We arrived back from Slovenia into the UK with less than a day to sort out our washing before heading off again.
Whilst we were away I read that Loretta Swit had died at the age of 87. I loved the M.A.S.H. series on television, as well as the film from 1970, I still have all the CDs and now remember I need to finish watching them (for the second time). However, it’s so long since I watched it, I’ll probably have to go back to the beginning again to catch up. When we were on holiday in Eastern USA some years ago, it seemed that you could turn the television on and at least one channel would be showing episodes. I’ve just gone onto the IMDb website and discovered there was a series called ‘After MASH’ in 1983, so I’ll add that to my viewing list as well. Don’t panic if you don’t hear from me for a year or so. (There’s also a totally unrelated series called MASH from 2012, but it relates to four sisters ‘navigating life’. I think I can miss that one).
So, where did we travel to next? If you know the title you’ll know, although you might argue it’s God’s Own Country, not county. Read on.
We had an overnight trip to York to see our pal Maria. After a big breakfast in a local café we were off to Beamsley Hospital, via Skipton for a bit of shopping. In the car park we saw a well-loved Morris Traveller, which reminded me of mine: there’s a picture at the end of Post 99 of July 2020 showing it in a very sorry state.
We haven’t stayed in a self-catering place for ages so had to think what we needed. I used to have a list of essential items, such as a kitchen knife that we knew would actually cut. This time there was a sharpener so JD was able to get the knives safe (nothing worse than a blunt knife when you’re peeling or chopping). We did find a place in Ilkley but I was unsure about walking the streets with a sharp knife or two in my bag.
Don’t panic, we were not paying a visit to a self-operating and self-catering hospital (although I could make a comment about the waiting times and state of food in our NHS hospitals). Beamsley Hospital is not actually a hospital but an old almshouse. It’s a circular building that was founded in 1593 by Margaret, Countess of Cumberland. It was given consent by Queen Elizabeth the First for the old and poor women of Skipton, decrepit and broken down by age. Here Margaret is, she looks like someone you’d not want to cross.
Beamsley (for short) was intended for thirteen poor widows, twelve Sisters and one Mother. The chapel is at the centre and around this were six bedrooms, each with a fireplace. Prayers were said in the chapel every day (but not by us, heathens that we are).
There is also a long range of buildings by the road which housed the rest of the Sisters. They were supported by the rent from two farms. By the 1950s, most of the rooms were empty and the buildings needed some modernisation, which was undertaken at the end of that decade. For a few years after this, the Hospital was full but then numbers started to fall again. After the introduction of council retirement homes and sheltered housing, it was no longer used. In 1983 the trustees passed it onto the Landmark Trust. We had stayed there not long after it was opened, in 1986; if you go back to Post 167 from December 2024 you’ll see a photo of me and Fudge in the chapel.
If you fancy staying there yourselves, here’s the link.
https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/searchresults/
I have mentioned the Landmark Trust in previous Posts but not told you about it. It is a charity set up in 1965 to rescue historic buildings that are of risk of falling derelict, but not deemed important enough for the likes of the National Trust, nor easily converted to a modern home. They are given new life by restoration, furnishings in a very eclectic style then renting them out as holiday stays. One of the major features is no internet, wifi, television, radio or other mod cons (although Beamsley now has a dishwasher). There are around 200, mostly in the UK but also in Ireland, Italy and Vermont in the USA. One in France was the weekend retreat of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor after his abdication.
https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/celibataire-6060/#Overview
We used to stay in them a lot, I’ve lost count how many we’ve tried. Maybe I’ll start again. First I need to find the old Handbook where I’ve marked up the places we’ve been to.
The reason for going to Beamsley again was to meet up with my (remaining) brother Miles, his wife Maz, and their two dogs Frank and Stan (say their two names very quickly to get another name?).
After all the restaurant dining we’ve recently experienced, it was very relaxing to eat in or at a local pub. We tried the Craven Arms in Appletreewick, which was very busy: they took us through to an empty barn at the back and squeezed us into a far corner. There should have been gas lighting over the table but it was being repaired, the atmosphere would have been very romantic otherwise. We weren’t sure why we were stuck in a corner until about two dozen cyclists came in for a meal: they did this every week apparently after an arduous ride through the Yorkshire countryside. I saw this when I visited the loo: I’m not sure what it says about the clientele’s ability to lock doors.
You can’t visit God’s Own Country without trying a restaurant called Paradise, can you? We were invited to lunch by a couple of friends we used to work with. It’s a restaurant hidden behind a garden centre.
Avril and Alan, friends of mine since I was very young, visited us one day and we had a long leisurely lunch and talked about places we’d lived and things we’d done: I realise my long-term memory is just as bad as my short-term memory. I spent some of my early life around Leeds, first in a corner shop in Hunslet, an area long since developed twice over and totally unrecognisable. Here I am as a three-year old I think. If you squint you can see it was after I’d been in hospital with polio as I’m wearing a caliper.
In researching this I see a book was written, now out of print but I’m sure I can find a copy and maybe see if I recognise anywhere (and find out what was so remarkable).
After Hunslet we moved to a bigger shop in Horsforth, another area of Leeds. This was more genteel and apparently this year was voted one of the best places to live in the UK! I think I remember that shop, in a terrace, and I can still smell the scent of the animal feed we sold. The Brownlee brothers Jonny and Alistair (Olympian triathletes) were born there (a tad after I’d moved). You might remember Alistair helping Jonny over the line in one race, to come second and third.
https://olympic-speakers.com/news/humble-historic-heroic-the-brownlee-brothers
I could make a ‘Small World’ Post but instead it’s here as it was a long time ago. Starting my first ‘real’ job, in the interview with Sandoz close to Heathrow, the factory was mentioned, near Leeds. On my first trip there to learn about pharmaceutical manufacturing, the factory manager at the time mentioned his grandfather had had a blacksmith’s forge in Horsforth. I found out many years later that Landmark Trust has a property in Calverley, very close to where the factory had been.
One day we drove to Newcastle to see John’s mam, had another long leisurely lunch then drove back. It was good being able to visit her easily in one day, from London or Somerset it takes the best part of a day. The drive was very picturesque, through the Yorkshire and Northumbrian countryside. Who needs to travel in foreign parts?
As we drove to and from Beamsley we kept passing some odd structures, which turn out to be a (not so) Secret RAF Base at Menwith Hill. One of the locals seemed unmoved by living in its shadow.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c299dlwzkndo
So, finally, a few weeks relaxing at home between one adventure and the next. Except, the first week, SOMEONE (no name, no pack drill) had arranged meetings every morning for the week. I had to set an alarm! Not as early as when we were actually working but still not expected. Almost as bad as driving around with the Germans.
Where next? I’ll have to consult my diary. You’ll find out next time.
George and John's boating trip no longer 