A Witton Park stroll

The snow has gone, to be replaced by mist and thin cloud although the temperatures are still cold. It didn't keep us in today though as we ventured out to walk off a little of the seasonal excess with a short stroll in the park.












Witton Country Park is the largest park in Blackburn, more a large swathe of parkland stretching out westwards from the town. The park once formed the estate of the Feilden family, who owned a large amount of property in the town, but by the first world war their hall at Witton was seldom lived in and fell into disrepair.

After the second world war, the family sold the Hall and extensive grounds to the council, who created a large parkland area to be kept free of developments for the public to use. Sadly the house had to be demolished in the early 1950s and only the foundations remain, hidden amongst the trees. The outbuildings survived though, and now house tearooms, stables and a vistor centre.


Our walk took us along numerous paths through the trees and open spaces, eventually reaching the duckpond close to Pleasington Priory, about a mile and a half away. From there we headed back, taking a different route once back inside the park grounds for a pleasant 3 mile stroll.

Christmas at Catterall

Although the snow and ice has been around for over a week, we didn't have the same problems as last year when Jean had to cook the turkey for us and bring it along on the day. This time although the side streets are still treacherous, the main roads are clear and we made it to my parents without any worries.


After a great Christmas meal we relaxed with a few games on the Wii - bowling being the most popular and Jean being the surprise star with a'turkey' (three strikes in a row) - very appropriate!

Beautiful winter snow

The snow lying on the ground and on the trees was set off beautifully this morning by a brilliant blue sky, and with temperatures being so cold the coating of ice in the trees was quite stunning.

This photo was taken from the car park at work - the office overlooks a number of trees, fields and woodland, although the viewpoint has to be carefully chosen to avoid the railway, dual carriageway road and telephone lines from being in view.

Blackshaw Brook stroll

The roads had cleared sufficiently by lunchtime for us to head over Bull Hill to Bolton to visit Carole's parents, and from there Carole wanted to call at the Garden Centre for a wreath for the front door. The Garden Centre is within walking distance, so we left the cars behind and set off through the snow.

One possible route to the Garden Centre goes through a pleasant wooded area known as Blackshaw Brook, which looked especially Christmassy after snowfall.

The area was previously a bleachworks and papermill, but after being derelict for many years has been converted into 10 hectares of country park, with paths through the trees leading to several small mill ponds, or lodges.










All the stretches of water were frozen solid, so much so that the birds were clearly getting cold feet as they tried to puzzle out where the water had gone!

By the time we were heading back, the sun was beginning to set, and by sticking this time to the main roads, we were able to catch a colourful sunset looking over the trees.

Lowest temperatures since records began!

Last night temperatures dropped to the coldest on record... although as we've only had our digital weather station since June that's perhaps not too surprising!

Even so, it reached a tinglingly cold -10.6C during the early hours of the morning, which is certainly the coldest it's been for a number of years, and it was still -6C by mid morning, even though the sun was shining brightly.

I took a stroll down to the newsagents on the main road, and took a few winter scenes with my little pocket camera on the way:

Shovelling snow once again

The snow arrived in earnest overnight, reminding us of the heavy snow we had last winter, and by morning there was a good 4 inches on the ground with more flurries still coming down. By afternoon skies had cleared, which gave me the chance to clear the drive and put down some grit.

Carole wasn't quite so daft, staying indoors in the warmth to catch this not-so-flattering picture of me taking a breather.

Compared to the eastern side of the country, we've fared well so far as this is the first snowfall that's really stuck - let's hope there's not any more to come.

The secrets of fine dining at Hazlewood Castle

Today was the day we'd booked our foodie experience at Hazlewood Castle, about 12 miles down the road at Tadcaster. The temperature overnight had reached -8C, but once off the side roads near the B&B the main roads were clear by the time we were setting out.

Although we'd allowed ourselves plenty of time, what we hadn't bargained for was that once at the castle gates, the driveway leading to the main entrance, which seemed to go on for ever, was thick with snow - not ideal when you're in a car which hasn't exactly proved itself good on ice! Fortunately there were no cars coming in the opposite direction and we eventually found the ice-sheet of a car park, bang on time.

As it happens we were only the second couple to arrive and there were three other parties still to make it through the snow, so we relaxed in the restaurant with coffee and biscuits while we waited.

First on the agenda was a tour of the castle, and our guide for the tour certainly knew his stuff as he explained the history of the place through numerous stories going back to the 12th century. A hall at Hazlewood was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, listed as belonging to Sir Mauger the Vavasour. (Vavasour is derived form vassal, or tenant, and meant a tenant of a tenant: Mauger was the tenant of Duke of Northumberland who was a tenant or vassal of the King).

As a Saxon, Mauger didn't have a surname, but as Norman customs became established, the name Vavasour became the family name.

By 1290, the Vavasours were granted permission by the King to convert the hall into a fortified castle, and as a result their title was upgraded to Baron, as only Barons were permitted to live in castles.

The Vavasours stayed at Hazlewood for nearly 900 years until 1908, when large mortgage debts forced the family to sell up and emigrate to New Zealand, where their descendants developed a vineyard now best known for a fine Pinot Noir. Since then the castle has been a maternity hospital, a monastery and finally, in 1997, a luxury hotel.

It was clear during our tour that the owners in the last 100 years had an eccentric eye for a bargain, so most of the architecture and fittings throughout have at some point been reclaimed from other halls and mansions rather than being original to the castle. This included the wallpaper in some of the rooms (salvaged after the Great Exhibition), a Tudor ceiling and a panelled wall that originated in Belgium.


After the tour, we enjoyed a fine two course lunch before heading down to the kitchens to learn how the dishes are made. The class was thoroughly enjoyable with some seemingly easy dishes explained to us, plus a demonstration of sugar spinning to finish where we could have a go ourselves if we wanted to (it proved harder than it seemed, so this was one we declined).

The day thoroughly enjoyable, the only slight disappointment was that the regular head chef wasn't there, and his stand in was very nervous and a little forgetful.

Crossing the Arctic... to Betty's Tea Rooms!

Earlier in the year Carole had bought me a 'Red Letter' experience (a day's food tasting at Hazlewood Castle, Tadcaster) and we'd booked it some time ago thinking a short break in nearby Harrogate would be great, where we could do a little Christmas shopping and relax.

Unfortunately we hadn't bargained for the weather recently, which has been even more severe over the border into Yorkshire.


The journey was a little hairy but once there even though very cold the sun was out and the next few days were set fair. The centre of Harrogate was beautiful in the snow yet bitter cold, but we had an extra treat in store as we'd booked at the famous Betty's Tea Rooms for afternoon tea.

Here we put the cold to one side to enjoy a leisurely afternoon of sandwiches, cakes and pastries, lashings of tea and even a glass of mulled wine - pure bliss!

Gaynah's film star 40th

Carole became good friends with Gaynah after sitting next to her at work for several months, until Gaynah left to go and work as a project manager in the NHS. Since then they've kept in touch and tonight we were invited to celebrate her 40th birthday with a 'film premiere' theme at Bradshaw, a local cricket club in Bolton.

The weather recently has been awful, with exceptionally cold temperatures and a mix of snow and heavy frosts - very unusual so early in the winter - and it meant that many of Gaynah's guests sadly couldn't make it. But despite the icy roads we ventured out, though the approach to the club and the parking area around the side was absolutely lethal!




We dressed as if attending a film premiere, me in my dinner suit and Carole in a posh frock, and many of the other guests were in costume including Jack Sparrow, James Bond, the Blues Brothers, Inspector Cluseau, Cruella Deville and a couple of St Trinians girls too :-) Gaynah herself was dressed as Marilyn Monroe, and even recreated the scene over the air vent whilst making her speech!

Though the weather made the night more difficult, we had a great time catching up with a good friend - happy birthday Gaynah!