Thursday 29 March 2012

Seeing my new area through another's eyes.

I feel like I have been absent for ages! I have been up since 5 this morning and have caught up on all your lovely blogs which was a nice early morning treat. I have had an old friend staying with me this week, one who I have not seen in 9 years because she lives in New York and it has been such a lovely time. I have not been working at all (because my departure back to London for a couple of months work is on 9th April)  and the weather, as you all know, has been absolutely glorious.
It has been a wonderful opportunity to explore my new area with someone who knows it even less that I do and it has been enormous fun.
On Tuesday we took a walk down Healey Dell, which is a nature reserve, local to me and spent a lovely morning following the river, looking for kingfishers (we found none), wagtails (we found one) and trying to spot fairies in the faries chapel (no luck there either). In the afternoon we wandered over the hill behind my house and to the reservoir.
Yesterday we went to Gawthorpe Hall, near Burnley which was such a beautiful building. Sadly it doesn't open to the public until this coming weekend, but people are free to wander through the grounds. We then had a cream tea in the tea rooms - essential for such a visit I think.

Gawthorpe Hall

We rounded off the trip with a drive to the incredibly pretty village of Barley, which nestles under the shadow of Pendle Hill, famed for its connection with the Lancashire witches. What a lovely village, highly recommended if you find yourself in the area. We paid our pound parking (which delighted us by being charged on the honour system) and walked to the base of Pendle Hill. Neither of us had quite enough energy or the correct gear to climb the hill, but I would love to go back one day and do it.


Pendle Hill

Today we are going to try and climb over the hills that separate my little town of Whitworth with Hollingworth Lake. It may to too far a walk, but  we will see how far we get. It starts with climbing the hill that I have been looking at from my living room window for the last 2 months and I have been dying to know what is on the other side!

In other news, my compost bin has arrived and last night I put in my very first load of compostable kitchen waste. It may not seem very exciting to most people, but to me it was a real event, something that reinforces a connection to the garden cycle and it felt quite significant.

Welcome to my new followers, there seem to have been quite a lot of you recently! Sorry that I have posted little of late. It is always nice to here from you, so please comment and introduce yourself, or just say hello, if you feel like it. We are a very friendly community!


14 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you are enjoying your visitor and showing them and you, your new area. We have just emptied out our compost bins and got loads of beautiful, friable, lovely smelling 'black gold' as its known. We also tear up kitchen and toilet rolls and cardboard egg cartons (if not using them for anything else) plus shredded paper goes in there as well.

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    1. Took your advice and put in my egg carton last night. It becomes quite an eye opener when you realise how much compostable material you accumulate in one day!

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  2. Gawthorpe is beautiful inside too - well worth a return visit. It's quite a few years since we visited but it was wonderful. You've been so lucky to have such good weather for exploring your local area this week. Have another lovely day today!

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    1. Thank you, I will definitely go back to Gawthorpe when the house is opened. I think it has a 400 anniversary Pendle witches exhibition so will be a good place to take my nieces and nephews when they are visiting.

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  3. There you are! You were missed! But I know it's because you were having fun. Wow, such beautiful pictures. You live in a place where I'd be just like your friend, in awe of every new thing I saw and experienced.

    Congrats on the compost bin, working on getting one of those myself! Might try my hand at making one, if I feel so bold, ha. I think composting is awesome. Keep us posted and 'welcome back'! :-)

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    1. I was going to make a compost bin too, but the council were offering them for just £15 so it was not much difference in price versus materials in the end - and far easier and better looking.

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  4. dan
    never mind excuses just get bloody well blogging!

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    1. Ok ok, I'm back. Now I have no more distractions as no visitors and no more episodes of the Walking Dead to watch!

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  5. How lovely! Sounds like a wonderful time has been had and I love the photos.

    Composting is great. You will not want to waste a thing now. Hubby turned over our compost bin recently as it goes, and we now have a really great layer of home made compost by our strawberry plant patch...so hopefully more tendrils will spread out soon and we'll get even more fruit next year.

    Anyway, as always, great to hear from you. Enjoy the weather whilst it lasts!

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    1. It has been fantastic weather so we were really lucky! But my friend's departure seems to have taken the good weather with her, as it is cold and grey today!

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  6. Doing the touristy things in your own local area is such fun! Glad your enjoying yourself and the countryside before your return to work. nice to hear an update :)

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    1. You are right. There is so much to explore around here and I never knew!

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  7. I lived at Whalley and went to school at Clitheroe, so I know Pendle Hill well - love the photo of the hill's blunt end - a real landmark for miles around!

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    1. I love Clitheroe, but it is years since I have been. Perhaps that will be next trip out! I never realised what a distinctive hill Pendle was until I went.

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