Hipperholme West Yorkshire 5-8 Aug 24

 

A short run up the M1 and M62 to the certified site by the Cock o' the North microbrewery in Hipperholme. We've been here quite a few times before to see our friends, who live locally, although the site is now surrounded by a massive housing estate when it used to be fields and woods. It's a basic place frequented by people who seem to have taken up residence there, but it is handy and friendly and you couldn't get any closer to an excellent bar.

Having quickly set up (we know how to park here to get absolutely level) we wandered up the hill to the Co-Op to reprovision before meeting Jane and Tavis and heading off to the Hove Edge Bowling and Working Men's Club for a wonderful evening chatting with old friends.

On Tuesday we caught the bus into Halifax, found the wonderful market and had a typically Yorkshire lunch in t'cafe in t' market. She had a spam, egg and cheese butty and I had pie, mushy peas and chips wi' gravy and mint sauce. We felt very local indeed. After lunch we had a look around the Piece Hall, then in the evening we went for Fish and Chips at Peach's house. A reet northern day out.

Ethnic grub

Piece Hall

Borough Market, Halifax

On Wednesday we walked down (and up - plenty of bumps in West Yorkshire) to Shibden Hall, home of the diarist Anne Lister (who the BBC series Gentleman Jack was based upon). It is a lovely place to visit and we thoroughly enjoyed our wander around. We eventually found the cafe down a very steep hill, but it was too packed for lunch so we had a sticky bun and eventually found a very steep staircase to get us back on the road home.

Later we went into the Cock o' the North to meet Jane, Sarah and Tav and take part in the pub quiz. We were crap, but it was a good night out.

Shibden Hall

Gentleman Debs

Lightning rod disguised for the filming of Gentleman Jack

On Thursday we packed up, but of course the A1 was closed as some poor unfortunate had been killed crossing the road outside RAF Wittering. It is very sad and we feel very sorry for his friends and family, but why do they have to close such a major road for over 10 hours following an accident? Eventually we got home, exhausted, and unpacked ready for more visitors who had decided that they WILL visit us 2 days after we got back from an exhausting trip. Oh well. Family eh? 

Underneath the Stars Festival Cawthorne, South Yorkshire 1-5 Aug 24

We haven't been to this festival for a few years so we thought we'd give it another go. Luckily we booked tickets early as, after we had booked them, we found out that this was to be the last UTS festival, which is a shame as it is in a lovely location on a dairy farm in South Yorkshire.

We were not allowed on site until 1700hrs on the Thursday, so we had plenty of time for the  125 mile journey. We thought we could divert to the National Trust property at Woolsthorpe (Isaac Newton's home) but it was rammed and we couldn't get in. Next stop was Boundary Mills for lunch and absolutely hours spent looking at shoes (zzzzzzz). We left there with time to spare to get to Cawthorne but then found the A1 was closed and we were stuck fast in searing heat for over an hour. What is it with that part of Lincolnshire that makes people want to drive into each other? There are always accidents there. Now very tired and in a foul mood we finished the journey down some narrow roads with challenging driving and, exhausted and thoroughly pissed off, we arrived and set up. This was despite Mr Finickity, who had no idea about how a motorhome works, trying to park us EXACTLY on a white marking on the grass. If he has just said "park on this white mark on the grass" we would have done it in seconds. Instead, we were backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards until he was happy.

The spaces were pretty tight so we hoisted our flags so we could find our bus amongst the thousands of others and wandered across for a couple of beers to try and relax a bit, hoping for better things in the morning.

Friday was a day of music, sitting around and eating and drinking in the warm sunshine, which made us feel much better. It was nice to relax.

On Saturday Morning we wandered into Cawthorne to have a mooch around this very pretty village before enjoying more music, food and beer for the rest of the day 

Cawthorne Museum

Sunday was a brilliant day for music and entertainment with some of our favourite bands and a hilarious performance from Bill Bailey. It was a great day, albeit the weather was a bit "meh".

A packed house for Bill Bailey

On Monday we had a leisurely morning, packed up and headed up the road a bit to Hipperholme in West Yorkshire

Emptying out a bit