Wet

It’s a bank Holiday weekend in the UK so of course we are having 60 to 70 mile an hour winds and very heavy rain in places. We had a bit of rain this morning but not as bad as other areas. Scotland was one of the worst places with very stormy weather. And Leeds festival was hit yesterday, with video of tents blown away in the wind. A food festival was damaged and all the market stalls knocked down. And an articulated truck was almost blown over on the Humber Bridge near Hull. The bridge was later closed to traffic until the storm had passed.

The weather might be a bit better tomorrow, but it’s almost inevitable that with it being a bank Holiday that it won’t be that good. Meanwhile temperatures have been mostly cooler than normal this summer. We have had a few hot spells, but not to the same extent as recently. Apparently the jet stream is to blame and the remains of hurricanes from across the Atlantic coming our way. Happy holiday!

Urban murals

Here are two murals in Stoke Town centre (or Stoke-upon-Trent) one of the six towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent.

The market is mostly held inside this building with food stalls including fish and meat. Clothes stalls and all sorts of other merchandise.

Several years ago (almost 40) the old market burnt down. I remember sitting in a friends garden and seeing the plume of black smoke flowing high up into the sky. The cause? An electrical fault. The site was cleared but the local Labour Party fought for it to be rebuilt and a few years later the new market rose on a part of the site near the old market hall. There followed a library and council buildings. Nowadays the market is less busy. More shops are closing in the town. Cuts to local government are affecting the jobs in the town and city. Services have been slashed because of austerity measures bought in after the 2010 general election. The cuts really bit when the local administration went over to a Conservative and independent coalition.

Maybe one day things will improve. In the meantime it’s good to see the vibrant murals on the market building.