Ay up me duck

Wasn't the weather good for October? I don't remember any rain all month. Well Sunday 1st November certainly made up for it. We left Staffordshire at about 0900 hours bound for Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge actually, and it threw it down all of the way. Driving conditions were atrocious, we were both relieved when we arrived on site (in Mytholmroyd) at 1210 hours. We had a good deal from the site owners, being low season, the daily fee being just short of eight pounds with a hook up. For half an hour or so, we just sat, looking and relaxing after the journey. Suddenly, the van shook violently, rocking from side to side, woodland debris rattled on the roof and the leaves flew horizontally like golden snow. 15 seconds later all was calm once more. Except for one man that is, who emerged from a twin axle caravan 60 metres away from us, a tall silver birch tree had snapped off at the root and fallen across the rear of his van. Fortunately it turned out that there was only minor damage where the tree clipped the back end, 6ft forward and his van would have been a write off.

A couple of hours later our good friends Andy and Pip arrived, took us both back to their house and fed us like kings. We chatted and laughed for hours before they returned us to the truck. Next day, Monday, Andy picked us up again and took us for a little tour of the locality and back to the house. I went for a walk around the nearest town, Todmorden, while the other three sat chatting. I took a few pictures of this old town, wondering how on earth they built it all those years ago. The river runs through the town, the Rochdale canal runs over the river and the train line runs over the canal. Houses and mills have been squeezed into any area larger than 20 square feet. Funny, I don't think that we have ever been here before but it felt homely somehow. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures.

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I got the feeling that many of the current locals didn't have much interest in just how difficult life would have been for the original occupants of such a town and I wondered if they even saw the attraction that was so obvious to me.

I like it here and I can't wait to have a closer look at the moors and dales. Many years ago I spent a couple of years of my youth living in Yorkshire, nearer Harrogate though and I was sad to leave it then.