Tag Archives: Food and drink

25th February picture of the day…

25 Sunday Feb 2024

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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It’s another short blog from Bigland Towers today, mainly because it’s been a busy one and I need time to to unwind as well as prepare for the next few days away, which involves a fair bit of logistics with various bits of kit to clean, batteries to keep charged and all the other mundane activities related to being a roving photojournalist.

I’m heading back to London early tomorrow on another ‘positioning move’ ready for a job on Tuesday morning. This time it looks likes ‘third time lucky’ – so expect some rather unique and interesting rolling blogging. That said, I’ll be rolling blogging throughout tomorrow as I intend to make the most of the day as I travel. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing (or where I’ll be going) en-route, so I could be as surprised as you!

Much of today’s been taken up with pottering around the cottage, keeping on top of daily life and the fun and games of living in a Mid-Victorian cottage. At least the weather played ball today. I even managed to resurrect the outdoor washing line now the weather’s improving so the cobbled passage at the back of the cottages looks like a set for ‘Coronation St’! However, we did both manage to get out for a daily constitutional, which leaves us both feeling virtuous – Dawn more so than me as she also did a HIIT session! Who says Sunday’s a day of rest?

Right, time to go. See you tomorrow. Today’s picture is from yesterday. Whilst many pubs are closing it’s always a delight to see one that’s reopened. This is the Bingley Arms, reopened last year as the Bingley by a joint venture between the Ossett pub company and SALT brewing.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

24th February picture(s) of the day…

24 Saturday Feb 2024

Posted by in Architecture, Food and drink, History, Ossett, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, West Yorkshire

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The pair of us have had a real mix of a day here at Bigland Towers thanks to different appointments and the improving weather. I’d planned to stay at home this morning whilst Dawn went off to an appointment in Ossett but once the early morning cloud that blanketed the bottom of the Calder valley cleared and we were treated to wall to wall blue skies and sunshine it became obvious that it was too nice a day to be stuck at home. Instead, I packed the camera bag and joined Dee for the journey Eastwards. I didn’t go all the way to Ossett, instead I got dropped off in nearby Horbury Bridge, the nearest place to the old Healy Mills railway marshalling yard. Built as part of British Railways 1955 modernisation plan this huge yard was once the centre for sorting coal traffic from the vast Yorkshire coalfields. Now it lies abandoned. But, recently, parts of the yard have been cleared of Silver Birch and other trees that have taken over, to expose the tracks once more. The grapevine suggests part of the yard will be brought back into use as a staging area for the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) but I’ve yet to see this confirmed. Here’s how it looked today.

Horbury Bridge itself is cut through by the River Calder, the Calder and Hebble navigation – and this magnificent old railway viaduct, which once carried the Midland Railway’s eight-mile route from Royston Junction to Thornhill. The line closed in 1968 and the 17 arch viaduct has been disused ever since.

I’ve passed under it so many times but never been able to get pictures, so today was an ideal day to try. To be honest, it’s difficult to do it justice from the ground. Really, you need a drone as it’s hemmed in by buildings and there’s no public vantage points that give you the sense of scale.

After walking from Horbury to Ossett (a great way of getting exercise as its all uphill) I spotted something else of historical interest. Ossett has a fine collection of Victorian buildings in the centre. This one caught my eye as its an old Liberal Club. That political party vanished decades ago in a merger with the then SDP to form the Liberal-Democrats, but as a teenager I remember Liberal clubs all over the place and sometimes used to play snooker in one in Southport. Like the one in Ossett, it’s been closed for years. Mind you, with the way the Conservative party’s tearing itself apart at the moment I wonder if soon many ‘Con’ clubs will be following the Liberal ones into the history books…

The former Ossett Liberal club on Station Rd. Neither the club or the station exist anymore.

On the way home Dawn was kind enough to stop and allow me to get pictures of TRU upgrade work at a place I’d never managed to get to before. Colne Bridge Rd overbridge East of Deighton, just before the junction of the lines from Huddersfield and Brighouse. here’s how it looks today.

Looking East towards Heaton Lodge Junction. This section will regain four-track status with the new fast lines from Huddersfield being laid to the right of the existing tracks. In the middle foreground the railway passes over the Huddersfield canal.
The view looking West towards Huddersfield with Bradley Junction and the site of the former station obscured by the overbridge in the background.

Once back at home the tempo changed. I indulged in some DIY before heading out for a walk and a pint in our local (The Big 6) whilst Dawn began to cook up a storm in the kitchen. So, whilst I quaffed one of these..

The Attamire Pale was lovely…

-Dawn rustled up two very different vegetarian dishes. Here’s one – a Caulifower and Chick-Pea curry (although it has many more ingredients than that).

Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of Dawn’s labours whilst we enjoy a quiet Saturday night at home, watching a good film. See you all tomorrow…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

26th August picture(s) of the day…

26 Saturday Aug 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, West Yorkshire

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Vegetarians may want to skip this blog…

We’ve had another quiet Saturday here at Bigland Towers, partly because we’re preparing for a lot of adventures in September. Well, that and the fact the weather’s been shocking. August? It feels more like Autumn. Today the mercury’s struggled to get over the mid teens, making it one of the coldest Augusts for many years. Before the climate-change denialists start rubbing their hands in glee can I point out that weather isn’t the same as climate (especially global climate) – a distinction lost on these people. Look at charts of average temperatures and the picture becomes all to real – and all to frightening.

We had brunch with Dawn’s parents over in at a farm shop near Huddersfield, which led to a classic moment. Norah sometimes forgets history. John and Norah are 88 and 82, during a conversation Norah asked ‘what was it like for you growing up during the war love’? The Scouser in me immediately kicked in and said ‘which war, the Boer war’? I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea Norah had me pegged as older than her and John. That reminds me, maybe I should put in a bulk order for anti-wrinkle cream. Or maybe just keep a portrait in the attic…

After brunch the pair of us ventured into Halifax to do some clothes shopping. Well, I should clarify. Dawn was doing some clothes shopping yet I still came back with some new schmutter due to Dee ‘suggesting’ I needed some new polo tops. Who was I to argue?

Afterwards we popped into our local pub (The big 6) for a drink and a giggle with friends and locals – and dogs! The pub’s always been very dog friendly and the attentions and actions of the local pooches can be just as entertain as some of the human visitors.

Another source of entertainment was the weather I mentioned earlier as we were prevented from venturing out earlier due to thunderstorms and torrential rain. We thought July was a washout but August’s giving it a run for its money. On the bright side, clinging to the side of the Calder valley as we do – we get a grandstand view of the storms approaching and the rain blanking out Sowerby Bridge before it hits us. It’s rare that the rain sneaks up on us here.

Walking back from the pub to skies like this…

Now we’re having a quiet night at home. Dee’s busy in the kitchen (it’s her turn and her choice) preparing steak in peppercorn sauce with garlic mushrooms, potatoes and green beans. We eat steak once in a blue moon but today Dee decided today was the day – and it was delicious! Having eaten our fill the local foxes will be dining on the fat.

At the and of next week we’ll be leaving the life of domestic behind as we’ll both be on the road so I’ll be bringing you a variety of blogs from different parts of the UK. In the meantime (wherever you are in the UK) enjoy the last bank holiday of the year. To my other readers spread around the world – don’t worry – you’re not missing much!

This brings me on to today’s other picture which was taken at Sheffield station the other day. Sadly, not all wildlife is railway savvy, especially birdlife. Peasants being particularly dumb but pigeons aren’t far behind. Still, the pigeon/train interface often provides lunch for other animals. In this scenario it was a case of fine dining for crows…

‘Fancy a takeaway’?

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

29th July picture of the day…

29 Saturday Jul 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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We’ve had a fairly relaxed Saturday here in West Yorkshire. Rail strikes meant I wasn’t tempted to venture anywhere – and I’ve a busy week next week anyway, so the pair of us have freestyled the day – apart from having a brunch date with Dawn’s parents over at Hinchliffes farm shop in Netherton, which is in the hills South of Huddersfield. The shop has a cafe called the Rusty Bull which is a great place to eat as the foods normally very good and they have a great view across to Castle Hill. Since our last visit the menu’s changed and one of our favourites (Shakshuka) has disappeared, to be replaced with another Turkish inspired dish – Cilbir. Dawn wasn’t quite sure of the idea but I wanted to try it. It’s poached eggs in a Garlic yoghurt sauce with pickled Dill and Aleppo pepper in Olive oil served with a flatbread. Here’s a recipe.

Unfortunately, the kitchen wasn’t on the ball today and my dish came without one of the main ingredients (the Aleppo pepper in oil). When that was added the dish was gorgeous – although the garlic quotient meant that people would be keeping their distance from me for the next few hours!

Heading back to the Calder valley the pair of us made the most of the decent weather to enjoy a stroll through the local woods and park which included a visit to our local pub (The Big 6) where we caught up with friends we hadn’t seen for a while and also had a giggle with staff and punters alike.

Now we’re back at home, enjoying the fruits of Dawn’s culinary expertise (I’ve got the night off) before settling down to watch a film, having made the most of the weather as tomorrow and the rest of next week’s looking pretty wet – which could make things ‘interesting’ for me as I’ve a lot of travelling to do.

In the meantime, here’s today’s picture, which is one for beer aficionados. This is what was on offer on handpumps at the Big 6 tonight.

The 2nd handpump from the left’s always a dark beer, the others are pale with the strength rising from left to right.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

23rd July picture(s) of the day…

23 Sunday Jul 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, Weather, West Yorkshire

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Talk about a washout! Today’s been one of almost solid rain. Nothing that’s going to lead to floods (well, not yet anyway) but the depressingly persistent stuff that varies in intensity from mizzle and drizzle to full-blown showers. It’s been incessant.

So, we’ve had a domestic day other than dodging showers in order to get a walk in and pick up a bit of shopping in order to carry on with our culinary creations. Dawn’s spent the afternoon in the kitchen cooking up industrial quantities of Lasagne (having made the Ragu sauce yesterday)- including a 12 portion Gluten free version for her parents, plus the same quantity (not gluten-free) for us. Me? I prepped veg in order to make a Carrot and Coriander soup then got out from underneath Dee’s feet in order to have a couple of games of pool with friends in one of our local pubs. On the bright side? My new glasses make it easier to see the far end of a pool table. But they don’t improve my game and today it was shocking!

Now the pair of us are having a quiet evening at home. The soup’s made, the Lasange’s cooked and al that’s left is to relax before another busy week. I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from the day…

Sowerby Bridge is down there, somewhere…The view from the promenade earlier.
Jamie takes the shot whilst Stuart hopes he’ll miss!
Dawn’s fabulous Lasagne.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

17th July picture(s) of the day…

17 Monday Jul 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Climate Change, Food and drink, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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And so another week begins here at Bigland Towers. In the interests of sanity I’ve decided to hold off on any political polemic for now as I want to start the week in a positive frame of mind. There’s certainly plenty to look forward to – large and small – although the weather’s done it’s best to put a damper on things to start! Forget heatwaves and record temperatures in other parts of the world. Here in the Pennines we’ve had several days of wet weather, including today when we were treated to some torrential rain this morning. Of course, this tends to encourage the climate changer deniers who’re incapable of getting through their thick heads the difference between climate and weather. And don’t even ask about trends such as average temperatures or rainfall levels- their eyes will glaze over. Anyone with half a brain can sense for themselves that our climate is not what it was. The problem is – too few people seem to want to do anything about it if it means changing their lifestyles.

Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to get into a polemic! The weather’s looking iffy around here for a few more days, which is a shame as I’ve a long list of photographs I need to take. Still, tomorrow I’m picking up my new glasses which I’m rather looking forward to as I’m changing from the style I’ve worn for more years than I care to remember. You’ll see the results tomorrow.

As the weather was hardly a photographers dream I’ve been busy at home sorting out more eBay sales. pictures for clients and swearing at a filing disaster. I was digging through recent archives stored on hard-drives when I discovered that a computer glitch meant that I have 780 recent pictures which all have the same picture number and caption! Oh, how I laughed! Thankfully, the images loaded onto my Zenfolio website are correct. Plus, I file captioned pictures as JPEGs and backup files as RAW on different hard-drives. So, I can combine both file types to see what the correct number should be. Then it’s just a time-consuming pain in the arse to rename all the pictures as they’re not consecutively numbered. That job can wait…

This evening I tore myself away from work to indulge in a spot of cooking therapy. It’s something I really enjoy doing and it takes the pressure off Dawn who’s up to her ears in work at the moment. Tonight we went for an old staple – Chana Masala. It’s a classic North Indian Vegetarian dish that’s easy to make (if you have all the spices) is tasty – and not too time consuming. So, today’s pictures are mostly of food – except for one…

When cooking I like to have all my ingredients prepared in advance…
Nearly there. There’s only the chickpeas and some of their water left to add once the tomatoes have reduced. The smell of the melange of spices is divine.

Apart from cooking – and shopping (we hit out local Indian supermarket earlier to stock up on some goodies) I did manage to enjoy a short therapeutic walk in our local woods when the deluge was over and the sun blessed the evening, lighting up my walk. Here’s Long Wood as it was earlier.

As if my culinary efforts weren’t enough Dawn also decided to indulge in some cooking therapy this evening and produced one of her divine gluten-free Bakewell tarts. There’s a meeting at the Community Rail Network offices in Huddersfield tomorrow to do with the rebuilding of the station, so Dee decided to take in something rather special and personal instead of a few packets of biscuits…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Our Norfolk visit comes to an end…

23 Friday Jun 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Travel

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Today’s been our last day here in Norfolk before heading back to Yorkshire tomorrow. We’ve been extremely lucky with the weather which has been better than was originally forecast and a damned sight better than the conditions we’ve missed up North where there’s been a lot of rain whilst we’ve had hardly a drop here.

This morning we visited the aviation museum at Norwich which is opposite the airport on the old Norwich Rd. The whole area is part of the former Horsham St Faith RAF base and the museum occupies a small site on the other side of the A1270. Whilst the site may be small, it fits a lot into it. The museum buildings house a fascinating history relating to East Anglian airbases during WW2 with lots of memorabilia, aircraft parts, uniforms and hardware, along with informative displays on what the RAF’s 100 Group got up to during the war. Outside the buildings are the aircraft – large and small – from tiny Cessna’s to the mighty Vulcan bomber and Nimrod maritime aircraft (you can book tours of the inside of both). There’s also various cockpits and engines on display. For those interested in aviation or WW2 it’s a great place to visit.

The Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft is based on the old De-Havilland ‘Comet’ jet airliner from the 1950s.
The mighty ‘Vulcan’ V-bomber.

Having nipped back to Cromer for a last afternoon stroll on the pier we returned home to pack before nipping out to eat locally at the Black Boys hotel in nearby Aylsham. This popular pub sits in the centre of town on the market square. The four of us dined here last year and enjoyed it so much we returned again this year. I enjoyed the belly pork – a dish I don’t cook at home, so it’s a treat to have when I’m out.

The diet starts on Monday…

Now it’s time to call it a day before an early start tomorrow in order to finish the packing and begin the trek Northwards. Our time down here has flown but there’s plenty for me to do when we get back so I’m not too sad to leave. After all, there’s always next time…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

22nd June picture(s) of the day…

22 Thursday Jun 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Norfolk, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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Apologies for the lack of blogging these past few days but we’re on holiday in Norfolk and I’ve been trying to concentrate on enjoying ourselves. Well, not entirely. I’ve still had to do some work in order to get all the ‘3 peaks by rail’ pictures edited and off to the Railway Children charity and others for a forthcoming article in RAIL magazine, so that’s taken up my evenings rather than blogging. Whilst I’ve been working Dawn’s been enjoying herself in the kitchen, coming up with some wonderful food to feed the four of us.

We’ve been graced with some fabulous weather here in North Norfolk. Back in the Pennines there’s been a lot of rain whilst here we’ve had mostly wall to wall sunshine, leavened by a few clouds. Our days have been spent exploring Cromer and the coast, a trip on the North Norfolk railway and then – yesterday – a sortie over the border into Suffolk to visit Southwold, the lovely seaside town which is home to Adnams brewery. We’ve one day left here before we head back North, so we’re determined to make the most of it. Here’s a few pictures to give you a flavour of the trip.

On Tuesday we enjoyed a couple of trips on the North Norfolk railway behind this beastie, seen here at Holt station.
Here’s a classic real ale pub in Cromer. The Red Lion hotel (yes, it also has rooms and serves food).
Just a few of the real ales there were on sale during our visit.
The pier at Southwold is hardly the grandest (or longest) in the UK, but it’s still a pleasant addition to this seaside retreat.
The Sole Bay Inn and lighthouse in Southwold.
On the way back from Southwold we stopped at the lovely Rushcutters Arms pub on the Eastern side of Norwich. It has a lovely riverside spot on the river Yare, good beers and a view of the railway.
Tonight’s meal cooked by Dawn using fish bought from the excellent Davies Fish Shop in Cromer as well as other local ingredients. From L-R there’s Crevettes, Cromer crab, anchovies and Seabass. That was accompanied by local Asparagus and Dee’s home-made meatballs. Oh, there’s also a tomato salad and scalloped potatoes too…

Don’t worry, once I get back to Yorkshire I’ve lots to blog about, including the latest ‘green’ party anti HS2 lunacy in the first ‘crazy anti HS2 campaigner of the week’ for 2023 – although looking at the way their campaign’s shaping up it won’t be the last…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

28th May picture(s) of the day…

28 Sunday May 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

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It may be a bank holiday weekend but today’s hardly been a day of rest, although the pace has been far less frenetic than of late as the two of us hardly moved from the house for most of Sunday. Taking it easy made up for the amount of walking we did yesterday as we had an outing to Manchester for a few hours.

For one of Dawn’s birthday presents this year I ventured right out of my comfort zone of buying perfume or scarves. Instead, I bought Dee a dress – not something many men will do for the fear of getting it wrong. Fortunately, I didn’t. Dawn loved the dress but the fitting wasn’t quite right, so our trip to Manchester included a visit to the store I’d bought it from – Japanese fashion company Uniqlo. They’re a great shop. The prices are very competitive but the quality of their stock is far better than certain cheaper brands. The only thing is – sizes do vary as nothing seems identical. This worked to Dee’s advantage as she found an identical dress in the identical size, but one that really fitted her. In fact, I ended up buying her another in the same design but a different colour. We had just enough time to pick up some foodstuff shopping in Chinatown then enjoy a drink in the sun before it was time to head back as I’d booked a table at a restaurant in Sowerby Bridge for 15:00.

The sunshine brought out the crowds in central Manchester.

Bad move.

We found that the train we were due to catch to get back in time was cancelled. No biggie, as there was another one that would get us there 25mins later. The restaurant were fine about it when I rang as it just meant we wouldn’t have our table for longer than and hour as they were fully booked. Our backup train turned out to be an asthmatic two-car class 158 that was rammed. It crawled its way as far as Castleton where it expired. The crew managed to coax it back into life but the service was terminated at Rochdale. Plan C meant we wouldn’t arrive back at Sowerby Bridge until after 16:00 – more than an hour late, so I rang the restaurant again, told them to give our table away but we’d still come in and see if we could get seats at the bar. Two trains later (we had to change at Todmorden) we finally made it into ‘The Engine’ tired and hungry way after 16:00.

Fortunately, seats were available at ‘the Chef’s table’ as they’ve named the bar facing the kitchen. This turned out to be a brilliant place to sit as we got to watch as all the food was cooked and chat to the chefs as they prepared it. It added a fascinating new dimension to the meal. The food was excellent, we ordered 6 different dishes, some of which were old favorites (the fire roasted cauliflower for example) others new. The undoubted star dish was new, slow-roasted Aubergine with pork, crispy chili and roast spiced cashew nuts. It’s superb! We can’t fault the Engine. The food is divine and the staff friendly and efficient. The combination makes for a great experience.

Here’s a few pictures from our meal.

BOQUERONES: Spanish pickled white anchovies on sun blushed tomato flatbread.
FIRE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER with Pomegranate, chilli and sesame dressing.
SLOW ROASTED AUBERGINE with pork, crispy chilli and crushed spiced cashew nuts.

If you want to see more of the dishes here’s a link to the current menu.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

28th April picture(s) of the day…

28 Friday Apr 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Ossett, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Yesterday I wished for better weather across West Yorkshire, but the weather Gods decided to ignore my pleas until the very last moment. Dawn had an appointment over in Ossett this morning and asked me if I wanted to accompany her as today was market day – and I do love a good market (which Ossett has). Sadly, what it didn’t have was decent weather, just miserable temperatures and lots of dull cloud. Still, whilst Dee was busy I had a great time exploring the market and I managed to pick up a few bargains at the same time. The market takes over the square outside the old Town Hall, which would be a really attractive Victorian edifice and backdrop if it wasn’t swathed in plastic sheets and scaffolding whilst it’s being restored.

Even so, the mixture of stalls and wheeled shops that make up the market are well worth a look around. Yesterday I complained about the cost of plants as a well-known DIY chain. Today I found the antidote in the shape of a market stall selling a variety of plants for half the price. Needless to say, I succumbed and bought a selection to fill in some gaps in the garden. That said, I was good. I managed to swerve the fantastic cheese stall and the local beer shop! Here’s a few shots from the market.

I love stalls like this – and their prices…
Memory lane models…
The bacon butty stall with coffee for £1 a cup. It’s not artisan coffee and there’s not a Barista in sight but it’s a great place to sit and people-watch.

On the way home we decided to lunch out – only we couldn’t decide where to go. There was nowhere we knew locally so we ended up back in the Colne valley. Our first idea was to try the cafe at the Bolster Moor farm shop but the car park was rammed and the cafe appeared to be too. Plan B was to drop down into nearby Slaithwaite where we found our second choice was also packed so we ended up in a place we’d not visited for years – the ‘Vanilla Bean’ near where Dee use to work. Our lunch wasn’t heavy as we chose the soup of the day (Carrot and Parsnip) which came with huge chunks of granary bread. Dawn ordered a side portion of chips which ended up as a Carb overload but what the hell – we worked it off by a walk along the Huddersfield narrow canal before we headed off to our next rendezvous.

Dawn and our Carbfest..

A couple of hours earlier I’d received a phone call from an Irish friend who was over in the UK. He was travelling around by rail and (on the spur of the moment) had decided to head across from Liverpool to Leeds via our neck of the woods and wondered if we were around? We managed to arrange to meet up in Hebden Bridge and took Neil for a drink in the Robin Hood in Cragg Vale, introducing him to the delights of the Calder valley before depositing him (suitably refreshed) at Halifax station to continue his journey to Leeds and on to…Brighton.

No prizes for guessing where Neil and I are…

Afterwards, Dee and I joined friends in our local to take part in the Friday quiz and talk about the next escapade for the ‘5 from the 6’ as we’re off to Istanbul a week today – a trip that we’ve had planned for so long it feels like a surprise that it’s almost upon us! Expect a few different blogs soon!

Now it’s time for me to wind down for the day before another busy day tomorrow which will include both garden and cooking therapy

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!