Yorkshire Woodlands

As I have mentioned once or twice, we are blessed to live an area of tremendous beauty. But we cannot take it for granted.

For anyone who wants to help preserve our local natural heritage, take a look at The Woodland Trust's Yorkshire and Humberside information (it will download a PDF file). We have a concentration of historic woodland in this area, and it needs your help!

Beating the January blues

Although I enjoy the rural idyll as much as the next Barbour-jacketed, green welly-wearing reader of Yorkshire Life, there are occasions when, to paraphrase Sam Johnson, I feel that being tired of the city is to be tired of life. To that end I must confess a wholly urban pleasure, available virtually on the doorstep of any Misper-folk of like mind: the local Designer Centre.

It is a cathedral to consumerism, with gleaming shop windows filled with the most useless and over-priced esoteria imaginable. So imagine the delight of being able to wander the hallowed halls on a whim, as if popping to the local corner shop. In fact, given our geographical constraints, it almost is the local corner shop.

Much to my amusement and great delight, my sophisticated London friend visits me every year with the express purpose of a shopping blowout for her birthday treat. Needless to say, my own access is less restricted, and so last week a neighbour and I felt that after a day of toil in our respective home-offices we deserved a spot of retail therapy.

There were some new shops since my last visit, which is always interesting, and of course Zavvi was no more. The shops were uncrowded, as it was mid-week, so we had a very relaxing time trying on clothes we were not going to buy and keeping the shop assistants occupied. Most importantly though, Thornton's cafe was open for sticky cakes and hot chocolate while we pondered the advisability of purchasing a particularly gorgeous but expensive pair of trousers (no, of course we didn't get them!). I did happen to acquire some side plates to match a dinner service, but that was fairly incidental.

All in all, it was a great way to beat the January blues.

Pencils at the ready!

Heads up, Misper-folk!

The next quiz is this coming Friday (9 Jan) - as you will no doubt have seen from the large notice by the roundabout. Make it your new year's resolution to come along and be sociable!

Usual rules - bring your own bottle, but nibbles are provided. The quiz offers a small prize for the winning team and there is also a raffle. But do it for the honour.

If you are lucky I might even have finished writing it in time...

New Year Ramble

Over the holiday I have managed to get out for a walk on a few days - always the same one though. It's a circular walk round from the village, through the farm on the hill and back into the village again. Most times I have done it recently I have seen the barn owl which is nesting at the farm; so one morning I took the camera. Although I saw the owl again it was too far away and too fast for me to get a picture. So I took some others instead, and thought I would share them here.

Here we go along the lane towards Little Barugh, pausing to look across towards the moors...

...then in through the farm gate. Today, the gate was open, but if it is closed you can always use the stile instead.
Through the gate you can turn and look across the field to Little Barugh.

Walking along the track you get a good view of the trees which line the ridge. The walk itself takes you up the hill and down the other side, and of course, back up again at the end.

Once past the trees you come to the farm yard proper, where the owl lives.

It had flown off around the corner, but was gone by the time I got there...

so I went back down the other side of the hill, looking towards Habton...

and glancing across to the rest of the tree line which marks the climb back up again on the road.


It's not a long walk - about 40 minutes - but very pretty. I hope you enjoyed it too. Because it was about 9 o'clock the sun was still fairly low, so that's why there are silhouettes everywhere.