6 March 2016

Hope

Hope. That's a good name for a village don't you think? Most of us live in hope with a small "h" but very few of us live in Hope with a capital "H". If I could choose I would rather live in Hope than in Purgatory, Envy or Greed for example though they could all be interesting places.

Hope is a village in The Hope Valley. It boasts three pubs, a  cement works, a little railway station on the Sheffield to Manchester line, a much extended fourteenth century church, a chicken called Kylie, a little methodist church, a primary school and a little secondary school that serves the entire valley. There are also two cafes, a village shop and an antiques and collectables shop called quite imaginatively, "Living in Hope".
I have driven through Hope many times and have sometimes stopped there but last week I decided to make a special trip to Hope, hoping to take some good pictures. In Sheffield we had lovely blue skies and sunshine but twenty minutes later when I reached Hope, clouds were impairing the illumination I hoped to find in Hope.
Hope pinfold
I discovered an old "pinfold" in Hope by the lane that leads to Pindale. It was used as recently as the the nineteen sixties for penning stray farm animals. The man in charge of a pinfold was known as  a pinner and it was his job not only to round up stray animals but also to collect release fees or fines from the animals' owners. In Hope, the occupants of the pinfold were invariably sheep but a few minutes later I considered carrying Kylie the Killer Chicken there.

She came running from her dilapidated chicken hut to attack me... or perhaps she was simply hoping for some corn. After all, like the human residents of the village, she also lives in Hope.
Kylie the Killer Chicken

22 comments:

  1. I've been to Hell,(in Gran Cayman) but never Hope, in Hope Valley. Never mind there is Hope(fully) still time for me to visit !

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    1. The hopeful people of Hope hope you will join them and hope that your first name is Hope. You can stay at the Hope B&B, once visited by Bob Hope.

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  2. A few miles away from Trelawnyd lie two villages
    One has an English name one a welsh one
    This is a famous saying about the two

    Live in Hope, die in Caergwrle"

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    1. Well I never knew that there is also a place called Hope in Flintshire. Thanks for the alert.

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  3. There's a city called Intercourse in Pennsylvania. lol.

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    1. I am tempted to respond mischievously to that piece of information Jennifer but have instead chosen to pull my self-censorship lever.

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  4. What a wonderful name for a town.

    A movie I watched in the late 90s was called "Hope"; and I've always remember the movie...I enjoyed it.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119312/

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119312/combined

    As you will see it was directed by Goldie Hawn; and it starred Christine Lahti. I like Lahti (I like lattes, too).

    The movie is what I call a "good little movie". My late brother used to always tease me when I called a movie by that term. What I mean by the term (and he knew it) is whatever movie I was referring to wasn't promoted as being a huge blockbuster and the like.

    Every time my landlords go away for an extended period their chickens live in hope that I am the one who will be feeding them in the absence of said landlords because I always feed the chickens cobs of corn. They love fresh corn cobs, and go quite crazy when they see me coming (as do a lot people, I guess, for other reasons)!

    I will never understand why the landlords don't grow a patch or two of corn on these 3 acres, if only for their five chickens. When I suggested as much the reply I received, that left me with my mouth open, was -"Oh! If we did that the corn would be all they'd eat. They'd leave everything else!"

    How stupid! It is never the case when I feed the chickens because I always a couple of bagfuls of fresh produce, greens, bread etc., each day, and none of it is left the next time I go up to feed them. Sure, they devour the corn first...but the rest disappears, too!

    I'm the one who lives in hope that the landlords will grow corn for the chickens who hope for chicken because it would save me having to buy it!!! If you get my drift! lol

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    1. Thank you for your lengthy and thoughtful response Lee. Much appreciated. Sounds like your landlords need common sense implants.

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    2. Please excuse all the typos I made in my above comment, Yorkie. It is proof I should've done some proof-reading!!!

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    3. I forgive you as I appreciate that you are fond of downing several potent cocktails after sunset and that can have a detrimental impact on anyone's proof reading ability.

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    4. Smarty pants! I wrote my first response long before sunset! As for downing several potent cocktails - perhaps the problem is...I've not done so in a long while. I need to pick up my game!

      I've had only one beer since New Year's Eve; and on New Year's Eve I only had two drinks! So, you see...as I said - therein, no doubt, lies the problem! lol

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  5. Good word play here with hope !

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    1. I was hoping you would like that Red!

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  6. Believe it or not, but Hope is indeed a place I've been to! Three miles from the village is Crookstone Barn, managed by the Crookstone Adventure Trust. One of its founding members is my Uncle David. He took us there on a hike and to stay overnight at the barn in 2010. A picture and very short description of it is part of this post.
    The Crookstone Adventure Trust's website is here.
    I'd love to go back there for more hiking, it's a spectacularly beautiful landscape.

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    1. I have walked by that barn. It's not far from Hope Cross. I shall check out your old post later.

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  7. Kylie doesn't look TOO savage. My guess is she thought you were there to feed her!

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    1. It's okay for you being Mr Cool Steve but you weren't there! She was terrifying!

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  8. Next time you go to Hope take a pocket full of corn - that'll soon win her over.

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    1. Next time I go I am taking you Mrs Weaver! You can stand between me and Kylie and you can apply your farming skills. Your pitchfork may come in handy.

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  9. When I muse on where we might one day downsize to, Hope Valley is always on my list for no other reason than I'd like the address.

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    1. That is an excellent reason SP. I know a farmer in The Hope Valley who has a residential caravan for sale. It's only twenty eight years old. Shall I arrange for you to visit it? I am sure that the rustic aroma of sheep droppings can be quickly expunged. You could rename it "Parrots' Perch".

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  10. No Hope in Colorado. But, there is Climax, Dinosaur, Hygiene, No Name, Last Chance, Parachute, Security, Tin Cup and Yellow Jacket.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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