All dressed up . . . and nowhere to go 🙁
I’m getting a little cabin fever now. Basically I’ve been stuck in my apartment for 4 days now. It’s not that I haven’t got anything to do. I actually feel as if I’ve got more than enough fun things to occupy myself with indoors but I need exercise. With this in mind I decided to brave the weather and take a tour of Todmorden Town Hall, including afternoon tea. At least it would give me a reason for wearing something different than what I’ve been hanging around in for the past few days. Since it’s only about 50 paces to the bus stop from my place I thought I’d risk it. About an hour before I was due to set off snow was coming down heavily but I could see from my window that bus were still running, so off I went.
Todmorden town hall is a magnificent edifice that quite dwarfs the rest of Todmorden town centre. A large banner on the railing was advertising a Wedding Fair from 10-4 today. I knew about this already so I wasn’t too concerned, but on entering the building there was no sign of a tour, or even a sign cancelling a tour. So I had no alternative but to gatecrash the wedding fair. It was a small collection of stalls running around the perimeter of a truly magnificent hall, but it was all so sad. There couldn’t have been more than 10 attendees, totally outnumbering the number of vendours. I chatted to one vendour who said there had been a sign outside earlier in the day cancelling the tour but it had been obscured by the Wedding Fair sign. I suggested a small sign on the door would have been useful, but it wasn’t her concern. I was niffed that the organiser, who I’d called and left a message with asking about any cancellation, had not had the courtesy to reply. However, I was here now, so I needed to make the best of it. I chatted to several vendours including the Todmorden lady who makes this adorable bears:
and the ladies that make these:
I sampled the fig bread – delicious
There was even a string trio advertising their availability for playing at weddings:
Next, I went in search of icicles and frozen canals and found both
before heading back to Hebden. I did consider walking back along the canal (5 1/2 miles) but it looked just too slippery. Back in town there were a few people in the square heading for hot coffee in the cafes and just a few brave souls were noseying at the 6 stalls that were open (crazy) on the outdoor market.
The best Indian food in town
Home of the Stoodley swirl
I often buy a bacon butty, cooked to order, from this stall
There’s a new stall on the market today. I sampled the elderflower gin: just the thing for generating some warmth today.
Local butcher’s signs
And then I headed for the co-op where the shelves were pretty empty!!!!
Enjoying what had turned into a fun photo opportunity I went in search of some of the buildings my ancestors lived in, some of which I discovered yesterday in the archives.
One of these buildings is #1 Crown Street, directly across the street from my abode. From 1871 to 1891 Thomas Wrigley, (the husband of my 4th great aunt) ran a photographic studio from here. In 1841 he had been a resident of Lily Hall, living with his new wife, the former Sally Wrigley (my 4th great aunt). Which means that my gt gt gt gt grandfather was Sally Wrigley’s father!
Some time last week I’d found that an ancestor had lived in Oxford House. I found it today. It currently houses a vegetarian restaurant that I wrote about in my journal a couple of weeks ago, saying that I’d like to take Anna there.
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