An Eventful Week

About a month ago I had been approached and asked if I could play for a wedding in Rudding Park Chapel. The chapel and the huge house next door was part of a private estate owned by the Ratcliffe Family, but in the early 70's it had been bought, and the house converted into a very upper class hotel.

Rudding Park Chapel

The hotel, which is famous for its Clock Tower Restaurant, now caters for the top end of the market. The grounds boast a first class golf course, holiday homes and all the usual amnities one associates with such a property. As can be seen from the picture below, the chapel (on the right) is only road width away from the hotel. So the bride and groom should have no problems in getting from the hotel to the chapel - that is as long as it isn't very windy. The main door to the chapel is at the West End of the building (furthest away from the end nearest you in this photograph). The day I went to play for the wedding (Friday 4th February) was extremely windy, and fortunately Dot had decided to go along too. She spent the whole of the service, along with a female employee of Rudding Park trying to hold the two huge west doors shut!

After the service we went along to the lounge of the hotel and had coffee and biscuits with the vicar who had taken the service.

On Monday our tumble dryer decided to "give up the ghost", and part way through a drying cycle the drum stopped rotating and there was the most pungent burning smell.

A phone call to the insurance firm we have it insured with entailed a ten minute wait with numerous messages about "Your call is important to us", what seemed like hours of piped music, and "we are experiencing very busy lines at the moment" etc., etc. When I eventually spoke to a real live person, they were unable to tell me if they would be coming in the morning or the afternoon of the day they had arranged, which didn't exactly delight me. After some time I managed to get a phone number I could ring on the day of their call so I would know, within a two hour slot, when they would arrive.

The Hotpoint tumble dryer

On Wednesday I spoke to a group of over 50's at Crossflatts Community Centre, and my talk was on My Kind of Music(als) - Rodgers & Hammerstein. It went down well with them, and for most of the musical examples they were joining in and singing along!

Thursday duly arrived, and amazingly the tumble dryer service man arrived at 9.30 and within a short time had sorted out the problems with the tumble dryer, which meant that our original plans of going off for the day were still possible.

We packed all the necessities for Ruby - food, water, dog lead etc, and set off for Settle, where we dined at the Naked Man Cafe in the village square. The meal consisted of two bowls of carrot and coriander soup, with brown bread plaits, Dot had a cauliflower cheese dish and I had the pork and vegetable with dumplings and chips.

The Naked Man Cafe in the market square in Settle.

If you look very closely you will see a figure to the left of the fourth upstairs window. This is the Naked Man.

Some weeks ago, I was working in Skipton Tourist Information Centre, when the Naked Man Cafe came up in conversation, and nobody had any idea how it got its name. A search on the internet didn't reveal any clues (and we have had queries from time to time about how did the cafe get its name) so, taking the bull by the horns, I rang the cafe and asked, "How did your cafe get its name?"

It seems that in the late 17th century the building was an undertakers, and the figure of the naked man is actually a body of a man in a coffin!

The Naked Man

Whilst we were in Settle Dot took herself off in one direction and I took myself off to have a look round the two charity shops. S.C.A.D. is the Skipton Charity Association for the Disabled, and their shop is next door to the Naked Man (It's the building on the right hand side of my photograph of the Naked Man Cafe.) I then walked round the side of the Town Hall to the Age Concern shop, and whilst I was browsing their CD's I came across a Pam Ayres double CD called Ancient and Modern, which contains some of her earlier poems and also some of her more recent ones too. On the second CD she tells a very funny (and supposedly true) story of getting a new dog from a dog's charity and the fun and games they had training it.

Pam Ayres with her two dogs

We then went on to Austwick, where Dot took Ruby on a long walk from Austwick to the tiny hamlet of Wharfe, then back to Austwick.

The signpost in the centre of Austwick

Much to the chagrin of my good lady I have finallly succumbed and joined Facebook. This came about as a result of Sally, one of Hannah & Ben's Wedding Photographers posting her photos on Facebook, and the only way I could get to them was to join Facebook!

One Dog + Three Grandchildren + A Stream = WET WET WET

A break from the film reviews today, because we took our three grandchildren out for the day – to Austwick yet again!

We called in to Settle (as is our routine – to the Naked Man Café), but as it was Market Day the little town was heaving with the local population as well as holiday makers, so we got some take away sandwiches and drinks, and had a picnic at the top of Buck o’ Brow.

After eating her fill Olivia soon discovered what a comfortable pillow Ruby makes.

We then travelled on to Austwick and visited our usual spot – Flascoe Bridge, where we introduced Olivia to the delights of the stream and the rope swing! (Mollie and Tom had discovered these last week when we were up here. At first Olivia was a bit dubious about having a go on the swing……



The dam we helped build last week was still in place and the water the top side of the dam was now about two feet deep – in fact deep enough for Ruby to swim in with ease. So we spent some time throwing her sticks, a ball and a small triangular piece of wood in for her to swim out and recover.

Eventually Olivia had a go on the swing,

and even dared swinging over the water!

Ruby joined us for some group shots on Flascoe Bridge,

although I think she was more interested in the stick she had recovered from the stream!

After swinging again, Olivia managed to fill Nana’s wellies with water, so she too had to empty them out!

Tom posed for an individual portrait – as a pixie!




Ruby rounded off the day with her usual wide eyed innocent look, as if asking, “What, me wet?” after having shaken herself partially dry and soaked my trousers!

All in all a most enjoyable day out, especially as one dog and three grandchildren spent a great deal of time in the stream. It was a good job we had the foresight to take along changes of clothing for the children and towels for the dog!

Fun with the Mollie, Tom & Ruby at Austwick

It’s a rest from the visit to The Northumberland Coastal Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty today, because we visited Austwick with Mollie and Tom, our grandchildren. We usually stop in Settle for refreshments on the way there, and call at a cafe called the Naked Man, which causes much amusement.

Mollie selecting her food in the "Naked Man"

Then we made our way up to Austwick which is fondly remembered by my wife as the place of her birth and early childhood. We went for a short walk up the side of the local pub, The Gamecock, which serves excellent and very tasty home cooked meals. The landlord is a Frenchman, but has certainly got the hang of cooking local Yorkshire food!

Action Shot of Mollie

Returning from the walk to "The Gamecock" for lunch

The Gamecock Austwick

Then it was a short walk to Flascoe Bridge, an old clapper bridge over a small stream. On the walk there we came across lots of wild flowers.

Usually when we arrive here it is deserted, and we have the stream and bridge to ourselves, but today, being a lovely sunny day, and it being the school holidays, we met two local families who had been busy damming the stream up so it was deep enough for their two dogs and ours and their children and our grandchildren to paddle/swim in.

Tom in action - dam building

Tom & Mollie with Rolly

Mollie checking the dam

Rolly & Ruby

There is also a rope swing fastened to a tree which overhangs the stream and both Mollie and Tom had a swing on it. At one point Mollie managed to slip into the water, which was quite deep, and her wellies filled up. She soon emptied them.

Mollie in action

Tom in action

Mollie on Flascoe Bridge

A little water pixie called Tom under Flascoe Bridge

This is how you empty a wellie full of water!

After a short walk back to the car, we returned to Austwick village for ice creams, and went for a short walk down an area called "The Pant"

On our return home, we dropped Tom off at their allotments, and Mollie presented us with a home grown cucumber!