Exploring the Byways of West Yorkshire

Bob got up and shaved and I got up and took a shower. I wasn't sure if the little table in the bathroom was to sit on (and I can't take the scooter in the shower of course), so I sat on my cane seat. Then we went to breakfast. We were the first people down.

Breakfast being cooked

There was a fire in the stove.

Welcome warmth from the Stove in the corner

We ate looking out over the countryside.

Reservoir

We could see the reservoir over in the distance. And a

Town

I had an egg sandwich which came on a huge bun bigger than a hamburger bun. I didn't take a photo until I'd eaten some of it and then I took the first picture with the bottom side up.

Egg Sandwich right side up

Bob had porridge.

Bob's bowl

The farm has black Angus cattle and sheep.

Part of the farm

They've been lambing. More about the lambing later

We drove into town - I told the GPS in the car to take us to Victoria Street. This time it took us straight down into town without going all around Robin Hood's barn. On the way we were on Cemetery Road and passed Holy Trinity Church Cemetery. The church itself is right in the middle of town, but the cemetery is out here.

If you have any interest in the TV Series "Last of the Summer Wine", you have to take Colin's tour in his antique bus.

Welcome to Summerwine Magic - the tour

Winding our way down the peaceful valleys

On now to the sleepy little hamlet where Wesleys garage and Edies cottage

Meet your guide Colin

It leaves from next to the Holy Trinity Parish Church. Located in the centre of Holmfirth, in the layby outside Sids Cafe, opposite the main bus station. If the tour is operating, Colin puts a sign outside Sid's Cafe. I did some research and booked our trip on days that the tour would be operating.

There are two Anglican churches in Holmfirth - Holy Trinity which is the Parish church

Holy Trinity - Holmfirth Parish Church

and St. John the Evangelist which is on Upperthong Lane and thus technically in Upperthong and not really in Holmfirth. The Lane United Reformed Church no longer exists except for the cemetery. Bob thought we could park in the bus station lot

Bus station

Parking lot by the bus station

but you can only park for 2 hours there and I thought the tour would be longer. But Bob said it was only a 45 minute tour and what would they do to us anyway. But we left that parking lot

Exit from the bus station

and parked at the Co-op which had BIG spaces, easy to park in, and used the scooter to get back to the place to take the tour.

Bob paying for parking

Parking

The sign pointed to the left to the bus station, but we accidentally went into the Methodist church parking lot.

Holmfirth Methodist Church

Dedicated parking for the Methodist minister

There was a small cemetery behind the church.

Small cemetery back of the church

The cemetery behind the Holmfirth Methodist Church has some old graves and some memorial plaques to those who died in WWI. Cemetery grave markers are for people who died in the mid to late 1800s. We took some photos - It turned out that this cemetery was already on Find A Grave with most of the memorials already in place. But our photos were enough clearer that I could add full inscriptions to most of the memorials. Someone going into the church saw me taking photos of the war memorials and asked me what I was doing. I just said I was interested in war memorials. He said these had been lying on the ground before they were put on the wall of the church and had gotten discolored. He wasn't having much luck cleaning them.

Plaque to WWI dead

I've been thinking about it and it seems to me (while Find A Grave can't advocate it or anything) that he might get help from those people that put marble counters into kitchens - surely they have some way to remove stains.

We came out of the back of the church and crossed over the river.

River from the pedestrian bridge in mid March

In the center of Holmfrith, next to the river is a small park area with flower beds, and paths. It is between Station Road and the Holme River and you can get to it by a footbridge across the river,

From the footbridge side

Bob's photo of me

or by walking along Station Road.

Station Road - where the bus station is

Looking over the wall at the bus station

Holmeside Memorial Garden from Station Road

Gate on Station Road

Somewhat unexpectedly, it contains a number of very old gravestones. There are 80 different people listed. One of the older gravestone says

HERE lieth the Body of Peter William Dyson Son of Thomas Dyson of Dalton who departed this Life ye 9th Day of May 1791 in the 8th Year of his Age. Nature will weep but O repress the tears Since Christ and his salvation are so near The gospel loud invites us to rejoice We wou d not harken to a Saviour's voice

The stone inside the gate is for Jonathan Brook (d. 1807), his two wives Sarah (d 1802) and Catherine (d 1804) and his daughter Mary d 1802 at age 10.

Stone for the Brook family on the ground by gate

Some of the stones are flat on the ground (probably marking the original grave), and others are on the wall at the end of the park (probably these have been "relocated". The stones are probably why cycling, roller blading and exercising of dogs is prohibited.

Jane Lockwood d. Aged 6 Years and 10 Months and her parents

There was no sign to tell us the name of this park, so after I got home to the USA, I called the Tourist Information People. When they got back to me they said it was the Holmeside Memorial Garden. We saw the Maythorne Cross.

Maythorne Cross

There were lots of cyclists in town.

Cornerhouse Cafe with bikes

Bicycles parked outside a cafe

Cyclists

"Downtown" Holmfirth has many little shops and cafes.

Brambles Bar and Cafe

Almond clothing store

The main landmark (other than Holy Trinity church) is the

J.W.K. Ironmongers on the corner and the church

because that is where you head for when you want to see Sid's Cafe. The Ironmongers probably not really a place where a tourist is apt to be buying something.

Closer view of Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity Church of Holmfirth is right in the middle of town. It is the Parish Church for the town of Holmfirth (so it is Anglican aka Church of England or what we call Episcopal). The church is a building of stone, erected in 1777 on the site of a former chapel of ease, and consists of nave, aisles, and an embattled tower containing a clock and 6 bells, cast about 1830. The interior was restored in 1875. Some of the tombstones for the parishioners are in the Holmside Memorial Park, but the majority are in the cemetery on Cemetery Road which is above the town

Alley on one side of the church

Signboard with church name and hours

Church billboard

Stairs by Holy Trinity church

It is right next to Sid's Cafe and it is next to this church that the Summer Wine tours start.

Stairs by Sid's Cafe

Holmfirth is full of winding streets and steps, some of which I recognize from the TV series. And even if I don't, there are photographic angles everywhere.

Corner

And that includes the rooflines and chimneys.

Chimney pots

We got to the Sid's Cafe, but it was still only 10:40. The cafe was beside the church - there were two steps up to the forecourt and I saw what looked to be about 15 bicyclists going in there and it was only a small place.

Cyclist getting ready to go in the Cafe

So we left the scooter outside and went in to Beatties Cafe instead.

Beatties

Deli counter through the door

Scrumptous desserts at Beatties

Bob got a

Hot chocolate

and

a Danish

I got

Tea

and

A scone and jam

We weren't done by 11 so Bob went out and talked to Colin (who runs the tours) and he confirmed that while the tours went on from 11 to 3, they only took 45 minutes. So we would be on the noon tour.

Tourists on the 11:00 tour taking photos

Except for the map I bought at the Visitors Center, and food, we only bought two things in Holmfirth. One of them was here at Beatties. Bob bought some tea pigs because their literature said that better tea would result when tea leaves were whole and not chopped up.

Display of tea pigs (right of archway)

When we got home, he tried them and wasn't that impressed. Beatties had a number of other items for sale

Creme brule packages

Basket of pasta

Jams and jellies

We saw someone with a coffee pot with a plunger which they showed us - apparently you put the coffee grounds in it and the water and let the coffee brew and then when you are ready to drink it, you push the plunger and the vacuum pulls all the grounds to the bottom and you can pour the coffee off the top without any grounds in it. I think they called it a French press. My daughter confirmed that's what you call it.

Anyway we got on the noon bus. When we asked what we should do with my scooter, he said he would just chain it to the tour sign.

Scooter chained to the sign

And that's what he did. I took a photo of him on the phone before the tour started.

Colin makes a call

Then he drove us around and showed us all the various places things were filmed. It was hard to take photos because of reflections and movement. We saw where Compo and Nora Batty lived. Compo's Home which contained the Summer Wine Exhibition is next to the Wrinkled Stocking Tearoom (Nora Batty's stockings were wrinkled unless she was dressed up) and was definitely not accessible, so we didn't try to visit.

Near Compo's house

Compo's house

Tearoom from the bus

Street where Summer Wine Exhibit is located

He showed us where Roz (Pearl's sister) lived.

Roz's house

We saw where Howard and Cleggy lived. He showed us where Glenda and Barry lived. He showed us where Bill Owen stayed when they were filming.

Winter trees

Road from inside the bus

Country lane

We met a caravan (camper) and the driver asked our driver Colin if this was the way to Holmfirth.

One possible road to Holmfirth

Colin said, "Well it is one way".
Later the lady at the farm said they used one of their walls for Compo to stand on.

Houses clustered among fields

He showed us the church where Glenda and Barry were married.

Church where Glenda and Barry were married in the distance

He pointed out where Wesley's shed was, but it isn't there anymore because when the actor playing Wesley died, they tore it down. .

Shed like Wesley's shed

Piebald Draft horse

As usual the filming locations were spread out and not all in one place like it looks like they would be in the film.

Piebald draft horse

He also explained the various mill towns and their history. West Yorkshire is full of little mill towns - mostly in the case of the area near Holmfirth they were textile mills.

Mill chimney

Old mill worker's houses

Upperthong, Hepworth, Thongbridge, Holmbridge and especially Wooldale are some notable textile mill towns. In Wooldale were
Albion Mill.
Choppards Mill.
Ford Mill.
Glendale Mills.
Kirkbridge Mill.
Lee Mills.
Midgeon Wood Bottom Mill.
Moorbrook Mills.
Stoney Bank Mill.
Town Mill.
Underbank Mill.
Upper Mytholm Bridge Mills.
Washpit Mill.
Wildspur Mill.

View of the houses on the side of a hill from bus

Some of the narrative was taped (where he had to pay attention to his driving) and some wasn't. We saw the Red Lion pub

Red Lion

and the White Horse

Area around the White Horse

The White Horse is not directly in Holmfirth. It is in Jackson Bridge, but it has a Holmfirth PO address. It is in what is called a mill beck. A beck is apparently where a small stream flows. We didn't stay here, but the Inn was on the Last of the Summer Wine tour because it was often used in the show.

White Horse Inn

Because the road runs almost right by the door and the car park is across the from it., when they were filming they blocked off the road and made a big area in front of the White Horse. Filming took place both inside and out.

White Horse Inn from the bus

He told us about the two floods - one the dam at the reservoir burst and killed about 80 people and the other one was a cloudburst upstream which killed three people. Bob took photos of the pictures of the 1944 flood that were in the van.

Picture of the 1944 flood in the Summer Wine bus

Another photo of the 1944 flood

Something that appears to be one of the main dangers of small communities in some areas of England. Not the kind of floods that occur along the Mississippi with the spring melt where the water rises relatively slowly and covers the flood plain, but more on the order of a cloud burst or the breach of a dam. The floods appear to be more severe as the population increases and they seem to surprise people each time. In 1738 rainstorms caused the River Holme to burst its banks and flood the valley. Though there was damage to farmland there was no loss of life. This was the first recorded flood.Following a severe storm on Wednesday 21 July 1777 the River Holme burst its banks and flooded the valley. Three people were drowned and a stone church built in 1476 was swept away. The River Holme again flooded the valley around Holmfirth, following rainstorms on 21 September 1821, with no loss of life.The 1852 flood occurred when the embankment of the Bilberry reservoir collapsed, causing 81 deaths and a large amount of damage to property in the valley. The buildings and structures destroyed included four mills, ten dye houses, three drying stoves, 27 cottages, seven tradesmen’s houses, seven shops, seven bridges crossing the River Holme, ten warehouses, eight barns and stables. On Whit Monday, 29 May 1944, flash flooding following a severe thunderstorm, caused the deaths of 3 people in the Holme Valley.

Memorial to the Peace of Ammens next to the public toilets

Height of the 1852 flood

There is a monument to the Peace of Ammens in 1801. There is a metal plate on that memorial that shows the height of the 1852 flood.

Picturedrome from across the Holme River

I did not understand this at the time, but this old movie house which was once called the Holme Valley Theatre is now a live music venue with a bar. In 1998 it was remodeled and re-named The Picturedrome

Next to the Picturedrome

It is right next to the

Old Bridge Inn

I would have been glad to book the Old Bridge Hotel in the center of Holmfirth. It did have wi-fi. But their website says We have no ground floor rooms and the rooms we have are accessed by stairs only and and limited car parking. And I needed either a ground floor room or an elevator, and did not want a hassle with parking

We got back about one, and used the public restrooms. There was a handicapped restroom, but it was boarded up and they put it in the regular Ladies.

Female toilet door

Sinks in the ladies side

Handicapped toilet

My selfie in the public restrooms

On the way back to the car, we took photos of all the grave markers in Holmeside Memorial Garden

River from the bank

People feeding the birds (from pedestrian bridge)

and also of the people feeding the ducks.

Mandarin Duck on the far shore

Mallards on the edge of the river

Then we retrieved the car.

Post box (aka mail box)

Post office

We went back up Cemetery Lane.

Cat on a stone wall

Cemetery Road leaving Holmfirth

Up on Cemetery Road, overlooking the town, is the cemetery for the Holy Trinity Parish church. It is on a very steep hill.

There was a sign on the gate which said
Holy Trinity Parochial Church Council, which has responsibility for this cemetery, is considering plans to redesign the Garden of Remembrance. This is the area where families lay to rest the cremated remains of loved ones. If this concerns you and your family directly, or if you would like to hear about the plans, be consulted or make a comment, you are invited to contact the Reverent Keith Griffin, the vicar

Garden of Remembrance

Cemetery gate

The other sign on the gate says:
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

• Polite Notice*

All dogs must be kept on lead at all times. Any fouling must be removed
-------
Please keep to footpaths

• ------------ *

No unsupervised children
---------------
No glass vases to be left

We took a bunch of photos in that cemetery. I went along the path as far as I could. Bob walked up and down the hill.

Bob taking photos in the cemetery

From the gate looking down into the cemetery

Then while Bob was finishing up, I took my telephoto lens out and took some photos of the valley below. It is more than just old stone buildings.

Red brick house

Laundry hanging out

Half timbered roof and large chimney pots

House on the hill opposite the cemetery

House with solar panels (top of photo)

Two men stopped and watched Bob for a bit and then came to where I was sitting on the scooter behind the gate, and asked if I knew why the man was taking photos. I said "Yes, he is my husband". So they asked again "Why is he taking photos". I said "Because I asked him to." So then they said, "Is this a kind of hobby", and I said yes that it was. But I didn't go into specifics.

Sheep opposite the Holy Trinity Cemetery

Bob got finished with one section about 2:30 (all the hill climbing up and down made him sore the next day) and we decided to see if we could get a meal at the Winery. But they said they were expecting a bus load of people at 3 and they were fully booked at 5. (They close at 6). So we left and went on back to the B&B. Probably just as well as their website reads like it would be too fancy for us. When we failed to get a place to eat at the Holmfirth Winery and we didn't want to try to find the pub which was supposed to be a short distance away (but which we never saw) I thought of another option. The literature in the room said we could have a packed lunch. I ask if they would do that instead of dinner. And she said that would be fine, she would make it and put it in the dining room for us.

It was a really good lunch - roast beef sandwiches, cherry tomatoes, chips (not french fries but actual potato chips),

Packed lunch - roast beef and cherry tomatoes

water, home made fruit cake and fruit.

Fruit, fruit cake and chips

Afterward we were spent some time looking out the window at the sheep and lambs.

View from the breakfast room

Coddy's farm apparently has both cows, pigs and sheep. But while driving around the country, I saw more sheep than anything else, although I did see a few piebald draft horses.

They were letting the sheep outside for the first time since the lambs were born. They let the ewes out first. The farm lady said that each ewe has a metal ear tag which tells what farm she belongs to, when she was born, and who her parents were.

Ewes before the lambs were let out

Marked sheep before the lambs were turned out

1298 Lambs and Ewes from the breakfast room

When the lambs are born, they color code the sheep and their lambs. Blue paint on the sheep means one lamb. Red (I never saw any red) means twins, and Green means triplets.

Ewes and a lamb

That way if she sees a sheep with green paint on her, and sees two lambs, she knows she has to look for another lamb. Bob jokingly said that the marking on the ewes back was too high for the lambs to see so she need to teach the lambs to read the ear tags.

Sheep and lamb

She replied that the ewe could see the mark on the lambs back. In actual fact, the ewes don't need the colors on the back to identify their own lamb(s) and they will chase away any lambs that don't belong to them. We also saw a pheasant.

Pheasant