Sleights

Sleights holiday 7

The heat was building as the week went on, so I was very limited in what I could do. One day I took a walk down the steep hill into Sleights village, which I hadn't really explored before. In truth there isn't a lot to see; it is a pleasant residential village, through which the River Esk - and the railway - run in quite a deep cutting. With the heat shimmering, the scene above somehow reminded me more of a French village than an English one. 

In contrast, the typical stone houses with roofs of red clay tiles are very much the local vernacular. Add in a few roses and a pure blue sky... very pretty

Some of the houses were decorated with wreaths of flowers and ribbons: yellow sunflowers and blue flowers intended, I think, to express support for those suffering the horrific ongoing violence in Ukraine. There are no statistics, as far as I know, but many of our communities have come together to host Ukrainians who have fled the war. (Indeed, my daughter's family have a lovely young woman currently living with them.) It may be that there is a community of refugees around Sleights and Whitby. It seems there have been some fundraising efforts there. 

The heat certainly made me need to stop, rest and drink frequently. Thankfully in Sleights there's a small, rather nice garden centre with a café. It had shaded tables and gardens alongside the river and proved a good place to sit and contemplate life, with a coffee and (oh yes!) cake too.