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BB2408
: Unbelievable
Thursday
29th February 2024
We
had hoped that one feature of today's adventure
would be unbelievable. Indeed it arguably
was but not in the way we had expected.
Things
started off believable enough. Tony
and I met Robin, plus Holly of course, at
Clapham. Robin had devised a route
that first took us past Ingleborough Hall. This
fine building had been owned by the Farrer
family who seem to have played an important
and benevolent part in the development of
the village. It was developed by successive
generations from a cottage in 1741 to the
impressive mansion and grounds that it became
by 1922.
After
WWII it was sold to West Riding County Council
as a school for "delicate" children.
Subsequently it became an outdoor
education centre but Bradford County Council
is struggling with its finances so is now
seeking to sell the property.
After
emerging from the two short tunnels that
pass under its grounds, we headed east along
Thwaite Lane before taking a footpath across
a field to Robin Procter's Scar, passing
by an ancient pond, now dried up.
It
is up there that the Norber Erratics, some
of them quite unbelievable, are to be found
but they are mostly higher up the hill.
We continued at the lower level to
join Crummack Lane then headed north.
At
noon, a cold wind was now blowing. We
sheltered behind a wall near the farmhouse
so that Tony's body clock could be satisfied.
Our
route then led to the cairn on the top of
Long Scar from whence we could see Pen-y-Ghent
to the east.....
.....and
Ingleborough to the west.
In
the hollow of Clapham Bottoms.... how's
that for an intriguing phrase?! Actually
it comes from the village website which
goes on to say ..... there are the remains
of Anglo-Saxon small-holdings. That's
believable though we couldn't see any evidence.
It
was time to head south, back to Clapham
along the appropriately named Long Lane.
On the other side of Clapham Beck
we could see the entrance to Ingleborough
Cave. We could have returned that
way but that would have cost us an unbelievable
£2.50 each so we stayed on the free
track.
This
was where Robin told us about the Unbelievable
Silver Disc that was to be seen in the The
Old Manor House. It really had to
be seen, he insisted, though first we visited
the Church.
The
vicar explained how it had been widened
to cater for the populace of other local
villagers only for the decision then to
be made to allow the other villages to have
their own churches thereby leaving Clapham's
too large for its intended purpose.
Down
the road is the Old Manor House. This
dates back to 1620 and has been put to various
uses, including being the village Reading
Room, then a Bunk House and now, conveniently
for the dual purpose of seeing the Silver
Disc and having a drink, a pub.
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The
ancient fireplace was admired,
beers were ordered then Robin
screamed "Unbelievable!"
"Yes,"
we said. "We know
that is the name of the song
that sold enough records to
earn a Silver Disc. That's
why we are here, isn't it?"
"But
it's no longer here," cried
Robin, explaining his outburst.
"It should be hanging
on the wall in that corner."
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It
transpired that its owner, James Atkins,
the singer with the band EMF, had taken
it back to his home without telling Robin.
Unbelievable.
Don,
Thursday 29th February 2024
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To
hear EMF in action, click on Unbelievable.
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For
information about the history of
the village, see History
of Clapham
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