For many years now, I have travelled from Lofthouse in Upper Nidderdale over the moors and down to Masham in Wensleydale, firstly with my parents in our trusty little three-wheeler Reliant Regal then, in more recent years, I have driven my own family. Looking up to my right on the descent towards Leighton Reservoir I…
The last time we experienced a solar eclipse was back in 1999 and when Karen (my wife) mentioned that to one of her carers the young carer replied “I hadn’t even been born in 1999” – talk about making you feel your age! I remember well that day 27 years ago, Karen was a Registered…
My auntie and uncle ran the Moor Grocer’s shop in Killinghall Road, Undercliffe, Bradford for many years. Their day started early with the bacon being delivered to be boned and rolled, they had two big lumps of lard and butter that would be weighed out and it was a typical grocer’s shop of the day…
Having lived in East Anglia for almost 21 years now, we have built up a love-hate relationship with the A47, the main trunk road linking all points west to the beautiful east coast. This particular stretch was built on the railway bed just west of Dereham and boasts a delightful three miles of ruler-straight road…
The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 made it unlawful to discriminate against people living with disabilities. 30 years on we have made great strides, but we are still not quite there. As somebody who regularly pushes a wheelchair, I have come to be a bit of an expert on just how inaccessible some “accessible” toilets…
It’s amazing how quickly we forget. One of the churches I worked with in 2020 decided to distribute daffodils to church folk as a small gesture to show that the church family remembered them. I thought that this was a lovely idea, so each time we went to the supermarket, we bought some small pot…
A friend of mine gave me this little chap as gift; I believe that he comes from Zimbabwe and he sits on the book shelf over my desk. I was told when I received the gift that the piece it titled “The Thinker” and I love him, whenever I sit pondering over how to word…
Moving from West Yorkshire to Norfolk in 2005, I was met with the unsolicited comment repeatedly “Norfolk isn’t flat” I never suggested it was, and 20+ years ago as I enjoyed cycling around the lanes, I very quickly learned they were right. That said, we tend not to have the fells and mountains I grew…
My brother and I always used to love baking with our mum and one of the highlight of every baking session was licking out the bowl, I guess that there are some that will see all kinds of issues around health and safety, but this was the sixties and we didn’t bother about things like…
I have never been a gardener; I love seeing the fruits of other people’s labours and admire gardens while out and about. I would love to have the kind of skills to plant and grow and appreciate the fruits of my labours, but I was not blessed in that way. A few weeks ago we…