What’s a London girl to do when temperatures in the city soar to a sunny 27°C? Go due North, of course!
The start of September has been beautiful and the forecast for last weekend was hotter in London than Malta. So I got in a car headed for the North and the only part of England where its temperate climate borders on subarctic – the Pennines. A couple of hours later along the M1 we passed a sign for ‘the North, Nottingham’ and then ‘Nottingham, Robin Hood Country’. I reflected that I had never been this far north before – born-and-bred Londoners don’t usually stray far off the M4 corridor – as we suddenly drove through a patch of thick fog. The fog cleared as quickly as it had settled, revealing what can only be described as the real England: never-ending, undulating green hills densely populated with forests and moorlands. I felt like it was London that was all smoke and mirrors.
The real reason for our journey up North was to take a convoy of exotic cars to Connor’s Day.
Our first stop was Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, to join a convoy of FTO cars driving to Connor’s Day. This was the reason for our visit to the North. The charity event was held for a very ill 11-year-old boy, Connor, who loves cars and dreamed of going to a car show. Car clubs and car enthusiasts from around the world turned up to make his wish come true. It was truly heartwarming that so many people gave their time and support to Connor and his family at such short notice. You can read more about it here.
Hundreds of people had dedicated their time to bring all sorts of cars to the show. This beaten-up old car was my favourite…
… and this classic American Mustang. This is a Mustang engine.
The sun shone its best all day and continued to shine as we left Huddersfield to take the Snake Pass to the Pennines, officially designated by the National Trust as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The Yorkshire Bridge Inn was a beautiful place to stay deep in the heart of the Pennines.
We stayed overnight at the Yorkshire Bridge Inn and enjoyed a local dish of venison in red wine and redcurrent sauce. ‘It is just coming into redcurrent season,’ the landlord told us. The next morning we fuelled-up on a full English breakfast – fried bread, sausages, bacon, black pudding, mushrooms, tomato and beans – for our hike across the Pennine Mountains of Northern England. The views were breathtaking.
Here are my favourite pictures of the day…
The Pennine Trail through the Peak District National Park – the UK’s first and oldest national park designated in 1951.
AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
The Peak District is one of the most sparsely populated areas in England, although it was well populated in the Bronze Age and many tors were built in the Iron Age.
‘Stay on the road’…
London girl up North. And 300m above sea level.
The Peak District was inspiration for Jane Austen and much of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was filmed here.
Rugged northern countryside. If I wait here long enough, perhaps Sean Bean will appear from behind that rock?
The Pennines is enjoying a late summer too and wild flowers were everywhere.
Ragwort, I think?
Bee of the North.
Sheep pass.
Tree of the North. On closer inspection of this photo…
… I spied a strange little insect. Does anyone know what it is? EDIT: Blogger, Rolling Harbour, suggests this pretty creature may be a banded mosquito aka Culiseta annulata. Thanks, RH!
Yorkshire Bridge Inn had warned that the national park area would be busy due to sheep dog trials. We maybe saw about 30 people the entire day! Returning home safe and sound, this London girl would swop Oxford Circus for the Peak District any time. I hope you enjoyed the picture show and are inspired to go up North too!
Related links
Connor’s Day: Car Show For Terminally Ill 11-Year-Old British Boy Goes Viral (Huffington Post)
Connor’s Day 2012 at JustGiving
You can view my Facebook album of Connor’s Day without log in here.
The Yorkshire Bridge Inn (highly recommended)
The Peak District National Park Authority
I loved the landscape photographs, very evocative.
Thank you, evocative is a perfect word to describe the Peak District. It was like stepping into the pages of Wuthering Heights, gentle but hauntingly beautiful.
Looks like you had a great time. What a nice thing for so many people to bring their cars to a show to make the day of a child they didn’t even know.
I never realised that the car community was such a community until last weekend, and a really nice community too. Everyone was happy to make the day as special as it could be for Connor. He looked bowled over
Wow, thanks so much for sharing! This girl in Cincinnati Ohio really loved seeing the beautiful hills where my beloved ‘Pride & Prejudice’ was filmed!!
The BBC adaptation (my favourite) with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth was filmed here as well as the Hollywood version with Keira Knightly. ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ was also partly filmed in the Peak District: http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/news/filming/filmstv
You must have incredible views and landscapes in Ohio though! I visited Florida a few years ago and was struck by how much bigger everything is in the US.
Yep, everything is bigger. We do have beautiful views here but not as open as your shots. There is a lot of vegetation here that gets in the way. Though because of the vegetation the fall here is stunning!
BIG vegetation? I bet fall is beautiful. I’m hoping to visit friends in Wake Forest, North Carolina in autumn (fall) and have heard it will be beautiful!
Hey Emma! Thanks for the link.
Lovely photographs! If the reflection in that mirror is anything to go by, I distinctively remember seeing you at the weekend.
Again, thanks for the link.
Wow! You have a great memory then! Thanks, Tom. Your photos are fantastic. I usually take photos of bees not cars, but it was an amazing event
Beautiful photos…and Connor’s Day is just excellent, a lovely gesture…
Thank you, I almost feel the photos don’t do justice to the beautiful countryside. As beautiful as the people who helped for Connor’s Day
The Postman Pat van in the link at the motorshow is hilarious.
That’s funny! I remember the Postman Pat van among the race cars and vintage numbers, yet it drew huge crowds!
It’s uber fast too! ‘Does wheelies n’ everything! http://www.patvan.co.uk
Cool. I reckon I could fit in that van and drive it. Not sure about wheelies, though.
I have seen some of the videos of it on YouTube, brilliant.
Heart warming story all round. So glad you supported this. You said how much you enjoyed being in an area that was so beautiful. I volunteer for the National Trust (Bee project at Hughenden Manor near High Wycombe) and just one of the benefits is feeling that a beautiful building and the grounds is a place which, in a sense, partly belongs to you as you help care for it. I recommend anyone who enjoys the magnificent rural scenery or the wonderful historic buildings and has some time to consider volunteering.
My thoughts are with Connor and his family and I would love to know his reaction.
Tricia
That’s great that you volunteer for the National Trust helping to preserve our local areas of natural beauty and the wildlife and fauna too. I was thinking of joining the NT and volunteering for my local parks and gardens next year. Would love to know more about the Bee project at Hughenden Manor, is there a website? Being in nature is good for the soul.
See http://hughendenbees.wordpress.com/ Our bees are are at the end of the formal parterre but they border the countryside and have lime trees as well as all sorts of other trees and foliage close by. In the latest bit about putting honey in jars you can see our view across the walled garden towards countryside from the kitchen we used. We are so lucky!
Mmm, lime trees – your bees must make beautiful citrus-flavoured honey. Thanks for the link!
I’m shocked that you’d never been that far up north before! The breakfast sounds amazing. You should try Scotland next, they do good breakfasts up there too
Scotland??!!
BTW recently found out there’s a cider farm in Cornwall, will send you and Drew the link!
She’s right about Scotland. One of my favourite places is the art school in Glasgow designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and still a working art school but actually there is so much to see.
I imagine the Scottish landscape has much to inspire artists, if I’m in Glasgow I’ll check it out.
Would like to see Loch Ness…
Scotland – or why not go even further north and venture up to Iceland?! Spectacular scenery, lots of photographic challenges for you
Iceland! That’s more like it!
Emma, your landscape photos are beautiful. Your visit had such gorgeous scenery with the rolling hills and distant views.
Cheers, Donna. What was impressed on me was how cities and towns there seemed to be built around the countryside rather than through it. It is an incredibly beautiful and lovely place.
VG …and you even managed to fly a bee into the eclectic mix! I think the mystery insect is a banded mosquito aka Culiseta annulata RH
A mosquito! Wow, a very pretty one too! Thanks, RH
I think the northern bees came out specially to say hello
Emma, it looks like you had a fantastic time and great pictures, although you look a bit uncomfortable sitting on that ledge! I don’t think i’ve been much further north than Huddersfield either, but am thinking of doing a drive to Fort William in Scotland soon
I am scared of heights! But the view was worth it!
Sounds like a great trip
Great pictures, I love English landscape, it’s so ebautiful!
It was a wonderful place to visit. Have you been to the Peak District, Kristina?
Hi Emma,
Thanks for your continued interest in my blog and my most recent post on combining hives. Enjoying reading your updates.
Roger
Hi Roger! You have a great blog and it sounds like your bees are doing really well, which is great to hear this year. Our bees seem to finally have a good queen who is settling them down for winter. Fingers crossed they make it through the next five or six months till spring