We all scream for ice cream

Just the other day on a warm summer evening I heard a familiar sound, one that I hadn't heard for a few years. It was the sound of an ice cream van playing its tinkly tune. Is there a sound that is more evocative of a British summer?

The hey day for ice cream vans was in the 1950s when I was a little girl. The van would come at the same time each day and you could hear the whining of children nagging their parents for an ice cream. My family were hard up so it was a rare treat for me to stand in the queue, with some pennies sweating in my hand, salivating at the prospect of  a Mr Whippy ice cream with a swirl of raspberry topping.

So it's heart warming to see that ice cream vans are once again having a moment. Nostalgia for a gentler time has born a revival of vintage ice cream vans

In the land of ice and snow

Up among the Eskimo

There's a college known as Oogie-wawa.

You should hear those college boys

Gee, they make an awful noise

When they sing their Eskimo tra la la.

They've got a leader, big cheer leader, oh what a guy!

He's got a frozen face just like an Eskimo Pie.

When he says, "Come on, let's go!"

Though it's forty-five below

Listen what those Eskimo all holler:

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Oh you pretty things!

I can't help singing that David Bowie song when I look at my pretty new purchases from Yorkshire.

Isn't this candelabra I found in Haworth adorable?

And these lotions from Rose & Co will make me feel beautiful

I found this lovely picture in Holmfirth in a great little vintage shop, the name of which I've forgotten ... doesn't it look good with my Cath Kidston wallpaper?

While I can't recall the name of the shop I can tell you it was just a stone's throw from Sid's Cafe (fans of Last Of The Summer Wine will recognise this)

If you look closely at the bunting in the picture you will see some ladies bloomers, probably Nora Batty's, flung on the line too! Not so pretty but they did make me smile!

Weavers cottages

Reluctantly my trip to Yorkshire is over and it's  back to work. Regular followers will know I am obsessed with cottages! 'Oop North' in the Pennines which span Yorkshire and Lancashire, where these photos were taken, cottages are made from stone hewn from the hilly landscape. No cute thatched cottages here. These cottages would originally have housed local weavers, the main industry sadly now all but died out. The walls are very thick to keep out the bitter Pennine winters. Local cottages are mostly terraced with little or no front gardens - many beautiful decorated with tubs and pots of flowers.

These days, in the pretty villages of Heponstall, Hebden, and Haworth where these photos were taken, they are more likely to be occupied by many of the artists and writers that live in the area - although people in the cities, Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds,  still refer to Pennine residents as Woolybacks!

Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath lived locally and Sylvia is buried in Heponstall. (See how people have paid their respects by leaving pens - very touching don't you think).

There is an English saying -  'It's grim up north'.

Looking at these pictures I think like me you'll disagree!

Heathcliffe, it's me Louise!

I've been doing my best Kate Bush impression as I've been driving through the part of the Pennines that is known as Bronte Country. "Heathcliffe, it's me Cathy come home now, so coooold" ... thankfully there were only sheep around to hear! The wild and beautiful moors that surround Haworth, home of the Brontes, provided the backdrop for Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre etc.

Charlotte, Emily, Ann and their brother Bramwell lived in this house in Haworth, now a museum. It's one of the biggest houses in the village.

Haworth is a gorgeous little village. No wonder the Brontes found such inspiration here. Even now it has a feel of a bygone age. Like the cobbled streets (NB steep hills + cobbles = sore feet) ... 

bunting... 

And the most divine little vintage shops!

In fact Haworth is becoming as well known for vintage as it is for its literacy connections. They hold a 40s weekend here every year. It looks like brilliant fun doesn't it!

Howard is a gem of a town, and the Rose & Co Apothecary is the jewel in the crown. A truly wonderful old shop selling all manner of lotions and potions. 

Mustard bath anyone?

Such a lovely place, I had to drag myself away and back over the moors to Hebden Bridge. "Heathcliffe, it's me..."

"Catherine's face was just like the landscape--shadows and sunshine flitting over it in rapid succession; but the shadows rested longer, and the sunshine was more transient..."

Wuthering Heights, Ch. 27

Daddy my Daddy!

Do you have a favourite film you can watch over and over again? I've lost count of the number of times I have seen The Railway Children, starring Jenny Agutter, made in 1970. I can't think of anything more comforting than to be curled up on the sofa on a wet Sunday afternoon watching this wonderful film.

But today, I did something even better. I visited Oakworth Station in West Yorkshire where they filmed The Railway Children. I was in heaven! It was just like it was in the film.

The station is just as it would have been in the age of steam. Even the waiting rooms are as they would have been 100 years ago.   

The original gas lights!

The Station Masters Office  - I half expected to see Bernard Cribbens head pop round the door!

Ooooh steam trains still stop here!   The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

Do you remember the emotional scene at the end of the film when Jenny Agutter spots her father on station platform and cries ... "Daddy my Daddy!"  I cry every time!

I confess to having a tear in my eye as I watched the steam train arrive at the station. I was tempted to do a little run, Agutter style, for the passengers!

It was such a delight. I can't wait to see the film again!

 xx