Onebigbill
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2019
- Messages
- 3,603
Some really beautiful countryside Jack. Looks very peaceful too. Your HHB at rest also looks nice in this setting. Great photos my friend.My hike yesterday explored an area of woodland on the edge of Leeds, the first part of which passed through a fascinating area, named 'The Hollies'. Once a private estate, it was gifted to the city by William Brown, in memory of his son, who was killed in World War One, in 1918. The paths and walkways were originally neatly laid out, but most are now overgrown to the point that it can be hard to make them out. Some of the bridges are also long gone.
Long before WWI though, going right back to the 16th century, this tranquil area was a hive of small-scale industry, with mills and tanneries dotted along the beck. While many of the larger mills, closer to the city centre, still survive, most of the remaining evidence this far up the valley is restricted to collapsed weirs, and silted-up goits and mill-ponds. After a turnpike road was built from Leeds, the area began to become more affluent, and there was extensive stone quarrying for the many grand houses in the area. The old grindstone was used as a platform for changing cart tyres. I love the name given to the row of cottages near the end of my walk, but the name is actually a corruption of the surname of the owner of one of the quarries - Husler - Perhaps he was a bit of a hustler though
Good morning Guardians. My Sunday is starting off nice and sunny and while I haven't yet gone outside this morning my cell phone says it is 57 degrees F. A touch cooler out there than normal. Going to follow Jack's lead and carry my HHB today.
I really like walking in woods, but we don't have enough of them here. William The Bastard burned a lot of the woodland in the north of England, as did various descendants, and the industrial revolution, population expansion, and property developers did for many of the others. It's hard to find a wood you could get lost in 
At the end of my walk yesterday, we came to a small parade of shops, where there was a large charity shop that my girlfriend, who reads even more than I do, wanted to look. Opposite was a good-sized independent hardware store, so I went in there. After I'd finished poking around, I went into the charity shop, and spotted a bunch of walking guides. They were inexpensive, so I bought most of them. They're not old enough to have any historical value, and walking guides date very quickly, particularly if they're not well-written (I have one which instructs readers to follow the 'diversion' signs erected for a temporary footpath closure, which lasted less than 12 months) 
