Oliver Wood Photography

I’m still pursuing the prospect of a move to Bollington, or rather the Bollington Kerridge borderland. All of this ‘house hunting’ malarkey has required a very considerable amount of cycling which has of course helped to re-build my stamina no end. I have met a lot of interesting folks on my travels into the more characterful end of East Cheshire and it does appear to be true that Bolli and surrounds are where all the bohemians have gone. My potential new neighbours include a BBC Music Director, a painter, two writers and an Occult mystic (eccentric ?) yes I am going to fit in there for sure, if this damn thing ever comes to fruition.

It’s looking a little dull outside at the moment but I’m still planning a major long commando assault ride into the hills tonight and will probably explore the Bolli – Pott Shrigley – Bakerstonedale Rd route. Must try and get some photos of that working gas lamp in Pott Shrig.

Music of The Moment

Pharoah Sanders Village of The Pharoahs Chanan Hanspal It’s Only Just a Garden

Music news: this weeks GP show has got to be one of the best and most inspiring I have heard for a long time, almost wall to wall goodness hitting all the right buttons. More of a classic soul jazz – modern Jazz warp theme to the selections and plenty of magnificence in the form of the genius Pharoah Sanders and a wonderful new collaboration between Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen called ’3 Continents’ superb rhythms from Mr Allen as always. Another new thing which really got my attention is the full Chanan Hanspal “It’s Only Just A Garden” track complete with the orchestral intro by 4Hero’s very own string and brass ensemble — fabulous evocative old school Soul Funk inflections around smoothest of smooth melodies. Some very nice swooping eltro warps courtesy Kode 9 and avant-garde fuzzy hamond organ strangeness from messes Joel Martin and Gerry Rooney – ‘When Sally Met Mandingo’.

All of this is going strait on to my MP3 to sound track my ride out into the night — oh yeeees

Called as if by the alluring enchantment of a Siren quite possibly? I’m considering a move after twelve years of relatively stable home ownership in dear old Prestbury. There are reasons for this, some of which are private (but not hugely significant) others have to do with some newly acquired and deep seated desire for a simple change of scenery. In fact ‘scenery’ is one of the keywords underpinning this whole idea, I need to pay homage to Bollington’s White Nancy on a daily basis — or similar; as it might be. I don’t intend to give away all of my prospective purchasing secrets just yet, but I do know what I want and I think I know how to get it to paraphrase the famous song. Other locations that are calling yours truly include the beautiful and sedate hamlet of Kerridge and the more remote and rugged surroundings of Rainow. The idea is to provide oneself with some extra cash whilst maintaining outright homeownership status and remaining in a rural location. Some of these locations are even more rural than my current one — some are downright remote! Cameras, cars and an essential boost to my free-lance career options have also become a major driving force.

As always, much of this is still at a certain stage of pure speculation but you never can tell if I may go off like an explosive and act on a speculation as if it where just the blue touch paper. Of course, I may also just simply fizzle out and spend the rest of my life in a state of interminable status quo.

Anything is possible within the coming weeks and the likely direction of my life does still depend on a number of external arbitrary factors.

Total mileage: 10,527