Trips & Adventures – 25 October 2018

We had a great day out in Halifax starting with a coffee at the Square Chapel Arts Centre which is just opposite Halifax Railway Station. The Arts Centre is a beautiful Grade II listed red brick Georgian Chapel and is a wonderful conversion. It’s a friendly and relaxing place.

We then made our way to the Minster where we had lunch and listened to a very enjoyable organ recital. There were 12 short pieces including J S Bach and Cesar Franck.

This was followed by a private tour of the Minster lead by David, a local historian. He guided us around the Minster and gave us a very interesting and informative talk. He told us about Anne Lister who was baptised in the 900 year old font and whose grave stone was apparently vandalised because she was a lesbian.

Anne Lister was a well-off Yorkshire landowner, diarist, mountaineer and traveller. Throughout her life she kept diaries (written in code) which chronicled the details of her daily life, including her lesbian relationships, her financial concerns, her industrial activities and her work improving Shibden Hall. The Hall is currently closed to the public as there is filming of her life story.

We had a look at some of the quirky shops in the Piece Hall before returning to the Square Chapel Arts Centre for another coffee and cake!

Halifax Railway Station was the location for the film Brief Encounter, a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean about British suburban life on the eve of World War 2. It centres on Laura, a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated because of a chance meeting at a railway station with a married stranger, Alec. They fall in love, bringing about unexpected consequences.

Trips & Adventures – 18 October 2018

We met at Victoria train station and took the tram to Bury Interchange. It was just a short walk to the college in Bury. The students on the catering course run a restaurant “The Three Seasons” which is open to the public.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at a discounted price. The three course meal including coffee is just £7.50 per person. We enjoyed some great food in a very nice ambience. We even had the Bakewell tart which we had missed the previous week when visiting the town of Bakewell.

Trips & Adventures – 11 October 2018

We took the train from Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton and then travelled by bus to Bakewell, a small market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales.

Bakewell is known for the Bakewell pudding, a jam pastry with an egg and ground almond enriched filling. It is not to be confused with Bakewell tart, which is a completely different confection, made with shortcrust pastry, an almond topping and a sponge and jam filling; Mr Kipling also made “Cherry Bakewells”, often also known as Bakewell tarts.

The origins of the pudding are not clear; however, the generally accepted story is that it was first made by accident in 1820 when the landlady of the White Horse Inn (now called the Rutland Arms Hotel) left instructions for her cook to make a jam tart with an egg and almond paste pastry base. The cook, instead of stirring the eggs and almond paste mixture into the pastry, spread it on top of the jam. When cooked the jam rose through the paste. The result was successful enough for it to become a popular dish at the Inn, and commercial variations, usually with icing sugar on top, have spread the name. Three shops in Bakewell offer what they each claim is the original recipe.

We didn’t know the story about the Rutland Arms Hotel so dined at the Red Lion which produced some wonderful home made food. I had chicken breast stuffed with vegetables and feta cheese, a huge salad and “Red Lion” chips. Other members of the group tried hominy pie and fish, chips and mushy peas.

We had a walk round the town of Bakewell including a steep hill up to the Old House Museum and past All Saints church and visited a couple of charity shops to view the books and CDs. We stopped off in Buxton for a coffee on the way back.

Trips & Adventures – 4 October 2018

The Portland Basin Museum in Ashton-under-Lyne is fantastic, but not too easy to find! Although the train from Manchester Victoria to Ashton-under-Lyne takes only nine minutes, the museum is a further twenty minute walk. We decided to take the bus.

We were directed to a ginnel which lead to the canal towpath. The museum was just a little way down over a bridge. The museum cafe was offering special meals to celebrate the International Day of Older Persons.

The 1914-18 street brought back many happy memories of drying clothes in the kitchen above the fire, the piano in the front parlour and playing hop-scotch in the school playing ground. The chip shop offered large fish for 4d and chips at 2d (that’s old money) and the grocers had a Christmas Club where you paid what you wanted each week in order to save for Christmas.

Stuart remembered spitoons and sawdust in the pub and the doctor advised against the demon drink on Mondays.

The street featured “Votes for Women” posters and had some interesting information on the sufragettes.

Everybody enjoyed the day out which also included trying on some hats and gloves.