Last night in Hebden Bridge

The sun has been shining all day while we visited a tea room in Otley and walked up to the top of Chevin Hill with my brother. Then we drove over the glorious dales to Haworth and wandered around the cobbled streets, wondering aloud how the Tour de France riders had managed to race up the hill during the Yorkshire leg of the race a year or so ago. Finally we purchased food for the long awaited barbecue, for our final night.

The barbecue is alight. The boys are playing music from the bands they saw live during the week and discussing the success of the holiday. For it has been a great success. They have had a great time visiting the cities and trawling through every secondhand shop they could come across, looking for records and books. They enjoyed the live music, and in particular the unexpected Johnny Marr gig in Wakefield, which by all accounts was hot, sweaty and packed.

We have packed in quite a lot to our week. Flying visits to the Football Museum, the Bronte Parsonage for a mixed bag of culture. Catching up with my family. Music, music, music. Eating out, A wee bit of shopping (mostly by the boys) although I can highly recommend The Closet in Hebden Bridge for unusual and very pretty clothes. If you are reading this, Jenny Murray - this should be on your Bucket List of places to visit. The scenery around Hebden Bridge and Todmorden is beautiful. Rolling hills, craggy dales, dark shadowy valleys and lovely old stone architecture. Leeds and Manchester are lovely vibrant cities. There was almost too much to do here and even if you had a whole month here you couldn't do the place justice.

Last night I had a chance to meet up with a new friend, Becky Sherry, and we had a great time at a Thai Restaurant in Manchester - Chaophraya. It was like meeting up with a very old friend and I hope that one day she will get a chance to come up to Shetland.

Later we have to pack up our stuff ready for tomorrow morning. Given that the car was packed to the gills on the way down, I fully expect to struggle to fit everything back in for the long journey back.

But although we are leaving tomorrow morning, the holiday is not over yet. Tomorrow we are stopping off in Fettercairn to stay with Nicole. Looking forward to it!

Modest Mouse and Johnny Marr

This holiday has mostly been about music; listening to it, talking about it or the acquisition of it. I have lost count of how many record shops we have visited and the vinyl records that have been purchased.

Last night we went to the Leeds O2 Academy to see Modest Mouse and I think it’s fair to say that we had a great time. There were two support acts – Hippo Campus and Elle Knight, both American indie rock bands that went down very well with the audience. The gig was sold out and although we had no real idea of what we were going to hear, the crowd seemed to know all the back catalogue of Modest Mouse songs. It was pretty full-on rock and very entertaining. The boys certainly enjoyed it, right in front of the stage for the whole evening. We had to queue for merchandise after the gig; more vinyl albums of course. Incidentally, Johnny Marr used to play with Modest Mouse, hence the reason we bought the tickets.

Before we set off to Yorkshire I had also noticed that Johnny Marr was playing at Wakefield and since we have in our company a huge Smith’s fan it seemed a shame that the ticket office said it was for over 18s only. However, it turned out that Ian’s Auntie Helen was going to the gig and she was so surprised by the fact that it was supposedly for over 18s that she rang the venue and discovered this was a mistake. So we quickly purchased two tickets for Ian and Joseph and Auntie Helen is picking them up to take them to the gig. I can’t tell you how much excitement that caused.

Jacob and Murdo are going to accompany me to Manchester this afternoon/evening while the other two are at the gig. They are going to hang out in more record shops and cafes while I meet up with someone very special. Anyone who has read Learning to Dance Again will have heard of Becky Sherry – well I am going to meet the woman who inspired the character. More about that tomorrow.

Oh and by the way, the sun is shining and apparently it is going to hang about all day. I am sitting in the garden outside the cottage listening to Sade while I type. The boys are still in bed asleep. Perfect peace!

The Pilgrimage to Salford Lads Club

We really are soaking up the culture in Manchester; as well as soaking up the rain. Today we made a pilgrimage to the Salford Lads Club, which was made famous by The Smiths when they posed in front of it for the inside sleeve of one of their albums - The Queen is Dead. We even had a chance to look inside the club where there is a room devoted to The Smiths, with posters, photos and notes written by fans pasted onto the walls. It was as close as we have got to visiting a museum.

Too cool for school

Rain lashed down from the heavens pretty much all of the way from Aberdeen to Carlisle, but as we crossed the border into England the clouds disappeared and the car thermometer said it was 24 degrees outside. A great start to the holiday.

The journey felt much shorter than the seven hours it took after picking up the hired car. This was due in part to the entertaining playlist and the banter. When we stopped at an Asda supermarket for breakfast, for some reason my son decided to buy a bright orange toy machine gun and an action figure called John Cena which they found very entertaining in the back seat of the car, and I found completely mystifying. It was obviously some in-joke that went way over my head. But a while later, in complete contrast to the larking about, they started discussing politics and how they would eradicate world hunger.

We found the cottage thanks to the ingenuity of an iPhone satnav. On a map the cottage looks easy enough to find, but the reality of the tiny twisted lanes going up and down dale is somewhat different; not to mention an unexpected road closure with diversions sending you in the opposite direction. But we arrived to find the cottage nestled into the side of a hill surrounded by trees and a commercial stables. The stables are home to 52 horses, with some prize winning bloodstock. Our cottage is a converted stable. Ancient exposed stone walls, low ceilings, and huge inglenook fireplace. For some reason the cottage was listed as having three ensuite bedrooms, whereas it actually has four. I’m not quite sure why the owners would play down such a useful feature. We also discovered that WiFi was available if you sat outside and picked up the signal from the neighbours property.

Our first full day involved a trip to Manchester, and involved much traipsing around second-hand record shops looking for vinyl records, and the purchase of Harrington Jackets from Affleck’s Palace. Ian got a great haircut from a fierce looking barber and then it was off to lunch at Pizza Express as that was one place guaranteed to cope with the combination of peanut allergies and vegetarianism.

We drove back over Saddleworth moors in full sunshine and then took a trip through Hebden Bridge. We shall be going back there for a proper explore tomorrow.

And breathe!

There is something about getting ready for a holiday that actually makes you more in need of a holiday than ever. This one is no exception.

First came the realisation that there probably isn't WiFi in the holiday cottage. I was far too busy being overawed by the rustic charm of the place, the beautiful views, the three en-suite bathrooms and the dishwasher to notice such a minor flaw. Minor to me; pretty major for the teenagers. Thankfully they won't have to go completely cold turkey since pretty much every cafe has free WiFi access these days. I think I shall be forced to drink a lot of coffee this holiday.

The second stress was caused by the new driving licence legislation which came into force on the 8th June. The paper counterpart of the old driving licence is no longer valid. You now have to access your details online. This really only matters when you need to hire a car - which I am doing for the holiday. The car hire companies need to check your licence online and you have to go online to DVLA and get a security code to allow them to do this. I gave the new service a go a few weeks ago and it worked a treat. However, when I tried to access for the holiday it wouldn't work. This meant I had to ring DVLA on their expensive Helpline to get a code. My heart nearly stopped when the young lady with a very cheerful South Wales accent said, oh dear, I don't seem to be able to find your licence. However, a few nail biting minutes later (and probably another tenner on the phone bill) she found it and gave me the code. Phew! I had visions of trying to get a train all the way from Aberdeen to Hebden Bridge with the boys (who would not be best pleased at this change of transport).

So now I can relax. The cat sitter is sorted (Thanks a million Olaf) the weather is flat calm for tonight's crossing on the boat and sunshine is predicted for at least some of the week.

The Sound of Manchester

Serious preparations are underway for the long-awaited trip to Hebden Bridge. A sound track is being compiled to accompany us on the long drive from Aberdeen and back. This will comprise solely of music originating from Mancunian artists. I couldn't even persuade the boys to add in Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, which I thought would be appropriate since we will be staying reasonably close to the home of the Brontes.

So think of me on Saturday, driving 350 miles with Oasis, The Smiths, The Inspiral Carpets and Joy Division, amongst others, blasting out of the car stereo. This is going to be entertaining. But look how pretty it will be when we finally arrive.

Hebden Bridge - a old mill town in West Yorkshire