House Guests

Mark and Mandy came up for the weekend. We went to Skosh for lunch on the Saturday and had (as ever) a great meal and a great time.

 

Stroll 82 pt2

Layla cooling down in a lovely pool on Newbrough Burn, a tributary of the South Tyne. So we have crossed the line from becks to burns: Scotland looms.

 

Spot the Bug

Taking the dog a walk there is always something to catch your eye. Like this ladybird in the flowers.

 

Budapest

Rowan found this old picture from when we went to Budapest, an incredible nine years ago. I can't believe how time has passed so quickly.

 

Stroll 82 Hexham to Haydon Bridge

 

This magnificent bridge over the Tyne is Hexham was built in 1793 after three failed attempts. I headed west up the South Tyne valley for a varied walk along the river, then high up to the north before dropping down to Haydon Bridge.

Lit & Phil 2

After a while my gaze turned up to the ceiling, with these amazing skylights. It felt like a giant owl was looking down on me.

 

Lit & Phil

Friend Robert, who died last year, had told me about the Literary & Philosophical Library in Newcastle. Known as the Lit & Phil, it was founded in 1793, just down the road from the central station. Robert had said I had to go and see it. So I did, sadly without Robert, but I immediately saw why he loved it so. You can just go in, sit down amidst these amazing stacks of book, have a think, write some thoughts down etc. A secret special place.

 

Stroll 81 Newsham to Ashington

 The route took me through a real mix of post industrial landscapes. This railway bridge is now in use on the new line from Newcastle to Ashington, as well as having Drax bound bio fuel freight trains trundling over it. A rare sight in the UK, a girder viaduct.

Stroll 80 South Shields to Newsham

The Stroll route heads north out of Newcastle, aided by the newly reopened railway line to Ashington. The first leg involved crossing the Tyne on the foot ferry, and walking the coast through Whitley Bay up to Blyth. 

St Mary's Island, seen from the coast path at Seaton Sluice

Stroll 79 Ilkley to Harrogate

 This was the longest leg of the Stroll so far, walking 20 miles today. I followed the Dales Way route from Ilkley to Harrogate, a really good walk over Denton Moor, through Timble Woods, along the Haverah valley, past Harlow Carr (a RHS garden) then down through Valley Gardens to Harrogate. A great walk. Both man and dog were tired out.

The path through the heather on the moors.

Stroll 78 Chorley to Preston

 

Chorley was always just somewhere between Preston and Wigan, when I was growing up in Preston. I barely remember going there at all. It is the birthplace of John Foxx (brilliant original leader of Ultravox) who I saw five or six times in the 70s.

Today it was the start point for the Stroll that took me back to Preston. Turns out it is a lovely place, with parks and woods that created a great final leg of that part of the journey.

Book Group

Our book group meets upstairs once a month. This is what it looks like some of the time.

 

Welcome Committee

Alfie was very keen to be ready when owner Emilie returned. Layla was keen to be there with him.

 

The Gateway

The gate into the back garden. As the sun gets lower the shadows become more prominent.

 

Bracket

It is very easy to ignore some of life's wonders. Like this bracket fungus which emerged from nowhere in the woods by the racecourse. It is Laetiporus, know as chicken of the woods. I decided not to risk my health on the word of Google Lens, but I am sure that I could have.

 

Guitar Guitar

And here is Felix with the guitar, and sister Clara controlling the amp. The next generation starts here.

 

Family Visit

Niece Sarah came to see us with Laurance at the weekend. Purpose of visit? To collect a guitar and amp I am lending to Felix who is starting to learn electric guitar at school.

 

Hope

 Drove a friend to Leeds for cancer treatment last week. Not the first person I've done it for. Hope.

From Hatfield Moors

Hatfield again.

Friend Emilie has been in Finland for a week, so we had Alfie the dog staying with us again. We all went to Hatfield Moors for a picnic breakfast then a walk amidst the heather and rowan berries. Layla was busy looking for deer when this photo was taken.

 

Stroll 77 fin

Congratulations to Bridlington station staff for growing and showing 4 metre high sunflowers. Made the station a better place to be.

 

Stroll 77 iii

The footpath went through these field beans (I think) which had a bit of a post-apocalyptic vibe.

 

Stroll 77 ii

Harvest had come and gone atop the wolds. Look to the right and see the wind turbines.

 

Stroll 77 Bridlington to Napperton

A walk that took me from the seaside at Brid, up onto the Wolds by way of an old Roman Road (Woldgate in photo) and finally down to chalk streams at Napperton. 

 

Veg News 2

 

The courgettes have done well this year as well. A glut of courgettes is always a mixed blessing. Great to have, hard to use creatively; soup is usually the best idea.

Veg News 1

The vegetable garden has done well this year, in its usual haphazard way. A squash self-seeded in the spring, and has since attempted to take over the entire raised bed. Football sized squashes are on the way.

 

Stroll 76 iii

 

Ribblehead viaduct always stuns me when it comes into view. 

It's a Family Affair

We drove down to Bicester, collected Rowan from the station, then went up to cousin Gill's for lunch with auntie Alison (96 and going very strong). It was great to see her again, and to have a good chat. In the photo Gill, AA, cousin Richard, Rowan, Danielle and Robert (Gill's husband). 

 

Stroll 76 ii

 

Hard to resist a lonely dead tree, especially if the sun allows for a good black and white image.

Honey. The Product

And here it is, 21 kilos of lovely honey to keep us going for a while.

 

Honey. It's Back

After a three year honey break, we are back in business. The new queen who arrived in June has delivered the goods. Danielle is holding one of the frames full of honey.

 

Book Group

 In book group we had read The Tie That Binds by Kent Harif. His other book Plain Song had been enjoyed by all. This one, less so. An American gothic special that I could have done without. Some in the group liked it, which is the great thing about a book group; there is never any group think.

A snicket in Settle.

Stroll 76 Horton in Ribblesdale to Ribblehead

 

A beautiful days walk in the Yorkshire dales. I took this shot as I started off from Horton station. There is something about the shot that looks unreal to me; which I like.

50 years ago

50 years ago today, cousin Gill, her friend Jude and I set off to Europe in my VW Beetle. Gill and I were 18, Jude much older at 20. Our Granny took this photo at West Farm as we set off. I took no camera "I shall keep the memories in my soul" I said with age-related pretentiousness. 

 

Stroll 75 Horton in Ribblesdale to Settle

Back on the Stroll. Walked alongside the river Ribble to Settle. Great to have the water close at hand to keep the dog cool. A gentle walk to get back in the swing.

 

Friends

Friend Helen invited us over for a meal with friends Paul & Kelly who were visiting from Spain. It was a great evening, with lots to catch up on.

 

Back to the Moors

Layla Wallows

August 1st is the day that I can take Layla the dog on Hatfield Moors again (having avoided land nesting birds for the summer). It was hot, but worth the visit. Such a beautiful lake, that was equally enjoyed by Milo the dog when he accompanied me back in the day.

 

Macedonia 9

 

We met a Macedonian photographer, Biljana, in Ohrid. She had taken a lot of photos of people in Ethiopian tribes near the border with Sudan. It was great showing her my work of Albanian people in Macedonia. I hope somewhere there is an Ethiopian photographer taking shots of tribes in Hackney. Probably is.

We flew back from Ohrid, all went well. Saw Emilie and Alfie who had been kindly looking after the dog and the house for us. Good to be back after a great trip.

Macedonia 8

 

Our last day, and Danielle had booked us in for a wine tasting in an old monastry north of Ohrid. Great wines, great guide, great cheese. Long snooze when we got back.

Macedonia 7

We went to the old Vlach village of Malovishte in the Pelister National Park. This is the the old abbey. Another beautiful place, with quite a lot of renovation work going on, which was good to see. 

Macedonia 6

Next day was Danielle's choice of activity. We kayaked on Ohrid lake down the east side to a bbq on the beach. It was very loosely organized which suited us. No pictures of us in the kayak, but trust me we managed co-ordinated paddling most of the time. It was the clearest water you can imagine. 

 

Macedonia 5

 We slowly drove back down to the valley. A man on a motorbike, came alongside the car. "Si-mon, Si-mon" he shouted. I realised it was Shpendi, the 6 year old boy with the braces in the front of my original picture.

He is now a  48 year old coach driver in Switzerland. We shared a coffee with Shpendi and it was marvellous to meet for the first time in over 40 years.

Quite a day.

Macedonia 4

 Wednesday was the big day. I was returning to Lomnice, the village in the Sar Plannina mountains that I first visited in 1984 when I was on the Walk. I revisited two years ago, and was overwhelmed by people remembering my visit, and being typically kind and wonderful. Since then I had kept in touch with many new Albanian friends online.

Danielle had no idea what to expect, neither did I. I had been in contact with Enis, a young man from one of the families who were in my original photograph. We met up in the village and were soon in one of the few remaining inhabited houses. The house belonged to Enis's grandmother, whose late husband I met in 1984. Strands of her family (several of who now live and work in Switzerland) were all there. It was very emotional for all of us. Lovely children, Turkish coffee, water melon, just a great day.

Macedonia 3

 We hired a car for a few days, and drove up to the mountains between Ohrid lake (shared with Albania) and Prespa lake (shared with Albania and Greece). Lovely to walk up high with butterfly rich meadows for company.

 

Macedonia 2

 

Monday we walked high up above the lake, had a coffee and a cake in a restaurant then took this mountain path contouring along the mountain. Beautiful.

Macedonia 1

 Just back from our holiday in Ohrid Macedonia. I wanted to share the joys of the country with Danielle so we went together. As the flight left Manchester and 6.15 we went the day before and stayed at the Radisson hotel in the airport, which is a bit of a treat and cheap at the weekend. 

The flight was great, with views of the Alps and the Adriatic before the sweep over Albania to Ohrid. The weather was perfect, around 30° a warm dry heat at 770 metres above sea level. Sitting by the lake as the evening closed in was a good start to the holiday.

Stroll 74 iv

 I also passed near Brindle, on top of a hill to the west of the canal. This is where my maternal grandfather was the vicar for a while, and where my mother and auntie lived when they were children.

This is the nearest the canal gets to Brindle. It was a hot afternoon, some of the cattle were looking for shade, some were just enjoying the sun.

Stroll 74 iii

 

This is where the Walton Summit canal branched off from the Leeds Liverpool canal to connect with the Preston tramway that joined up with the Lancaster canal in Preston (the names get confusing). That canal went north to Lancaster and, ultimately, Kendal. When were kids in Preston my father would show us the old tram bridge over the Ribble. This was out of bounds, as were nearly all the old industrial rail lines even if they were abandoned. Now it is much improved, like a lot of things.