Castle Hill

If you know anything about Huddersfield, you'll know that above it looms the ancient monument and settlement site of Castle Hill.

It's believed that there have been settlements at the site for over 4000 years and is regarded as one of England's most important early iron age hill forts.  When you stand near the tower it becomes quite apparent why this might be.... it's such an obvious outpost location and would be easily defended.

I shan't go into any detail about the hill because all the information you would care to read about it has already been written and can be seen in all its spurious glory along with everything else anyone cares to write about anything at Wikipedia!  Here is the page for Castle Hill and here is a page that is obviously spurious.

(I believe the spurious pages on Wikipedia are called "mountweazels" which is very pleasing!)

Ok, so today we (Dawn, Ben and I) went walking round the iron age hill fort on a largely circular circuitous route of the hill.  The weather and company were all perfect and we three all had a good time.  The largest downer of the day was having to drive frantically around a series of pubs in bad traffic trying to find one that was open at 2:00pm on a Tuesday afternoon....... Black marks are given to The Lockwood and Rat and Ratchet for being closed!

Ah well, here's some statistics..... 5.7 miles with 892ft ascent.  A pleasant stroll!

Here are some delightful pictures including a map and elevation profile.

Back to black!

No, don't worry, I haven't softened and started to like Amy Winehouse.... I still think she's a waste of space and ought to relinquish her grip on oxygen for someone who might use with more gusto.

I have in fact returned to Black Moss reservoir for the first time September 16th 2007 - I know this is the date because I took photographic evidence of my journey there and the maintenance work that was going on at that time. I am pleased to say that on this particular occasion, the weather was better, my camera was better, and the reservoir was all fixed and full of water.

We managed a really lovely seven mile stretch of the Pennine Way, which of course wound up in Marsden at the Riverhead brewery tap..... and after a walk around Black Moss, what better finish than to find that they had Black Moss Stout on tap.... delicious!



I know Dawn will kill me for uploading this picture - it's not the most flattering picture I have ever taken of her!!! What this picture DOES manage to convey (on my behalf) is: This was taken moments before I realised that I had left my bottle of water on my kitchen table; Dawn and Stevie both enjoyed the walk with me; This is where we sat to eat our lunch on the sandy bank of Black Moss Reservoir; Blue skies; Black water; Autumnal shades of peaty moorland; Note the hat, it was deceptively chilly in the breeze.

You can of course read about my original trip and see the photos here!

Old Salt.

Just because I probably won't get proper time on Saturday for real (it's just after midnight, so technically it really is Saturday), I thought I'd better at least try to keep up the posting.


Dawn, enjoying a drink of Weston's organic cider at Fanny's Ale House in Saltaire near Bradford, last weekend. For those that don't know Saltaire, it's a world heritage site which is made up of a mill and housing created by Titus Salt. It's worth a journey there to see some cool David Hockney works, and more importantly it's bloody free!!

Just take five.

I am feeling relaxed today. Despite waking up with a banging headache and no internet connection.... some things are going my way.

First: Spice, yes your suggestion of "Chicken Rhythm" was duly noted and fulfilled. You know what? I like it!! Let's not think this means I am now playing requests though!! You've all got your own bloody blogs to fill with nonsense!! Hope everyone enjoys the new tune and spares a thought for me while I am "mucking out" this week!!

Second: Part of the reason behind today's headache was a few pints at the Barge and Barrel in Elland last evening. I think the "Bargee" was not quite up to scratch and may account for the thick head. What I did taste there, however, was something that launched me into beery heaven. Black Bee - A honey porter. I have recently discovered that (as a life long devotee of Chestnut Mild) I like mild and I like Guinness.... imagine my surprise to find a drink that falls inbetween the two.... and then to find a very nice honey brewed version of said drink..... paradise!!

Third: I am taking Dawn out tonight for a meal. She has been working really hard lately, and we don't always get the time together that she deserves... especially since I am confined to the chicken coop m0st nights..... It's not so much that I can't go out, as much as how bad I would feel if anything happened when I WAS out. We are going for noodles to Leeds... to Fuji Hiro.... one of our all time favourites.

Fourth: The bowling club at the back of my house has finally erected a smoking shelter!!!! It has been a constant source of disgruntlement to me, but amusing to webcam viewers, that the smokers congregate outside the door of the club, just outside my bedroom window. It gets quite noisy with the window open at night. Well, if you've been glued to "bowling cam" today, you'd have seen them putting up a smoking shelter at the other side of the club. Hooray!! It also means that anyone wishing to go to the club, will now (hopefully) no longer have to walk through a group of smokers blowing their wares in your face! I sound like a sanctimonious ex-smoker already!!

Fifth: It's a beeee-yooo-teeeee-ful day!! I've been "twitching" in the garden at Pole Moor. Not as a side effect of copious amounts of real-ale, and subsequent lack of it..... but in the fashion of bird-watching. There's some lovely birds out there. A similar bunch to the ones I get at home, but with a few differences...... Out there: Regular visits by pairs of blackbirds. The kestrel is never far away and is a delightful sight hovering over the fields. Thrushes.... I've seen quite a few of them, and it's not uncommon to see two or three chasing each other round the vegetable patches - Not sure if they are song or mistle. Wren, the little wren, my favourite bird.

Five and a halfth: I know this was supposed to be a Saturday Sample blog, but I forgot!! I thought it was Friday!! I've been Pole Moored!!

Thanks.

I'd like to extend a warm "thank you" to birthday well wishers the world over. It was lovely to receive so many texts, emails, birthday cards, gifts, comments, and facebook wall scrawls. You've all contributed, in no small way, to what can only be described as an enjoyable and memorable birthday.

Last night Dawn took me to Loch Fyne, a fish and seafood restaurant in Leeds. I have wanted to go there for quite some time, and we had a most enjoyable evening, even if I did get rather drunk by the time we got home. A fair meal, a little on the pricey side, with a few niggling faults, backed up by sparkling company of course made the whole experience well worthwhile. Halibut, potted shrimp and a cheese board.

Today I've been relaxing, or "chillaxing" as the kids on the street might say. I've been reading a bit more of the Ben Elton book that I started and drinking lots of coffee. Then, somehow, something happened, and I am still not sure what, but..... I think Dawn must have slipped some Rohypnol (spelling?) into my baked potato.....

I got suckered into going to frigging Ikea!!

It's the worst shop EVER!

I was going to take some random shopping photos, but the whole frikking shop is so disorganised that I would have run out of space on the two jiggy-byte card in my phone. I think I need to award Ikea some sort of "global" random shopping status. No photos required.

A land where products are called "Mokkjokk" or "Tittas" or "Okkenslokkenknockken" is not really a place I am comfortable in.

I am looking forward to the Oktoberfest at the Irish Centre in Huddersfield next week. I have promised to take Fred along on the Friday afternoon. If anyone would like to meet me there for a jar or two of some fine Marsden or Golcar brewed beers, then please let me know and I promise to not be too pissed to achieve this.

Anyone wishing to take part in the Huddersfield Halloween Zombie Slouch on Saturday 27th October, can see the details here. Click the image for a bigger version. Not sure whether to go as a zombie or to just capture it photographically. It's for a right good cause though and I reckon it'll be a screeeeeeeam.

I could....

... go on, and on, and on about my weekend walk in Keswick. I won't. Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite. Hopefully, one day, you'll get to experience for yourselves, the feeling of joy that came to me atop Catbells.

The weather was harsh. Friday it was absolutely pissing down with rain. Saturday, a window of unbroken sunshine (during which time we managed the walk). Sunday pissing down rain again. The Lake District is of course, so called, because of the copious quantities of water contained therein. We mustn't grumble.


Driving to Keswick. Treacherous conditions. Friday and it was raining all the way on the three hour journey to the wettest part of the world. It didn't look like we were going to get much walking done.


Saturday morning. The sun came out and dried up all the rain with the exception of the really big puddles. Oh, wait, those are THE lakes!! Walking from Keswick towards Catbells. Roughly three miles or so along a gently undulating woodland approach to the foot of this hill.


Catbells begins to loom. This moody photo of Catbells begins to show that this little "family" hill might not be quite so innocuous as first imagined. The hill is made up of two peaks, the first of which is in the foreground, and the second, higher peak is just behind, visible to the left.


A proud moment. I was unsure as to whether anyone might consider the prospect of lugging up a hill with me to be remotely enjoyable or rewarding. I think at first sight of it, Dawn felt the same!! I think we were both surprised at how rewarding it really was. The views were astonishing. Looking in the distance to Skiddaw on the left; Blencathra on the right; Keswick and Dawn in the middle.


Back at the bottom. A delightful cheesy self-timered moment. There are VERY few photographs of Dawn and myself together. I set the timer on a bench which was dedicated to a chap from Coventry.... apparently "He spent the happiest hours of his life in these hills". I think a few of ours may be too.

I know that all the photographs that could possibly be taken have been taken, and have been done so on much better equipment than I had at my disposal. They have been taken in better conditions, with better lighting, and no doubt with better exposures and shutter priorities than my photographs. If you want to go and see more, then look here. These are MY photographs, and they are a memory of a walk up a hill.

A birthday celebration in advance of my thirty ninth year, and one which I am privileged to have shared with Dawn. Thanks darling.

I skimmed flat stones.....

.... Across the remnant of the infamous Black Moss.

The day was not still, and I couldn't hear the ripples for the howling wind and whip cracking rifle fire from the nearby Diggle shooting ranges.

Still, I CAN say I was there. I CAN say the reservoir was about ninety percent empty. I can say that the place is surrounded by heavy machinery and building materials. I CAN say this work has been going on for a year and is set to run for at least another two years. I CAN say that before lunchtime today I was out on the hills, on the Pennine Way searching for the water that wasn't there.

It was a bit disappointing, but it was still frikking awesome to be out in the middle of nowhere with some crazy ambience.

Here's a few photos to commemorate the madness of Black Moss.

Dedicated to Yorkshire Pudding and Gonzo bloggers everywhere.


Which way? The Pennine Way of course!


Didn't look like this in the brochure, did it?


Oh well it's a lovely beach.


For beach, read desert.


For desert, read moonscape.


I can see the sea. Do I win?


Come on let's go look.


You can look, but I'm off home.

I've been....

.... to Whitby.

It was good. The Gothic capital of England, in North Yorkshire. Home of Dracula and smoked kippers. Plastic buckets and cream teas. James Cook and a whale bone arch. Cobbled streets and full English breakfasts. One hundred and ninety nine steps and a swinging bridge.

I love Whitby.

I have fond memories of Whitby (and the surrounding area) as a child. Rock pooling in Robin Hood's Bay, a cottage in Grosmont, and having my photo taken with Rupert the Bear. I have more recent memories of Whitby from what we must now refer to as a previous incarnation. Now I have memories of Whitby that include Dawn.

We arrived on Saturday lunchtime, with the minimum of fuss. TripAdvisor had helped me select a bed and breakfast, and the genial hosts welcomed us into an establishment that lived up to its excellent reputation.

We left on Monday afternoon, having had a whale of a time.

Points of note:

Having packed all the camera accessories, I forgot to pack the camera, so had to resort to using my mobile phone. Double blunder on my part meant that the few photos I DID take were all done using the wrong settings, and look awful.

I love the pace of life that is dictated by high tide and low tide.

Robin Hood's Bay will always be one of my favourite places on the planet.

Horse riding across Great Fryupdale (you have to love the name of the place!!) and Glaisdale on Wainwright's coast-to-coast walk on a horse belonging to Elle Macpherson!! Not to mention Dawn's face, when I surprised her with this little excursion because she knows that horses and I are not the best of friends!!

Lots of nice food, of which a surprisingly large amount was homemade, full fat, and usually served up with something extra fattening. They do say that fat is merely the vehicle for flavour!!

Great weather.

They say a break is as good as a rest, and what do you know..... it's true!!

Stair rods.

Yesterday was a farewell party for my sister, brother-in-law and two nephews, who later this week set sail for a life down under.

I was drunk (of course).

It was raining (of course).

It was cold (of course).

It is July after all.... what else would you expect?

And so, this morning, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, it's bright and warm.

I spend the day reassembling the debris that I used to call my house. This exercise culminates in the clearing out of my wardrobe.... a great deal of "trying on" of clothes..... bagging up my scrap.... letting go all those "sentimental", scruffy, misshapen, discoloured rags. Really, I just say yes or no, as Dawn does all the hard work.

Tidied and wardrobed, we both collapse onto the bed for half an hour... A well earned rest, in a warm, sunny bedroom.

Out at the back there's a funeral wake at the bowling club.... some poor beggar's bowled his last jack.

A friend calls me to go for a bike ride. I agree to go. I hang up the phone, and of course it starts to rain. He comes round, and we set off for the ride, wrapped in waterproofs. A couple of miles up the road, and I am sweating under a bright blue sky. The waterproofs come off. A mix of road, and moorland, and maybe twelve miles later..... I'm happy and coated in mud and sand.

Half an hour later, I've been in the shower, I've a cup of coffee in front of me, and the rain is coming down with vengeance. Lightning isn't far behind. I thank my lucky stars for the hour and a half of perfect weather, where the salt stung my forehead, and sweat dripped off my nose.

Let the detox commence!!!

Crunch.

Grumpy morning.

Dawn gets out of bed and starts ironing. I have never known anyone who could face a pile of ironing each and every morning.

Five minutes later, I rub my bleary eyes and join Dawn in the kitchen. Coffee and much yawning and rubbing of eyes. It's seven thirty.

Five minutes later, the Kirsty emerges. She's grumpy and not speaking. The television goes on, and a quick unspoken inspection reveals that there is not enough room in the kitchen to fix breakfast. Back to the telly.

Ironing finished, Dawn goes upstairs to get ready, and to get Connor up.

I sit in the lounge reading the newspaper.

The Kirsty goes to make breakfast.

Connor comes down.

The Kirsty goes upstairs to get ready - The marathon has begun. I am sure the Kirsty will not mind me referring to it as a marathon.

I offer to make breakfast for Connor, but he doesn't want it yet. He lies in a heap under his quilt on the sofa, with just enough room to be able to see whatever is on the telly. The programme this morning is about some bloke whose fiance was killed in a bomb blast and has since found love again. I wonder what's going through Connor's head at this point!

I am still embedded in a two day old newspaper.

Dawn comes down and fixes Connor breakfast. She sets up a little TV table and puts the breakfast in front of the heaped duvet, and disappears back upstairs. The quilt doesn't move.

Ten minutes later, I notice that the quilt has not moved. I suggest Connor eats some breakfast. Eventually the quilt moves.

Five minutes later, Dawn is summoned, due to a shortage of milk on said cereal.

Dawn is ready now, and goes to the shop to assemble the missing items for this morning's routine. Bread and milk. Connor's breakfast receives the requisite top-up.

Eventually breakfast is finished and Connor and the quilt go back upstairs. Presumably from Dawn's bemusement, both find their way back onto the bed.

Dawn's in the kitchen, finally fixing her own breakfast. It's about eight thirty now. I take my leave and head off home.

The only thing missing in today's routine was Tom. He stayed at a friend's house last night because he has no school today. Today's routine was quiet. Sleepy, grumpy, and very quiet. What a difference a Tom makes!!!

I reach my garden gate. Step through and....

Crunch.

Snail beneath my trainer is obliterated into broken shell and mush.

The second of realisation, and as my other foot goes down.....

Crunch.

It's a bad morning for snails.

Buy cheap....

..... Buy twice.

I know I always advocate the Gary Ford shopping mantra of "buy cheap, buy twice", and usually observe this advice well. Today is an exception.

Dawn's not well.

I dropped Tom at school, took Connor to his school, and dropped The Kirsty at work.

With Dawn in her pyjamas underneath some hastily assembled clothing, and Stevie the wonder dog in the back of the car, I headed off to B&Q for some animal trap action.

It's always a bloody pain parking at B&Q for some reason, and I always try to get near the door, and of course there are never any spaces, and by the time you've reached the door and not found a space then it's far too late to be doubling back. I parked in Comet's car park and walked back.

Poorly Dawn and a hot dog waited in the car. I wouldn't be long..... would I?

As I enter the store, I have to fight my way through crowds of people...... the tills are down, and they are manually writing out item sheets, and then scanning the items at the tills with some sort of hand held device which tells them the price. It looks like slow going.

B&Q is completely the other side of town to my house, and there was no way I was going to come here and leave without my trap.

Eventually I find a member of staff who is not busy writing out little sales slips, and we establish the location of humane rat traps. Aisle 50, the last one of course!! I get there, and there's one rat trap left. The traps I have seen online are going to be about forty quid, and this one (cheaper because there's no postage of course) is much cheaper at fifteen quid. I take it.

I get in a queue for someone to write me a little slip out. I get my little slip written out and I get in another queue for a till. The usual chaos ensues, whereby there seem to be two queues leading to my till, and of course it's the other queue that's doing all the moving.

Puffing and blowing I reach the till, only to be told that the tills are now working, and someone comes and collects my little slip, and I go through the till in a normal fashion. All told, approximately one hour and fifteen quid lighter.

I get home and open the trap, to find that it's about as much use as a chocolate teapot. None of the pieces are manufactured correctly, and I have to start bending little pieces of metal rods to make any of it function.

I have now set the trap, baited it with cheese (a nice piece of Irish Carberry), and to be fair, I think the rat is as safe as he was before I spent the time and money!!

Watch this space!!

In other news, I stuck a few more photos in my Flickr album today - you can see the full moon from last night and some from a bluebell wood today..... what more could you ask for?

It's a rap trap.....

Well, I realise that opinion on rats is very divided. I like him though. I still can't imagine a method of catching or trapping the little fella, that will not endanger any of the feathered chums that visit my locale.

Perhaps it's time for a little rodentary research?

Sunday evening eh? Where'd the weekend go?

Well, if you're sitting comfortably, and enjoying the "Goldie Lookin' Chain" that should be caressing your earlobes by now (if you have the relevant plugins and sound enabled, and choose to listen to it of course - that's a lot of variables, and I imagine most choose not!!), then I'll begin....

It was a dark and stormy night.... Well, OK, it was a warm sunny Saturday afternoon, probably about nineteen degrees centigrade, but that makes for a crappy beginning....

It was a warm, spring, Saturday afternoon, and the lambs were gambling in the fields.... most of them were hooked up to some online poker tournament, but the rest were just playing "stone paper scissors" for cash, which is hard if you only have hooves for hands!!

Me and Dawn/Dawn and I/myself and Dawn/Dawn and myself - all the bases covered - jumped in the car and began heading north....

I lie..... We actually began heading west, along the infamous M62.... M60.... M61 and then north..... This is actually turning into a pretty crappy story already....

OK, I will cut out the flowery prose of the middle man, and render this seemingly long story short, for your benefit you understand!!

We went to visit my Auntie and Uncle in Dumfriesshire.... the rolling lowlands of Scotland. It only takes two and a half to three hours to get there, and it's a great place to be, and my lovely relatives are always most welcoming.

Exactly one year ago to the day since we last visited the same area on our first "away" trip together.

The weather was grand, the scenery breathtaking, and the wildlife out there, if you take time to suck it all in is majestic.

Amongst the creatures on display - A pheasant strutting around the garden lawn. Red kites hunting the thermals, and soaring circularly skyward, out of sight. Wild partridge running along the roadside, dicing with death.

We just stayed for a day really.... not really long enough to appreciate the excellent company of my relatives, or to explore the sights and sounds, and spring bursting across the land.

What it HAS been though, is a most welcomed sojourn in Scotland. I love spending time with my folks, and I love spending time with Dawn. Quality time - that's what they call it!!

Back down to earth.....

Now, about that rat..... The fox wanders off in search of humane solutions.....

Chores.

On the seventh day, God rested. I didn't, and Dawn certainly didn't.

In preparation for the arrival of my cousin, Sophia, this week, Dawn saw fit to completely tidy my house. I kept out of the way, and was allowed no distraction from my never ending stack of paperwork.

Like a tasmanian whirling devlishly dervish, armed with vacuum cleaner and all manner of things, for which I do not know the names, she swept, vacced, tidied, and generally spun round with aplomb.

I played house music, and danced round the bedroom, whilst scanning various documents. As per usual, I have done everything I needed to do, and absolutely no more. Dawn's efforts are infinitely more visible, complete, and appreciated.

To celebrate the industrious outburst, I paid the only way I know how, by creating a plate of creamed mushrooms on toast. Laced with black pepper, and cooked to perfection, an excellent repast.

I constantly marvel at Dawn's selfless, giving nature. As we say in Yorkshire: "She's a grand lass!". I certainly don't know what I would do without her!!

Take two.

For some reason, Adobe Acrobat just mangles my laptop. Reading a pdf document half way through a blog, is a sure-fire recipe for frustration.

..... lost blog from memory .....

Coco-nut.

I am sitting at the kitchen table, clutching half a coconut, and typing my blog. One hand for each operation, and alternate bites and blogging.

I don't particularly enjoy the sensation of eating a coconut, but I do love the taste. The texture of coconut appeals to my bizarre taste, in the same way I might apply something metallic to a filling in my tooth, or putting my tongue across a nine volt battery's terminals. You know it's not nice, and you know you shouldn't be intrigued in the slightest...... but I do it all the same.

.... in comes Dawn.....

.... I start to read a pdf document.....

.... the laptop crashes.....

.... I hop around the kitchen, speaking in tongues.....

.... the blog is gone.... gone forever.....

Poor li'l Dawn. Tom and Connor are playing up. She picked up her keys and stormed out, leaving crying children standing in the road. It sounds harsh when written as such, but what lesson will they have learned by this? Forgotten in an instant I would imagine.

So, where was I? Where am I?

Oh, yes.

Today, as a result of the raging storms and one hundred mile an hour winds, we have been left without electrickery for a few hours.

Like any good drug dealer, the electrickery companies have managed to get us all juiced up. We have a myriad of "labour saving" equipment, and entertainment systems, and appliances that we rely on.

One "blip" and I am left without heating, lighting, internet (even though the laptop runs on its own battery), cooker, fridge, freezer, hot water.

It's amazing how much you rely on something, like a nice clean supply. You never know how much you rely on it, or how it gets you through the day, until it's taken away from you.

Here endeth the first lesson.

Florence Bleeding Nightinfox....

First was Tom's flu.... Copious amounts of Mario and sofa time. Next was Kirsty's turn, and like all women, she breezed through her go, with neither complaint nor demand. Today is Connor's turn to swing the "sniffles" lead.

I do realise, that some may have misread my previous post and thought I had a new girlfriend, but these three are the children of the lovely Dawn, who is my current partner.

I mentioned, back at the beginning of the new year, that the new broom was about to sweep clean. Being able to mention these people is part of it.

Having ended my long-term relationship earlier last year, it has been difficult to try to explain this through the blog, mainly because you never know who is lurking!!

Now, I am happy to announce that I feel the time is right, that I can introduce the new players in the pageant, that I laughingly refer to as "my life".

First is Connor - He is the youngest (just 9 years old). He is a raging torrent of energy, filled brimful of Simpsons and Star Wars. I try to steer Connor away from sugar where possible!!

Second is Tom - Like Malcolm, he's in the middle. Aged 14 and Nintendo crazed as I was at that age. If there were exams in Mario and wall-jumping, then he'd have a degree by now. If he could translate his aptitude for procrastination into homework, then he'd be a genius!

Top of the pile is THE Kirsty. She's a student of beauty in Huddersfield, aged 17. I gather that studying beauty amounts to buying lots of magazines, and inflicting pain on particularly hairy women.

One rung down, there are the animals - There's Stevie the wonder dog, who loves chewing on socks. There's a rabbit and 2 guinea pigs (unless I am mistaken). There's also a veteran cat, called Rosie. Oftentimes, I am found outside their house smoking a cig, shouting "Rosie" into the night like Humph in African Queen.

Last, but by no means least, there's Dawn. My partner. She's a strong woman (bringing this tribe up on your own would do that to anyone!!) who has enough get-up-and-go for the both of us.

And so, my blogging moves forward. The actors are introduced. I can now write freely about them without having to code or hide anything from anyone.

Dawn and The Kirsty both read my blog, so I better be nice about them, otherwise I will be sleeping in with the rabbit!!

A new dawn has truly begun.