Welcome to the first day of our Todmorden sojourn whilst we become surrogate humans to ‘Luna’, our friends young cat. I’ll post a picture of Luna when she finally sits still long enough for me to get one. That may take some time as she’s a young thing – little more than a kitten – although you wouldn’t think that from her size! She’s also just getting used to me being in her space.

Dawn went off to do other things this morning, so I caught the train over to Todmorden in order to be ready for feeding time, after which I ventured into town to explore. ‘Tod’ as it’s known to locals isn’t unfamiliar to me. I’ve spent plenty of time here in the past, but that’s always been in transit. Being based here’s a little different.

The town has a curious vibe as it’s an odd mix. There’s the bohemian/old hippy element that’s a spin-off from nearby Hebden Bridge then there’s an undertow of old far-right racism and ‘flag-shagging’. Years ago, when far-right British National Party (BNP) membership list was leaked by an insider Todmorden had an unhealthy number of names attached.

Despite that, the town does have a lot to offer. It has a great market – both indoor and outdoor. Whilst the outdoor offerings change depending on the day, the indoor market has its regulars. There’s few tat stalls, instead it’s a mix of cafes, butchers, sweetshops and grocers. Just how a market should be.

Tod’s at the junction of two valleys and two rivers. Just outside the market where the two join I spotted this Heron waiting patiently to catch its next meal…

Like many towns, Tod’s changed. A lot of old pubs have closed in recent years which is a shame, but then the place had plenty of them.

Some have been replaced by micro-pubs based in former shops, which appear to be doing rather well. I visited two, both of which had different characters. The first was the Alehouse on the Burnley Rd, a short walk from the town centre. It has both indoor and outdoor seating. There’s a good range of real ales (although other inebriants are available) and the staff are both friendly and helpful. It feels very much a local pub that’s a meeting point for the community, although strangers like me are made to feel welcome. What I found interesting was the range of accents. Todmorden’s part of West Yorkshire, but it’s borderline Lancashire (in the past its moved counties) and only a few miles from Burnley, so there was a real mix of Lancashire and Yorkshire accents on offer from the folk frequenting the place. Oh, and dogs. It’s a very dog friendly pub – not that the dogs are always friendly with each other!

Moving on into the centre to look for possible places to eat I stumbled across another micro-pub, ‘The Beer Necessities’ which is set back on a cobbled Water Street. This is another long and narrow converted shop on two levels, with a disabled toilet on the lower of the two. The clientele seemed to cover a greater age spectrum than the Alehouse, but that could just be its proximity to the town centre. The atmosphere was really good and its certainly a place I’d visit again.

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Paul