Taking advantage of today’s lovely spring weather my wife and I decided to get out for a walk in the countryside. We set out to walk along two semi-wooded valleys just outside the small town of Hebden Bridge, called Hardcastle Crags and Crimsworth Dene. The area is full of historic interest. At Hardcastle Crags is an eighteenth century textile mill, formerly water-powered. Its manufacturing days are long gone, and it now operates as a cafe, conveniently half way along the valley. It continues the ecologically sound traditions of its origins, however, by generating all its own power from biomass.
The walk over the ridge between the two valleys was particularly enjoyable for the bird-life. There were several pairs of curlews, which have a wonderfully haunting, bubbling call, and buzzards circled over the moor.
As we descended into Crimsworth Dene we passed a couple of derelict farms, dating back (I would guess) to the early eighteenth century, and perhaps even earlier. They were built superbly well, and despite the fact that the kind of marginal hill-farming which gave rise to them is no longer viable, they still stand, and it will take centuries more before their walls of local gritstone yield to the weather.
Looking at one of them I had a sudden recollection that shortly after I moved to Bradford, in the mid-1960s, I had a phase of painting such buildings. I cannot recall now what it was about these ruins that held my attention. Perhaps it was simply their endurance. Perhaps I’ll return to that theme, although now it might be seen as derivative since there is a far better artist than me (Maxwell Doig) who is known for that kind of image. The experience was, nevertheless, a kind of travel in time, not only back into history but back into my own past.
Interestingly, the area is now showing signs of regeneration after a century of decay. I spotted two new forest plantations, and several of the old farms appear to have been renovated, probably as country cottages. The tracks to them have been restored so that they can take motor vehicles, and there are signs of active habitation.
I suspect that I haven’t seen the last of that area, and I will set out again to travel in time.