‘A change is as good as a rest.’ – English proverb
I’m not sure who first said this, but whoever ‘they’ are have clearly never been on holiday with my sisters who are both considerably fitter than I am despite being two and four years older. A week away together in Devon revisiting places and memories of the past included walking far further than I am used to.
I try to walk 5km/day on the basis of ‘use it or lose it’, but our week together racked up over 70km, which equates to 45 miles rather than my usual 25-30km. Clearly I needed another holiday to recover and so spent a long weekend with two old school friends in Yorkshire – another beautiful shire.
Closing the laptop and walking away from social media has been restorative, and I’m grateful that my northern friends, who had just moved house but hosted us anyway, hadn’t yet managed to set up their internet in the new abode giving a welcome breathing space from the demands of relentless wifi. (Yes, I know it’s useful too, but a few days off are highly recommended.)
After a week in Devonshire, I travelled to that other shire – Yorkshire – with an old school friend to stay with a third school friend who, despite having just moved house, welcomed us warmly. We had a long weekend of culture visiting the Brontë museum in Howarth as well as the Saltaire Mill where the recently departed David Hockney has his latest exhibition. We walked, but not so far as the previous week, enjoyed shared memories, laughter, banter, and card games as well as a trip to the cinema to see the excellent film, Pressure (go when you can), about the chief meteorologist, Captain James Stagg (played by Andrew Scott) advising Ike (Brendan Fraser) and Monty (Damian Lewis) on the D-day landings.
The last twelve days have seen me enjoying walks on cliffs, by rivers and around reservoirs as well as across the moors. I’ve immersed myself in culture by visiting museums, art galleries, book shops and design outlets as well as reuniting with childhood friends in both counties, swimming in the sea, pottering around interesting shops and breathing good, clean air. My legs are protesting and my throat is threatening a full-on infection but I’m battling both, determined to now hurl myself into the list of jobs and deadlines that await.
Meanwhile, I’ve included a selection of the wonderful views of the past twelve days here for you to see. I hope they delight you as much as they have me. I imagine you have a phone full of your own summer activities to look back at and enjoy all over again. That’s the joy of photographs, isn’t it?
[Images: all my own]
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