West Yorkshire

[Sundae]

I don't care if owls aren't the in thing any more.
I loved these colourful bags on Otley market today. They were reasonably priced if you were in the bag buying income bracket and didn't already have a drift of unused bags at home...

The mid-sized one looks like it would happily take a paperback.


Although if I included minion-food, camera and phone I'd have to go for the largest.


But maybe the littlest (cheapest and prettiest) could be my church-going bag. Room enough for comb and mirror (for purposes of looking respectable) and some pennies for the collection plate.


Not that I was really thinking about it of course.

[Sundae]

When I went out first thing this morning it was overcast and muggy. Went to the library later it was proper raining. However by the time I left the library the rain had cleared and I figured, "Why not watch the Carnival go by?"

I'm glad I did, it was good fun.
And some of the participants had made such an effort.
I mean in terms of a typical British carnival (usually local music groups, youth groups, schools and marching bands) not the mardi gras style carnivals.

There are lots, but if you keep going there might be one or two which catch the eye.
I didn't take a photo of every single float, and I haven't used every photo I took. It took approximately an hour for them all to pass. I did scuttle down a back alley to catch another shot of two groups that had impressed me; missed one, caught the other. I thought about going to the Carnival field, but it's really just a way of extracting money from people for the groups involved - tombolas, raffles, cake stalls etc. I'd have been miserable smelling yummy hotdogs and not buying. So I came home happily and had a late lunch.

Bands on foot.
Usually the more traditional, and not entered into any competition as far as I know.

The Scots get everywhere:


One of a number of brass bands:


Brass and flags and a Routemaster bus coming up behnind; what's not to like?

[Sundae]

The Otley Ukulele Orchestra.
One of the ladies at church plays in this; I didn't see her, but she may have been on the other side of the float. They were marvellous.

[Sundae]

Steel band, making a joyful noise.


The Carnival Princesses got a lovely car


The Carnival Queen and attendants had a lorry

[Sundae]

But that's okay, as the visiting Kings and Queens (from local Carnivals) had a lorry too.


Could you not get a closer shot than that, Cherry?
No I couldn't.

Consider tha'sen named and shamed, lady (even though I don't know your name). Nice dress though.

I lost some nicely set up shots that way.

Traction engine.


Obviously very much in keeping with the local vibe of the day...

[Sundae]

Walkers.
No, not the Walking Dead type. Local schools, nurseries, clubs. All delighted it's not raining. It's not a long course - can't be more than two miles and probably closer to one. Long enough to be excited and see all the family cheer you on, not long enough to start grizzling.


Carnivals; they're a Dad-thing too.


Okay, I never wanted to be a Princess growing up. But I did want to be a fairy.
One of the ones who steals teeth and curdles milk though.


Gnomes get an easy ride.
Or maybe they were cemented in place.

[Sundae]

The 101 Dalmations were having the time of their lives - a very excited little bunch of people.

[Sundae]

Another happy band - I just couldn't make out the banner, except that it's Class 4 from a primary school (ages 7-8 generally).
I can see lots of work by the TAs behind the scenes here
ETA - it's Ashfield Primary School.



In a wheelchair?
You can still come to the Ball!


Dance troupe:

[Sundae]

No idea who these guys were supposed to be...? One of your new-fangled television shows I presume.

Very well done.

[DanaC]

Heheheh. Nice.

[Sundae]

Donkey Sanctuary (see post a while back for my brief visit there).
A small showing, but a good one. They won the window dressing competition for their class too.


Ringmaster is suspicious of pink hair and cameras...

... and worried he might be recognised as Bill Bailey.

[Sundae]

Walkers...

No, real Walkers. From the Otley Zombie Run, which raises money for local charities every year. This is their website if you want to read more. It's basically an interactive run with map reading, puzzles and zombies. And no, it's not exclusive to Otley, but I will try to be present to spectate this year.

And these are their walkers - all very much entered into the spirit of things without terrifying the children.

[Sundae]

And done!

[Carruthers]

Thanks for posting those pictures, Sundae.
They're all great and you obviously enjoyed the parade.
I'd love to have heard the ukelele orchestra.

[limey]

What a great show! Thanks for sharing, Sundae!


Sent by thought transference