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My dog Louis, who is almost 14 now, has had some treatment for his arthritis and it’s given him a new lease of life. So much so, that while I was getting this image, he got up to his old tricks again and ran off. On the one hand I was very annoyed with him but on the other very pleased that he’s able to run again.
I took a walk up to Crathes Castle one evening while I was staying with my parents. Just as I reached the castle the heavens opened, and I had to take shelter under one of the many, very large, trees. On the way back, after the rain had subsided, I saw this golden light illuminating the trees.
I love the feel of this ancient wood that is now surrounded by new plantations and grazing land. I’m not sure what the wood is called? I think that Old Betty Nick refers to the valley that runs through the wood (a nick being a groove)? It’s marked on an 1851 map that I found online in the Hades area above Holmfirth.
A sike is a Yorkshire term for a stream with a marshy area and a little further down this clough there is a very marshy area. The fact that there is a name for such an area makes me think that in the past it was important to know this. If we had to name it now, people are so far removed from the nature and the landscape, would the modern name be sensitive to the characteristics of the area or would it reflect the winner of “The X Factor”? The nearest it would get is probably Marshy McMarshface.
I recently took some photographs of Holmfirth for a friend’s book. I carefully exposed for the highlights and he said, “Too dark”, calling me the “Prince of Darkness”. I replied, I’m more like the “King of Darkness” So, I brightened up the images and resubmitted, to which he replied, ’king great! (I think that’s an abbreviation of “looking great”.)