my neighbourhood

I live in a large terrace/town house in Leeds which is in the middle of Yorkshire in the UK. Originally built soon after the turn of the century for tradesmen and business people, Leeds has row upon row of these, separated by back alleys or "ginnels", which is where a lot of the socialising between neighbours takes place. The one above is where I live: the houses are larger than most and it is leafier than many.

This picture is of some of the houses across the alleyway from me, taken from my back doorstep a couple of days ago on a perfect autumn morning: I love the light and the colours in this one.

Nowadays the neighbourhood is a mixed one: some people who've lived here for forty years and more (I've been here for 28) and an increasing number of newcomers (to estate agents it is up and coming, as it borders onto one of the trendiest areas in Leeds and you get more house for your money down this end); most of the original residents like myself would not be able to afford to buy their houses if they were having to do so now. There's a mixture of professions too - builders, mechanics, nurses, shop assistants, teachers, social workers, university lecturers, media people - and it's also racially mixed, mostly people born in this country with a good proportion of people of Asian or African-Carribean origin. Makes for a vibrant enjoyable place to live. And for a city the neighbourliness is still outstanding.

There are some wonderful things in the gardens at this time of year:

(I now know that this is called a sumac)

And if you're not a keen gardener you can always walk a hundred yards or so to the local park:

And if it all looks strangely empty that's because I took these photographs on a Monday morning when most of the population was at work or school!