Cragg Vale

Cragg Vale is a lush steep-sided wooded valley of outstanding natural beauty in the county of West Yorkshire (I just pinched that from this website).  Lucky for me it’s only ten or maybe fifteen minutes drive away from my doorstep.  It’s a beautiful drive too, up Blackstone Edge and then down into Mytholmroyd.  Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day, cold yes but definitely gorgeous.  With time on my hands I decided to take Muffin for a walk and Cragg Vale was where we made for. 

 

Dropping down into the village from the main road the church of St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness is a magnet for me.  Well I should say the graveyard really, the church has always been closed whenever I’ve been to Cragg Vale.  There is one particular little grave in here that always tugs at my heart.  It’s the grave of a little girl born on 16th March 1951 and who “fell asleep” a year later on her first birthday.  The inscription reads  “lovely, loving,  loved”.  Those three words are so poignant.

Walking on through the village and way, way up the hillside you’ll find Old Cragg Hall which was built in 1617.  There are lots of old stone buildings in this valley. I’ve never walked right up to the Hall before so yesterday I took a good look at it and liked what I saw.

  

To the far side of it I noticed this renovated barn and knew it had to be a holiday cottage.  I looked it up when I got home and sure enough it is.   It’s very nice.  Very pricey too!  Just in case you’d like to spend a week here next July and pay £865!! for it here’s a link to its website.

This is only part of the view from up there.  Beautiful don’t you think? 

I was thoroughly enjoying myself walking along the country lanes.  It was cold though, I was wearing gloves and my hands were still freezing.  The sun was beginning to go down behind the hills so I meandered back down to the car.

Maybe not quite what you would expect to find but smack dab in the middle of the village is a small pig farm.  They were really friendly little pigs too.  These two were adorable.  And look at ‘em looking right at the camera without any prompting.  I wish my three little treasures would do that!

TTFN,

Kathleen.