"Didn't we have a lovely time?" a Halifax Travel Page by leics

O yes we did.

Ricky52's 'Fish, chips and mushy peas' VT meeting was a superbly organised event, and the greatest of fun.

I have to be honest and say I'd never visited Halifax before, and am unlikely to do so again. But I'm glad I went last weekend.

The (much longer than it should have been) drive was a nightmare of intermittent torrential rain, traffic congestion, spray on the motorway, floods and driving through clouds. But, once I'd checked-in at the hotel I was whizzed off the Cafe Passion, a Turkish cafe with really, really excellent Turkish food (in Halifax? Yes.). Other VT-ers were there, and the weekend had started, and I could relax. So I did.

Saturday started with grey mizzle and drizzle. We got on the coach and stopped at Halifax's 'gibbet'. It's not a gibbet at all really (that's a structure where criminals or their hanged bodies were left exposed in iron cages to rot, as a warning to others); the name is a corruption of 'ginn'. At Halifax you weren't necessarily hung, you could be beheaded instead.

The Halifax gibbet is a sort of mini-guillotine, with a small (but efficient) blade. Beheading by such methods was highly unusual in England (an axe was the normal way) so Halifax is pretty special from that point of view. It was in use from 1280 to 1650, for both men and women.

DAO kindly posed for the VT paparazzi.

Then we were off to the 'tops': the morrland which lies high above the towns and villages of this part of West Yorkshire. Still drizzling, but not enough to prevent me wandering off to find the disused stone quarry.: I'd spotted the overgrown, returned-to-nature spoil heaps at the side of the road and suspected it would not be far. The damage to the land can never be fully healed, of course, but nature has a lovely way of enveloping and gentling the scars left by man.

A slightly hairy and very steep descent (excellent coach-driving by the coach-driver) took us to Oxenholme, where there is a most carefully and accurately restored station (complete with working gas lighting in the ladies' toilet). And the steam train arrived, with a carriage reserved for VT, and we were off on a chuff-chuff, diddly-dee, diddly-dah trip to Keighley ('Keethley') and back.

For those who know, this is where the 1970 film 'The Railway Children' was filmed. and more than one of us felt compelled to do out Jenny Agutter 'Daddy! My Daddy!' imitation (and then explain to the non-Brits what on earth we were wittering about!). A peaty-brown river in almost full flood accompanied us on our way and, amazingly, by then it had stopped raining.

And so to Hebden Bridge, now home to artistes and artists and artisans of all types (and thus a sought-after and expensive place to live). No longer the busy mill town it was in Victorian times, but certainly busy enough with tourists and visitors in season. Excellent fish in batter, and excellent mushy peas for those who tried them.....then back on the bus and on to Sowerby Bridge for the rush-bearing.

I'll restrain myself on ths page. If you want to read about the wonderful rush-bearing and the even more wonderful Morris dancing which gave me 'one of the best half-hours of my life' then look here:

Sowerby Bridge rush-bearing page

There will (hopefully) be a video or two as well.

It was just brill.

And Ricky arranged for the warm sun to shine thoughout. Gold star and much respect! :-)

And finally to Norland, too tiny to be in the VT database. A little village up on the tops where, once a year, they make scarecrows and display them in their gardens/frontages. All money raised goes to the upkeep of the local church, and its a popular event with lots of visitors. we had our own special tour round the village on a little bus (which was just as well, as by then the rain had set in again). Great fun (and I am still convinced it was Bagpuss and not the Cheshire Cat).

Everyone 'back on the bus', a swift return to the hotel nd then a most pleasant evening meal. Diosh's VT cake was a superbly-crafted first, and probably the most photographed/videoed cake in VT history!

And so to bed.

I didn't go clay-pigeon shooting (had to make a nearby visit later in the morning) but managed a quick return visit to Hebden Bridge to see what would be seen on a Sunday morning. A very nice little market actually, with organic veggies, home-made preserves (I believe the lemon curd was very popular) and cakes and so on and so forth. And a stall entitled 'Natural Gifts of Colombia'. Of course. Exactly what one would expect to see in a wet West Yorkshire town on a Sunday morning.

Hugs and goodbyes on my return to Halifax, then onwards for visit and home.

An excellent and most enjoyable weekend. My thanks to Ricky andsheila for organising it: I can imagine how much time, stress and effort it must have entailed. Mutiple gold stars for both!

More photos in the travelogues.