WME Flickr Focus - January 2023

I don't like to set myself any New Year's resolutions where the WME photostream is concerned - it only takes a technological malfunction or a busy few weeks of other distractions and I can easily fall way behind on the numbers. Besides, the 600 photos I'd added in 2022 will be a tall order to follow but that hasn't stopped January from trying to make early inroads...

There's only been one act in town these last few weeks for Exploration Extra has maintained its pre-Christmas domination by keeping a vice-like monopoly on all incoming activity. My Kendal 2021 album has proven particularly prolific by gorging itself on items as diverse as Homebase stores, Methodist chapels and even cuddly rabbit dolls, all while displaying an ongoing fixation with the town's yards and passageways. Sizergh Castle's glorious gardens add a botanical note to Cumbrian proceedings too.

Elsewhere in the Lake District, there have been sparks of life from Arnside 2010 thanks to a daring raid on Ravenglass featuring the Holly House Hotel, an Acme fishing boat and some railway signs. Keswick Cricket Club and a couple of archive Kendal extracts (Stramongate Bridge and the Highgate Hotel) have likewise boosted the numbers. Still up north but on t'other side of the country, Durham 2010 gains from the inclusion of Newcastle's Black Gate plus a sighting of St James' Park football ground.

Rail Rover Weeks are usually a worthy contributor whenever Exploration Extra updates come around, and in this case both the 2017 and 2021 editions have accumulated arrivals in the form of Leominster platform murals and Nantwich bridge plates (on 2017) followed by Sileby thatched boozers, Ruabon running-in boards and Leicester suffragette murals (for 2021). Indeed, that Leicester selection also offers a nod to sporting heritage in the vicinity of Filbert Street and Welford Road, albeit although I spotted a tiger I didn't find any foxes.

My remaining additions have been a jumble from almost here, there and everywhere. Sheffield's Penny Black pub brings Yorkshire into the mix, as does the S6 bus at Hillsborough Interchange; the Hoghton Arms (as was) in Southport counts for a Merseyside morsel; Welshpool primes us with memories of a lost Powys pub care of the Mermaid Inn; Swindon Station's underwhelming frontage weaves in a rare Wiltshire specimen or two; and last but not least, down in Dorset we have the small matter of Weymouth with its vintage bus events, lifeboat and the Nothe Tavern. February should in theory break Extra's stranglehold and then I'll be back to supplying you with actual West Midlands content. Until then, enjoy the photos...