A sunny morning with a beautiful blue sky and today we are moving on, but first a quick detour to the romantic ruins of Bolton Abbey.
Scottish raiders began the destruction of the monastery and Henry VIII dissolution did the rest, but the body of the church survived as a parish church.
We had a look inside and particularly liked the painting behind the altar by a local artist depicting Madonna lilies as the church is dedicated to St Mary as well as barley, olive, vine, Passion flower, wild rose and palm, all of which symbolise the passion.
There are also windows by Pugin, telling the life of Christ.
I was looking forward to using the stepping stones, first laid as a crossing point for the lay workers at the Priory, but some have recently been dislodged by trees so we had to use the bridge. I left Chris taking photos while I went for a walk through the woods …
… and along the river, down one side and back the other.
Our other stop of the day was Shibden Hall, just outside Halifax, a Tudor Manor House which had been home to the Lister family from the C17th, set on a hill overlooking the valley.
Anne Lister was born in 1791 and is sometimes described as the first modern lesbian. She was a successful woman entrepreneur and landowner and her full story was revealed when her diary was unearthed in an archive.
We watched a short film where Helena Whitbread described how she found the diary when looking for source material for a research project. She then managed to decode secret sections revealing Anne’s lesbian sexuality, as well as her views on men, money, business, and the society in which she lived.
Her subsequent book formed the basis of the script for the TV series Gentleman Jack which has brought quite a number of visitors recently, including us, interested to learn more about Anne Lister and to see where she lived.
Anne Lister was eager to improve the house and grounds and made several alterations to the house such as removing the ceiling here to give the impression of an open medieval manor hall, complete with gallery and striking staircase.
She also added the mock gothic tower which she made into a library and landscaped the grounds which still offers walks and a boating lake open to the public, but we didn’t explore these.
Another short drive found us pulling up in the car park of The Huntsman, an independent country pub with rooms on Saddleworth Moor, high above Holmfirth village.
We settled into our cosy room and later had dinner in the restaurant.
Off Travelling Together 