Not Your Ordinary Day

LINTON CHURCHYARD


THE FOOTPATH FROM LINTON TO GRASSINGTON

Thursday is the day I usually hike with a group of ramblers. We were to meet in Hebden at 10 a.m. I drove, with Sally and Jean as passengers. I guess I encountered too many slow-moving vehicles along the way and arrived about five minutes late. As I approached Hebden village we saw a glimpse of some people beginning a hike. Thinking it was our group, I began honking my horn at them. When I got close enough I realized I had been honking at a handful of strangers. I rolled down the window and apologized for the disturbance. It was apparent that the Thursday Ramblers had already departed. We made an attempt to catch them up, but it was soon apparent the trail was cold. So, we went into the post office/general store and purchased a walking map of the area. We would go on our own hike from Hebden to Grassington and back. Basically we followed a route, with some deviations, we had taken several months before with the group. The map was beautifully drawn but not so easy to follow, so we had to dig into our memory banks to recall that previous hike. We ambled along, taking time for photo opportunities, passed Hebden suspension bridge, walked over some stepping stones in a river and made our way over to Linton church. We spent a bit of time admiring the views from the churchyard, examining the gravestones and taking a self-guided tour of the church. Linton Church is one of those little treasures hidden in the Yorkshire Dales. The current structure dates to the 12th century yet there has been a place of worship on that spot since 800 AD. From Linton we headed into Grassington and had lunch at The Dales Kitchen, a lovely little teashop. While at the teashop I attempted to call the vet to check up on Ginger but I could not get a signal on my cell phone. It was through converstion with the proprietress that we discovered the dreadful news out of London. Hearing about the bomb blasts was disturbing and cast a pall over an otherwise stellar day in the Dales. With heavy hearts we continued our way from Grassington back to Hebden village and on home again.

Once I got back home I called the vet. Not much new. Ginger still recuperating fine. He is eating and should be able to go home tomorrow. No test results yet. I found out that the reason I probably couldn't get a signal on my cell phone earlier had to do with events in London. The cell phone network had been shut down after being overloaded with calls.