8 June 2021

Broadbottom

Please don't get me wrong. This blogpost's title does not refer to the wide posteriors of some "Yorkshire Pudding " visitors. No way. I would not be so rude. Broadbottom is a village in  Greater Manchester right next to the Derbyshire border.

I was there earlier today. Taking a long hike in the lovely June weather. No need for a jacket. My FDNY T shirt would suffice. I parked Clint near the church in Mottram-in-Longdendale, smeared any exposed skin with sun cream  and then set off.

The Hague - near Broadbottom

After eight miles I felt weary in the sunshine. Mottram church was just ahead. I would go over a stile and descend into a wooded valley where a stream ran. Up the other side and then through the cemetery to the old church.

But just one problem. Cattle! They were milling around near the stile . A motley crew of around thirty - including a few calves. They had broad bottoms. There was no way that I was  going to panic them. They seemed very interested  in me - as if I  was a pop star getting off an aeroplane. A diversion was in order.

Through long grass. Half a mile to the  top of the sloping ground and then right past a pond. Over a couple of barbed wire fences and then up to the blackened church on a hill. Was the artist L.S.Lowry buried here? I don't know but he lived the last years of his life in this village.

I changed my footwear and put my hairy broad bottom  into  Clint's cockpit, ready for the hour long drive back to Sheffield via Glossop and The  Snake Pass. Yet another "Grand Day Out". I could say more, much more, but on this occasion I won't.

The parish church in  Mottram - dedicated to St Michael and All Angels

39 comments:

  1. The cows keep giving you a bad time. If it was me I'd just get in that fence as if nothing was there. Cows won't follow you. they soon lose interest.

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    1. Every year people are killed or badly injured by cattle. I do not want to be part of those statistics. You are a brave an optimistic guy Keith!

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  2. Anonymous3:12 am

    The house and church are handsome buildings. It seems an unusual position of the church tower, but it works.

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    1. I have often driven by that church Andrew. It stands in a prominent position above the village but yesterday was the first time I had ever visited it.

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  3. "Your hairy broad bottom...", that's quite a visual you've provided us with. No photos of the Bottoms reservoir? You drove almost all the way to Manchester for your walk. How do you decide where you're going?

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    1. Very often I study maps and find places I have not been before then I work out a nice circular route. The muscles of my hairy broad bottom help to propel me.

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  4. Those are gorgeous places and cows. They do look very interested in you! It's pleasant here too although we've had a run of chillier weather. (lows of 44 at night) However, I prefer that to the 87 degrees we had a week ago.

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    1. May was grim here but June has started so beautifully.

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  5. In less glorious sunshine, both The Hague and the church would have a rather Gothic atmosphere about them, I suppose.
    Speaking of sun, I have been told that sun cream is best applied about half an hour before exposing the skin to the sun for the protection to be fully effective.
    You did well avoiding that cattle, especially with calves about.

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    1. Well - I never knew that about sun cream but I refuse to hang around for half an hour waiting.

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    2. You could simply apply the cream before you set off. Clint certainly wouldn't mind the scent of sun lotion!

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    3. All that grease! Clint would go berserk! He likes masculine smells - tar, petrol, oil and spilt beer.

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  6. Not sure I want to hear about your hairy bottom...broad or otherwise, while I am eating my breakfast!!

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    1. It is hard to eat breakfast when you are breathless and your heart is beating like a drum.

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  7. Is the church built from black stone? (millstone grit) one of the things I do not like in the Calder Vale are the mill houses dark and forbidding, it is so gloomy in dull weather. Your walks are always enjoyable especially when they are shared.

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    1. I believe that the blackness is connected with past industry - the same kind of blackening you see in The Calder Valley Thelma.

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  8. The thought of that hairy broad bottom has put me off my breakfast.

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    1. Were you having toasted muffins smeared with Marmite?

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    2. Oh gee, YP. That is gross.

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  9. Cows in woods was the only time I've climbed over a barbed wire fence, jumped a ditch and struggled through a corn field to avoid them. Scary.

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    1. It would be so easy to fall and get trampled. Not a nice way to go.

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  10. What good weather you had for your walk. The cow in the middle of the photo has a belligerent look about her, YP, and it was sensible to take evasive action

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    1. The thing was that there was nowhere for them to run to Carol. I felt like a wimp but I did not want to risk it.

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  11. Yet another English village with a funny name. Why is the church black? Coal soot?

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    1. Yes - coal soot and industry. The North is much cleaner than it used to be.

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  12. I'm usually not to worried about the cows. It is the bulls that I keep an eye on.

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    1. I am very wary of bullshit. It seems to get everywhere.

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  13. Great photos. They built buildings proper in those days.

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    1. Made to last. Not like today's buildings that are rushed up as economically as possible

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  14. I hope that your legs are now less fiery. I'm sorry that I was absent for your second post on Pigeonholing having remembered it and the gist of my comment from the first time around. Lowry was buried next to his parents in Manchester. I remember him dying. It was the year after I came up to Lewis.

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    1. I am very fond of Lowry and his unique style - as unique as the subjects he picked. Do you also like his work Graham?

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  15. I am very impressed with that black church. Thought maybe it was more modern than most. But I looked it up (of course) and it is very old and even the most recent facelift was eons ago. What a wonderful structure.
    If one went only by your pictures, my friend, one might think that cows outnumbered sheep in Yorkshire. Is that the case?
    Beautiful walk as usual, Mr. Pudding.

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    1. We have many more sheep in Yorkshire PT but I should remind you that I was walking at the border between Derbyshire and Cheshire.

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  16. Do you tag on a church photo just to please that crypto-Calvinist Haggerty?
    I hear he goes to the kirk on Sunday night, just to inspect the bonnets of the godly ladies, then slouches off to a pavement cafe for a Biere and Calvados.
    I don't mind harlots but I can't abide a hypocrite.
    Yours etc. Hamel(d)

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    1. I heard that as a boy his mind would wander when sitting in church - back to the time of dinosaurs.

      Churches remain focal points in most rural communities and frequently the best buildings therein. You cannot ignore their presence.

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  17. Anonymous5:07 am

    These photos are fantastic. I love the look of that parish church. And the cows seem quite curious lol.

    Thank you for sharing this trip to Broadbottom with us. I can't wait to read about more of your travels.

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  18. Wistful Dreamer is a fine name and one that might fit me well too. Thanks for calling by and leaving an encouraging comment.

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