under another sun

Lorraine and I began the day with a cooked breakfast in the hotel. We'd not slept well due to the throbbing of a nearby nightclub till 4am, but were much revived by many cups of tea and a big breakfast. Then off to meet Sam and Jade at the bus station, where we caught a bus which passed through satisfyingly northern places like Shipley and Bingley until we eventually arrived at Keighley. A really good way to see something of Yorkshire in the unexpected sunshine. Past towns with old mill chimneys, and houses made out of honey-coloured stone. Here we changed and caught another bus to Haworth, getting off near a little railway station where there was evidence of steamtrains, much to Lorraine's excitement. Up through a pretty little park called Central Park to Haworth and then, still going uphill, past lots of antique shops, souvenir shops, and cafes.  One was called Yorkshire Relics, which made me think of Matt. We stopped in one place for a coffee and piece of apple sponge cake...

To Leeds So up earlyish and up North to Leeds. Bought a paper which Lorraine started reading and before we'd left the environs of Brighton was already experiencing an outburst of Tourette's Syndrome reading about The Tory Government's Education Secretary Michael Gove's approval of 'Victorian' (his word) standards by sending a version of the King James Bible to every school. While I would not deny the importance of this translation to the development of thought and literature in English (which even resonates in the lyrics of Bob Marley for example) what I object to is the fact that Michael Gove sees fit to write an introduction to it. Anyhow, the journey very painless and we found ourselves in Leeds at around 2:30. Raining, obviously, because we were up North. Mounted policemen (as there was a fiercely-contested football game) and generally more Northerners than you could shake a stick at. Our hotel pleasant, and a pleasant room with nice tiling, and one of those...