May 3rd was our Local Elections and so we voted but today we found our candidate lost by over 400 votes. He had held this ward for many years so that is sad.

Today we had another interesting lunch, a Restaurant in Sowerby Bridge named 12-04 and it is sited in a former Canal Warehouse that I personally saved from demolition in about 1972

We had the lease of the site in the Canal Basin from British Waterways and their engineer advised this building, known as The Salt Warehouse, was unsafe and best demolish

But is was a historic building maybe from the ' stable ' of John SMEATON, engineer of Leeds and well known for his Lighthouses.
Later it was declared a Listed Building by our Council

Before Restoration Started

During Restoration by the Trust

We started a Salt Warehouse Trust to finance the restoration and for a time the local Sea Scout Group were interested in using it, along with a Heritage Centre.
Sadly our Heritage Lottery would not support with grants but from the West Yorkshire County Council we had a grant enough to make the building safe

Later British Waterways and our local Council offered to take over the restoration and it is now used as the Restaurant and some offices.

Run by Michelle it is FIRST CLASS

Last night we went to see The Tempest, [ William Shakespear of course ] at the Viaduct Theatre at Dean Clough, Halifax. It gets its name being underground beneath the old factory entrance to Crossley Carpets

When Sir Ernest Hall was showing Barry Rutter round the building some yrs ago Barry said it would be a wonderful venue for a Theatre, so it came into being as the home of Northern Broadsides with Barry as Actor, Director and Manager.

The company now perform world wide and have even done Shakespear on the replica of THE GLOBE in London

A most enjoyable and amusing performance as every from the Company with Barry playing the major role of Prospero.

So here in Halifax we dont have to travel away for the best theatre in Yorkshire

Tonight I was at a Council Meeting of our Branch of The Royal Society of St George, as its Hon Secretary, we considered that St George's Day events had been a great success, our Battle of Britain Lunch will be on Battle of Britain Day September 15th at The Old Hall Restaurant, Todmorden, and then in October we will celebrate Trafalgar Day

Poppy & Jess

MAY DAY and week end over

One good thing about living here is the number of excellent Restaurants, many in updated pubs.
On Sunday we visited the Hinchcliffe Arms in Cragg Vale, named after the family who had the Cotton Mills there - long gone.
We used the Restaurant rather than the Bar and had 3 good meals. I had the Sunday Lunch menu of Lamb with nice selection of vegetables.

While the Ladies were chatting I took our 2 Terriers for a walk and found a footpath at the side of the Pub and discovered there was a Tennis Club, with pavilion and floodlights. The only access being this narrow footpath. I assume it was the Tennis Courts for the Hinchcliffe Family House. It is a popular walk as on our return we passed a group of 12 or so Ramblers all kitted out for their walk.

Our black & tan Terriers were from a litter on a smallholding near York and born last July, so they are sisters, but very different characters. The breed is cross Border and Patterdale, so one 'Poppy' is a Patterdale and 'Jessie' a Border. They do enjoy their walks.




As I am involved in researching family history I find Ancestry very helpful.
My father in laws family lived in Manchester and one sister married a John GRESTY and they had a son John Richmond Gresty who was killed in 1917 in WW1.
This weekend an Ancestry search found the family of John Gresty's mother, previously unknown to us, and provided 2 useful contacts to them.

On my side of the family I recently found an Andrew branch who emigrated from Yorkshire to Toledo Ohio and now have a new ' cousin ' to correspond with living in California

This is my first attempt at Blogging

On Thursday I drove down to Shrewsbury to visit a local Indpendent School and on Friday present them with a Battle of Britain Historical Society Memorial Plaque.
It was in the name of Flying Officer Eric Stanley LOCK DSO DFC & Bar who had one of the finest records of destroying enemy aircraft during and after the Battle of Britain.

I was able to combine this with my first visit to Shrewsbury, a wonderful historic city with many examples of restored buildings and plenty of floral displays

Friday afternoon I drove to Stoke on Trent and visited their excellent Museum and Art Gallery to see a preview of an exhibition in the Spitfire Gallery on Squadron Leader George H' Ben' Bennions DFC. He was born locally and it is possible they will erect a Statue to him.
Then to a school in Longton where a Plaque was presented by a local MP in Memory of Ben Bennions and Squadron Leader Ralph Carnell, both former pupils

I drove home in the early evening via the A53 [ never before seen so many Speed Camera posts in one stretch ] to Leek, Buxton, Glossop, Staleybridge & Saddleworth [ Should still be in Yorkshire not Oldham ]