Just chilling

The folks who live in the Stable Block cottages, alongside Saltaire's church drive, have really made the most of their garden area in recent years. They've planted shrubs, roses and flowers, and made seating areas for each cottage. There's a huge conifer that effectively screens them from the road, as well as the trees along the church drive, so it has become rather a pretty and secluded little spot. When I walked past, I noticed a tabby cat stretched out on one of the tables. It was rather a hot day so perhaps it had found a relatively cool spot. 

Heptonstall's Methodist Chapel

The old and new Anglican churches in Heptonstall aren't the only places of worship in the village. There is also a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, though it is not now in regular use. Built in 1764, to house a rapidly growing non-Conformist congregation, it clings to the hillside on the north east side of the village, with wonderful views over the valley.  The formation of the congregation was overseen by John and Charles Wesley, the Anglican evangelists and preachers, who founded the breakaway Methodist revival movement. Octagonal chapels are unusual though not unique, believed to have no corners for the devil to hide in, and focused around the central pulpit. 

We didn't find the chapel open, though I gather some of our members eventually managed to find a keyholder and were allowed inside. 

We were graced by a visit from a rather fluffy cat, who stretched out in the sunshine on the warm stone steps, quite oblivious to the photographic equipment sharing its space. 

Such a variety of life

On my Silsden wanderings, I came across quite a variety of interesting creatures. I had my first encounter this year with a spring lamb, not such a baby either, as he was eating grass, not just suckling milk. 

Then I found a pretty tabby cat, who was very keen for strokes and neck scritches. Such soft fur! 

Along the canal, I discovered these two very attractive ducks. At first I thought they must be some kind of melanistic mallards. They had the mallards' characteristic curly tail feathers but black feathers, beautifully catching the light and glowing with iridescent green, turquoise and purple. A Google search has turned up an American domestic breed of duck called Cayuga, which pretty much matches these. I've never seen them before but they were really a 'wow' moment. Not a great photo as I only had my phone, and a photo can't capture the way their feathers' sheen changed as they swam around in the sunlight. 

Another unusual bird to encounter was this guinea fowl - unusual, at least, to find one rooting around a grass verge on the edge of a suburban housing estate! 

Cat lady

Clearly, I'm turning into a cat lady (though not childless!) I can't resist taking photos of them lately. Whilst I was exploring Saltaire's 'Open Gardens', this little charmer fixed me with his sea green eyes and almost hypnotised me. As I've said before, Saltaire has loads of cats. This one, I am reliably informed, is Joshua. 

Freddie

There are lots of well-loved cats around Saltaire, so many that they even have their own 'Cats of Saltaire' Facebook page! Thus I know that this little chap is Freddie, who, with his brother Jasper, lives on Albert Terrace. They're both super friendly. Freddie wanted head and neck scritches. Every time I crouched down to try and take a photo he came over to me again for another scritch. Such a gorgeous boy and he seems very well cared for. I really enjoy seeing all the different characters around the streets. 

I name this boat....

A walk along the canal side is enlivened by the huge variety of boats and their often very creative names. Here are a few. What would you name your boat? 

You probably know that Valium (Diazepam) is the name of a drug that calms the nerves and reduces anxiety. I guess, for some folk, boats may have a similar effect.  It certainly worked for this cat...

Going, going, gone

It can be a bit disconcerting when I'm standing doing chores at the kitchen sink, to find creatures staring at me. There is a large spider that likes to weave its web right across my window (thankfully outside!) and then sit there, regarding me with a baleful glare. There's a (sweet) dog in the house opposite, very like my daughter's cockapoo though I don't know if it is that breed. It sits on their doorstep and fixes me with an unwavering, though adoring (or possibly hopeful), stare. Walk? Treat? Then there are these two house-cats next door opposite. I'm not sure what breed they are (Sphynx?) but sometimes when it's colder they wear little knitted sweaters. Very cute. They sit like a pair of bookends on the upper windowsill, staring me down. Who is going to blink first? On this occasion they were both there, and then one disappeared and then the other went too, leaving just the potted plant. It amused me.

Evening stroll

A summer's evening stroll down to Roberts Park invariably produces some interesting sights. 'Saltaire Shakespeare' are once again offering free performances of a Shakespeare play on some weekend afternoons and evenings. This year they are showing 'A Comedy of Errors', which isn't a play I'm familiar with. They seemed to have much better sound this year than in the past but sadly I'm so deaf that I'm still unable to make sense of it. The plays are always performed in modern dress and with a minimum of props, using the natural amphitheatre around the bandstand. They seem to be attracting some reasonably sized audiences, and everyone looked as though they were enjoying it... 

... with the possible exception of one rather restless doggo. 

On a warm wall on the road down to the park, I spotted Chappie, the very antithesis of a restless doggo, being a very chilled-out kitteh. He was apparently exploring the meaning of 'different strokes from different folks', with lots of people stopping to give him a quick scritch behind his ear.  He's something of a star in the village, often seen out and about. He has even been known to hop on a train in the station and thus disappear for a few weeks! His owners kitted him out with a GPS tracker but he seems to keep losing them. I personally think he must be a reincarnation of Sir Titus Salt himself, given that he strolls around as if he owns the place, and everyone knows him! 

Finally, that old familiar view of the New Mill across the weir. What isn't familiar is the ultra low level of the river. It's so low that almost half of the weir is now dry, the water held back by a low sill. You can't see from the photo but the resident heron was sitting hunched up on the dry slabs, looking rather forlorn. I've never seen the river so dry in all the years I've lived here. It is apparently revealing all sorts of 'long lost treasure' like submerged cars! Stretches of the canal are also closed to boaters because of the lack of water. At this rate we will almost certainly have water rationing soon - hosepipe bans and they'll maybe even resort to standpipes in the streets if the drought continues. I can only ever recall that happening once before in my lifetime, in this area.  

Cat portrait

I had to smile when I saw this cat, both on account of the way it tones so nicely into the autumnal surroundings and because of the pose it adopted - 'look, hooman - u take photo pleez?' Of course, I did. 

Autumn afternoon in the park

It's nice sometimes just to break up the day with a short, quick, local walk, even when the hours are full of chores and errands. I did a circuit of the park in the drizzle. The bandstand looked magnificent, with the surrounding autumnal trees echoing its red paintwork. Sad that it has been little used in this pandemic year - no concerts, no bands. Sir Titus Salt looked on from his pedestal, as in the distance a steady stream of young people escaped from the nearby Titus Salt School at the end of their school day, walking home through Roberts Park as - no doubt - generations of students and workers before them have done. A cat slipped silently across the path and disappeared into the shrubbery. Good to breathe, good to notice small things.