Tuesday 3 July 2012

Bimbling along Todmorden and Hebden Bridge

Hi. This is the last day of my four day cheapie break. The hostel cost me £33 for three nights, and I thought you might like to see where I stayed, so here is a little film. Won't you join me on this guided tour.



All packed up and ready to go. I decided to drive to Todmorden, park there, then walk along the towpath of the Rochdale Canal, to Hebden Bridge. First a bimble around Todmorden. It was market day, some stalls outside and the rest inside. It was quite busy, lots of shoppers about.


This is an amazing stall, loads of exotic spices and healthy food stuffs.

Here you can buy your beer and look at the art gallery.

Or have a tipple at the Polished Knob.

Alongside the canal is this art feature, stainless steel fish and suchlike, on a wall of stone chips enclosed in square baskets.

There is a scheme in Todmorden called Incredible Edible. Public spaces are planted up with fruit, vegetables, and herbs, anyone can pick them and take them home, with no charge. There are big planters like this one, borders around car parks are used, and alongside the canal, in fact you can find food growing everywhere. This is their web site
http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/

High up on a hill is the Unitarian Church....

...giving good views over the town.

This is the lock next to the town bridge. A boat enters the lock and the guillotine type gates at the other end lift up to enable the boat to pass under the road.

More Incredible Edibles planted up along the canal.

I pinched a few strawberries.

It was a very pleasant walk along the canal, it's interesting to see what people have done with their back gardens along the waters edge. Here the ducks seem to have adopted these two gardens for their own. The property owners have encouraged them by leaving food out.

Here are some more ducks, or are they geese, ha ha. Floating by in a convoy, very serene very gentle, I don't think they were paddling at all, just drifting.

A week ago there was massive flash floods in this area, tons of rain fell in a short time and washed a lot of the paths away. There were notices along the towpath saying it was closed due to damage, I ignored them and carried on, a few rocks strewn about don't bother me. This was the worst section, looks like someone from the Waterways Department is assessing the situation, he was taking photographs.

I arrived in Hebden Bridge, this is a town which is in a very deep gulley, they took the full force of the floods here. I saw skips full of damaged possessions all over the place as people were emptying their homes and shops. Many shops were empty and closed, it will take a while before they are up and running again. I went in the Co op and found all the fridges were empty and whole aisles of the shop out of bounds where they had nothing to sell.

I climbed a steep hill to take some photographs.

This is Hebden Bridge Hostel, it's not part of the YHA, it's an independant hostel. Looks a good place to stay if I come again.

Some more views.


I had planned on walking the five miles back to my car, but I had dillydallied that much and time was getting on, so I got the bus back. I set off for home at 5pm after having a bit to eat. I love this area, must come back again.

25 comments:

  1. Well you have totally educated me about youth hostels. Looks great. Hebden Bridge is on my to do list over the summer.

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  2. I really like Todmorden, have been a few times, twice of them when I did the Manchester to Todmorden walk of around 21 miles along the canal. The Lions Club run it every year. The last time, there were very few people did it all the way from Manchester and I just missed the last bunch so had to walk on my own.

    The other time was when I did a walk around all the hills that surround Todmorden. We assembled at the market you just showed us, although it was a Sunday and completely empty of course. One guy walked in a bowler hat, business suit, briefcase and rolled up umbrella. I think he was a fell walker and was bounding along, fit as a flea.

    Glad you had such a nice time in this lovely area. That wall is incredible, isn't it?

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    1. Can you tell me what a 'fell walker' is, please?

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  3. Thanks for the video, Ilona...that cat was gorgeous! I've got a question. If the hostel has lots of people in it, how do you all organise cooking your meals....do you get a time slot?
    Jane x

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  4. What happened to cause the damage to homes and shops?

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  5. Hi PP, I think I explained what caused the damage.
    Quote : A week ago there was massive flash floods in this area, tons of rain fell in a short time, they took the full force of the floods here. I saw skips full of damaged possessions all over the place as people were emptying their homes and shops. Unquote.

    Hi Jane. It can sometimes get a bit busy in the kitchen, you have to do some dancing around each other. It is all very friendly though, people are generally respectfull of others. There are no time slots, but evening meal can be any time between 5pm and 10pm. Some people insist on doing the whole three course meal thing using lots of utensils, why they do that I don't know. I on the other hand make my meals as simple and as basic as I can, often just warming food in the microwave. When it is busy I either wait for others to finish, or eat something that requires no cooking. Everyone is expected to wash up and put away the pots and pans they have used.

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    1. LOL...I should not read when half awake.

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    2. Thank you,Ilona....I'd keep it simple too, isn't that the ide of a holiday?
      Jane x

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  6. I love Todmorden. My daughter's in-laws live there. Fortunately they were relatively unscathed in the recent flooding - just part of their cellar was affected. We went to the Incredible Edible Harvest Festival up at the church a couple of years ago - it was a wonderful afternoon.

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  7. Know both Hebden and Todmorden very well and love them! Glad you enjoyed your holiday!

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  8. I just love your videos. I feel like I am in the UK with you. Thank you.

    Pat (USA)

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  9. Two of our favourite places. We once thought we might end up living in Hebden...... If you go again, it`s worth walking up the steep hill path to Heptonstall. There are lots of great walks in the area so it would be worth going to the Hostel for another holiday.

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  10. great tour as always. I liked the fish on the wall very much.

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  11. Incredible edibles! Now there's an idea.....!

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  12. Fabulous, interesting post Ilona, thanks
    Briony
    x

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  13. Lovely places. I really enjoyed touring Todmorden with you and eating out of the edible garden ;-)

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  14. I visited Hebden Bridge last summer but didn't have the freedom to explore properly - we were out for a walk with Dave's dad -it looked great and I've been planning to go back ever since! What a shame it was badly affected by the floods.

    Todmorden is another place I've heard lots about - Dave has lived there in the past but I've never been.

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  15. We have an Incredible Edible scheme here in Rossendale, inspired by the Todmorden one.

    The stones in baskets for the wall are called 'gabion baskets'. They are used a lot to hold back retaining walls.

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  16. My inlaws live in Hebden bridge and they were flooded again this year but they stay as they love the area so much. Glad you loved this area.

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  17. Lovely video. I read your post and came to realize that I knew Hebden Bridge from many years ago. I had visited there about 27 years ago when on folk singing tour with my then partner. Lovely little place and the countryside is stunning, too.

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  18. Hebden Bridge and Todmorden are on my doorstep and I love them both. What a fantastic job you did of capturing the escence of both these fascinating and quirky places.
    Yes, the flash floods of recent weeks have had a devastating effect on these small towns. Hope people inspired by this blog will, in future times, come and see them for themselves and support the local shops there as they try to rebuild their lives and livelihods. You will not be dissapointed.

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  19. Hi Lydia. A fell walker is a person who walks the fells. A fell being a mountain or a hill. Mainly places high up like the Lake District or Scotland. A fell is open land where sheep graze. There are fell runners as well, thos who run up and down hills. And fell walkers clubs.

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  20. Another lovely trip with you Ilona. What a good idea to grow things that anyone may take to eat. Such a shame about the floods, I feel very sorry for people who are affected by them.

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  21. Another great walk - thanks for posting. I really like the idea of the incredible edible. Not sure if it would work around here. PEople would probably strip everything bare. Oh well.

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  22. hello, I stumbled upon this post as I was blog hopping around....I've lived in Todmorden for 15 years... and recently moved to Hebden Bridge ( and the south of France.....another story)....so really enjoyed your stroll around the places I love. Incredible Edible is a really amazing project. I've been in France for the last 2 months, so missed the floods, my home was ok, just......but have heard great stories from freinds and neighbours about the volunteering that has taken place to try to get things up and running again. It is a wonderful part of the world....so glad you liked it. Best wishes, Janice

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