Just the other day, Steve at "Shadows and Light" was reflecting upon the pronunciation of place names. In response, I mentioned Slaithwaite - a former industrial village in the Colne Valley just west of Huddersfield here in Yorkshire.
Afterwards, it occurred to me that I had never been to Slaithwaite nor rambled in its environs. As the forecasters promised that today (Monday) would be a warm blue sky day, I was keen to take a good long walk and decided to drive up to Slaithwaite. It is over an hour away from our house.
I parked Butch close to "The Silent Woman" public house and a few minutes later I was sitting in Ashbys cafe on Britannia Road with a sausage and tomato sandwich and a latte - having decided to fuel up before my long walk.
The situation of Slaithwaite (pronounced Slawit) requires a little explaining. It is down in the valley where The River Colne, the Leeds-Manchester railway, The Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the A62 trunk road from Huddersfield to Oldham all advance from east to west. The valley sides are pretty steep leading to farms, hamlets and short terraces of stone houses via rising lanes, tracks and paths.
My intention was to walk up onto the moors south of Slaithwaite, taking in two reservoirs - Deer Hill and Blackmoorfoot - before looping back to "The Silent Woman" where I was looking forward to a pint of shandy to mark the end of my little Bank Holiday adventure.
The steep valley side slowed me down and so did the shooting ranges close to Deer Hill Reservoir because I was forced to make a diversion - adding forty minutes to what was already a fairly long walk.
But on such a diamond day, I thoroughly enjoyed my endless plodding. There's something most satisfying about the exhaustion that such a walk can create - but not quite as satisfying as that lovely pint of cold bitter shandy in the welcome shade of "The Silent Woman".
Lovely photos as always. Thank you for sharing another part of England with us, and you got in a good bit of exercise.
ReplyDeleteGetting exercise is the best medicine I think.
DeletePronunciation took you on a long walk. So one thing leads to another.
ReplyDeleteYou got it teach!
DeleteI hope that when women patrons go to "The Silent Woman" that they are rowdy as hell.
ReplyDeleteThere were three or four women in there and they were like church mice.
DeleteThank you for the picture of "Nathans" - a place that sets my imagination off.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about the enjoyment of plodding on, the satisfying feeling of exhaustion after the walk and that first mouthful of refreshing shandy.
I nearly put "specially for Meike" under that picture!
DeleteSlaithwaite become Slawit? Weird. I keep thinking about a good long walk, but so far that's all I've done. My brother is a walker, like you he will drive somewhere, get out and walk for miles and then drive home again.
ReplyDeleteAsk your brother to take you with him one day - specifying the kind of distance you would prefer.
DeleteHe's back in WA now.
DeleteHow is Colne pronounced? I live not far from a Colne River which is pronounced “Cone” down here.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely an "l" in there Traveller but soft and subtle. Not just "Cone".
DeleteI'm not sure if my earlier comment actually got through so I am posting again. I would never have thought to pronounce Slaithwaite as Slawit. The English language is so unpredictable. I bet that shandy tasted wonderful at the end of a long walk.
ReplyDeleteIt did indeed. It hardly hit the sides as I sank it Addy.
DeleteThe canal there makes for a pleasant and easy walk.
ReplyDeleteThat's if you can walk on water like Jesus!
DeleteOffering pronunciations for one word leads to more questions, like Colne. Is it pronounced like the broadest possible Australian way of saying Colin? Is the 'slaw' in Slawit pronounced as in slaw in coleslaw?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great name for a pub.
Did you fly a drone to see the walkers on the dam wall?
I took that picture from the crag above. I am pretty pleased with that photo Andrew. Slawit is not pronounced like coleslaw. The "a" is like the "a" in your first name.
Deleteyou're in my neck of the woods now pal..... you are allowed to call it slath-weight if you aren't from round here...... but never slay-th-weight..... and slou-wit is the more preferred..... i used to work at the Shoulder of Mutton around the corner from where you parked and would have probably gone there for my pint of the more popular Commercial on the roundabout...... i love Deer Hill and i've done quite a bit of the fencing work down the side of that very rifle range that you mention - glad you had a good day and enjoyed some of our local amenities!!
ReplyDeleteI liked Slaithwaite. A nice and interesting place. It's surprising that you weren't shot when working near the shooting range. The shooter could have said, "I thought it was a deer!" Many of the lanes round there must be treacherous in icy weather.
DeleteI'd love one of those spots on the canal to live in, please.
ReplyDeleteOkay I have made some enquiries and have rented a riverside property for you. Let's hope there's no flooding this winter! My commission fee is minimal.
DeleteIndustrial heritage and a nice walk and a pleasant drink. Sounds good.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the sausage and tomato sandwich Dave!
DeleteA nice day for a long hike.
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed. I even wore my stylish sun hat.
DeleteI would like to hear the story behind the name of The Silent Woman.
ReplyDeleteI love that you can still walk new paths within easy driving distance of your neighborhood. Photos lovely as ever.
I met the previous landlord - now disabled. He told me that historically the pub was always called "The Globe Inn". Maybe the new landlord thought the name change was funny though it might have been inspired by a holiday visit to a small place called Lloyd in Florida.
DeleteMy father warned me to always be wary, of a silent woman.
ReplyDeleteStill waters run deep.
Delete'Silent Woman' is an oxymoron.
ReplyDeleteLovely walk on a beautiful day - you earned your pint.
Obviously the pub was not named after you Janice!
DeleteAfter our pronunciation exchange, I'm glad you went to check out Slaithwaite! "The Silent Woman" is a great name for a pub. I wonder who Nathan was? Kudos for taking that long walk and keeping a stiff upper lip through an unexpected diversion (which might have reduced me to tears).
ReplyDeleteWithout the diversion I would have been walking horizontally but the diversion was not only double the distance, it caused me to go up, up, up to a rocky crag overlooking the reservoir (see next blogpost).
DeleteI used to live in a village called Gnosall in Staffordshire. Pronounced Nosall. xx
ReplyDeleteIt's not a very nice name. Couldn't they have changed it to Cherry Fields or better still - Gilltown!
Delete