23 January 2021

Hepworth

View to Emley Moor Television Mast - the tallest building in England

"Are ye goin' up top?"

The words came from an elderly woman I encountered by the side of  the A616 at Jackson Bridge. And yes - I was indeed "going up top" having parked Clint by Holy Trinity Church in Hepworth.

The  two adjacent stone  villages sit in  the valley of a tributary of  the River Holme. It was surging north to Holmfirth -  famously connected with a long running  British comedy series, "The Last of the Summer Wine". To the east of Hepworth, the land rises  to a plateau. It's like you are climbing to a different climate - colder, windswept but sunlit.  Hence - "Goin' up top".

"I'm on the top of the world, looking down on creation..."

Stone farmsteads and mill cottages cling to the landscape while down in the valleys motor vehicles scurry like tiny beetles between miniature villages. To the north west the Pennine hills were dusted with snow and the great mill town of Huddersfield sprawled in its moorland bowl, its tentacles reaching for the hills.

Dick Edge Farm

Mostly I stuck to paved lanes but a map won't tell you everything so on three sections of the route I found myself edging nervously down or up lethally muddy paths where one false move could have spelt disaster or at least a muddy outer coating and a bruised coccyx. 

It seems like yesterday but of course this walk happened long, long ago  - way before the world's unwelcome guest arrived to scupper our plans. Incidentally, I noticed that Heathrow Airport was crowded with air travellers yesterday. What happened to the "Stay At Home" message down there I wonder?

38 comments:

  1. And the only explanation I can find.. The Carpenters were great.

    I have visited Holmfirth a few times. Great photos. Especially the drystone wall appreciation photo with the Carpenters quote.

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    1. Shhh! You are a Prog Rock/Heavy Metal kind of guy! How can you admit to liking The Carpenters? I myself think that Karen Carpenter's singing voice was heavenly. I blogged about her here:- https://beefgravy.blogspot.com/2013/08/karen.html

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    2. Good post. I have a very eclectic music taste. Brass bands, The Carpenters, Kansas, you name it.

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    3. Black Lace? Mr Blobby? Des O'Connor?

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  2. The look on the sheep's face is priceless. And the other photos are great, too. Agree with you about Karen Carpenter's voice. It was indeed heavenly.

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    1. That sheep had bad table manners. Can you see how her food is coming out from both sides or her mouth?

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  3. I love "The Last of the Summer Wine," but Dave doesn't like it, so sadly I never get to watch it! Burt Kwouk used to live just a few blocks away from us, near Fortune Green. His house has a blue plaque. Anyway, it's cool that you were in that part of the world.

    So am I to understand you took this walk before coronavirus?! Or are you pulling our collective leg(s)?

    It's astonishing to me how many people are still traveling internationally. When Dave teaches his students online, many of them tune in from the USA or South America or Dubai or some other distant corner of the globe. We barely leave our garden!

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    1. Regarding the middle questions - no comment officer!

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  4. Love those earrings though on your sheepie friend.

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    1. Perhaps Lord P will buy you similar jewellery on the occasion of your next birthday.

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  5. As usual excellent photos YP - and I had to smile at the look on the sheep's face. It might have been telling you to clear off and not interrupt it's lunch!
    Ah, now Karen Carpenter indeed had a voice sent from heaven. That's my kind of music.

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    1. That sheep was looking rather sheepish.

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  6. I thought that looked like a sheep's face, but I curious about that wool. I have never seen wool that looked like that. *waiting patiently for my lesson*

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    1. The Texel sheep produces a good dense fleece of medium quality, which is suitable for fine carpet yarns, hosiery and knitwear, at the coarser count end. The wool is predominantly white, with fineness approx. 32-40microns and length, 80-150mm. Perfect for hand spinning, hand felting and many other craft uses.

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    2. I feel very sheepish. I always thought that wool had a curly texture.

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    3. That girl at the back of the classroom! Be quiet and get on with your work!

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    4. *stealthily draws a picture of the teacher with horns and crazy eyes*

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  7. Speaking of sheep, let me tell you a joke my buddy little P made up and emailed to me. (For background, I had told him about Marco calling me a "bad bird" a few days prior).

    Q: What did Marco say to the sheep?
    A: You baa baa baad bird!

    I thought that was pretty clever coming from a 7 year old. :)

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    1. It could be the start of Little P's career in comedy!

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    2. Little P should have his own blog: BAA BAA BAAD.
      I liked the way Jennifer said, *That kid cracks me up.*
      And any blog dealing with paper airplanes has me gripped.

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  8. Anonymous9:57 pm

    It doesn't look cold at all. I remember reading in a book of someone climbing a similar hill where they had a view of five counties.

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    1. All I could see from there was paradise Andrew - in other words, Yorkshire! And it was bloody cold. I even put gloves on!

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  9. A grand post, Colin. Thou art a lad o'airts. Airy Hepworth, looking down, must have blown the cobwebs away. That dapple-grey horse is having horse thoughts, wonderful.
    One day you will take Phoebe there: a magical memory for her.

    Stan Barstow drove me to the heights of Dewsbury and pointed out the spot where one of the main characters lived in his novel *A Raging Calm*: only there was no house there, just a plot of vacant land, the grasses blowing in the breeze.

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    1. I remember you referring to Stan Barstow before. How splendid to have been in the company of a literary legend and a champion of ordinary folk.

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  10. I love it when you write about my home town!

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    1. You are most welcome ma'am. Yorkshire Forever!

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  11. I got lost on this walk? Maybe you shouldn't have gone if it was so muddy?

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    1. 90% of the walk was on paved lanes. I never anticipated how muddy and indeed slippery the worst sections would be. But what would Indiana Jones have done?

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    2. Oh, but you shouldn't do THAT! Mrs. YP would be very unhappy with you.

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  12. That second picture made me so longing for Yorkshire! The way things are going, it is doubtful that my sister and I can come over this year. In the meantime, I have to make do with your great pictures, and go for walks and hikes here and in the Black Forest.

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    1. When this damned virus has been put back in its kennel, Yorkshire will be waiting for you. Your sister and yourself will ride in an open topped Rolls Royce as the children of Ripon wave flags and a brass band follows behind playing oompah-oompah tunes.

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  13. I really miss the days of being on top of the world looking down on "creation".

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    1. At least you have good memories of your times up near the clouds.

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  14. You spying on me? Geograph gives away the date.

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    1. I thought you might live in Dick Edge Farm.

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    2. Those slippery paths might give you some insight as to why there is a place near Jackson Bridge called Hole Bottom.

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    3. I noticed that on my map. Naturally, it made me think of you.

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