catgate Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 Yesterday was one of those unbelievable days. Hardly a cloud in the sky and a warm sun beating down....at the end of October!!! We launched ourselves at the dales. We have found, through experience, that the dales loose much of their charm if that wet stuff if falling from the sky. Yesterdays "door" was Ripon. A few years ago we had found a road running directly alongside the A1(M) which is almost like the Marie Celest. From this runs a fairly quiet road into the back streets of Ripon, and from there it is extremely easy for a seasoned tourist, or a simple beginner, to get lost in the little back streets or the Bishops finery. We were lucky again. He was "tending to his flock" as we passed by. Once through Ripon and on to the road to Masham we were out into a countryside that brings tears of joy to a dalesman's eye. Trying to describe the scenery is foolish. No words can describe the magnificent views of fields full of sheep, miles of moorland, little stream or rivers flowing gently down the valley bottoms. All to soon we were back home again, discussing our next trip before the weather spoils things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 If I close my eyes ?, I can feel it all around me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 Catgate : You are cruel teasing us with stories of the idyllic surroundings you live in. How about a story of a day out in Bradford to balance things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morty Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 I'm loving this ... these little idyllic jaunts are interesting. Better than my neck of the woods .. old mining country, slag heaps and spooky tales of buried miners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted October 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 Well, Mr Ho. it is quite a while since I visited Bradford. I think you must know that the City of Bradford was where I was hatched. I have a sister who still lives over that way (on the line dividing Bradford from Halifax). I can tell you of a very sad day in Bradford. I was still at Grammar school and I played rugby with a local team. This was because I never got picked to play in the school team. The local teams used to announce their selected teams in the Bradford evening paper on Thursday, and, on the Thursday in this tale, I had been picked as Substitute for the local team (so local that their ground was about half a mile from home). Being a local ad-hoc sort of team the substitute usually got to play. So I set off on Saturday over fields to the playing field behind a school. When I got there I met one of the "older end" who was an "expro", with most of his playing being professional rugby for the Bradford team. He was no longer playing but was a leading committee man, and he was the guardian of the clubs jerseys and shorts etc. "You don't look so well" he said, "Wot's up wi yer?" I explained that I was recovering from a rather bad cold or a benign touch of flu' . He suggested that I forget about playing because he would play in my place and there would be kit to fit him somewhere in the stock. I questioned his plan but he would not move. So ....the match started. It only started because one of the visiting team had a spare pair of boot that would fit my substitute. Some where just before half time my substitute caught a pass and set off like a bat out of hell for the other end of the field. It was truly amazing that he still had such speed. He reached the line, threw himself over it, banged the ball on the ground........and remained perfectly still. There was no doubt as to what had happened. I set off at a gallop to a telephone box that was quite a way from the field. I walked back and the local ambulance arrived almost as soon as I did. It was obvious that it was the wrong vehicle. Very, very sad. But he went out having scored a try. Many years later, my friend Brian, who is currently bed ridden and paralysed in a nursing home in Saltburn, was having a silver wedding bash, and of course my wife and I were invite. As we went in Brian stepped forwards to welcome us, and not far behind him was a face that I recognised as the man who loaned Johnny a pair of boots. Brian stepped forwards and said "I'd like you to meet Mr Dodgson." All three of us were most surprised. Particularly Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 Splendid. I enjoy a dead ending. Now tell us about the day you got your own way with management...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted October 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 AlanHo Splendid. I enjoy a dead ending. Now tell us about the day you got your own way with management...... Alan, You know very well that no husband has ever "got his own way with his management.." I just pretend I have when she is not about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 I am boss in our house,I don’t stand for any nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted October 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Presumably you do as every submissive husband does.....you sit down for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted November 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 To day is/was the sort of day that caused the start of this topic. We returned home about an hour ago after "doing" Pately Bridge and Nidderdale (right up to the far end). It was a wonderful day to do it because the summer tourists were absent, and so were their motor vehicles. It was almost like having the place to ourselves in some parts, I am beginning to wonder why I like Nidderdale more than some of the other dales. It certainly has a charm all of its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 We have a suburb of Birmingham called Dale End - it doesn't compare with your Dales which lack the ethnic content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted November 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 Our nearest settlement with true ethnic content is Bradford, where I was born and educated..........well o.k. ...where I was hatched and went to school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little jimmy Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Been to Odsal many times Catgate--a long way home when you lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted December 22, 2017 Report Share Posted December 22, 2017 18 hours ago, little jimmy said: Been to Odsal many times Catgate--a long way home when you lose. Lose what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little jimmy Posted December 24, 2017 Report Share Posted December 24, 2017 Andsome --Odsal was a Rugby League stadium in Bradford where I have been many times --but when my team lost it seemed a long way home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted December 26, 2017 Report Share Posted December 26, 2017 I remember the feeling when WBA used to loose at the Hawthorns when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted December 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 On 12/21/2017 at 10:37 PM, little jimmy said: Been to Odsal many times Catgate--a long way home when you lose. From being an infant to being well into my teens I lived in Bradford and only about three miles away from Odsal. I went to the first Speedway meeting there and stood right next to the Starting pad. What a noise when the tapes went up!!!! I lived opposite a farm in the outskirts of Bradford and it was one of the farmers sons I went with. I used to help him with his milk round on Saturday mornings (paying-for-the-weeks-milk day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 I used to go to the speedway at Perry Barr Birmingham. I don't think it is there any more. I can still smell the alcohol fuel and the feeling of being covered in red shale dust. Me and my mate used to replicate it on the local field with our bikes (we were about 12 at the time) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Never fancied speedway, always preferred a football match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 I did a lot of daft things in my youth. Football, cricket, tennis, ping pong, running, smoking, train spotting, model trains and aeroplanes, kites, stamp collecting, playing card collecting, tropical fish and pop music, are just a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 On 26/12/2017 at 4:37 PM, andsome said: when WBA used to loose at the Hawthorns when I was knee high to a grasshopper. A tradition they maintain to this very day. Thank god I'm not a Baggies fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 4 hours ago, Belatucadrus said: A tradition they maintain to this very day. Thank god I'm not a Baggies fan. Thay have been crap this season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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