Yorkshire Weekend

Hello Lovelies,
I've just got back from a wonderful weekend in my native Yorkshire. Just mum and myself visiting the old places and exploring a little further afield too. We were pretty lucky with the weather, considering the wet conditions we have been enduring so far this spring, and I've just been looking at over 200 photos I took this weekend!!!
 Yorkshire is soooo photogenic, in my opinion .All those far reaching views and pretty villages. I hope you will enjoy sharing some of the best snaps with me .
I think I'll do more than one post so that you are not too overwhelmed :0)

First, day one, the old places.........


On Friday, once the boys were safely at school I did some very last minute packing and set off up the motorway with my Mum. It's the first time we have been away together, just the two of us, since I became a mum myself and the longest I've been away from my boys too.

If you have been reading my blog for a while you may remember I took my little family up to Yorkshire for the day this time last year, it was one of my favourite days of 2011.
After our return I felt bad for not inviting my Mum along too , so I decided to have another visit this year....just Mum and I .

We approached Haworth, the village of my childhood ,along a back road.....

Can you see it nestled in the valley, behind the wonderful dry stone wall? I LOVE these walls. I remember them as a major feature of my childhood  .You can sit and shelter from the wind behind them and there are loads of toe and hand holes if you are a little person wondering what's on the other side . Just be careful not to skin your knees on the scratchy Millstone Grit.

I expect this image of Hawoth ( famous as the home of the Bronte sisters )may be familiar to a lot of people....

I prefer the little back alleys :0)........

As you can see the weather was pretty dull when we popped into the old place so we decided to head out to the moors.

Thankfully there were lots of breaks in the clouds and the sun kept appearing between the showers......

As children we would walk along this path to the Bronte Waterfall and Bronte Bridge......

                                                          Today I wasn't able to venture that far

Instead Mum and I climbed higher onto the moors...still driving . It seemed like cheating to be able to view all this without breaking into a sweat but as Mum is not that mobile these days it was a blessing she could still enjoy it ...

Penistone hill country park is a former quarry

With far reaching views into both my own valley and  the village of Oxenhope in the neighbouring valley......

This is another sweet village of my childhood  , refreshingly un-touristy compared to Haworth,"the backs" a lane behind the main street are traffic free.........

It looks just the same as I remember

I suppose this is an odd thing to photograph , junk and ramshackle garages but I think it has a certain charm....

The solid looking cottages had pretty spring gardens.....

further along the road there were some unusual pedestrians.......

It was getting late in the afternoon by now but we didn't want to waste any daylight so we headed for Ilkley moor and the Cow and Calf rocks
The evening light was beautiful ...........

You get amazing views of the town of Ilkley and the hills beyond from up here......

Turning around I was wowed by the "calf" bathed in evening sunlight with a stormy sky behind......

I wondered how long ago these initials were carefully carved..........

I wish I could give you a feeling of how exposed this is . It looks beautifully calm but the wind was so strong I was afraid of being blown over..........

To regain my composure I sat down among the tiny Bilberries ..........

After a few moments I felt safe enough to explore a little further. The rock formations up here are so dramatic.........

As are the views.........

For a "girl" who loves photographing natures beauty , Ilkley moor on a sunny evening takes some beating...but oh that wind. Eventually it felt like it was right inside my head and I descended to the car park just as the weather turned.........

I was very glad to get in the car and admire mums sketch.......

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the South Pennines. Next time, day two , the Dales :0)
Jacquie x