Hebden Bridge - the 4th Funkiest town in the world.

With hubby on a weekend off and the sun shining in the clear, but very cold sky, hubby and I took ourselves off to discover Hebden Bridge - which according to THIS ARTICLE is the 4th Funkiest town in the world. Even though it is in my own county (albeit in West Yorkshire) it is somewhere I have never been and always wanted to explore.

It didn't disappoint. It is a really lovely and unique town. Built around the mills that sprung up on the river Calder, the town has many relics from its industrial past. I was fascinated by the unique houses in the valley (but forgot to photograph them!). Because they needed to build a lot of houses for the mill workers, and there was no where flat to build them, they built them into the hillsides, so they were several storeys high. 2 houses were built into 1. The first house (the over dwelling) would be accessed from the front, the other house (under dwelling) was accessed from the back.
The valley has exceptionally steep sides but manages to fit in a road, canal, river and railway running through it - as well as the town.
Old mills have been utilised as shops and residences. They have managed to keep a real atmosphere here by using the old buildings.

It is typical of many West Yorkshire towns that have homes clinging to the sides of very very steep hills - so pretty on this very frosty morning.

The town has a great selection of very individual and independently owned shops, fabulous charity shops and great eateries of all sizes and descriptions.


There are so many relics from when this would have been a very prosperous industrial town.


This little shop was like stepping back in time. The lady who owned it informed me that they were opening a wartime cafe at the end of November. She said it was going to be truly authentic - so I will be going back to see!


We found ourselves too short on time and would have loved to explore the area a bit more - so a return visit will be on the cards when we have more daylight hours.

Tag Tuesday - week 2

Don't forget its Tag Tuesday over HERE. The standard of artwork is amazing - I feel way out of my depth, but I'm in it for the fun of it, and I'm picking up some great ideas from the wonderfully talented contributors.

The theme this week is "Snow sports" , and for my tag, I used a photo of my son that I took in the snow last year (where he had crashed and bruised his manhood!!) I loved the photo because (I am a cruel mum and it made me laugh) the photo was almost all black and white apart from the bright red sledge. I kept the theme of the tag Black, White and Red.
Pop over and take a look.

Red sky in the morning..

This mornings sky lit everything inside and outside my home the most glorious colour pink.

I got a few odd looks from the neighbours when I dashed out in my jammies to photograph it.
You'd think they would be used to me by now!

Textures

On my walk this morning, I decided to concentrate on "textures" (as the sun soon disappeared and any scenic shots would have looked dull!).

I stopped by the Farmers Market at the garden centre - I couldn't resist buying this little beauty.

Apparently its name is "January King".
A lot of the stonework in the wall around the garden centre is very weathered.
Windows/doorways/random holes around the wall that have had a use in previous times now have a gorgeous distressed look.
...with the "Estate Green" paint peeling.
...and the old oak lintels crumbling away.
Moss covers the walls around the farm yard.

And the Hydrangea flowers are as fragile as tissue paper.

You know you're getting old when....

....you set up a little tea brewing station on your bedside table so that you can both have your first cuppa before you get out of bed......

...and you think its the best idea you have had in ages!

Edited to say: Some of you are concerned about "fresh milk" issues. If you look behind the mug on the left, you can see I hot footed it to Makro and bought a box of catering UHT milk cartons (the miniature ones for individual cups).

Vintage note: I love Apostle Spoons (can you see them in the mugs?) - I have a dozen of them from my grandparents. My mum used her set daily - like I do mine. My sister would only eat with these spoons. She used to call them "stick" spoons, as we discovered that they were the only ones that would stick to a magnet!

Tag Tuesday

Ive joined Carolyn Saxby's Tag Tuesday blog - where we endeavour to make a themed tag every Tuesday. Nip over and have a look at some of the great tags that have been created so far this week. This weeks theme is "Snow" - here is my offering using a photo that I took when we had tons of the white stuff last winter. Ive embroidered it a little, and glittered it a little too. Excuse the poor photo but we have absolutely no light here today.

WI Birthday Cards

You might remember that I make the birthday cards for the ladies of my WI - something I really enjoy doing. For this years "theme", I thought that I would make each months different, seasonal, and with flowers from my garden where possible. So for January I picked Helebore's - out earlier this year I think....

Christmas Box - my favourite thing in the garden at this time of year - the blossoms are so fragrant and the berry's so dark purple.....
I arranged them in an old ink bottle on my kitchen window ledge and photographed them......
and then embellished the image with vintage buttons, beads, glitter and ribbons.