For newcomers

At the bottom of each post there is the word "comments". If you click on it you will see comments made by followers, and if you follow the instructions you may also comment and I always welcome that. I have found many people overlook this part of the blog which is often more interesting than the original post!

My blog nick-name is SIR HUGH. I'm not from the aristocracy - my middle name is Hugh which relates to the list of 282 hills in Scotland compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. I climbed my last one (Sgurr Mor) on 28th June 2009

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Thursday 13 February 2020

Taking a break





Global warming, flora and fauna extinctions, the political news, and  health threats are just a few of the depressing  things we face on a daily basis and that doesn’t include domestic and personal worries that most of us have to a lesser or greater extent. I try to take a responsible attitude and keep myself informed and make some contribution wherever I can but still feel guilty because I know I could do more.

But every so often one needs to switch off. Benign but quality tele is rare but it can provide some constructive escapism from time to time - The Repair Shop on BBC was a recent such avenue but more recently I have been watching Yorkshire Walks, BBC2.

Artist Shanaz Gulzar films herself walking in the Yorkshire Dales. That region is for me the most attractive countryside I know of anywhere. Shanaz carries a three hundred and sixty degree camera on a pole to film her surroundings - enhancing shots are made presumably from a drone. There is no background music but all the sounds of wind, water, birdsong, crunching feet on footpaths, and occasional conversation with passers-by are there instead and in between those sounds and Shanaz’s occasional commentary a peaceful silence prevails that underlines the beauty of this white limestone, green grass, blue sky terrain along with that seductive brown river water that despite its colouration enables you to see down deep.

Shunaz speaks simply without flowery language about what she feels and sees, and as an artist shows us oddball tree roots and moss and the like which when viewed as a self contained entity provide interest and pleasant contemplation when all too often we pass by without seeing.

One might criticise for an absence of dire warnings of planet trashing, and lack of mention of species under threat, but I welcome an occasional break from the gloom and doom. 

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link.
    As you know I'm fairly illiterate on all things TV so I rely on others to point me in the right direction. I've had two points in the direction of Shanaz Gulzar, JD is also a fan.
    I am lucky with your help and the iPlayer to view the best.
    So I'm settling down to watch all episodes in Yorkshire " as a break from the gloom and doom"
    By the way are you able to explain how her camera stick mysteriously disappears whilst in shot?
    I suspect you will be grounded for the duration of Storm Dennis.

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  2. The disappearance of the stick is my major life's mystery at the moment.

    Not sure about being grounded - perhaps my offspring are thinking of other things at the moment. I have just downloaded an app called My Tides - looks good and may serve to allay fears from the offspring in the furure?

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