How often have I heard of the old stories of the life in the Yorkshire dales and moors in central England. One ofthe key birthplaces of the industrial revolution in the western world and the place for hardy trekers negotiating the hills and dales of at times wild weathered terrain. One of the oldest cities is York to the east, Sheffield and Leeds in the middle with Manchester and Liverpool in the west. My English geography has never been the accurate, in fact I thought Liverpool was on the east coast with Manchester nearby. A benefit of cycle touring is that you have more time to familiarise yourself with the terrain: where the people live, the villages, towns, location of cities, the language and accents.
A native south easterner living in Eastbourne appears to have a totally different vocabulary and accent compared to a native from Liverpool or Manchester. At times I could only just understand what the occasional information centre officer was telling me but then I have been asked to speak slowly myself in several different European countries.
I left the flat country and Sherwood Forest behind me, through undulating country changing to hills and beautiful forests as I rode towards Sheffield, the home of stainless steel. Despite its industrial reputation Sheffield has more trees per population than other city in Europe.
Not far away to the left of me was the stunning Peak District. I continued on quickly through Sheffield and skirted the eastern edge of the Peak District on my way to Holmfirth.
Eventually after several long hill ascents I reached the high plateau looking north to Huddersfield with several villages nestled in the valleys below. I was so pleased to finally reach one of the most picturesque areas of West Yorkshire and stay as a guest at a friends villa with local Yorkshire hospitality.
The welcome view to Holmfirth and the region where the 2014 Tour de France begins.
My lovely host Christine took me on a road trip to Whitby on the East coast via York. We stopped for coffee at York and also walked along part of the city walls - a legacy of Roman occupation dated around the first century AD. York has the most intact fort walls than anywhere else in England. It enclosed the military fort and the city.
Our next stop was Whitby, a fishing and tourist village and known for the place where Captain Cook began his apprenticeship as a seaman. We both enjoyed a fantastic meal of fish and chips with a window table view overlooking the little inlet of Whitby.
It was also the setting for the film Bram Stokers Dracula based on the novel of the same name. Gary Oldman plays Dracula and his love interest is Wynona Ryder amongst the ruined Benedictine Whitby Abbey, once established in 657 AD.
During my five-month cycle tour through Europe and the UK I have found myself in places purely by chance that have some notable connections or history - passing through the site of the ancient battle of Agincourt in Northern France, camping in the forest where King Henry VIII proposed to Jane Seymour and. something more contemporary for us Australians - the home village for Peter Falconio, an English tourist who was murdered in the Australian outback a few years ago while touring with his Yorkshire partner Joanne Lees both from Huddersfield. His parents owned a small business in New Mill, only a few kms from where I was staying in Holmfirth.
Holmfirth would be the last stop for my cycling tour and the beginning of my final weeks in backpacking mode while I gave my riding legs a rest. After a nice rest as a 'local' I travelled to the spa town of Buxton nestled near the centre of the Peak District to meet my Australian friend Pip and do some walks in the hills near the Pennine Way which starts at Edale in the south and finishes in Kirk Yetholm just over the Scottish border. The Pennines are sometimes referred as the spine of England.
Kinder Scout track
Heather - known as Erica in Australia
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment