There I wanted to gather three more Geograph photo squares to add my current tally of 19,002 photographs contributed. The diversion would not take me very long - about forty five minutes and then I would be back on the road, heading home for chicken curry making responsibilities. There would be just a bit of walking to do.
Saltmarshe is a remote East Yorkshire village which you reach along narrow lanes. There are only about twelve houses there, two farms and a grand Georgian "hall" that was once the home of the Saltmarshe family who could trace their history right back to the Norman Conquest.
Saltmarshe Hall is now a wedding venue. In fact, my best friend Tony's youngest daughter was married there in 2018. I wrote about it here.
In that peaceful riverside settlement, off the beaten track, I successfully nailed my desired squares as the three photo-illustrations that accompany this blogpost show.
As I walked past Saltmarshe Hall, I noticed that there was a wedding reception in progress. In the garden there was a little ice cream stand, no doubt ordered by the happy couple. Cheekily, I wandered through the gap in the hedge and asked the ice cream lady if I might have a cone as I was gasping for something.
Kindly, she agreed. We had a nice little chat and though she said I need not pay anything for my rum and raisin cornet, I gave her three pound coins - suggesting they could be slotted into her grandchildren's piggy banks. Whereupon she revealed that she was not only childless but she had "lost" her husband to cancer last year. "Well put it into your own piggy bank then, " I said. "Add it to your next holiday fund".
She was a nice lady and I am sure I could have conversed with her for hours. Sometimes you just "click" with people. She was also a Hull City supporter and was delighted to hear that we had made the play-offs yesterday afternoon.
Sometimes you just click with someone, yes, and then what happens!
ReplyDeleteThe village seems very isolated, which is perhaps a good thing.
Yes - very peaceful in Saltmarshe with no passing traffic. You can hear the wind and the sound of your own heartbeat there.
ReplyDeleteYou crashed the wedding for a free ice cream cone! I would be to shy to try that, Neil!
ReplyDelete*too shy. Sorry for the error. ;)
DeleteThank you for sharing your corner of the world...you share so much history and interesting stories about your home.
ReplyDeletePeaceful places like that are few and far between. Thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice place, and nice people.
ReplyDeleteTo live in a hamlet as remote as Saltmarshe, with no shops etc., makes owning a car a bare necessity. You couldn‘t just pop down the road to the bakery when you returned from work and realised you‘d run out of bread. Much as I yearn for peace and quiet, I am realistic enough to know I would‘t be able to live somewhere like that.
ReplyDeletePS: Well done on taking advantage of your trip and bagging those squares for Geograph.
ReplyDeleteMeike once said she can take an instant liking to a person.
ReplyDeleteThe Ice Cream Lady suffered the loss of her husband and has
no bairns - or childer, as they said long ago.
Yet she does not sound bitter. And a Hull supporter !
Saltmarshe carries connotations of the great Tasker Dunham.
But can't we go back to saying East Riding, North Riding, West Riding ?
The first photo of the grassy path is enticing.
Ouse. Wonderful name for your river. The Ouse in May.
You no doubt brightened her day as she brightened yours - sometimes human connection is all required, but striking friendships don't sell as many movie tickets.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that she was talking to a very nice man.
ReplyDelete"Saltmarshe" is a great name. Looks like a nice place for some photography and conversation!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like an amazing place, I'd love to live in a quiet remote corner.
ReplyDelete