Just the other day, Steve at "Shadows and Light" was reflecting upon the pronunciation of place names. In response, I mentioned Slaithwaite - a former industrial village in the Colne Valley just west of Huddersfield here in Yorkshire.
Afterwards, it occurred to me that I had never been to Slaithwaite nor rambled in its environs. As the forecasters promised that today (Monday) would be a warm blue sky day, I was keen to take a good long walk and decided to drive up to Slaithwaite. It is over an hour away from our house.
I parked Butch close to "The Silent Woman" public house and a few minutes later I was sitting in Ashbys cafe on Britannia Road with a sausage and tomato sandwich and a latte - having decided to fuel up before my long walk.
The situation of Slaithwaite (pronounced Slawit) requires a little explaining. It is down in the valley where The River Colne, the Leeds-Manchester railway, The Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the A62 trunk road from Huddersfield to Oldham all advance from east to west. The valley sides are pretty steep leading to farms, hamlets and short terraces of stone houses via rising lanes, tracks and paths.
My intention was to walk up onto the moors south of Slaithwaite, taking in two reservoirs - Deer Hill and Blackmoorfoot - before looping back to "The Silent Woman" where I was looking forward to a pint of shandy to mark the end of my little Bank Holiday adventure.
The steep valley side slowed me down and so did the shooting ranges close to Deer Hill Reservoir because I was forced to make a diversion - adding forty minutes to what was already a fairly long walk.
But on such a diamond day, I thoroughly enjoyed my endless plodding. There's something most satisfying about the exhaustion that such a walk can create - but not quite as satisfying as that lovely pint of cold bitter shandy in the welcome shade of "The Silent Woman".
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/ARy2N9C
