to see and enjoy. That's the upside. Less positively there is nowhere to eat. Literally nowhere. We ended up in Nando's, which was fine but not what we had planned. After a bit of a post lunch wander we found the Broadway Shopping Centre, very new and rammed with bright, sparkly shops and food places. There is the problem, the old city centre has one brand name in a building, Waterstones. Every other building is a dingy rundown pub, vape shop, nails, hair extensions, charity, building society etc. No other major brands and no interesting independents. The Broadway Centre has sucked the life out of every other part of Bradford centre.

We enjoyed our day. Bradford surprised me. It was interesting. Would I go back? No. There's no real reason to and that's Bradford's problem. City of Culture 2025 and pulling in people from all over the UK but not giving us a reason to go back. A shame.

There's a cafe in the old bank that houses Waterstones, should you ever find yourself back in Bradford. Otherwise head over towards the area behind the town hall.

The Broadway is dying already. You missed the SuperDry closing down sale. The city centre was dying long before the Broadway was started on, much less opened.

 

[welsh dragon]

All the old bookshops have shut down. I remember Hudsons in Birmingham. A really old bookstore with old fashioned wood shelves and floors. It was like a maze in there. All gone now of course. So many modern (bland) shopping centres are closing down. So many clothes shops are shutting due to high costs and theft and are going online. It's a pity we no longer have the old shops from the 70's like greengrocers etc. If you go down to sparkbrook, or sparkhill, all of those shops are still going strong thanks to the people who live there.

 

[welsh dragon]

I have load of washing on the line. Tidying done, and I'm doing a spring clean of my workroom. So much stuff to throw away

 

[classic33]

I have load of washing on the line. Tidying done, and I'm doing a spring clean of my workroom. So much stuff to throw away

Let Mr WD decide on what you need to get rid off!

 

[Dave7]

Can you eat using one side of the mouth?

You may recall that I had to have most of my top teeth ground down a few months ago.
The only teeth left that meet include the one with the abscess.
I have new top gnashers but they hurt to 'wear' so I am back at the dentist on the 8th to get them refitted.
Hopefully that works and the antibiotics start to kick in by then.

 

[Dave7]

I have load of washing on the line. Tidying done, and I'm doing a spring clean of my workroom. So much stuff to throw away

I would just love to see a photo of your washing on the line.
I know I have the bloomers you left here when you visited but they act as my double bed spread so it's not quite the same.

 

[classic33]

You may recall that I had to have most of my top teeth ground down a few months ago.
The only teeth left that meet include the one with the abscess.
I have new top gnashers but they hurt to 'wear' so I am back at the dentist on the 8th to get them refitted.
Hopefully that works and the antibiotics start to kick in by then.

I'd forgot the teeth grinding. Typical that it's on the same side, the only teeth that meet and the abscess.

Suggestion came from what I've had to do many a time. Sounds daft, but it is possible.
Try cutting food into smaller pieces and swallowing it without chewing.

 

[Dave7]

I'd forgot the teeth grinding. Typical that it's on the same side, the only teeth that meet and the abscess.

Suggestion came from what I've had to do many a time. Sounds daft, but it is possible.
Try cutting food into smaller pieces and swallowing it without chewing.

Thanks.
I can eat scrambled egg, mince and even chips or potato waffles so I won't starve. It's just that when those teeth meet it's like a bolt of lightning in my mouth.
Edit
I am planning waffle with beans and sausage for lunch as they don't really need chewing.

 

[Paulus]

I would just love to see a photo of your washing on the line.
I know I have the bloomers you left here when you visited but they act as my double bed spread so it's not quite the same.

People get put on registers for behaviour like this 😆

 

[PaulSB]

There's a cafe in the old bank that houses Waterstones, should you ever find yourself back in Bradford. Otherwise head over towards the area behind the town hall.

The Broadway is dying already. You missed the SuperDry closing down sale. The city centre was dying long before the Broadway was started on, much less opened.

We found the Waterstones and had coffee there. Our friend is an architect and wanted to see the interior of the building. Now I've seen it I understand that one. I'll keep the town hall area in mind. We did like the city, the little we saw, while appreciating there will be large areas facing multiple difficulties, just as every other large northern town or city does. I really enjoyed the architecture, the grandeur of the buildings tells a story of Bradford's long gone wealth - at least wealth for a few people! There are obvious efforts to welcome visitors to the City of Culture, like the railway station planters, benches etc.

 

[PaulSB]

I forgot @SpokeyDokey thanks for the link and the heads up. I received a couple of emails about the release last night

 

[classic33]

We found the Waterstones and had coffee there. Our friend is an architect and wanted to see the interior of the building. Now I've seen it I understand that one. I'll keep the town hall area in mind. We did like the city, the little we saw, while appreciating there will be large areas facing multiple difficulties, just as every other large northern town or city does. I really enjoyed the architecture, the grandeur of the buildings tells a story of Bradford's long gone wealth - at least wealth for a few people! There are obvious efforts to welcome visitors to the City of Culture, like the railway station planters, benches etc.

Those planters and benches were an afterthought, to stop cars coming in.

Like any area, there's area's worth visiting because of they're links to the areas past. But if it's too far to walk, no-one wants to know.

If you were to have walked up towards Sunwin House, you'd have been able to see the outside of the Temple of the Golden Dawn. Not many realise it's even there.

 

[Dave7]

People get put on registers for behaviour like this 😆

It's not my fault she forgot to take them with her.
I recall that she said something about a chill wind but I deny responsibility.

 

[Dirk]

Forecast looking good for next week's campervan excursion to the coast.

Which coast?

 

[classic33]

It's not my fault she forgot to take them with her.
I recall that she said something about a chill wind but I deny responsibility.

A chill wind that blows no good?