Burnsall and Hebden

Burnsall is a pretty village on the River Wharfe, with stone cottages and a wide green alongside the river.  It's a popular spot for visitors and there's a well-placed coffee shop on the green and a couple of outlets to buy ice cream, as well as a decent pub. It can get busy with families in the school holidays but one of the advantages of retirement is that we can enjoy these lovely spots when they aren't too crowded. The river is broad and shallow here and the bridge is distinctive, with large arches. These tranquil scenes make it hard to imagine what it was like last February, when Storm Franklin caused the river to flood right across to the cottages. This summer we are praying for more rain, as it has been so dry for weeks! 

Upstream, the village of Hebden (below) sits above the River Wharfe, with Hebden Beck flowing down through the village into the river - again, little water in it when I took the photo. (Incidentally, this Hebden, in the Yorkshire Dales, is no relation and nowhere near to Hebden Bridge where my daughter and family live, which is west, over towards the Lancashire border.)

I noticed that Hebden's post box was gold. This was a tribute to Team GB's gold medal winning athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games, who each had a post box in their home town repainted gold. It was the first time post boxes had been anything but the traditional 'pillar box red' and was intended as a temporary measure but they proved popular with the public and have all been allowed to remain gold. 

It has a plaque linking it to Andrew Triggs-Hodge, one of the rowers in the Men's coxless four.