Outing with a Difference

 Wednesday 29th March 2023.             Outing with a Difference 

For today’s outing the Lads have decided to make a visit and see an old work colleague of theirs . His name is Roger  Wadman, at this present time he is a resident in the Sycamore Nursing Home which is located near the centre of Wakefield. This meeting as been arranged by Colin and Roger’s daughter Maddie. It’s been quite a few years since many of the Lads have been in contact with Roger , he seemed to have slipped off their radar due to certain circumstances, however a chance meeting with another acquaintance of Roger’s lead to finding out about his whereabouts and the  contact information regarding his daughter. After a few phone calls between Colin and Maddie our intended visit was arranged.

It would be a total number of 9 lads participating in this visit, the care home have provided us with a suitable room for our visit to take place, plenty of comfortable chairs being available has we encircled Rodger who greeted us with a look of surprise on his face, many conversations now began with each of the lads taking turn to recall many of the incidents that involved Roger at their former work place of Thackray’s . Maddie had kindly provided a few sandwiches, nibbles and drinks for us to enjoy as the various  memories were banned about . The Lads spent about an hour and a half in Roger and Maddie’s company, who seemed to be more than delighted with this occasion having taken place.

A big thanks to the Sycamore staff for putting up with us and a special thanks to Maddie.

A pleasing and rewarding day for all involved 

Cheers Everyone.

Out and About in Outwood

 Wednesday 22nd March 2023.             Out and about in Outwood

For today’s outing the Lads have decided to visit the district of Outwood , a location midway between the cities of Wakefield and Leeds , they intend to take a short walk around a local nature park formed around the old Lofthouse Colliery workings

. The group will consist of John Colin and Brian travelling by train from Leeds, whilst Glenn and Dave will approach by train from Sandal/ Agbrigg. They intend to meet up at Outwood station around 11:00 am. The Lads coming from Leeds arrived a little earlier due to their original train being cancelled, they were able to catch a sooner train. So a short time awaiting the arrival of the Wakefield Lads had to be endured so to speak. As a group of 5 now they were soon into their stride taking the footpath that follows the railway line for a short distance before bearing off to the right somewhat taking us into a more wooded area. It was a very pleasant late morning weather wise and most appreciated as we walked along, we continued our journey until  almost midday when we found ourselves back at the railway station here in Outwood.

From this point it would about 15 minutes walk along Ledger road heading towards the 509 cafe, our intended destination for our lunch time meal. Upon arriving at the cafe we were greeted by Keith who had made the journey there by car just to have lunch with us all, been a few months since we last saw him, a bit of catching up to do over lunch.

A table for 6 was now requested and soon found ourselves seated and ordering our meals, due to a shortage of readily available chips to go with our selected meals we were told there would be about a 20 minutes delay .Fine , the wait was soon over has we discussed future plans about upcoming intended destinations, quite a few sprang to mind at this point, eventually our meals arrived and were consumed with much enjoyment and relish. We spent just over an hour here in the cafe so with the time approaching 1:45 pm it was time to bid farewell to Keith and for the rest of us it was a return journey to the railway station and catch our respective train rides taking us homewards.

Another great day out with some of the Lads.

Cheers Everyone.

A Yearning for York

 Wednesday 15th March 2023             A Yearning for York

With a desire to make a return visit to the city of York and walk along part of it’s riverbank, the Lads have made plans to do so. A group of six will take part in this adventure, those being John, Colin, Brian, Glenn, Derek and Dave. They will all journey there by train, leaving from different locations etc, Bradford, Leeds , Sandal and Dewsbury, an approximate meeting up time of about 11:00 am is scheduled at York railway station and this is indeed what took place. At this point the location of the river would be a few hundred yards away, so off we went. It was a pleasant morning here in York even though the overnight temperature had been of a minus quantity. As the lads got closer to the proximity of the river there came a bit of surprise, it was running rather high and had caused a certain amount of flooding to some surrounding areas, so much so that their intended walk along the far bank had to be altered somewhat, not to worry the near side back was much more accessible and the lads were able to walk along its pathway to their intended target of the Millennium bridge. A suitable place to consume our sandwiches was found along our way so a short respite was taken around midday. 

Part of the outing today was to visit a newly discovered cafe in the grounds of Rowntree Park, unfortunately the access gates  from the riverside pathway had been locked due to safety aspects re the previous days flooding, with questions asked of local residents we were told of a different way to approach the cafe, this was noted and duly executed sometime later. 

Our walk continued now with the bridge only a few hundred yards further along the river, at this point there was a rather cold chilly wind at our faces, so off in search of the cafe it was. Some twenty minutes later we were all sat around a table having afternoon tea so to speak, scones with butter and jam etc.

With time in abundance it was a leisurely journey back towards the railway station, taking in part of the city walls as we went along,  eventually arriving at a few minutes before 3:00 pm. Because of the many cancellations now taking place on the railway systems , only certain amounts of return journeys were available, so it was all aboard the 15:20 heading for Leeds, but at the last minute John took a different option to take a more appropriate train taking him to Bradford. So it was goodbye from him has he raced away to platform 6. The rest of us were soon back in the Leeds, with Dave and Derek travelling along to Dewsbury. 

Yet another great day out with the Lads 

Cheers Everyone.

Littleborough to Walsden

 Wednesday 08 March 2023

Littleborough to Walsden

Colin caught the 10:17 Manchester train to Littleborough from the Leeds City Railway Station. 

Arriving at 11:10 in Hebden Bridge for the 11:12 departure with John meeting up at this point with Colin for the twenty minute journey to Littleborough arriving at 11:30. 

There was little shelter from the arctic winds that were swirling about as we embarked on the 8 kilometre walk back towards Walsden but undeterred we battled on and before long it was time to rest in a sheltered spot to consume our sandwiches. During this period we chatted with a local lady who was doing some dog walking with a couple of Collies who were extremely friendly especially as we were eating our lunch. Dogs and ourselves suitably fed it was time to crack on so that we could catch 14:05 back to Leeds for me and as far as Hebden for John where he could catch the necessary modes of transport back to Wilsden. 

The scenery was beautiful as we made our way down the canal and was made even more picturesque with the snow showers that were now upon us. 

We eventually arrived at Grandma Pollard’s in Walsden which had sadly closed a number of years ago and is still missed by our group to this very day. We had our first Christmas Dinner here on Thursday 8 December 2016 and we haven’t looked back with a Christmas Meal every December since. 

We crossed over the road to Walsden Railway Station for our train but it was running twenty minutes late. 

John whiled away the time catching up with Ksenija his Granddaughter who was enjoying life once more and he was looking forward to seeing her soon. 

Another lovely day out and a trip to York to look forward to on Wednesday 15 March!

-- 

Colin Hendrick Ward

Navigating Newmiller Dam

 Wednesday 1st March 2023.            Navigating Newmiller Dam 

It would be a group of 4 that would be present for today’s adventure to a local beauty spot on the outskirts of Wakefield. They included John and Colin travelling from Leeds by train and bus , Derek and Dave making their way to Newmiller Dam by car. A meeting time of 11am. Was suggested at the bus stop situated close to the Dam. Due to rescheduled bus times this did not occur until 11:40 when John and Colin stepped off the 59a bus, Dave and Derek had spent the delay time drinking tea in the local cafe.

From the bus stop the four of them were soon onto the footpath which would lead them in a clockwise direction around the lake , a distance of about 3 kilometres or so. The weather conditions remained favourable for almost all of this journey with just the odd rain showers taking place. The walking pace was rather steady interspersed with the odd glimpses of the wildlife habitation in this particular location. Many other walkers were taking advantage of the surroundings here at Newmiller Dam, such a  vast amount of woodlands that you could almost get lost in , ideally suited to both children and dog owners alike.

Before not too long we had crossed over the footbridge and began our return journey following the lakeside pathway that would eventually lead us to the nearby Cafe for a well deserved lunch time meal.  Sausage egg and chips were the order of the day for all four of us and were consumed with relish along with a cuppa whilst talking about future adventures etc. This still remains one of our favourite topics while we are out and about, just pure enjoyment for those on the sidelines and not involved with our particular group . With the time approaching 2pm it was farewell to Newmiller Dam and the beginning of the return journey back to our respective homes.

Another great day out with the Lads 

Cheers Everyone.