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!