The Amazing hand-made parade

Luckily the weather stayed dry for the morning’s parade. I went up to the gathering area to see the participants assembling, the bands rehearsing and the dancers practicing their routines. There were lots of stilt walkers who had to negotiate big muddy puddles and potholed streets. I think the photos speak for themselves, though I’d love to know how many people were in the parade, and how many tourists packed into this small town. I heard several conversations about the parking problems onlookers were having, and the main road came to a complete standstill. Drivers were getting out of their cars to view the show. A bus was completely stuck, unable to move.

I took my first nap of the trip after all the excitement – stimulation overload! I woke up to find Chris, Paula and Beccie had set up an ice-cream, cake and cookie stall on the tow path right under our window. They were raising money for cancer research and they had a constant stream of customers returning from the parade. Beccie is raising money for a sponsored bicycle ride through Cambodia.

Canal scene

I looked up buses to various places to spend the evening but Sunday services are the pits. So I decided to walk to the next town Mytholmroyd. As I left it began to pour down, and stayed that way until I got back an hour and a half later. I listened to music from my phone

as I walked, passing through the village but decided to give up and retrace my steps when I got to a modern industrial estate. A few days ago I asked someone if they were from

Art work on a disused mill

Hebden Bridge. ‘Oh no, we’re not from this area. We’re from Mytholmroyd.’ It’s all of one and a half miles away!

In the evening I managed to connected with Sarah and Danny through Facebook’s messenger – thank you, Danny. It’s free! The phone calls I’d made back home were costing me a pound per minute.