Dinky writes from the Big Apple

The following is a diary of our trip to Holmfirth from May 19th to May 30th, 2004. Come along with us for the ride!

Our flight went off without a hitch. The Limo driver arrived at our house at 5:20PM and we left for Newark International Liberty Airport at 5:30PM.

Since it was rush hour, the driver opted to use the N.J. Garden State Parkway instead of the more direct Route 21, which has a lot of lights and heavy traffic at that hour.

We arrived at the airport at 6:00PM and finished check-in and baggage check by 6:20PM. The lines were not that long!

Now we began our search for an exchange booth to buy some British Pound Notes. After much walking (This airport is huge!!) we discovered a teeny exchange office in a tiny corner and got 80 Pounds to pay our taxi driver for the ride from Manchester to Holmfirth and to get us some "walking around" money until we could exchange our traveler's checks.

The exchange rate was horrendous and they really scalp you at the airport, but we needed the cash. It came out to about $2.05 for one Pound!!

The flight over on Continental was very nice. We went in a Boeing 777, one of the newest airplanes and every seat had its own private TV screen! You could watch anything you wanted from a choice of nine channels. The young English fellow next to me and I watched "Along Came Polly" with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. There was also a choice of ten interactive video games like BZZZ, Cave Crunch and Elephant Memory.

Alex listened to music on one of the 20 audio stations. He chose Opera and Classical.

The food was sparse, but nutritious with chicken or beef, rice, green beans, salad and a brownie. For breakfast we had a croissant with jelly and a fruit cup. You won't get fat on Continental!

We left Newark at 9:15PM (2:15AM GMT) and arrived in Manchester about a half-hour early at 7:45AM. Only 5 ½ hours for the flight!

Thursday, May 20th - The plane stopped way out on the field in God's Country. We waited for the jitney bus to drive us to the terminal. Once inside, we walked a long way to get to immigration. By the time our passports were checked, our luggage was already out on the conveyor belt.

At about 8:40AM we met Clive Carter, our taxi driver from Lepton Taxi Service. Clive was terrifically informative about life in the area and we enjoyed a nice long chat during the ride to Holmfirth. Clive pointed out various sites as we rode out of Manchester, through smaller villages and finally into Summer Wine Country!

We arrived in Holmfirth at about 9:30AM and Clive took us on a mini-tour of the downtown area. He showed us Nora's and Compo's houses, Sid's Café and The Tourist Bureau. What a rush!!

Clive was just a doll and lovely to talk to, so I would recommend anyone going to Holmfirth to use his taxi service. The owners of our rental cottage, Gillian and Martin, found Clive for me and booked him in advance of our trip, so it was one less headache for us upon arrival.

I think I blabbed on enough for today and the story will pick up next time with our arrival at our cottage. Cheerio for now!! (It's something I picked up in Holmfirth)!!

TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH
COLUMN #2

Thursday, May 20, 2004 – Our Arrival in Holmfirth.

After a quick tour of downtown by Clive Carter, our taxi driver, we arrived at the doorstep of our rental cottage on Woodhead Road in the Hinchliff Mill section of Holmfirth at 9:40AM.

Gillian and Martin Blewett, the cottage owners were there to greet us, show us around the house and give us the keys. They were just wonderful and even stocked us up with a few days supply of food!! We were in shock at their kindness and concern. They offered us rides to the train station and even invited us to dinner at their home! We still keep in touch with them via e-mail.

The cottage had three floors with the kitchen, small living room and utility room on the first floor, a dining table and two large sofa beds on the second floor and a master bedroom and bath with a reading area on the third floor. It is not a detached one-family home, but has common walls with other homes on both sides, similar to what Americans call a “townhouse”. It was made of stone with plaster walls.

The views from the house were stupendous! Every morning we awoke to the sight of sheep, cows and horses grazing in the green sloping hills directly in front of our bedroom window. The house was immaculate and beautifully decorated with oil paintings, carpets AND fresh flowers!!

The kitchen was stocked with every utensil known to man, including a rolling pin and soufflé dishes in case you wanted to do some serious cooking! It was like a dream come true!

The price was very reasonable for all this luxury and I would recommend anyone wanting to rent a house near downtown Holmfirth to get in touch with Gillian and Martin at their Weaver’s Cottage e-mail address - Martinblewett@aol.com. It’s a very short ride on the Number 310 bus (75 Pence one-way) or an easy one-mile walk to downtown.

After Gillian and Martin left we unpacked, freshened up and headed out to catch the bus. But, uh-oh, we had no change for the bus. The smallest bill we had was a Five-Pound Note and the bus would not change it. We walked down the street and found a tiny Post Office that also sold sandwiches and was attached to The Corn Loft Bed & Breakfast. The nice ladies there were very helpful and changed the note for us so we had some 50 Pence and One-Pound coins to give the bus driver.

We boarded the bus at 10:27AM and in a few minutes we were there. . .we were really, really there. . . Victoria Street and Huddersfield Road, the heart of Holmfirth! The streets I read about in the tourist brochures! Whoopie!!

O.K., so now we were there, but what do we do for money? We bought very little British cash at the airport because it was so expensive and we needed to exchange some Traveler’s Checks. The first place we spotted was the Charlesworth Newspaper Store on the corner, so we went in to ask where we could find a bank. The lady sent us across the street to what we thought was a bank. When I asked about Traveler’s Checks, the lady there said, “We are not a bank, we are a building society, you have to go down the street for a bank”. I don’t even know what a building society is!! So we found a bank and the lady there did not know if they cashed Traveler’s Checks, so she went to ask her boss. She said they would cash the checks, but they charge a fee to cash Visa British Pound Traveler Checks. She suggested we go to Barclay’s Bank down the block because they handle Visa.

Finally, we are getting somewhere! Barclay’s Bank, at the very end of Victoria Street did indeed cash Visa Traveler’s Checks with no fee at all! I gave the lady some checks and she said, “Passport?” Un-oh, I left my passport in the cottage never thinking I would need it until the flight home! “I’ll be back later”, said I.

At 11:05AM, we boarded the Number 310 bus to go back home. We met several people on that bus who rode into town with us on the first bus. They greeted us and we began to talk about the area and Summer Wine. One lady told me, “You know, once they filmed my house for the show”. Wow, I thought!! She said they filmed the front door!! We asked her where to get off the bus to get to our house and she helped us find our way. We only knew we lived near “The Shepard’s Pub” and she guided us there. As we went from place to place all the locals were friendly and helpful. They were happy to help us, give us directions and just chat.

At 11:27AM, we were back on the bus for our third trip. By this time, we were old friends with the bus driver and he said, “Back again?” As I gave him the fare, I told him my passport story of woe.

Next time I will continue with our first walk around town, the shops, lunch, the museum AND meeting Patrick!!!

Thursday, May 20^th – Afternoon

After our third bus trip of the day, we arrived downtown at 11:35AM. By 12 Noon we were walking out of Barclay’s Bank with 400 British Pounds in our hot little hands. Fully armed, we were ready to explore the town and spend lots of money!

First, we decided to get a quick overview of the main streets and we buzzed up and down them like two New Yorkers. Victoria Street, Hollowgate, Victoria Square, Towngate Station Road, Daisy Lane, buzz, buzz, buzz. It seemed like there were only a few streets in town, but some of them melted into other ones in a winding pattern. There were footpaths and little walkways over the river near The Co-Op grocery store. A little park was tucked in there too. After we got our bearings and walked around in circles for about a mile, we made our first stop.

We visited The Daisy Lane Bookstore, which had two helpful owners and two black and white cats sleeping in the store on top of the books or outside on the cobblestone street. One cat was very loving and friendly and she let us pet her endlessly. The other cat preferred to be alone. In the window there was a book written by Bill Owen called “Summer Wine and Vintage Years – A Cluttered Life”. What luck! I told the gentlemen I’d like to buy that book and it was my first purchase in Holmfirth! What a find!

By this time we were ready for lunch and we walked around and around again looking for a place to eat. We stopped at The Riverside Café where we ate giant Yorkshire Puddings filled with lean sausages and onion gravy. They were super! We were served by a lovely waitress who reminded us of Lexi in “Monarch of The Glen”. She was very friendly and welcoming and she even sang a song from “The Sound of Music” as she worked in the kitchen. I think it was “Doe, a deer, a female deer…”.

At the end, all the customers applauded!! We had a great time there talking to her.

After lunch, we walked around and around the swirling streets again and ended up at the Summer Wine Exhibition in Compo’s house, right under Nora Batty’s house. What a thrill to find it! I paid Two Pounds and Alex paid One Pound Fifty Pence (Senior Citizen Rate) to enter this treasure trove of Summer Wine artifacts. In the small one room dwelling downstairs we could see Compo’s tattered jacket, his bicycle, his wellies and many other props used in the various episodes. It was unbelievable!

When you go up a short flight of stairs there is another room with many photos and articles pertaining to Summer Wine and the actors on the walls. There is also a video playing that is sort of a summary of the history of Summer Wine.

There is a remarkable gift shop downstairs in the back of the museum where you can buy magnets, key chains, mouse pads, bookmarks and many other items with Summer Wine themes on them. They took Visa British Pound Traveler’s Checks there.

By this time we were really tuckered out and caught the 4:05PM bus home. By 4:10 we were back and just settling in on the sofa when……knock, knock, knock, we heard a rap on the door. It was Patrick Brooke, my editor and his three little “Harry Potter” sons, Thomas, James and George, who came to say hi. We shook hands and introduced ourselves and chatted for about twenty minutes regarding the big plans that Patrick had made for Saturday, May 22^nd. After that, they set off for home.

We were totally exhausted from the flight, so we ate a light supper in the cottage and fell asleep at 8:30PM. Next time I will continue with the Friday, May 21^st happenings.

TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH
Column #4

Well, we fell asleep at 8:30PM Thursday night, May 20th, but we woke up at Midnight on Friday, May 21st due to jet lag. We were starved, even though we ate dinner. It turns out that we were still on New Jersey time, which would be 7:00PM – our usual dinnertime. So, we went downstairs, broke open the scones and jelly that Gillian and Martin bought for us and put on a kettle of tea! You can’t sleep if you’re hungry!

We watched the BBC Learning School on TV until 3:00AM and then went back upstairs to bed. We woke up at 10:30AM on Friday morning and went to the local Londis grocery store for yogurt, Kenco decaf coffee, crackers, jelly, ham and chocolate mousse. The Londis store is a cute little “Mom and Pop” grocery store chain. They had a great selection of food and it was only about a block away from the house.

At 12:27PM we caught the #310 bus to downtown Holmfirth, all ready to go on the Summer Wine Tour Bus that runs from Sid’s Café once every hour. We bought our tickets for five pounds each ($10.00) and boarded the bus at about 1:00PM. We rode with a really nice group of Senior Citizens, “The Over 60’s Club”, from Preston, Lancashire and they were such fun!! When the tour bus got delayed in the countryside due to some work crews laying pipes, we all started talking and making jokes and we laughed and laughed.

One of the ladies named Sylvia forgot her camera and asked me to take photos of her and her group in front of the Café and mail them to her. I did it and we have been corresponding ever since. Wham…..instant pen pal!! I just love it! She invited Alex and me to her house on our next visit!

The tour was very nice. We drove through lots of countryside for almost an hour and saw many of the houses used in the show. We saw the hills, the little dirt lanes, the fields and the stonewalls that you see in the show. We saw the boy’s watering hole, The White Horse Pub, in Jackson Bridge. We saw the houses of Cleggy, Howard, Barry and Wesley. The driver pointed out various sites along the way, even the house that Bill Owen rented when he stayed in Holmfirth.

At 2:00PM we ate lunch in Beattie’s Deli, which is in the same square as the Café and The Holy Trinity Church. We had delicious toasted ham and cheese panini sandwiches with hot cocoa. It was quite cool that day, so the cocoa really tasted great.

After lunch, we shopped at the Holmfirth Mill Store, where we bought souvenirs and more goodies to eat. They have a huge selection of clothing, colognes, sporting goods, gift items, candy and much more in their large two-story store.

After that we headed to The Holmfirth Library on Huddersfield Road, near The Tourist Bureau and spent several hours there. Alex used their free internet to read all his Italian sports papers. I read a lot of information about Holmfirth in the local history section. Then I skimmed books about Princess Di, Royal Peerage and English Surnames.

At 5:30PM we headed to Poppa Piccolino’s Restaurant near the Holmfirth Market. Alex had a personal pizza and a beer. I had cannelloni and a coke.

At 6:45PM our bus came to bring us back to Hinchliffe Mill. We brewed some decaf coffee and had chocolate mousse for desert as we watched “EastEnders” and “The Lenny Henry Show” on TV before bed.

Oh, I must tell you that today we met a sort of “real-life” Compo in Holmfirth. He’s a little guy, not as shabbily dressed as the real Compo, but he sings happily in the street, kicks up his heels in a little dance now and then, and is very friendly and talks to everyone.

We met him on the bus in the morning, then we saw him two more times, once near the Post Office and once outside of Sid’s Café. He was sitting on the bench in front of the church, sunning himself and greeting all the passers-by. When you go to Holmfirth, look for him, he really puts the finishing touch on Summer Wine Country! Holmfirth is a small and friendly place!

That is all for now, next time I will continue with our Super Saturday at editor Patrick’s house!

Editor Patrick and his children, Thomas, James, George, (and Amber, their new doggie) came walking down the hill and we soon heard a knock at our door. Patrick invited Alex and me to go to their house for lunch at 11:00AM! It was very kind of him to take some time out of his busy schedule to spend with us!

Turns out that they lived only about three blocks (600 yards) from our rental house!! So we walked up the hill, all seven of us, stopping now and then to enjoy the views of the “Summer Wine” hills!

Shortly after we arrived, Patrick said, “I have a surprise for you.” A radio interviewer, Rob Lawrence, from BBC Radio Leeds, 92.4FM was coming over at 11:30AM to interview us for a Monday morning broadcast. I squealed, “Oh, no, I didn’t dress up!” Patrick said, “Don’t worry, it’s R-A-D-I-O.” “Oh yeah, O.K.,” I said. But still, I would have felt better in a nice dress instead of jeans and a Mickey Mouse shirt.

Well, in about 15 minutes, Rob arrived and he was very polite and well spoken. He tried to put us at ease by telling us the types of questions he would ask, so we could think about the answers and then he set to work. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and we all felt it went well. Before Rob left we took photos of everyone around his hot little red BBC Radio car, which had all the names of the towns near Leeds written on it in bright gold script!

After that, Patrick set out a luncheon smorgasbord for us with little meat pies (a Yorkshire specialty), salad, bread, crackers, juice, beer and dessert. While Patrick cleared away the leftovers, the children serenaded us with classical guitar music and they all played very well, I might add!

At about 2:00PM Patrick took us for a relaxing ride in the countryside. What a treat! He pointed out some places of interest to us and we rode around the hills where “Summer Wine” is filmed. We also saw The Digley Reservoir and Compo’s Cafe, which is outside of downtown Holmfirth.

At about 3:00PM we got a bonus! We watched the Football Association Cup Final (Soccer) with Patrick and the boys. It was Manchester United Vs. Millwall. It was a very exciting game and ManU won handily at 3-0. Go, Red Devils!!

After the game, we chatted for a while and headed off for home at 5:30PM. So, the lunch really turned into an all day event and we were very pleased to have spent the day with this charming family!

At 6:30PM we walked up the Burnlee Road hill to have dinner at Compo’s Café, which was about a mile from our house. Now we knew where it was, thanks to Patrick! The place was packed with local families, but we managed to get a table and have our fish n’chips dinner, finally!!

By 8:00PM we were back in our cozy cottage having coffee and dessert and watching BBC-TV until bedtime.

Next time I will tell you about our superb Sunday happenings. David Conyers, of our Summer Wine Yahoo Group, came to fetch us in the morning. Then we all attended Sunday Services at St. John’s Church, Upperthong. (This is the church where Compo is buried.)

Sunday, May 23, 2004 - We groggily woke up at 8:30AM still suffering from jet lag. Back home, it was only 3:30AM. No wonder!

At about 9:45AM David Conyers from our Summer Wine Yahoo Group knocked on our door. We had never met before, except on-line through the group. David lives close to Holmfirth and before we left home, we made arrangements to meet up. He offered to drive us to church on Sunday morning!

I was reading some papers that Patrick had given me when I heard David’s knock, so when I answered it I blurted out, “Are you Patrick?” I meant to say, “Are you David?” Boy, the jet lag was worse than I thought! David corrected me. I said, “I’m Dinky,” and we laughed over it, although I felt quite embarrassed. Alex shuffled down the stairs and I introduced him to David properly.

We had a nice chat and exchanged gifts. He got a N.Y. Yankee’s hat and a big Hershey bar. We got a Summer Wine Country Book and a Yorkshire-English translation guide! The book, published in 1989, is full of photos of gorgeous scenery from the area. Each page has a little note written on it from Cleggy to his Polish pen pal, Tad. Actually, Roy Clarke did the writing.

At 10:10AM we left for St. John’s Church, Upperthong. This is the church where our beloved Compo is buried. His gravesite is quite near the back of the church in his own separate plot far away from the other graves. He faces a beautiful view of downtown Holmfirth and the hills behind it, so he must be quite content there. The people who planned his burial site took a lot of time and care to pick him out a nice spot where he could look out eternally on his beloved Holmfirth.

There are three monuments to him there. One is a traditional dark gray granite headstone with his name, dates of birth and death and the masks of comedy and tragedy in the upper two corners. One is a smaller stone from Tom and Mary Owen and their children, James and William. It says, “Love and Miss You.” The third is a light-hearted little set-up on two concrete steps with a big pair of wellies on the top step and a baby pair of wellies on the bottom step.

It’s a very touching tribute to Bill and people are even leaving money at the graveside to help build a statue of Compo downtown.

At 10:45AM the service began. We were privileged to have the Vicar, Geoff Banks, conduct the service because some parishioners told us he serves three churches and it’s very rare to have him come. It was a lovely service with lots of singing and organ music and a dynamite sermon. The Vicar was a powerful speaker and he moved all of us.

All the congregation came around to shake hands and even kiss us at the sign of peace. They were so friendly, welcoming and nice!

After the service they had a coffee hour with hot drinks, cookies and warm fellowship. Everyone gave a donation and we spoke with the Vicar and many of the parishioners, including an actress from Summer Wine!!

David, Alex and I did not recognize her because she looks a bit different in person than all made up. Her name is Susan and she played a waitress at The White Horse Pub in three episodes. She is a very tall lady with long blonde hair and when she told us she was the one who pushed Howard home to Pearl in a cart, it all clicked in! Pearl then took the cart with Howard in it and dumped him over a cliff! So, that was our unexpected brush with greatness!! Thank you, Susan!!

The Vicar told us he once worked in West Virginia and Kentucky. He was not there on missionary work, he was working with something to do with coal mining prior to becoming a vicar!

This Vicar is also the Vicar who conducted Bill Owen’s funeral service. We asked him what Compo was like in real life and he said, “I don’t know, I didn’t meet him until he was dead.” It sounded comical, but that was the truth, he said.

We spoke to many lovely people and we were all very glad to have met them at St. John’s. I would recommend any visitor to Holmfirth to go and meet this loving congregation on Sundays or Thursdays, when services are held.

At about 12:30PM we rode over to The White Horse Pub. They were not serving lunch, so we had a coke and then moved on. We did sit where the great ones sat, at the same table to the left of the bar where we see Cleggy and Truly sitting in some of the episodes. And we did see the many, many photos of the cast all over the pub walls.

David thought we should go to The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room for lunch and it was a great idea. It sits above Compo’s little house and next door to Nora’s. The food was super with big portions and the waitress was very friendly and nice. We found it to be the best food in Holmfirth! Again, there are photos of the cast on the walls.

Downstairs is a gift shop where you can buy special cups, plates and tea sets with caricatures of Compo and Nora on them. I bought a little cream pitcher which sits happily in my dining room on the sideboard, reminding me of the good times in Holmfirth!

David left for home at 2:00PM to go take care of Heidi, his dog and his 18 ferrets. Too bad he couldn’t stay longer. We had a really nice time together.

Next time I will continue with the rest of Sunday and begin the story of Manic Monday!!

Alex and I accompanied David to the parking lot near the Co-Op to wish him a happy journey home. He wanted to drive us back to our cottage, but we opted to stay in town and walk around because it was a bright, glorious day and only 2:00PM.

We went to the Co-Op Supermarket to buy some decaf Earl Grey Tea and snoop around to look at the English groceries. After that, we went to Longley’s Ice Cream Parlor and Café on Huddersfield Road for some fantastic homemade gelati ice cream. Longley’s grew to be our top spot for our 4:00PM snack!

We then went back to “Steps”, which is the gift shop located beneath the Summer Wine Exhibition and The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room, to buy more souvenirs and gifts for friends.

We caught the Number 310 bus back home at 3:44PM, as we were quite tired by then.

I promised to call my pen pal, Judith, who lives in Middlesbrough, England, which is about two hours northeast of Holmfirth. We have been writing to each other for four years, but we never met until this trip. I answered her ad in Royalty Magazine and we became good friends, so I needed to call her to confirm our arrangements for Tuesday, May 25th.

At about 5:00PM, Alex and I set out for the nearby Pub to use their pay phone. The pub was only about a half a block (100 yards) from our door. Unfortunately the phone was broken, so the barmaid told us to walk down to the next pub, which was about 3/4 of a mile away near a cricket field in the Holmbridge section of Holmfirth.

We started walking southwest along Woodhead Road (in the opposite direction of downtown) and we passed a post office, a Bed & Breakfast, a Fish N’ Chips shop, a pub and finally the cricket field. There we found a BTS phone booth that worked! It cost 30 Pence for 15 minutes anywhere in England. What a bargain!

Unfortunately, Judith was not home, so I left a lengthy message telling her that the phone near our house was broken and that we couldn’t call her on Tuesday morning before we left for Middlesbrough. David Conyers will be driving us there, so we could stop en route and call her to be sure she is o.k. and that we could visit her as planned.

We got back home at about 6:00PM and cooked a light supper of ham and eggs with crackers, jelly and tea. We rested up and watched TV until bedtime.

Next time I will write about all the Monday happenings, which include hearing the radio interview on the air, being on the BBC News and being photographed and interviewed by a local newspaper at Sid’s Café!!

What a day! At 6:50 and 7:50 AM, BBC Radio Leeds, 92.4 FM, played the interview done by Rob Lawrence at editor Patrick’s house on Saturday, May 22nd. It was awesome! Rob put in some music from “Sex and The City” along with some “Summer Wine” music in various strategic places during the interview to show the contrast between NYC and Summer Wine Country. He gave us a very nice introduction and then played some of the questions he asked us along with the answers that Patrick and I supplied. Then he did more commentary about the Summer Wine-America connection while Patrick and I talked in the background about our favorite episodes. Patrick taped it and sent me home with a copy!!

10:27AM – We took the usual Number 310 bus downtown, but today would be very different than the rest.

10:35AM – We stopped in at Andrew’s Grocery on Huddersfield Road to say hi to Andrew Bray, the owner and a good friend of Bill Owen. We did this at the urging of Liz Nichols from Virginia who became friends with Andrew during her trip to Holmfirth in 2002. Andrew is a pleasant young man who told us that when he was a little boy, only eleven, he met Bill and they became lifelong friends. In fact, he is now friends with Tom Owen, Bill’s son.

11:00AM – On to the Café to meet a reporter from the Huddersfield Examiner. The reporter was late, so we went to sit on the bench in front of the church that is opposite the Café. In the meantime, co-editor Pat Carline and her daughter, Michelle walked into the little plaza and although we had never met, I saw her long blonde hair and mouthed over to her, “Pat? Pat?” and she looked at us and we ran to greet to each other. Patrick told me that Pat may come to Holmfirth on Monday morning, but he was not sure, so this was quite a surprise! Pat and Michelle had been traveling on buses and trains for three hours prior to arriving in Holmfirth, so we all went into the Café to have some tea.

11:30AM – We were all sitting there having a jolly old time and a man with a huge camera walked in and starting calling out my name. I raised my hand and said, “Here.” He was from The Huddersfield Examiner and came to take a photo of Pat, Michelle, Alex and I in front of the Café for tomorrow’s newspaper. It turned out to be a fantastic shot in color and it took up half a page of the paper. Of course, it is on the wall of my home office now!

11:30-1:00PM – We had a break between the newspaper guy and the BBC guy, so we went poking around Holmfirth to see what we could see. I steered Pat and Michelle directly into “Steps”, the gift shop under “The Wrinkled Stocking Café” to show them the very cool Summer Wine mouse pads that could be bought there. After that we stopped at a bakery to get a bun and we sat on a park bench near the river to eat them and watch the world go by. P.S. – I got powdered sugar all over my black dress and had a hard time getting it all off before the cameras rolled. But we all had quite a good laugh over it! See, it was a windy day and when I bit into the bun, whoosh…the sugar went flying all over me!!

1:30PM – Back to the Café plaza and the BBC TV crew were there setting me up with an ear bug for a LIVE remote interview for the “Good News” section of the BBC “Look North” news. This was truly freaky. First, I had never been on TV. Second, it was hard to hear the TV anchor girl’s questions through the ear bug, so I just improvised some answers and I fear I did not make sense! One of Patrick’s friends, Kate, kindly taped the TV interview for me and I had the video switched over to the American system so I could see 68 seconds of me in front of the café answering some unknown questions with the wind blowing wildly in the background. What a kick! Actually, it wasn’t that bad.

1:45PM – The reporter from the Huddersfield Examiner arrived and asked us questions for her newspaper article, which would be published the next day along with the gigantic color photo. They also ran photos of Nora Batty next to Sarah Jessica Parker from “Sex and The City” on the bottom of the article with the caption, “A World Apart.” Katie Campling, who wrote this article did a great job and we thank her and all the other folks who came out to interview us. And thank you Patrick and Pat for setting this all up.

2:00PM – Our work now done, it was time for fun!! First stop was a thrift store in Victoria Square. Pat bought me an old Yorkshire Tea Tin as a remembrance of our time together. But the weirdest thing happened to me in that store. I was just browsing around and a lady looked at me and said, “Were you just on TV?” and I said, “Yes.” Apparently, she lived nearby and watched the news and then came out to shop a few minutes later and found me right there! She said, “I recognized your pink hat.” Oh yes, my signature newsboys’ caps that I wear almost all the time everywhere. Well, it was surely odd to just be on TV and then have someone notice you not even ten minutes later.

Well, I am beat now, so next time I will tell you about lunch, flowers, bombing around Holmfirth (or “Stooging” as they call it there) a pub, and dinner at Patrick’s with a surprise guest!!

2:15PM – Pat, Michelle, Alex and I finished up our shopping at the Thrift Store and headed to The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room for lunch.

We talked and talked and had a fabulous lunch there. We took photos of ourselves at the table with a beautiful fireplace in the background. The interior of the dining room is very nicely decorated and they have photos of Summer Wine actors on the walls, as you will find in many other places in Holmfirth.

3:30PM – We were now nourished enough to take a hike to Compo’s grave in Upperthong. Before venturing there, Pat came up with the brilliant idea of bringing a bouquet of flowers to the cemetery! So we wandered around town a bit until we located a florist, which was across from the Holmfirth Market. Pat and Michelle picked out a beautiful arrangement and then we wrote a little note to Compo on the card and signed it with our names and our towns.

Armed with our bouquet, we started up the lane that would lead us to St. John’s Church. As we walked up the three or four blocks (600-800 yards) we stopped often to look back at the stupendous views of Holmfirth from above the town. We chatted along the way and took in all the sights of every building, house, garden and panorama of the town until finally we arrived.

We walked around the right side of the church, across the back and then turned left, passing many other graves before we came to Compo’s headstone. We stood there looking at the site, saying prayers, taking photos, and remembering all the joy that Bill brought us. Michelle placed the bouquet on the grave and we lingered a while longer.

4:30PM – Getting back to town was easy; it was all downhill! We walked to the Co-Op grocery store for a soft drink, but their café was closed so we ended up in…..The Postcard Pub!! We drank beer and soda pop and chatted endlessly until...

6:30PM when it was time to catch our bus back home so we could go to dinner at Patrick’s house!!

6:30PM – We bid a fond and reluctant farewell to Pat and Michelle with big hugs and kisses. I believe their bus was leaving at 7:00PM and we wished we could stay to see them off. They had a long train journey after the bus, but they arrived home safe and sound, as Pat later told me in an e-mail.

6:45PM – We caught our Number 310 bus back home after calling Patrick and telling him we would be a little late for the 7:00PM dinner. He said not to worry as long as we were having fun with Pat and Michelle!

7:15PM – We arrived at Patrick’s house after stopping home to freshen up a bit and pick up the bottle of wine we bought for him and Annette, his adorable wife. Two of their friends also came for the dinner, Kate and Phil, who also live in Holmfirth. They live in the house right next door to Barry and Glenda!!! Aren’t they the lucky ones!!

Well, our host and hostess cooked up a fabulous dinner of chicken-mushroom curry with white rice, salad and nan bread, which is something like the pita bread we use here. We had wine, beer and juice. For dessert we had strawberries and cream. They also served toffee or raspberry pavlova, which is a type of cake, which seemed to be made of lady fingers and meringue with a sweet syrup on it. It was very good, I must tell you, but I have never heard of it here.

The dinner was a big success with lots of lively conversation as we tried to find out about each other and what the life is like in Holmfirth and what the life is like in the NYC suburbs. And stuff like what we call “soda” here is called “pop” in Holmfirth and so on.

9:00PM – Ding-Dong, the doorbell rings. It was the surprise guest that Patrick spoke about even before our trip!! Guess who it was? Well, he is an actor on Summer Wine. He’s very tall. He’s been with the show for about 24 years. Any guesses??

It was Ken Kitson, the tall policeman who drives the car!! In person!! And he drove all the way from Bradford (45 minutes away) to come see us. Thank you, Patrick, for arranging this wonderful surprise!!

Ken is a very funny and intelligent guy. The first thing he said after we were introduced was, “I saw you on TV today!”, which made us howl with laughter. Usually, it’s the other way around!! We see him on TV almost every week!

Well, Ken is a very nice and down-to-earth guy and we discussed such mundane things as dental work, car accidents, and what it would be like to be a real cop. He also filled us in on the various shows and movies he’s been in, such as one called “Brassed Off.” We must go rent that video!! Ken has also written a script for a movie which he hopes to film soon.

10:00PM – Phil and Kate had little ones at home, so they left early to relieve the baby-sitter. The five of us who remained then retired to the living room and sunk into some nice big chairs to continue our chat. Ken told us about some of his travel experiences in the USA.

11:00PM – We were pooped by this time and decided it was time for us to walk down the hill to our home. We kissed Patrick and Annette good-bye and thanked them for the lovely time and for going through all that trouble for us. Ken shook hands with Alex and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek! Waa-hoo, I’ve never been kissed by a star!! This was a day and a night I will never forget in my life. Thanks to all of you who made it possible!

Another BIG DAY!! My dream was to meet my English Pen-Pal, Judith, whom I have been corresponding with for four years. She lives in Middlesbrough, which is a bustling city about 90 miles northeast of Holmfirth, and today the dream came true, thanks to David Conyers from our Summer Wine Yahoo Group.

Before we left home, I asked David if he would drive us there because he just started a taxi service called “Flights.” David was available that day and so I booked him for the entire day. He arrived at our cottage at about 9:00AM and after coffee and some morning chit-chat, we headed out at 9:20AM.

We drove through the beautiful countryside, with David pointing out the various sites and little towns along the way. I think David also put on an audio tape of Summer Wine while we made our way north.

At 10:20AM we stopped at a Little Chef Restaurant for breakfast. It is sort of like a Howard Johnson’s or a Friendly’s Restaurant that we have in America. We were starved and we had a delicious breakfast of veggie sausages, tomatoes, eggs, potatoes, toast and cappuccino.

We left there at 11:05AM and arrived in Middlesbrough at 11:55AM, so it was a very fast and pleasant trip. We called Judith so she could direct us to her apartment. Middlesbrough seemed a big city with lots of highways and traffic, but she eventually explained where her street was and we found it.

What a feeling to get out of the car in front of her apartment!! This was the day I had been dreaming of for four years!! Judith was there, standing by the front door and we greeted each other and hugged and kissed. Alex took photos of us during our first minute of meeting each other. I introduced Alex and David to Judith and we all went inside to talk and see her apartment and take more photos.

At 1:00PM we left for lunch at The Toby Carvery Restaurant, about five miles away. We arrived there at about 1:30PM and had soda pop, beer and wine before lunch. It was a beautifully decorated place with a nice atmosphere.

We went to the carving board, where the chefs had a whole turkey, gammon (ham) and roast beef ready to slice up for each individual order. Then you took the plate and put on all the side dishes you wanted, such as Yorkshire Pudding, stuffing, carrots, peas and potatoes.

After we were well stuffed, we sat chatting for a while and then drove to Stewart’s Park, just a short distance from the restaurant. We walked down a path and saw a small zoo with goats, deer, guinea pigs, roosters, bunnies, peacocks, rams and baby lambs. We sat on a park bench taking in the sunshine and fresh air until about 3:30PM, then it was time to head back to Judith’s apartment to say farewell.

By 4:00PM we were on the road back home. At 5:00PM David stopped at an adorable little town called Knaresborough so we could eat dinner and walk around. We ate in a wonderful Fish N’Chips Restaurant and then we visited the ruins of an old castle. The castle grounds had beautiful views of a river far below. There was a gorgeous bridge with many arches above the river. On the bridge was a train. It was a stunning site!

We left Knaresborough at about 6:30PM and drove through Wetheby and Huddersfield, arriving home at about 7:30PM. We then all went to the corner Londis Store to pick up a copy of “The Huddersfield Examiner” to see the photos and interview that Katie did yesterday. The photo was really big and in color with a cute little story. David bought a copy and we bought the other three!! A perfect end to a perfect day!!

David went home to care for his many pets, but he left some Summer Wine videos at our house for us to see. There were some really old episodes that were never shown in the NYC area, so we really enjoyed seeing “The Man From Oswestry” and “Three Men and a Mangle”. We also saw “Last Post and Pigeon”, which made me cry at the end.

Well, now that all of our commitments were done, we had the rest of our vacation to just “bum around” Holmfirth and I will tell you about that in my next column!!

Column #11
Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Aahhhh, at last – a day with no commitments!! We slept late and I indulged in a nice long bubble bath to soothe my aching feet after that hectic Monday and long trip on Tuesday. Back home in N.J. we drive everywhere, but here in Holmfirth we walk everywhere and it’s taking a toll on my tootsies!!

We caught the 10:27AM bus to town to try to buy more copies of yesterday’s “The Huddersfield Examiner”, so we could distribute them to our friends when we got back home. As we got off the bus and crossed the street, guess whom we ran into?? Susan Mallinson, the Summer Wine actress who played the blonde waitress in several episodes!! We met her last Sunday at St. John’s Church in Upperthong and we greeted each other in surprise!

“Hi.i.i.a.a.yyy!!”, said I. “Hello!”, said Susan. “How are you?”, we said to each other. “Fine, fine.” I asked Susan if she was going to the service tomorrow at St. John’s at 11:00AM. She said she could not go because she owns a speech studio and had to go to Wakefield on Thursday. I said that was too bad because we would like to see her again at church, but I thought it was very interesting that she owned her own business! Then we wished each other well and went our separate ways.

When we got home, I looked up Susan’s Speech Studio on the Internet and it is located at 11 Towngate, Upperthong, Holmfirth.

After we left Susan, we continued to Charlesworth News Agents on the corner of Victoria Street and Huddersfield Road and purchased some leftover newspapers to take home. At 11:00AM we hit the Holmfirth Library again. Alex needed to check out his Italian newspapers on-line. We could not find an Italian newspaper in Holmfirth…..heck, we could not even find an Italian!! The kind librarian gave him one hour on the computer and I scanned books, maps and magazines until 12:00 Noon.

Then the hunt for a place to eat lunch began. We walked and walked and walked…..where should we go?? Waterside Café for Fish N’Chips??? Riverside Café for Toffee Pudding for the dessert after lunch? The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room??

Well, we finally decided on The Riverside Café, but they were closed – the cook went to Ibiza for a vacation! The nerve!! I was truly disappointed. So, on our way to The Wrinkled Stocking we passed a pub called “Elephant and Castle” with a sign outside that read, “Guinness Steak and Kidney Pie - 3.50P”. Sounded good, so we went in. We placed our orders at the bar and about 20 minutes later two big plates of food come out of the kitchen. I had a Tuna and Cheese Melt with Tea for 3.40P and Alex had the Steak Pie with potatoes, carrots and cauliflower and a ½ pint of beer for 5.45P. So, lunch was relatively cheap there. I believe they also have a B&B attached to the left side of the pub.

After lunch we wandered around and found two delightful candy stores, The Chocolate Box and Holme, Sweet Holme, a new one that only opened six months ago. They both had a wonderful selection of candy gifts and tins and I suggest you visit both shops if you ever go to Holmfirth.

After that, we finally hit the famous Toll House Book Store and spent quite a while running up and down their three floors of books. From their spooky cellar rooms with travel books, sports books, and tiny little gift books to their creaky attic room with history, music and royal family books, there was something there for everyone.

We came out with “Euro 2004”, “Mozart Operas”, “Verdi Operas”, a book on musical instruments and for me, a book on The Queen Mum. We also bought lovely bookmarks and greeting cards there.

After that, we hit the Holmfirth Mill again for more gifts to take home. We bought candy, cologne, postcards and tea towels.

Now it was about 3:30PM and we stopped at Longley’s Ice Cream Parlor and Café for one of their fabulous homemade ice creams before our long walk home.

We arrived home at about 4:00PM after stopping along the way to take photos of the various scenery and pretty pubs as we passed by. We then went to our neighborhood Londis Store to buy raviolis and sauce for dinner. There was big soccer game on tonight and Alex had to see it.

At about 8:30PM, our cottage owners, Gillian and Martin stopped by to see how we were doing and to invite us to dinner at their house on Friday night. That was so sweet of them. They are really nice people!

I have some brochures on their rental cottage and if anyone is planning a trip to Holmfirth and would like to rent their cottage, let me know and I can give you the info.

We did laundry, cooking and ironing the rest of the night and watched a video that David lent to us called “A Tribute To Bill Owen”. I cried again, it was so sad at the end.

Column #12
Thursday, May 27, 2004

10:30AM – We began our one-mile uphill walk to St. John’s Church in Upperthong to attend the 11:30AM Communion Service with lunch and a bake sale afterwards. The congregation invited us to attend this weekly event when we were at the Sunday service.

What a welcome we got when we arrived at 11:15AM!! We were visiting Compo’s grave when The Vicar, Geoff Banks and his wife, Hazel drove into the parking lot behind the church. The Vicar jumped out of his car and said in an American accent, “Hi-i-i, Guys!”. He was happy to see us again and said, “I saw your picture in the paper.”

We greeted many other parishioners whom we met on Sunday and many commented about the article on Summer Wine and us in The Huddersfield Examiner. We spoke to Sue, Graham and Pat, who help the Vicar with various duties. A young mom sitting behind us asked, “Did you have your picture in the paper?”, when we turned around to say hello. So, the article was well read and popular with the local residents!

The Vicar wrote our names down on a piece of paper before the service began and he made an announcement to the congregation just after the service began. He thanked us for being there and introduced us by name, saying we were from America. He prayed for a safe journey home for us and so did Sue when it was her turn to lead the prayers for various members of the congregation. We were duly moved!

When we came to the “Sign of Peace” where you shake hands with each other, all 22 of us exchanged handshakes and kisses. What a warm and welcoming community St. John’s is!!

At 12:15PM all 22 of us went into the community room where two long tables were set with blue fabric tablecloths and beautiful china plates and cups. There were huge “industrial size” teakettles on each table. One of the ladies prepared a light lunch of smoked mackerel, hard-boiled eggs, green salad, pork pate and bread and butter. We all ate heartily while exchanging lively banter about our lives in England and America. We also discussed our plans for the future.

On Friday, The Vicar and Hazel were off to Scotland for a one-week vacation, “To get lost in the woods and relax.” On Sunday, Sue and Graham were off to Barcelona for eight days on a tour with “The New Mill Choir”, a local men’s singing group, whom I believe sang at “The Tribute To Bill Owen.” I think I saw Graham at the end of the video singing in the church in downtown Holmfirth where Bill’s memorial service was held. They would be flying from Manchester Airport to Spain. And we would also be at Manchester Airport on Sunday morning for our flight back home. Graham said, “Maybe we’ll see you at the airport!”

So, in two day’s time we would all be split to the wind, but now, for these few hours, we were all together in Holmfirth enjoying each other’s company and it was wonderful!!

After lunch, Graham surprised us by presenting us with a beautiful commemorative plate with a very ornate drawing of the church on it, which was done by local artist, Jenny Hinchliffe, for a 1984-1987 building fundraiser. The plate was fired in shades of red, black and beige with a large detailed drawing of the church in the middle and a very beautiful border depicting the rooms and items to be renovated or bought with the money raised.

The back of the plate tells about the various renovations done to the church and how the money was raised through donations and events. They also list two “Patrons.” Can you guess who they were? Kathy Staff and Bill Owen!! There is our Summer Wine connection for the day! Only 200 of these plates were fired and we have Number 54. What a kind gesture these folks made to their American cousins! We were very moved and surprised!

After we got over our shock of receiving such a fine gift for just being there and visiting, we headed to the bake sale table and bought cookies and custard to take home for that evening’s dessert. The congregation then cleared the plates and washed them in the large attached kitchen. After that, a big jar was put on the table and everyone made a donation for the delicious lunch served.

When it was time to part I had to choke back tears. Alex was also very misty-eyed. In just two days these special souls had captured our hearts with their loving kindness. We shook hands and reluctantly kissed them all good-bye. Alex remarked, “If we lived here, we would come to this church!”

As we walked out into the sunshine and up the lane to Park Head and Greenfield Road, we felt like we had wings on our feet. Although sad at the thought of leaving them, our lives were enriched by our time together and we felt very contented and peaceful!!

TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH
Column #13
Thursday Afternoon, May 27, 2004

We got back home at about 2:00PM totally exhausted by the long walk to and from St. John’s. We rested up for a while and then hopped the 3:27PM bus to town. We needed to go to the library to get the address for the church so we could send the congregation a nice thank you note from America.

We had a hard time trying to find the phone book listing, so the helpful librarians called telephone information and got the proper address - no postal code was needed they said. I did some sleuthing on my own and came up with the address of The Vicarage in Holmbridge and also I got Sue and Graham’s address because their last name was listed in the church bulletin.

We then went to The Old Bridge Bakery on Victoria Street and bought some snacks to eat on a park bench. After that we walked high up into the village via the steps on the side of Holy Trinity Church. We turned left when we got to the top and walked along Back Street stopping now and then to take in the new views of the town. We then made a left at the end of the long narrow street and walked downhill on Station Street passing by the shoe store and the Co-Op on our way back to the center of town.

By 5:00PM we were beat again, so we headed home for TV and dinner in. It was great to have our own kitchen! We watched EastEnders and Hell’s Kitchen, which is a show sort of like the one we have in NYC called The Restaurant, only the chef in Hell’s Kitchen swore a lot on camera!! We then watched the 10:00PM news before bed.

Friday, May 28, 2004

Our last full day in Holmfirth. We woke up early and went down to the second floor to listen to classical music and opera while we rested on two big sofas that faced the windows. We gazed out at the sheep, cows and horses on the green hills. That scene, coupled with the opera arias of Pavarotti could not be beat for total relaxation. I will remember it always.

We took the 11:27AM bus downtown as we were in no rush. We hunted for a place to eat lunch and tried The Riverside Café once again. Yes, this time they were open! The cook came back from Ibiza! So in we went and found a most informative gentlemen sitting at the next table who knew Bill Owen very well. We spoke in length to him and found out that he met Bill in 1972 when they were both involved in the Air Corp Youth Movement, which raised money to help children.

He told us he used to arrange a birthday party for Bill every year. They became friends and he met the entire cast. Almost everyone in Holmfirth has a Summer Wine story to tell. We talked to this man for over an hour as we ate our Yorkshire Pudding with sausage and onion gravy and a hot toffee pudding with custard sauce for dessert.

Oh, by the way, his name? Ray Batty!!! Any relation to Nora???

At about 1:15PM we left the café and went shopping. We bought candy at Holme, Sweet Holme and The Chocolate Box. These are two stores you won’t want to miss if you ever go to Holmfirth. They had a beautiful selection of all kinds of candies and tins.

At 1:45PM we went to the library to use the Internet. I checked my 41 e-mails and Alex read his Italian newspapers.

At 3:00PM we headed to the Holmfirth Mill to buy more gifts and cologne. Then we went to the Tourist Bureau to get some brochures to mail to Summer Wine fans when we got back home.

At 3:15PM we were on our way to Longley’s Ice Cream Parlor and we saw Patrick in his new Land Rover driving his twins somewhere, I think it was to music lessons. We waved to each other for the last time.

In Longley’s we had chocolate truffle cake, a cafe latte and raspberry ice cream. We sat at a cute little table in the back and the waitress served us.

At 3:45PM we went to the bus stop to catch our last bus home. Guess who was there? The little Compo look-a-like!! He was chatting to a schoolgirl and then to us, as he is very friendly. Our Number 310 bus was due at 4:05PM, but the H-7 Mini-bus came first and the little Compo asked us if we were going on it. We didn’t know where this bus went, but a lady said we could take that bus home, so we did. Instead of going straight on Woodhead Road, it went up and down the hilly back roads, but it stopped on the back corner of Shaw Lane and Woodhead Road to let us off. We thanked the lady for advising us and said good-bye.

4:15PM – Alex had a Summer Wine marathon with the tapes that David Conyers let us borrow while I went upstairs to pack. At 6:00PM I came down and we watched “A Bicycle Built For Three” and “From Wellies To Wetsuit.” We had never seen these before and they were hilarious!

7:00PM – We had dinner in to finish up our leftover foods – cornflakes, milk, ry-vita crackers and jelly. We watched EastEnders, Coronation Street and the news before bed.

Final Column #14
Saturday, May 29, 2004

Our departure from Holmfirth to Handforth. We awoke at 8:00AM to get ready to leave our cottage. We washed and tidied up and were downstairs making coffee at 9:00AM.

At 9:30AM we put on some Summer Wine videos that David loaned us. Today we watched twin episodes where the boys, Ivy, Sid, Nora and Wally all go to Scarborough for a holiday. They all stay in the same boarding house and you can imagine the chaos that ensues!

At 10:30AM David arrived bearing all sorts of going away gifts for us; a nice dog bowl for Tinker, two Holmfirth baseball caps and the video ”A Tribute To Bill Owen.” That video has not been for sale in America, so we were thrilled to have it. We had the tape transformed to the USA format (PAL) at our local Italian café, San Remo’s Coffee Shop in Totowa, NJ because the owner, Ralph does this for about $20.00 per tape.

Gillian arrived at 11AM and we talked for a while about how pleasant our stay was. We kissed goodbye and left for The Thistle Hotel in Handforth, three miles from Manchester Airport. David found this hotel for us because we did not book one before we left home. It was very expensive, but it was only for one night.

After getting through some heavy Saturday morning traffic we arrived at the hotel about 1:00PM. David saw us through the check-in process and brought our luggage up to the room for us. We had a nice room overlooking the courtyard park at the back of the hotel. We bade farewell to David and said we would keep in touch by e-mail.

We settled in and then walked about four blocks to a small shopping center to have lunch. We found a nice bakery serving lunches and got a hot turkey-mushroom pie and a hot bacon-cheese sandwich with two cokes. We sat at a little bistro table outside the bakery and ate in the sun.

Later we bought two cream and jam buns for dessert. Umm.m.m..m.

After lunch we went to the Kwik Stop grocery store to buy some goodies for later on. We got back to the hotel at 3:30PM and watched BBC News 24 and a soccer game.

At 6:00PM we ventured out to find a place for dinner. We walked about a mile and found The White Bull Pub, a very cozy and rustic establishment. We had pork cutlets with pappardella pasta and gammon steak (ham) with pineapple, zucchini and tomato. For dessert we had crème brulee with raspberry trifle and profiteroles.

At 8:00PM we walked back to the hotel and watched a Pavarotti special from 9:00-10:30PM, then to bed. We ordered a 6:00AM wake-up call because we had an early flight home on Sunday morning.

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Our departure from England. Up at 6:00AM….YIPES, we’re half asleep!! Wash up quickly, get dressed, get downstairs to eat a full cooked English breakfast, which was included with the room.

7:15AM – check out. 7:30AM – mini-bus to the airport. 8:00AM – arrive at airport. 8:15AM – check-in at Continental Airlines with many random baggage checks. 8:30AM – shop in the airport stores. 10:00AM – board our flight. 10:30AM – flight takes off. (5:30AM-in NJ)

11:40AM – NJ time; we arrive at Newark Liberty Airport (4:40PM in Holmfirth.) We had a short and happy flight watching Disney’s Pinocchio cartoon and sleeping on the way home.

12:30PM – we finish immigration and customs and find our limo.

1:00PM – Home, Sweet Home! It’s Sunday and tomorrow is a holiday (Memorial Day) and we still have the whole day ahead of us. We rush to pick up Tinker at my friend’s house and go grocery shopping and then settle down after an awesome trip!

The End. . . . .

But wait; there is one more thing to tell. Even though the trip was officially over, there was one more surprise waiting for me after my arrival home that just floored me.

A few days after my return I got a fantastic, yet horrifying e-mail from a fellow Summer Wine fan who lives in England and has connections to Summer Wine. Well, I received an e-mail saying that Alan Bell, yes, THEE ALAN BELL, was in Holmfirth scouting out locations while we were there and he wanted to meet us. He was trying to find out where we were staying. Can you image me opening our cottage door and finding Alan Bell on the other side?? No.oo.oo.oo.!!!

Well, needless to say, it did not happen, but we are still very flattered that he thought enough of us to even want to seek us out. Alan, if you are out there somewhere, I say thank you and please get in touch!! And if you’re ever in NY, let me know so we can meet up!

I want to thank all the wonderful friends and people of Holmfirth for helping to make our trip a huge success, especially Patrick, my editor, and his family, for the lunch, the dinner, the radio interview, the TV interview and the newspaper interview; Pat and Micky Carline for a wonderful day out; David Conyers for taking us to church and being our car-for-hire; Gillian and Martin, our cottage owners who provided an immaculate and well-stocked home for us; St. John’s Upperthong for their welcoming congregation and last, but not least, Ken Kitson for driving 45 minutes late at night to meet us!! I also thank all the people on the buses, in the cafes, the streets, the library and the shops who took time out to talk to us and help us on our way. See you in 2007!! God bless.

Dinky




	LOSW Fan Dinky writes from the Big Apple
	Read Dinky's Summer Wine and the City column
	Diary of the Visit to Summer Wine Country - Holmfirth NEW! Click here to read the very final update, column 14!
	TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH Column #1 The following is a diary of our trip to Holmfirth from May 19th to May 30th, 2004. Come along with us for the ride! Our flight went off without a hitch. The Limo driver arrived at our house at 5:20PM and we left for Newark International Liberty Airport at 5:30PM. Since it was rush hour, the driver opted to use the N.J. Garden State Parkway instead of the more direct Route 21, which has a lot of lights and heavy traffic at that hour. We arrived at the airport at 6:00PM and finished check-in and baggage check by 6:20PM. The lines were not that long! Now we began our search for an exchange booth to buy some British Pound Notes. After much walking (This airport is huge!!) we discovered a teeny exchange office in a tiny corner and got 80 Pounds to pay our taxi driver for the ride from Manchester to Holmfirth and to get us some "walking around" money until we could exchange our traveler's checks. The exchange rate was horrendous and they really scalp you at the airport, but we needed the cash. It came out to about $2.05 for one Pound!! The flight over on Continental was very nice. We went in a Boeing 777, one of the newest airplanes and every seat had its own private TV screen! You could watch anything you wanted from a choice of nine channels. The young English fellow next to me and I watched "Along Came Polly" with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. There was also a choice of ten interactive video games like BZZZ, Cave Crunch and Elephant Memory. Alex listened to music on one of the 20 audio stations. He chose Opera and Classical. The food was sparse, but nutritious with chicken or beef, rice, green beans, salad and a brownie. For breakfast we had a croissant with jelly and a fruit cup. You won't get fat on Continental! We left Newark at 9:15PM (2:15AM GMT) and arrived in Manchester about a half-hour early at 7:45AM. Only 5 ½ hours for the flight! Thursday, May 20th - The plane stopped way out on the field in God's Country. We waited for the jitney bus to drive us to the terminal. Once inside, we walked a long way to get to immigration. By the time our passports were checked, our luggage was already out on the conveyor belt. At about 8:40AM we met Clive Carter, our taxi driver from Lepton Taxi Service. Clive was terrifically informative about life in the area and we enjoyed a nice long chat during the ride to Holmfirth. Clive pointed out various sites as we rode out of Manchester, through smaller villages and finally into Summer Wine Country! We arrived in Holmfirth at about 9:30AM and Clive took us on a mini-tour of the downtown area. He showed us Nora's and Compo's houses, Sid's Café and The Tourist Bureau. What a rush!! Clive was just a doll and lovely to talk to, so I would recommend anyone going to Holmfirth to use his taxi service. The owners of our rental cottage, Gillian and Martin, found Clive for me and booked him in advance of our trip, so it was one less headache for us upon arrival. I think I blabbed on enough for today and the story will pick up next time with our arrival at our cottage. Cheerio for now!! (It's something I picked up in Holmfirth)!! TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH COLUMN #2 Thursday, May 20, 2004 – Our Arrival in Holmfirth. After a quick tour of downtown by Clive Carter, our taxi driver, we arrived at the doorstep of our rental cottage on Woodhead Road in the Hinchliff Mill section of Holmfirth at 9:40AM. Gillian and Martin Blewett, the cottage owners were there to greet us, show us around the house and give us the keys. They were just wonderful and even stocked us up with a few days supply of food!! We were in shock at their kindness and concern. They offered us rides to the train station and even invited us to dinner at their home! We still keep in touch with them via e-mail. The cottage had three floors with the kitchen, small living room and utility room on the first floor, a dining table and two large sofa beds on the second floor and a master bedroom and bath with a reading area on the third floor. It is not a detached one-family home, but has common walls with other homes on both sides, similar to what Americans call a “townhouse”. It was made of stone with plaster walls. The views from the house were stupendous! Every morning we awoke to the sight of sheep, cows and horses grazing in the green sloping hills directly in front of our bedroom window. The house was immaculate and beautifully decorated with oil paintings, carpets AND fresh flowers!! The kitchen was stocked with every utensil known to man, including a rolling pin and soufflé dishes in case you wanted to do some serious cooking! It was like a dream come true! The price was very reasonable for all this luxury and I would recommend anyone wanting to rent a house near downtown Holmfirth to get in touch with Gillian and Martin at their Weaver’s Cottage e-mail address - Martinblewett@aol.com. It’s a very short ride on the Number 310 bus (75 Pence one-way) or an easy one-mile walk to downtown. After Gillian and Martin left we unpacked, freshened up and headed out to catch the bus. But, uh-oh, we had no change for the bus. The smallest bill we had was a Five-Pound Note and the bus would not change it. We walked down the street and found a tiny Post Office that also sold sandwiches and was attached to The Corn Loft Bed & Breakfast. The nice ladies there were very helpful and changed the note for us so we had some 50 Pence and One-Pound coins to give the bus driver. We boarded the bus at 10:27AM and in a few minutes we were there. . .we were really, really there. . . Victoria Street and Huddersfield Road, the heart of Holmfirth! The streets I read about in the tourist brochures! Whoopie!! O.K., so now we were there, but what do we do for money? We bought very little British cash at the airport because it was so expensive and we needed to exchange some Traveler’s Checks. The first place we spotted was the Charlesworth Newspaper Store on the corner, so we went in to ask where we could find a bank. The lady sent us across the street to what we thought was a bank. When I asked about Traveler’s Checks, the lady there said, “We are not a bank, we are a building society, you have to go down the street for a bank”. I don’t even know what a building society is!! So we found a bank and the lady there did not know if they cashed Traveler’s Checks, so she went to ask her boss. She said they would cash the checks, but they charge a fee to cash Visa British Pound Traveler Checks. She suggested we go to Barclay’s Bank down the block because they handle Visa. Finally, we are getting somewhere! Barclay’s Bank, at the very end of Victoria Street did indeed cash Visa Traveler’s Checks with no fee at all! I gave the lady some checks and she said, “Passport?” Un-oh, I left my passport in the cottage never thinking I would need it until the flight home! “I’ll be back later”, said I. At 11:05AM, we boarded the Number 310 bus to go back home. We met several people on that bus who rode into town with us on the first bus. They greeted us and we began to talk about the area and Summer Wine. One lady told me, “You know, once they filmed my house for the show”. Wow, I thought!! She said they filmed the front door!! We asked her where to get off the bus to get to our house and she helped us find our way. We only knew we lived near “The Shepard’s Pub” and she guided us there. As we went from place to place all the locals were friendly and helpful. They were happy to help us, give us directions and just chat. At 11:27AM, we were back on the bus for our third trip. By this time, we were old friends with the bus driver and he said, “Back again?” As I gave him the fare, I told him my passport story of woe. Next time I will continue with our first walk around town, the shops, lunch, the museum AND meeting Patrick!!! TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH COLUMN #3 Thursday, May 20^th – Afternoon After our third bus trip of the day, we arrived downtown at 11:35AM. By 12 Noon we were walking out of Barclay’s Bank with 400 British Pounds in our hot little hands. Fully armed, we were ready to explore the town and spend lots of money! First, we decided to get a quick overview of the main streets and we buzzed up and down them like two New Yorkers. Victoria Street, Hollowgate, Victoria Square, Towngate Station Road, Daisy Lane, buzz, buzz, buzz. It seemed like there were only a few streets in town, but some of them melted into other ones in a winding pattern. There were footpaths and little walkways over the river near The Co-Op grocery store. A little park was tucked in there too. After we got our bearings and walked around in circles for about a mile, we made our first stop. We visited The Daisy Lane Bookstore, which had two helpful owners and two black and white cats sleeping in the store on top of the books or outside on the cobblestone street. One cat was very loving and friendly and she let us pet her endlessly. The other cat preferred to be alone. In the window there was a book written by Bill Owen called “Summer Wine and Vintage Years – A Cluttered Life”. What luck! I told the gentlemen I’d like to buy that book and it was my first purchase in Holmfirth! What a find! By this time we were ready for lunch and we walked around and around again looking for a place to eat. We stopped at The Riverside Café where we ate giant Yorkshire Puddings filled with lean sausages and onion gravy. They were super! We were served by a lovely waitress who reminded us of Lexi in “Monarch of The Glen”. She was very friendly and welcoming and she even sang a song from “The Sound of Music” as she worked in the kitchen. I think it was “Doe, a deer, a female deer…”. At the end, all the customers applauded!! We had a great time there talking to her. After lunch, we walked around and around the swirling streets again and ended up at the Summer Wine Exhibition in Compo’s house, right under Nora Batty’s house. What a thrill to find it! I paid Two Pounds and Alex paid One Pound Fifty Pence (Senior Citizen Rate) to enter this treasure trove of Summer Wine artifacts. In the small one room dwelling downstairs we could see Compo’s tattered jacket, his bicycle, his wellies and many other props used in the various episodes. It was unbelievable! When you go up a short flight of stairs there is another room with many photos and articles pertaining to Summer Wine and the actors on the walls. There is also a video playing that is sort of a summary of the history of Summer Wine. There is a remarkable gift shop downstairs in the back of the museum where you can buy magnets, key chains, mouse pads, bookmarks and many other items with Summer Wine themes on them. They took Visa British Pound Traveler’s Checks there. By this time we were really tuckered out and caught the 4:05PM bus home. By 4:10 we were back and just settling in on the sofa when……knock, knock, knock, we heard a rap on the door. It was Patrick Brooke, my editor and his three little “Harry Potter” sons, Thomas, James and George, who came to say hi. We shook hands and introduced ourselves and chatted for about twenty minutes regarding the big plans that Patrick had made for Saturday, May 22^nd. After that, they set off for home. We were totally exhausted from the flight, so we ate a light supper in the cottage and fell asleep at 8:30PM. Next time I will continue with the Friday, May 21^st happenings. TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH Column #4 Well, we fell asleep at 8:30PM Thursday night, May 20th, but we woke up at Midnight on Friday, May 21st due to jet lag. We were starved, even though we ate dinner. It turns out that we were still on New Jersey time, which would be 7:00PM – our usual dinnertime. So, we went downstairs, broke open the scones and jelly that Gillian and Martin bought for us and put on a kettle of tea! You can’t sleep if you’re hungry! We watched the BBC Learning School on TV until 3:00AM and then went back upstairs to bed. We woke up at 10:30AM on Friday morning and went to the local Londis grocery store for yogurt, Kenco decaf coffee, crackers, jelly, ham and chocolate mousse. The Londis store is a cute little “Mom and Pop” grocery store chain. They had a great selection of food and it was only about a block away from the house. At 12:27PM we caught the #310 bus to downtown Holmfirth, all ready to go on the Summer Wine Tour Bus that runs from Sid’s Café once every hour. We bought our tickets for five pounds each ($10.00) and boarded the bus at about 1:00PM. We rode with a really nice group of Senior Citizens, “The Over 60’s Club”, from Preston, Lancashire and they were such fun!! When the tour bus got delayed in the countryside due to some work crews laying pipes, we all started talking and making jokes and we laughed and laughed. One of the ladies named Sylvia forgot her camera and asked me to take photos of her and her group in front of the Café and mail them to her. I did it and we have been corresponding ever since. Wham…..instant pen pal!! I just love it! She invited Alex and me to her house on our next visit! The tour was very nice. We drove through lots of countryside for almost an hour and saw many of the houses used in the show. We saw the hills, the little dirt lanes, the fields and the stonewalls that you see in the show. We saw the boy’s watering hole, The White Horse Pub, in Jackson Bridge. We saw the houses of Cleggy, Howard, Barry and Wesley. The driver pointed out various sites along the way, even the house that Bill Owen rented when he stayed in Holmfirth. At 2:00PM we ate lunch in Beattie’s Deli, which is in the same square as the Café and The Holy Trinity Church. We had delicious toasted ham and cheese panini sandwiches with hot cocoa. It was quite cool that day, so the cocoa really tasted great. After lunch, we shopped at the Holmfirth Mill Store, where we bought souvenirs and more goodies to eat. They have a huge selection of clothing, colognes, sporting goods, gift items, candy and much more in their large two-story store. After that we headed to The Holmfirth Library on Huddersfield Road, near The Tourist Bureau and spent several hours there. Alex used their free internet to read all his Italian sports papers. I read a lot of information about Holmfirth in the local history section. Then I skimmed books about Princess Di, Royal Peerage and English Surnames. At 5:30PM we headed to Poppa Piccolino’s Restaurant near the Holmfirth Market. Alex had a personal pizza and a beer. I had cannelloni and a coke. At 6:45PM our bus came to bring us back to Hinchliffe Mill. We brewed some decaf coffee and had chocolate mousse for desert as we watched “EastEnders” and “The Lenny Henry Show” on TV before bed. Oh, I must tell you that today we met a sort of “real-life” Compo in Holmfirth. He’s a little guy, not as shabbily dressed as the real Compo, but he sings happily in the street, kicks up his heels in a little dance now and then, and is very friendly and talks to everyone. We met him on the bus in the morning, then we saw him two more times, once near the Post Office and once outside of Sid’s Café. He was sitting on the bench in front of the church, sunning himself and greeting all the passers-by. When you go to Holmfirth, look for him, he really puts the finishing touch on Summer Wine Country! Holmfirth is a small and friendly place! That is all for now, next time I will continue with our Super Saturday at editor Patrick’s house! TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH Column #5 Super Saturday, May 22, 2004 – 10:45AM Editor Patrick and his children, Thomas, James, George, (and Amber, their new doggie) came walking down the hill and we soon heard a knock at our door. Patrick invited Alex and me to go to their house for lunch at 11:00AM! It was very kind of him to take some time out of his busy schedule to spend with us! Turns out that they lived only about three blocks (600 yards) from our rental house!! So we walked up the hill, all seven of us, stopping now and then to enjoy the views of the “Summer Wine” hills! Shortly after we arrived, Patrick said, “I have a surprise for you.” A radio interviewer, Rob Lawrence, from BBC Radio Leeds, 92.4FM was coming over at 11:30AM to interview us for a Monday morning broadcast. I squealed, “Oh, no, I didn’t dress up!” Patrick said, “Don’t worry, it’s R-A-D-I-O.” “Oh yeah, O.K.,” I said. But still, I would have felt better in a nice dress instead of jeans and a Mickey Mouse shirt. Well, in about 15 minutes, Rob arrived and he was very polite and well spoken. He tried to put us at ease by telling us the types of questions he would ask, so we could think about the answers and then he set to work. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and we all felt it went well. Before Rob left we took photos of everyone around his hot little red BBC Radio car, which had all the names of the towns near Leeds written on it in bright gold script! After that, Patrick set out a luncheon smorgasbord for us with little meat pies (a Yorkshire specialty), salad, bread, crackers, juice, beer and dessert. While Patrick cleared away the leftovers, the children serenaded us with classical guitar music and they all played very well, I might add! At about 2:00PM Patrick took us for a relaxing ride in the countryside. What a treat! He pointed out some places of interest to us and we rode around the hills where “Summer Wine” is filmed. We also saw The Digley Reservoir and Compo’s Cafe, which is outside of downtown Holmfirth. At about 3:00PM we got a bonus! We watched the Football Association Cup Final (Soccer) with Patrick and the boys. It was Manchester United Vs. Millwall. It was a very exciting game and ManU won handily at 3-0. Go, Red Devils!! After the game, we chatted for a while and headed off for home at 5:30PM. So, the lunch really turned into an all day event and we were very pleased to have spent the day with this charming family! At 6:30PM we walked up the Burnlee Road hill to have dinner at Compo’s Café, which was about a mile from our house. Now we knew where it was, thanks to Patrick! The place was packed with local families, but we managed to get a table and have our fish n’chips dinner, finally!! By 8:00PM we were back in our cozy cottage having coffee and dessert and watching BBC-TV until bedtime. Next time I will tell you about our superb Sunday happenings. David Conyers, of our Summer Wine Yahoo Group, came to fetch us in the morning. Then we all attended Sunday Services at St. John’s Church, Upperthong. (This is the church where Compo is buried.) TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH Column #6 Sunday, May 23, 2004 - We groggily woke up at 8:30AM still suffering from jet lag. Back home, it was only 3:30AM. No wonder! At about 9:45AM David Conyers from our Summer Wine Yahoo Group knocked on our door. We had never met before, except on-line through the group. David lives close to Holmfirth and before we left home, we made arrangements to meet up. He offered to drive us to church on Sunday morning! I was reading some papers that Patrick had given me when I heard David’s knock, so when I answered it I blurted out, “Are you Patrick?” I meant to say, “Are you David?” Boy, the jet lag was worse than I thought! David corrected me. I said, “I’m Dinky,” and we laughed over it, although I felt quite embarrassed. Alex shuffled down the stairs and I introduced him to David properly. We had a nice chat and exchanged gifts. He got a N.Y. Yankee’s hat and a big Hershey bar. We got a Summer Wine Country Book and a Yorkshire-English translation guide! The book, published in 1989, is full of photos of gorgeous scenery from the area. Each page has a little note written on it from Cleggy to his Polish pen pal, Tad. Actually, Roy Clarke did the writing. At 10:10AM we left for St. John’s Church, Upperthong. This is the church where our beloved Compo is buried. His gravesite is quite near the back of the church in his own separate plot far away from the other graves. He faces a beautiful view of downtown Holmfirth and the hills behind it, so he must be quite content there. The people who planned his burial site took a lot of time and care to pick him out a nice spot where he could look out eternally on his beloved Holmfirth. There are three monuments to him there. One is a traditional dark gray granite headstone with his name, dates of birth and death and the masks of comedy and tragedy in the upper two corners. One is a smaller stone from Tom and Mary Owen and their children, James and William. It says, “Love and Miss You.” The third is a light-hearted little set-up on two concrete steps with a big pair of wellies on the top step and a baby pair of wellies on the bottom step. It’s a very touching tribute to Bill and people are even leaving money at the graveside to help build a statue of Compo downtown. At 10:45AM the service began. We were privileged to have the Vicar, Geoff Banks, conduct the service because some parishioners told us he serves three churches and it’s very rare to have him come. It was a lovely service with lots of singing and organ music and a dynamite sermon. The Vicar was a powerful speaker and he moved all of us. All the congregation came around to shake hands and even kiss us at the sign of peace. They were so friendly, welcoming and nice! After the service they had a coffee hour with hot drinks, cookies and warm fellowship. Everyone gave a donation and we spoke with the Vicar and many of the parishioners, including an actress from Summer Wine!! David, Alex and I did not recognize her because she looks a bit different in person than all made up. Her name is Susan and she played a waitress at The White Horse Pub in three episodes. She is a very tall lady with long blonde hair and when she told us she was the one who pushed Howard home to Pearl in a cart, it all clicked in! Pearl then took the cart with Howard in it and dumped him over a cliff! So, that was our unexpected brush with greatness!! Thank you, Susan!! The Vicar told us he once worked in West Virginia and Kentucky. He was not there on missionary work, he was working with something to do with coal mining prior to becoming a vicar! This Vicar is also the Vicar who conducted Bill Owen’s funeral service. We asked him what Compo was like in real life and he said, “I don’t know, I didn’t meet him until he was dead.” It sounded comical, but that was the truth, he said. We spoke to many lovely people and we were all very glad to have met them at St. John’s. I would recommend any visitor to Holmfirth to go and meet this loving congregation on Sundays or Thursdays, when services are held. At about 12:30PM we rode over to The White Horse Pub. They were not serving lunch, so we had a coke and then moved on. We did sit where the great ones sat, at the same table to the left of the bar where we see Cleggy and Truly sitting in some of the episodes. And we did see the many, many photos of the cast all over the pub walls. David thought we should go to The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room for lunch and it was a great idea. It sits above Compo’s little house and next door to Nora’s. The food was super with big portions and the waitress was very friendly and nice. We found it to be the best food in Holmfirth! Again, there are photos of the cast on the walls. Downstairs is a gift shop where you can buy special cups, plates and tea sets with caricatures of Compo and Nora on them. I bought a little cream pitcher which sits happily in my dining room on the sideboard, reminding me of the good times in Holmfirth! David left for home at 2:00PM to go take care of Heidi, his dog and his 18 ferrets. Too bad he couldn’t stay longer. We had a really nice time together. Next time I will continue with the rest of Sunday and begin the story of Manic Monday!! Column #7 Sunday Afternoon, May 23, 2004 Alex and I accompanied David to the parking lot near the Co-Op to wish him a happy journey home. He wanted to drive us back to our cottage, but we opted to stay in town and walk around because it was a bright, glorious day and only 2:00PM. We went to the Co-Op Supermarket to buy some decaf Earl Grey Tea and snoop around to look at the English groceries. After that, we went to Longley’s Ice Cream Parlor and Café on Huddersfield Road for some fantastic homemade gelati ice cream. Longley’s grew to be our top spot for our 4:00PM snack! We then went back to “Steps”, which is the gift shop located beneath the Summer Wine Exhibition and The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room, to buy more souvenirs and gifts for friends. We caught the Number 310 bus back home at 3:44PM, as we were quite tired by then. I promised to call my pen pal, Judith, who lives in Middlesbrough, England, which is about two hours northeast of Holmfirth. We have been writing to each other for four years, but we never met until this trip. I answered her ad in Royalty Magazine and we became good friends, so I needed to call her to confirm our arrangements for Tuesday, May 25th. At about 5:00PM, Alex and I set out for the nearby Pub to use their pay phone. The pub was only about a half a block (100 yards) from our door. Unfortunately the phone was broken, so the barmaid told us to walk down to the next pub, which was about 3/4 of a mile away near a cricket field in the Holmbridge section of Holmfirth. We started walking southwest along Woodhead Road (in the opposite direction of downtown) and we passed a post office, a Bed & Breakfast, a Fish N’ Chips shop, a pub and finally the cricket field. There we found a BTS phone booth that worked! It cost 30 Pence for 15 minutes anywhere in England. What a bargain! Unfortunately, Judith was not home, so I left a lengthy message telling her that the phone near our house was broken and that we couldn’t call her on Tuesday morning before we left for Middlesbrough. David Conyers will be driving us there, so we could stop en route and call her to be sure she is o.k. and that we could visit her as planned. We got back home at about 6:00PM and cooked a light supper of ham and eggs with crackers, jelly and tea. We rested up and watched TV until bedtime. Next time I will write about all the Monday happenings, which include hearing the radio interview on the air, being on the BBC News and being photographed and interviewed by a local newspaper at Sid’s Café!! Column 8 Marvelous Monday, May 24, 2004 What a day! At 6:50 and 7:50 AM, BBC Radio Leeds, 92.4 FM, played the interview done by Rob Lawrence at editor Patrick’s house on Saturday, May 22nd. It was awesome! Rob put in some music from “Sex and The City” along with some “Summer Wine” music in various strategic places during the interview to show the contrast between NYC and Summer Wine Country. He gave us a very nice introduction and then played some of the questions he asked us along with the answers that Patrick and I supplied. Then he did more commentary about the Summer Wine-America connection while Patrick and I talked in the background about our favorite episodes. Patrick taped it and sent me home with a copy!! 10:27AM – We took the usual Number 310 bus downtown, but today would be very different than the rest. 10:35AM – We stopped in at Andrew’s Grocery on Huddersfield Road to say hi to Andrew Bray, the owner and a good friend of Bill Owen. We did this at the urging of Liz Nichols from Virginia who became friends with Andrew during her trip to Holmfirth in 2002. Andrew is a pleasant young man who told us that when he was a little boy, only eleven, he met Bill and they became lifelong friends. In fact, he is now friends with Tom Owen, Bill’s son. 11:00AM – On to the Café to meet a reporter from the Huddersfield Examiner. The reporter was late, so we went to sit on the bench in front of the church that is opposite the Café. In the meantime, co-editor Pat Carline and her daughter, Michelle walked into the little plaza and although we had never met, I saw her long blonde hair and mouthed over to her, “Pat? Pat?” and she looked at us and we ran to greet to each other. Patrick told me that Pat may come to Holmfirth on Monday morning, but he was not sure, so this was quite a surprise! Pat and Michelle had been traveling on buses and trains for three hours prior to arriving in Holmfirth, so we all went into the Café to have some tea. 11:30AM – We were all sitting there having a jolly old time and a man with a huge camera walked in and starting calling out my name. I raised my hand and said, “Here.” He was from The Huddersfield Examiner and came to take a photo of Pat, Michelle, Alex and I in front of the Café for tomorrow’s newspaper. It turned out to be a fantastic shot in color and it took up half a page of the paper. Of course, it is on the wall of my home office now! 11:30-1:00PM – We had a break between the newspaper guy and the BBC guy, so we went poking around Holmfirth to see what we could see. I steered Pat and Michelle directly into “Steps”, the gift shop under “The Wrinkled Stocking Café” to show them the very cool Summer Wine mouse pads that could be bought there. After that we stopped at a bakery to get a bun and we sat on a park bench near the river to eat them and watch the world go by. P.S. – I got powdered sugar all over my black dress and had a hard time getting it all off before the cameras rolled. But we all had quite a good laugh over it! See, it was a windy day and when I bit into the bun, whoosh…the sugar went flying all over me!! 1:30PM – Back to the Café plaza and the BBC TV crew were there setting me up with an ear bug for a LIVE remote interview for the “Good News” section of the BBC “Look North” news. This was truly freaky. First, I had never been on TV. Second, it was hard to hear the TV anchor girl’s questions through the ear bug, so I just improvised some answers and I fear I did not make sense! One of Patrick’s friends, Kate, kindly taped the TV interview for me and I had the video switched over to the American system so I could see 68 seconds of me in front of the café answering some unknown questions with the wind blowing wildly in the background. What a kick! Actually, it wasn’t that bad. 1:45PM – The reporter from the Huddersfield Examiner arrived and asked us questions for her newspaper article, which would be published the next day along with the gigantic color photo. They also ran photos of Nora Batty next to Sarah Jessica Parker from “Sex and The City” on the bottom of the article with the caption, “A World Apart.” Katie Campling, who wrote this article did a great job and we thank her and all the other folks who came out to interview us. And thank you Patrick and Pat for setting this all up. 2:00PM – Our work now done, it was time for fun!! First stop was a thrift store in Victoria Square. Pat bought me an old Yorkshire Tea Tin as a remembrance of our time together. But the weirdest thing happened to me in that store. I was just browsing around and a lady looked at me and said, “Were you just on TV?” and I said, “Yes.” Apparently, she lived nearby and watched the news and then came out to shop a few minutes later and found me right there! She said, “I recognized your pink hat.” Oh yes, my signature newsboys’ caps that I wear almost all the time everywhere. Well, it was surely odd to just be on TV and then have someone notice you not even ten minutes later. What a day!! Well, I am beat now, so next time I will tell you about lunch, flowers, bombing around Holmfirth (or “Stooging” as they call it there) a pub, and dinner at Patrick’s with a surprise guest!! Column #9 Marvelous Monday Afternoon (cont) May 24, 2004 2:15PM – Pat, Michelle, Alex and I finished up our shopping at the Thrift Store and headed to The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room for lunch. We talked and talked and had a fabulous lunch there. We took photos of ourselves at the table with a beautiful fireplace in the background. The interior of the dining room is very nicely decorated and they have photos of Summer Wine actors on the walls, as you will find in many other places in Holmfirth. 3:30PM – We were now nourished enough to take a hike to Compo’s grave in Upperthong. Before venturing there, Pat came up with the brilliant idea of bringing a bouquet of flowers to the cemetery! So we wandered around town a bit until we located a florist, which was across from the Holmfirth Market. Pat and Michelle picked out a beautiful arrangement and then we wrote a little note to Compo on the card and signed it with our names and our towns. Armed with our bouquet, we started up the lane that would lead us to St. John’s Church. As we walked up the three or four blocks (600-800 yards) we stopped often to look back at the stupendous views of Holmfirth from above the town. We chatted along the way and took in all the sights of every building, house, garden and panorama of the town until finally we arrived. We walked around the right side of the church, across the back and then turned left, passing many other graves before we came to Compo’s headstone. We stood there looking at the site, saying prayers, taking photos, and remembering all the joy that Bill brought us. Michelle placed the bouquet on the grave and we lingered a while longer. 4:30PM – Getting back to town was easy; it was all downhill! We walked to the Co-Op grocery store for a soft drink, but their café was closed so we ended up in…..The Postcard Pub!! We drank beer and soda pop and chatted endlessly until... 6:30PM when it was time to catch our bus back home so we could go to dinner at Patrick’s house!! 6:30PM – We bid a fond and reluctant farewell to Pat and Michelle with big hugs and kisses. I believe their bus was leaving at 7:00PM and we wished we could stay to see them off. They had a long train journey after the bus, but they arrived home safe and sound, as Pat later told me in an e-mail. 6:45PM – We caught our Number 310 bus back home after calling Patrick and telling him we would be a little late for the 7:00PM dinner. He said not to worry as long as we were having fun with Pat and Michelle! 7:15PM – We arrived at Patrick’s house after stopping home to freshen up a bit and pick up the bottle of wine we bought for him and Annette, his adorable wife. Two of their friends also came for the dinner, Kate and Phil, who also live in Holmfirth. They live in the house right next door to Barry and Glenda!!! Aren’t they the lucky ones!! Well, our host and hostess cooked up a fabulous dinner of chicken-mushroom curry with white rice, salad and nan bread, which is something like the pita bread we use here. We had wine, beer and juice. For dessert we had strawberries and cream. They also served toffee or raspberry pavlova, which is a type of cake, which seemed to be made of lady fingers and meringue with a sweet syrup on it. It was very good, I must tell you, but I have never heard of it here. The dinner was a big success with lots of lively conversation as we tried to find out about each other and what the life is like in Holmfirth and what the life is like in the NYC suburbs. And stuff like what we call “soda” here is called “pop” in Holmfirth and so on. 9:00PM – Ding-Dong, the doorbell rings. It was the surprise guest that Patrick spoke about even before our trip!! Guess who it was? Well, he is an actor on Summer Wine. He’s very tall. He’s been with the show for about 24 years. Any guesses?? It was Ken Kitson, the tall policeman who drives the car!! In person!! And he drove all the way from Bradford (45 minutes away) to come see us. Thank you, Patrick, for arranging this wonderful surprise!! Ken is a very funny and intelligent guy. The first thing he said after we were introduced was, “I saw you on TV today!”, which made us howl with laughter. Usually, it’s the other way around!! We see him on TV almost every week! Well, Ken is a very nice and down-to-earth guy and we discussed such mundane things as dental work, car accidents, and what it would be like to be a real cop. He also filled us in on the various shows and movies he’s been in, such as one called “Brassed Off.” We must go rent that video!! Ken has also written a script for a movie which he hopes to film soon. 10:00PM – Phil and Kate had little ones at home, so they left early to relieve the baby-sitter. The five of us who remained then retired to the living room and sunk into some nice big chairs to continue our chat. Ken told us about some of his travel experiences in the USA. 11:00PM – We were pooped by this time and decided it was time for us to walk down the hill to our home. We kissed Patrick and Annette good-bye and thanked them for the lovely time and for going through all that trouble for us. Ken shook hands with Alex and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek! Waa-hoo, I’ve never been kissed by a star!! This was a day and a night I will never forget in my life. Thanks to all of you who made it possible! Column #10 Terrific Tuesday May 25th, 2004 Another BIG DAY!! My dream was to meet my English Pen-Pal, Judith, whom I have been corresponding with for four years. She lives in Middlesbrough, which is a bustling city about 90 miles northeast of Holmfirth, and today the dream came true, thanks to David Conyers from our Summer Wine Yahoo Group. Before we left home, I asked David if he would drive us there because he just started a taxi service called “Flights.” David was available that day and so I booked him for the entire day. He arrived at our cottage at about 9:00AM and after coffee and some morning chit-chat, we headed out at 9:20AM. We drove through the beautiful countryside, with David pointing out the various sites and little towns along the way. I think David also put on an audio tape of Summer Wine while we made our way north. At 10:20AM we stopped at a Little Chef Restaurant for breakfast. It is sort of like a Howard Johnson’s or a Friendly’s Restaurant that we have in America. We were starved and we had a delicious breakfast of veggie sausages, tomatoes, eggs, potatoes, toast and cappuccino. We left there at 11:05AM and arrived in Middlesbrough at 11:55AM, so it was a very fast and pleasant trip. We called Judith so she could direct us to her apartment. Middlesbrough seemed a big city with lots of highways and traffic, but she eventually explained where her street was and we found it. What a feeling to get out of the car in front of her apartment!! This was the day I had been dreaming of for four years!! Judith was there, standing by the front door and we greeted each other and hugged and kissed. Alex took photos of us during our first minute of meeting each other. I introduced Alex and David to Judith and we all went inside to talk and see her apartment and take more photos. At 1:00PM we left for lunch at The Toby Carvery Restaurant, about five miles away. We arrived there at about 1:30PM and had soda pop, beer and wine before lunch. It was a beautifully decorated place with a nice atmosphere. We went to the carving board, where the chefs had a whole turkey, gammon (ham) and roast beef ready to slice up for each individual order. Then you took the plate and put on all the side dishes you wanted, such as Yorkshire Pudding, stuffing, carrots, peas and potatoes. After we were well stuffed, we sat chatting for a while and then drove to Stewart’s Park, just a short distance from the restaurant. We walked down a path and saw a small zoo with goats, deer, guinea pigs, roosters, bunnies, peacocks, rams and baby lambs. We sat on a park bench taking in the sunshine and fresh air until about 3:30PM, then it was time to head back to Judith’s apartment to say farewell. By 4:00PM we were on the road back home. At 5:00PM David stopped at an adorable little town called Knaresborough so we could eat dinner and walk around. We ate in a wonderful Fish N’Chips Restaurant and then we visited the ruins of an old castle. The castle grounds had beautiful views of a river far below. There was a gorgeous bridge with many arches above the river. On the bridge was a train. It was a stunning site! We left Knaresborough at about 6:30PM and drove through Wetheby and Huddersfield, arriving home at about 7:30PM. We then all went to the corner Londis Store to pick up a copy of “The Huddersfield Examiner” to see the photos and interview that Katie did yesterday. The photo was really big and in color with a cute little story. David bought a copy and we bought the other three!! A perfect end to a perfect day!! David went home to care for his many pets, but he left some Summer Wine videos at our house for us to see. There were some really old episodes that were never shown in the NYC area, so we really enjoyed seeing “The Man From Oswestry” and “Three Men and a Mangle”. We also saw “Last Post and Pigeon”, which made me cry at the end. Well, now that all of our commitments were done, we had the rest of our vacation to just “bum around” Holmfirth and I will tell you about that in my next column!! Column #11 Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Aahhhh, at last – a day with no commitments!! We slept late and I indulged in a nice long bubble bath to soothe my aching feet after that hectic Monday and long trip on Tuesday. Back home in N.J. we drive everywhere, but here in Holmfirth we walk everywhere and it’s taking a toll on my tootsies!! We caught the 10:27AM bus to town to try to buy more copies of yesterday’s “The Huddersfield Examiner”, so we could distribute them to our friends when we got back home. As we got off the bus and crossed the street, guess whom we ran into?? Susan Mallinson, the Summer Wine actress who played the blonde waitress in several episodes!! We met her last Sunday at St. John’s Church in Upperthong and we greeted each other in surprise! “Hi.i.i.a.a.yyy!!”, said I. “Hello!”, said Susan. “How are you?”, we said to each other. “Fine, fine.” I asked Susan if she was going to the service tomorrow at St. John’s at 11:00AM. She said she could not go because she owns a speech studio and had to go to Wakefield on Thursday. I said that was too bad because we would like to see her again at church, but I thought it was very interesting that she owned her own business! Then we wished each other well and went our separate ways. When we got home, I looked up Susan’s Speech Studio on the Internet and it is located at 11 Towngate, Upperthong, Holmfirth. After we left Susan, we continued to Charlesworth News Agents on the corner of Victoria Street and Huddersfield Road and purchased some leftover newspapers to take home. At 11:00AM we hit the Holmfirth Library again. Alex needed to check out his Italian newspapers on-line. We could not find an Italian newspaper in Holmfirth…..heck, we could not even find an Italian!! The kind librarian gave him one hour on the computer and I scanned books, maps and magazines until 12:00 Noon. Then the hunt for a place to eat lunch began. We walked and walked and walked…..where should we go?? Waterside Café for Fish N’Chips??? Riverside Café for Toffee Pudding for the dessert after lunch? The Wrinkled Stocking Tea Room?? Well, we finally decided on The Riverside Café, but they were closed – the cook went to Ibiza for a vacation! The nerve!! I was truly disappointed. So, on our way to The Wrinkled Stocking we passed a pub called “Elephant and Castle” with a sign outside that read, “Guinness Steak and Kidney Pie - 3.50P”. Sounded good, so we went in. We placed our orders at the bar and about 20 minutes later two big plates of food come out of the kitchen. I had a Tuna and Cheese Melt with Tea for 3.40P and Alex had the Steak Pie with potatoes, carrots and cauliflower and a ½ pint of beer for 5.45P. So, lunch was relatively cheap there. I believe they also have a B&B attached to the left side of the pub. After lunch we wandered around and found two delightful candy stores, The Chocolate Box and Holme, Sweet Holme, a new one that only opened six months ago. They both had a wonderful selection of candy gifts and tins and I suggest you visit both shops if you ever go to Holmfirth. After that, we finally hit the famous Toll House Book Store and spent quite a while running up and down their three floors of books. From their spooky cellar rooms with travel books, sports books, and tiny little gift books to their creaky attic room with history, music and royal family books, there was something there for everyone. We came out with “Euro 2004”, “Mozart Operas”, “Verdi Operas”, a book on musical instruments and for me, a book on The Queen Mum. We also bought lovely bookmarks and greeting cards there. After that, we hit the Holmfirth Mill again for more gifts to take home. We bought candy, cologne, postcards and tea towels. Now it was about 3:30PM and we stopped at Longley’s Ice Cream Parlor and Café for one of their fabulous homemade ice creams before our long walk home. We arrived home at about 4:00PM after stopping along the way to take photos of the various scenery and pretty pubs as we passed by. We then went to our neighborhood Londis Store to buy raviolis and sauce for dinner. There was big soccer game on tonight and Alex had to see it. At about 8:30PM, our cottage owners, Gillian and Martin stopped by to see how we were doing and to invite us to dinner at their house on Friday night. That was so sweet of them. They are really nice people! I have some brochures on their rental cottage and if anyone is planning a trip to Holmfirth and would like to rent their cottage, let me know and I can give you the info. We did laundry, cooking and ironing the rest of the night and watched a video that David lent to us called “A Tribute To Bill Owen”. I cried again, it was so sad at the end. Column #12 Thursday, May 27, 2004 10:30AM – We began our one-mile uphill walk to St. John’s Church in Upperthong to attend the 11:30AM Communion Service with lunch and a bake sale afterwards. The congregation invited us to attend this weekly event when we were at the Sunday service. What a welcome we got when we arrived at 11:15AM!! We were visiting Compo’s grave when The Vicar, Geoff Banks and his wife, Hazel drove into the parking lot behind the church. The Vicar jumped out of his car and said in an American accent, “Hi-i-i, Guys!”. He was happy to see us again and said, “I saw your picture in the paper.” We greeted many other parishioners whom we met on Sunday and many commented about the article on Summer Wine and us in The Huddersfield Examiner. We spoke to Sue, Graham and Pat, who help the Vicar with various duties. A young mom sitting behind us asked, “Did you have your picture in the paper?”, when we turned around to say hello. So, the article was well read and popular with the local residents! The Vicar wrote our names down on a piece of paper before the service began and he made an announcement to the congregation just after the service began. He thanked us for being there and introduced us by name, saying we were from America. He prayed for a safe journey home for us and so did Sue when it was her turn to lead the prayers for various members of the congregation. We were duly moved! When we came to the “Sign of Peace” where you shake hands with each other, all 22 of us exchanged handshakes and kisses. What a warm and welcoming community St. John’s is!! At 12:15PM all 22 of us went into the community room where two long tables were set with blue fabric tablecloths and beautiful china plates and cups. There were huge “industrial size” teakettles on each table. One of the ladies prepared a light lunch of smoked mackerel, hard-boiled eggs, green salad, pork pate and bread and butter. We all ate heartily while exchanging lively banter about our lives in England and America. We also discussed our plans for the future. On Friday, The Vicar and Hazel were off to Scotland for a one-week vacation, “To get lost in the woods and relax.” On Sunday, Sue and Graham were off to Barcelona for eight days on a tour with “The New Mill Choir”, a local men’s singing group, whom I believe sang at “The Tribute To Bill Owen.” I think I saw Graham at the end of the video singing in the church in downtown Holmfirth where Bill’s memorial service was held. They would be flying from Manchester Airport to Spain. And we would also be at Manchester Airport on Sunday morning for our flight back home. Graham said, “Maybe we’ll see you at the airport!” So, in two day’s time we would all be split to the wind, but now, for these few hours, we were all together in Holmfirth enjoying each other’s company and it was wonderful!! After lunch, Graham surprised us by presenting us with a beautiful commemorative plate with a very ornate drawing of the church on it, which was done by local artist, Jenny Hinchliffe, for a 1984-1987 building fundraiser. The plate was fired in shades of red, black and beige with a large detailed drawing of the church in the middle and a very beautiful border depicting the rooms and items to be renovated or bought with the money raised. The back of the plate tells about the various renovations done to the church and how the money was raised through donations and events. They also list two “Patrons.” Can you guess who they were? Kathy Staff and Bill Owen!! There is our Summer Wine connection for the day! Only 200 of these plates were fired and we have Number 54. What a kind gesture these folks made to their American cousins! We were very moved and surprised! After we got over our shock of receiving such a fine gift for just being there and visiting, we headed to the bake sale table and bought cookies and custard to take home for that evening’s dessert. The congregation then cleared the plates and washed them in the large attached kitchen. After that, a big jar was put on the table and everyone made a donation for the delicious lunch served. When it was time to part I had to choke back tears. Alex was also very misty-eyed. In just two days these special souls had captured our hearts with their loving kindness. We shook hands and reluctantly kissed them all good-bye. Alex remarked, “If we lived here, we would come to this church!” As we walked out into the sunshine and up the lane to Park Head and Greenfield Road, we felt like we had wings on our feet. Although sad at the thought of leaving them, our lives were enriched by our time together and we felt very contented and peaceful!! TRIP TO HOLMFIRTH Column #13 Thursday Afternoon, May 27, 2004 We got back home at about 2:00PM totally exhausted by the long walk to and from St. John’s. We rested up for a while and then hopped the 3:27PM bus to town. We needed to go to the library to get the address for the church so we could send the congregation a nice thank you note from America. We had a hard time trying to find the phone book listing, so the helpful librarians called telephone information and got the proper address - no postal code was needed they said. I did some sleuthing on my own and came up with the address of The Vicarage in Holmbridge and also I got Sue and Graham’s address because their last name was listed in the church bulletin. We then went to The Old Bridge Bakery on Victoria Street and bought some snacks to eat on a park bench. After that we walked high up into the village via the steps on the side of Holy Trinity Church. We turned left when we got to the top and walked along Back Street stopping now and then to take in the new views of the town. We then made a left at the end of the long narrow street and walked downhill on Station Street passing by the shoe store and the Co-Op on our way back to the center of town. By 5:00PM we were beat again, so we headed home for TV and dinner in. It was great to have our own kitchen! We watched EastEnders and Hell’s Kitchen, which is a show sort of like the one we have in NYC called The Restaurant, only the chef in Hell’s Kitchen swore a lot on camera!! We then watched the 10:00PM news before bed. Friday, May 28, 2004 Our last full day in Holmfirth. We woke up early and went down to the second floor to listen to classical music and opera while we rested on two big sofas that faced the windows. We gazed out at the sheep, cows and horses on the green hills. That scene, coupled with the opera arias of Pavarotti could not be beat for total relaxation. I will remember it always. We took the 11:27AM bus downtown as we were in no rush. We hunted for a place to eat lunch and tried The Riverside Café once again. Yes, this time they were open! The cook came back from Ibiza! So in we went and found a most informative gentlemen sitting at the next table who knew Bill Owen very well. We spoke in length to him and found out that he met Bill in 1972 when they were both involved in the Air Corp Youth Movement, which raised money to help children. He told us he used to arrange a birthday party for Bill every year. They became friends and he met the entire cast. Almost everyone in Holmfirth has a Summer Wine story to tell. We talked to this man for over an hour as we ate our Yorkshire Pudding with sausage and onion gravy and a hot toffee pudding with custard sauce for dessert. Oh, by the way, his name? Ray Batty!!! Any relation to Nora??? At about 1:15PM we left the café and went shopping. We bought candy at Holme, Sweet Holme and The Chocolate Box. These are two stores you won’t want to miss if you ever go to Holmfirth. They had a beautiful selection of all kinds of candies and tins. At 1:45PM we went to the library to use the Internet. I checked my 41 e-mails and Alex read his Italian newspapers. At 3:00PM we headed to the Holmfirth Mill to buy more gifts and cologne. Then we went to the Tourist Bureau to get some brochures to mail to Summer Wine fans when we got back home. At 3:15PM we were on our way to Longley’s Ice Cream Parlor and we saw Patrick in his new Land Rover driving his twins somewhere, I think it was to music lessons. We waved to each other for the last time. In Longley’s we had chocolate truffle cake, a cafe latte and raspberry ice cream. We sat at a cute little table in the back and the waitress served us. At 3:45PM we went to the bus stop to catch our last bus home. Guess who was there? The little Compo look-a-like!! He was chatting to a schoolgirl and then to us, as he is very friendly. Our Number 310 bus was due at 4:05PM, but the H-7 Mini-bus came first and the little Compo asked us if we were going on it. We didn’t know where this bus went, but a lady said we could take that bus home, so we did. Instead of going straight on Woodhead Road, it went up and down the hilly back roads, but it stopped on the back corner of Shaw Lane and Woodhead Road to let us off. We thanked the lady for advising us and said good-bye. 4:15PM – Alex had a Summer Wine marathon with the tapes that David Conyers let us borrow while I went upstairs to pack. At 6:00PM I came down and we watched “A Bicycle Built For Three” and “From Wellies To Wetsuit.” We had never seen these before and they were hilarious! 7:00PM – We had dinner in to finish up our leftover foods – cornflakes, milk, ry-vita crackers and jelly. We watched EastEnders, Coronation Street and the news before bed. Final Column #14 Saturday, May 29, 2004 Our departure from Holmfirth to Handforth. We awoke at 8:00AM to get ready to leave our cottage. We washed and tidied up and were downstairs making coffee at 9:00AM. At 9:30AM we put on some Summer Wine videos that David loaned us. Today we watched twin episodes where the boys, Ivy, Sid, Nora and Wally all go to Scarborough for a holiday. They all stay in the same boarding house and you can imagine the chaos that ensues! At 10:30AM David arrived bearing all sorts of going away gifts for us; a nice dog bowl for Tinker, two Holmfirth baseball caps and the video ”A Tribute To Bill Owen.” That video has not been for sale in America, so we were thrilled to have it. We had the tape transformed to the USA format (PAL) at our local Italian café, San Remo’s Coffee Shop in Totowa, NJ because the owner, Ralph does this for about $20.00 per tape. Gillian arrived at 11AM and we talked for a while about how pleasant our stay was. We kissed goodbye and left for The Thistle Hotel in Handforth, three miles from Manchester Airport. David found this hotel for us because we did not book one before we left home. It was very expensive, but it was only for one night. After getting through some heavy Saturday morning traffic we arrived at the hotel about 1:00PM. David saw us through the check-in process and brought our luggage up to the room for us. We had a nice room overlooking the courtyard park at the back of the hotel. We bade farewell to David and said we would keep in touch by e-mail. We settled in and then walked about four blocks to a small shopping center to have lunch. We found a nice bakery serving lunches and got a hot turkey-mushroom pie and a hot bacon-cheese sandwich with two cokes. We sat at a little bistro table outside the bakery and ate in the sun. Later we bought two cream and jam buns for dessert. Umm.m.m..m. After lunch we went to the Kwik Stop grocery store to buy some goodies for later on. We got back to the hotel at 3:30PM and watched BBC News 24 and a soccer game. At 6:00PM we ventured out to find a place for dinner. We walked about a mile and found The White Bull Pub, a very cozy and rustic establishment. We had pork cutlets with pappardella pasta and gammon steak (ham) with pineapple, zucchini and tomato. For dessert we had crème brulee with raspberry trifle and profiteroles. At 8:00PM we walked back to the hotel and watched a Pavarotti special from 9:00-10:30PM, then to bed. We ordered a 6:00AM wake-up call because we had an early flight home on Sunday morning. Sunday, May 30, 2004 Our departure from England. Up at 6:00AM….YIPES, we’re half asleep!! Wash up quickly, get dressed, get downstairs to eat a full cooked English breakfast, which was included with the room. 7:15AM – check out. 7:30AM – mini-bus to the airport. 8:00AM – arrive at airport. 8:15AM – check-in at Continental Airlines with many random baggage checks. 8:30AM – shop in the airport stores. 10:00AM – board our flight. 10:30AM – flight takes off. (5:30AM-in NJ) 11:40AM – NJ time; we arrive at Newark Liberty Airport (4:40PM in Holmfirth.) We had a short and happy flight watching Disney’s Pinocchio cartoon and sleeping on the way home. 12:30PM – we finish immigration and customs and find our limo. 1:00PM – Home, Sweet Home! It’s Sunday and tomorrow is a holiday (Memorial Day) and we still have the whole day ahead of us. We rush to pick up Tinker at my friend’s house and go grocery shopping and then settle down after an awesome trip! The End. . . . . But wait; there is one more thing to tell. Even though the trip was officially over, there was one more surprise waiting for me after my arrival home that just floored me. A few days after my return I got a fantastic, yet horrifying e-mail from a fellow Summer Wine fan who lives in England and has connections to Summer Wine. Well, I received an e-mail saying that Alan Bell, yes, THEE ALAN BELL, was in Holmfirth scouting out locations while we were there and he wanted to meet us. He was trying to find out where we were staying. Can you image me opening our cottage door and finding Alan Bell on the other side?? No.oo.oo.oo.!!! Well, needless to say, it did not happen, but we are still very flattered that he thought enough of us to even want to seek us out. Alan, if you are out there somewhere, I say thank you and please get in touch!! And if you’re ever in NY, let me know so we can meet up! I want to thank all the wonderful friends and people of Holmfirth for helping to make our trip a huge success, especially Patrick, my editor, and his family, for the lunch, the dinner, the radio interview, the TV interview and the newspaper interview; Pat and Micky Carline for a wonderful day out; David Conyers for taking us to church and being our car-for-hire; Gillian and Martin, our cottage owners who provided an immaculate and well-stocked home for us; St. John’s Upperthong for their welcoming congregation and last, but not least, Ken Kitson for driving 45 minutes late at night to meet us!! I also thank all the people on the buses, in the cafes, the streets, the library and the shops who took time out to talk to us and help us on our way. See you in 2007!! God bless. Dinky

	About Your Reporter from the USA

	I am your new reporter from the Greater Metropolitan Area of NYC. I grew up in a small town called Fair Lawn in Northeast New Jersey, about eight miles from the George Washington Bridge. I work as a controller of a multi-million dollar company in Newark, N.J. I earned a Business Administration Degree from Passaic County College in Paterson, N.J. and also graduated from The Cambridge School of Business in NYC where I majored in Accounting. I attended The University Per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy for two summers. I was a child of the 50's and led a "Leave It To Beaver-like" existence. As a teen of the 60's I was not cool in High School. I wore saddle shoes, anklet socks and rode my bike. In the 70's I married a chef from Italy, whom I met on "The Love Boat", A.K.A. "The Sea Venture". We now live in the beautiful city of Clifton, N.J., about 10 miles from NYC. I enjoy reading, writing, gardening and roller-skating. I am a royal watcher and love all the British TV shows, especially Summer Wine, Vicar of Dibley and Father Ted! I have several pen pals in England. One of them lives only 45 minutes from Holmfirth!! I hope you will enjoy hearing the Summer Wine news from my side of the Atlantic. I will be telling you all about our TV system. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about life in the NYC area. All enquiries to Dinky can be sent via our Summer Wine email - summerwinechat@yahoo.com Back to Summer Wine Online