West Yorkshire

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

let's stop littering Sundae's thread, thank her for being a lovely hostess, and take it over here... or over there.

Don't worry, you have to set threads free and accept they might drift.
I just happened to have done something today!

So, into the forest.
One of the charming things they've done is to carve stumps/ logs into seats and posterns. They are on the official paths and bridleways but still seem to happen unexpectedly.

The first I saw was an elephant, which was so cool.
Why no photo?
Because a little girl was sat on it, crying and bleeding from a scraped knee which her mother was trying to clean with spit and a tissue.
I did ask them to move so I could take a photo, but the Mum seemed to have a have a more robust view of propriety than she did of first aid and chased me away with a stick.

Joking of course (it was a rock)

[Sundae]

Doe and deer.
My selfie didn't quite work out, but there were a number of people passing and I felt it would look vain t take shot after shot trying to get the angle right.

[Sundae]

I got my fix of being amongst trees.
But not the peace and certainly not the running water of Arran.

[Sundae]

People, dogs, bikes and horses. Not all in this photo, but in the woods in general.

Maybe I'll go again wearing boots in the Autumn.
It's just quite a long steep slog up a busy featureless road to get there.
I suppose I can get a bus on my day off and use all my energy up tramping through mud. Because there were boggy parts despite the fair weather we've had for the last week or so.

[DanaC]

Lovely!

The one with the deer looks very similar in style to some of the sculpted seats (gotta use up those fallen/chopped down tree trunks!) in the park near here - wouldn;t be surprised if it was the same sculptor.

Once I've put this f%^&ing thesis to bed, me and you should go to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. If you haven;t been there yet, you'll love it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Nice park. Most of the carvings look like stumps that became available, but this one looks like it was carved elsewhere and anchored with angle iron. Maybe they wanted someplace to sit with a certain spacing between the last one and next one.

[Sundae]

Given the spaces between tem I completely concur.
They are not uniformly spaced, but still a little more so than coincidence would allow.

Dana, you and me and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park sounds like a great day out.

[Sundae]

SO.
The Chevin has a lovely sculpture trail. Can't fault it on that.
But when it comes to forks in the path/ major intersections on the bridleways (courses for horses) it is peculiarly mute.
They may issue maps, but I didn't see any. And the wooden signposts do not helpfully point out the Quarry Walk or the Jubilee Way or whatever they call their suggested walks on the few information boards I saw.

I didn't get lost. I got where I wanted to go, although not via the route I thought I was following at each turn. But all I wanted was a vaguely circular walk anyway.

When I decided to make my way home I didn't want to walk back down the main road. I'd seen that already and there was more to see in a Chevin kinda way.
The dotted black line denoted a path. The path went past a tearoom and WCs and even though I couldn't afford one and didn't need the other I figured it would give me a marker I could ask other walkers about. I was right.

Except.
Ex
Ept

The last lady I asked directions of (late lady, as I went back and hit her with my copy of A Feast for Crows) said amiably, "If I was you, I'd take the steps. They'll take you right into Otley."
She was right in one way. They took me into Otley.
Via a steep dizzying hell.
If I were you. Huh. That's like me trusting a stranger who says, "If I were you I'd relax with a bottle of wine tonight", not knowing (or caring to know) that it could be a horrible problem for me.

So if she was me she would know how absolutely terrified the steps made me. Descending about a mile in about 1/2 mile (I may be wrong but it's not intentional exaggeration) they are stone, tilted forwards, uneven and with an uneven tread.

I have previously documented my horror of heights, my inability to descend even normal staircases and my general fear that one day terror will render me insensate. All came into play here. I could not look beyond my feet because the further stairs just kept appearing, turn after turn. I could not look ahead because Otley was still laid out before me, like a place I could fall into.

I just had to take one step at a time, try to stop shaking and do it.
I didn't stop shaking (by the bottom that was just fatigue in my legs) but the closer I got to ground level the better I felt.

Would I do it again?
I bet you're thinking I'll say something like - would I buggery!
But yes, I will. same way I would climb St Peter's Dome in Venice, or bungee jump again. Because if things scare you this much, even if you hate them, you have to be open to beating them. And this challenge comes for free.

Photos from when I thought I was dealing with it and was able to turn around to document my [progress. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
This was just an aperitif. Note, they are earth here, not stone. And I can still see the top aka escape route.

It is locally known as Jacob's ladder.

[Undertoad]

Those aren't steps, that's a hilly path made more difficult with the addition of some pieces of wood!

[Sundae]

There were steps later. Stone.
All tilted forwards.

Why do you think I only ever sit in the Stalls when I go to the theatre?
Not because I am rolling in money, but because I was terrified by my first ever West End trip. We had seats in the Gods, where it felt like a trip would have had me in the orchestra pit, via the two Circles below.

[Sundae]

Footsore and sweaty, I walked past some lovely houses. Of course.
I don't think they had back gardens, because many people were out in the front.
All saying hello and acting as if a blistered women with the shakes and a wild-eyed look was completely normal of a Sunday lunchtime.

I want to live in one of these.
Someone I know and love can live in the one next door.
Form an orderly queue please.

The second pic is for Sarge, who is obviously a Wesley fan

[Sundae]

They went and did it; they bought The Black Horse out from under us. I was mere hours away from getting the finances together as well. Tchah.
Overheard a lass saying, "We'll see how long it lasts this time" so perhaps it's not the money-spinner I'd been picturing. Then again perfectly viable places can have a run of poor management.

More Tour-related decoration.
Gosh I won't recognise the place when it's all done and dusted.
Although during the two weeks after Le Grand Depart I am working my little socks off, as other Partners are getting their holidays in before schools break up and prices spike. So by the time I miss the things which I am familiar with, it will be old news.

[Sundae]

Mum is in love with Otley.

She really wants to bring Dad here when the house finally sells. Her only worry is getting him across London. They have to come into one London station and leave from another, and although Undertoad recognised that the signage on the Tube is excellent - and Mum knows it better than the back of her hand anyway - it's hard getting a man with mobility problems and dementia on and off trains and platforms while juggling a case and bag and tickets.

I said if money isn't an issue (not megabucks, but enough not to be scared of small bills) I'll come down early and meet them at Marylebone to travel back up. I've always been more patient with Dad than Mum, just because he is my Dad and not my life partner. I can get them across London. I'm not saying it will be easy, but it will be less stress for Mum that way.

She came up first class. Never travelled on an Inter-City train before, and never first class. Don't get me wrong, the 'rents have been all over the world. You may remember that Mum went literally half a world away (Australia) on her own. But Dad was a driver until recently, so any significant distances in the UK were by car. And there is no first class between Aylesbury and London because the trip is too short (so why would you?)

She loved it. She said Dad would love it. She said she felt so important and so spoiled. And it was the weekend, so all she got was a sandwich, a muffin and a cup of tea! And we would get a taxi from Leeds because the buses are shit (her words).

Anyway, she says that Otley is perfect for Dad because you only have to walk 50 yards in any direction to find a bench, a pub, a tearoom etc. All on the flat (in the town centre at least) and lots of places are OAP friendly and accessible. And he would love seeing the planes take off from Leeds/ Bradford airport - they suddenly appear from over The Chevin. Far lower and closer than he is used to.

He gets so tired now. Possibly because he isn't eating.
One of those little individual packets of Kelloggs is two breakfasts for him these days. He gets up, showers and dresses, finds the kitchen and has a few mouthfuls. Then he has to go and sit down for a while

Anyway. I'm glad Mum came up on her own.
It would be wonderful if Dad comes up too, because if he does at least Mum will have an idea of what there is for him and where it it etc.

Farmer's Market yesterday.
Didn't get any useable photos because there are so many stalls packed into such a small space. No room to stand back and take a pic. This stall specialising in mushrooms was on the edge of the market. I was fascinated by the shapes and colours. The pink ones look like offal.

[Sundae]

I don't know if you are familiar with the concept of love locks?
It's where you attach a padlock to a bridge as a sign of your love for someone.

I noticed some on the Wharfedale Bridge, the bridge I walk over nearly every Sunday to feed the ducks (not with bread!) and read on a bench and have the occasional ice-cream. So knowing Mum was coming up, and knowing she probably wouldn't know about this, I got a padlock and had it inscribed.

I stopped on the bridge and drew her attention to those already there, explaining what they were and why they were there. She thought it was really sweet. Then taa-daa! From my Mary Poppins bag I brought out ours. I did it so every time I go across the bridge I will look at it and think of home. It was like I hit her with a big love pillow.

It has our initials on it and the day she came to Otley (TC Hardware is the manufacturer, not some sort of code!)

[Sundae]

I don't even.