Yesterday we had thought of visiting a nearby town by train, but there was quite heavy rain in the morning and it wasn’t inviting. In the afternoon the weather cleared up and at about 5.00 p.m. we went out in the car to explore the opposite direction to Mytholmroyd. We had already driven up the road a couple of times looking for a place to turn the car around as it’s tricky outside of the house.

I found a lake about 15 minutes away according to Google and we aimed for it. At first we parked near a Visitor’s Centre, but it was cloudy and the wind strong and it wasn’t very appealing. We gave up walking there after about 20 minutes and drove to the other side of the lake. Google wasn’t very helpful, but we eventually worked out we could park at one of the pubs and walk from there. We checked out the pub and it has a calvery (roast meals) beginning at around 5 pounds for a small serve, plus lovely views over the lake. We will probably come back another time for a meal.

By this time the sun had come out again and either the wind had dropped or it was simply more sheltered and it was comfortable walking. We didn’t go all that far, but enjoyed watching the ducks, especially when they set off in formation across the lake, then all stopped to wait for a second group to catch up.

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The drive to the lake was lovely as well. We go over some moorland, with quite a steep downhill drive to the lake. Somewhat like the Yorkshire Dales, which we will visit in a couple of weeks, although I expect that will have much higher hills than here.

We have a few plans. We will go into Manchester to see a film on the life of Lowry, the painter from Salford, and to the gallery to see his paintings, as well as those of Timothy Spall who played him in the film. Spall also played Turner in a recent movie. We will visit the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, which is less than 20 kms away from here, just a day outing in the car.

And we plan to take a five day car journey to the city of York and the Yorkshire Dales, staying at B&Bs or AirBnBs, depending on what is available. B&Bs are good because they include breakfast, where AirBnBs are normally fully self catering, but sometimes include breakfast. Stephen is thinking that we will stay for a night or two in Lincoln on our way back to Croydon. We need to book in advance if travelling by train because the cheap tickets on trains sell out early. It’s much cheaper to go by bus, but generally a more pleasant journey travelling by train.

We will have about two weeks in Croydon before heading home to Perth.