Castleford

Alan & Lynne in Castleford


On the first Friday of my visit I organised a hire car, then ‘Fish’n Chipped’ again, bought books in Skipton and had a nice evening with Alex and Warren.

Next day I headed off to Castleford for a long weekend with Alan and Lynne. But this time I had another kind of adventure.

For the first time I travelled with my Metro Card = a travel pass for those over 65 = free on buses and very cheap on trains. I got the train to Cas over Leeds and only had to pay 50 Pence. Amazing! I didn’t have to pay anything when I travelled on buses when not using the car.

Alan and Lynne were waiting at Cas railway station. We made jokes about the old ‘bone-shaker’ of a train that connected to Leeds before arriving at their house. So full of memories.

It seems I have lived almost all my life connected to this house and family – and not only me. Jan is celebrating his 27th birthday today and this family and house has a very special place in his heart too.

Ah…my ‘old’ room…and just as I had left it a year ago. This is the room where I took the photo that heads this blog. Look at the top of your screen when you ‘log on’. It is my room and my bed in Villa Cas!  I even played around with new photos of Gone to Berlin, as you can see, but so far have stayed with the original.

This time we had a relatively quiet time together. The highlight was a day trip to Knaresborough, where I took lots of photos. Another was to a very ‘swish’ restaurant at an old priory that is now an up-market hotel and restaurant.

Here I have added a photo of Alan on the telephone at his business desk in the entrance to the house ….. quick note to the sons in Australia and New Zealand ….. he had tidied it up for you just before I took the shot :-))

And there is a lovely shot of ‘Mudda’ waving a spoon in the air in the kitchen just as she was about to deliver another tasty ‘Just Knocked This Together’ snack! Doesn’t it make you mouth water, Daniel, Peter and Paul?

On my last day we saw Lynne’s mum which I really enjoyed. She is getting old like the rest of us but she is such a lovable character as well and doesn’t look or act her age.

I had an interesting train journey back for the electric lines had fallen onto the tracks between Leeds and Shipley. A clear case of not investing in infrastructure, as I told a manager … and he smiled as he agreed with my comment!