A happy camper I am not! And for many reasons. The main reason being that we had to leave Scotland and I had to say goodbye to my BFF Sky! Not sure if reason 2 and 3 are also part of it, but I am bit beside myself. I feel and look lost. I am going from begin with other dogs and people to just mum and me (not that I don’t like being with her of course).
Kay, Lola, Sky: thank you for making Marden Barn our home away from home these last couple of days. If it had been up to me… you know…
As my human can’t be travelling for ever, we had to start our decent down South into England again. We had a 5h drive ahead of us and to tell you the truth, it felt like a longer trip. We did it with one stop! Way to go mum (and our bladders). Anyway we had just arrived at our camping place when all of a sudden the wind started to pick up, clouds were getting thicker and looked very threatening. There was definitely something on its way. Mum had to really rush to get our tent up and luckily she received some help from our neighbour. Because of the wind it was pretty impossible to set this up all on her own. Tent was just up when the first drops started to come down, bit by bit, harder by the second. Mum had to rush to get a few things into it – which turned out to be a wonderful idea as that helped to put some weight on the tent. Rain, hail, wind, it all came in one go! I was save and sound in my crate while poor mum had to use her body to keep one side of the tent from collapsing inward. The other side was ok because of our car blocking the way. It was a funny sight yet pretty nerve wracking.
Once the rains had stopped and the wind settled, time to unpack the rest of our stuff. Mum deserved a glass (mug) of wine by now 😉
We went for a quick walk as I really needed the exercise and so did she. Again, back just in time for second part of the storm. And guess what? It lasted until we left just before lunch time today. Well, we left but the storm was still out there.
The night was a bit scary but I was in my crate and pretty much blocked it all out. Mum however didn’t sleep that much as the tent kept on rocking back and forth, left to right.
Because this went on until wel in the morning, and I was scared by then, mum decided to see if the guesthouse we were supposed to go to on Monday, had an availability for tonight as well. And yes, just our luck, last room.
But if you think our worries were over… think again. Have you ever tried to break up camp with winds blowing like that?! Neither had I but take it from me, mum wasn’t laughing. Again, she got help from another friendly neighbour as breaking down a tent is just as hard as setting it up when winds are that strong!
We weren’t the only ones packing up. By the time we were ready to go, everyone else had gone as well. We all fled the scene.
Next stop: Halifax, town of Miss Anne Lister. I mentioned her briefly last week. Before we reached our guesthouse we stopped by her estate Shibden Hall. It is here she wrote the majority of her secret diaries. The other parts were written during her travels.
Anne Lister (1791–1840), now known as ‘the first modern lesbian,’ was a wealthy, independent landowner who was renowned in her time for dressing always in black, without bothering to indulge in the feminine frills like the others of her sex. She was the 19th century equivalent of a “butch” lesbian, and she became known to locals as ‘Gentleman Jack.’ Her lesbian lifestyle, however, was one of the best kept secrets of her time. @https://www.annelister.co.uk/
I’ll tell more after mum’s visit in a couple of days.
We are staying at the Kirk Lea Guesthouse in Halifax. Tonight we are in a small room but from tomorrow onwards we’ll have a bigger and more comfy one. To tell you the truth, I am happy, just as long as no winds can keep me awake.
We did go for a walk towards the city center as mum wanted to see a bit more of Anne Lister’s heritage. Unfortunately there was a bitgevent on and you needed tickets to get ‘The Piece Hall’. A good thing really as I was way out of my comfort zone and in a right state. We turned around and searched for a park, which mum found.
Anne also visited The Piece Hall – a magnificent Grade I-listed Georgian cloth hall, which is home today to independent shops, bars and restaurants, a heritage centre and Halifax Visitor Information Centre. However, conscious of her social status, Anne would normally have avoided the place because it was a building for lowly commerce and political gatherings of the locals. She did however, visit for entertainment, arriving late for a firework display in 1818. Anne had run down the hill with her money ready but was too late and the gates had been closed. Anne’s diary records more successful visits to see hot air balloon ascents there in 1824 and 1837.
The Piece Hall, Blackledge, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX1 1RE @https://www.visitcalderdale.com
