Spring Festival

Our village holds a festival every May, that is a mixture of folk music, morris dancing, entertainment and participation.  This year the weather was not kind. Some sunny moments but a cold wind, rain and a tremendous hailstorm with hail the size of small pebbles.  This meant the field was muddy and slippy. This meant that some of the Morris and Sword dancing had to be postponed.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop the music, the beer swigging, ice-cream eating and lots of food from candy floss to chips being consumed.  Children disregarded the weather and had a good time on the fairground rides.

Some of the music was free to listen to. Grab a beer and sit and enjoy. Other events were ticketed and held on site or in venues around the village.

The Morris dancers and bands gathered around the pubs. Always popular venues whatever the weather!  http://www.shepleyspringfestival.co.uk/

May 16

A Saturday Stroll.

Occasionally we buy a day-rover train ticket and take ourselves off, first catching the train from the village. At Huddersfield we catch a train to Leeds and from there take the next one leaving to somewhere within the West Yorkshire boundary.

This particular Saturday it was Ilkley.

Ilkley is a lovely town nestled into the moors. Yes, it's the famous town of the song - On Ilkley Moor Bhat 'at. (On Ilkley Moor without a hat for those unused to the local dialect!)

We strolled close to the moor without actually walking on it this time.

This was followed by a walk around the lovely town. In summer there is a band playing most weekends. A great place to stop for an ice cream and tap your foot along to the music.

Follow this with a stroll by the river and you have the makings of a perfect day. We follow this with coffee and cake of course. There is a Betty's in Ilkley but I'm going to confess that it's not my favourite cafe. It's always too crowded and busy with long queues. I prefer the local, individually owned cafes, with their welcome and delicious baking.

Writing

Hmm. This is where I confess to not managing much writing or editing of the novel, recently. We have had a few difficult weeks with a serious plumbing problem, which may mean the kitchen floor having to be lifted. It's not been a conducive time to writing.
However let me tell you a little about 'Resolution'. Initially I wanted to set the book in the U.S. because I wanted Resolution to be the name of the town. We simply do not give our British towns names like that. Unfortunately it didn't work. Despite lots of advice and help I had to accept that I wasn't 'getting' the American idiom and 'feel' right. 

After some thought and heartache I moved the story from the USA to the U.K. cr a location from two or three local towns. It has made the writing much easier. For example when I described hurrying down a steep cobbled street in the rain, I knew exactly how slippy that can be. I have managed to keep the name and change the setting to The Resolution Hotel. 

May Day Village Fete.

We have just enjoyed a village fete complete with maypole dancing, 'old fashioned' fairground games, a band playing and lots of cake to eat.

This particular celebration was arranged to celebrate the fact that, after years of bureaucracy, our small village green was finally registered and protected from development.

The children seemed to really enjoy their dancing, we certainly enjoyed watching them.

There was plenty for everyone to do

Including a large steam train running around a garden to the delight of every child large and small!

Fortunately the rain stayed away and although it was cloudy and chilly it didn't spoil anyone's enjoyment.

RESOLUTION -the novel

I'm still busy editing, looking for repetition and areas where the story doesn't flow...and I'm finding plenty of them! I have been asked to give a few hints about the story. I will, very soon, well, when I feel brave enough.  One little tidbit to keep you going is that my four main characters are Carly Mitchell, Ben Thornton, Steve Sinclair and Emily Anderson. The story is centred in a small Yorkshire Mill Town called Yeardon and in the Resolution Hotel within the town. Enough for now!