A walk from Addingham

I took advantage of a crisp, though bitterly cold, day to explore the area around Addingham. My walk took me out of the village up to Highfield, down to Lob Wood and back along the River Wharfe.

I started in the village centre, in the communal park called Hen Pen Garden. Perhaps there was a hen pen here once... but now it is one of several attractive little areas of colour and greenery in the village, cared for by volunteers (Addingham Garden Friends).

The walk took me up the interestingly named Sugar Hill. As far as I can discover, the building on the right (above) was once a bakehouse, which perhaps led to the name.

Further out, one of the last village houses I passed was obviously once inhabited by textile weavers. It has a bricked up 'taking-in door', where yarn and cloth could be winched in and out of the loomshop, above the living accommodation.

I love noticing these small details of history when I'm out walking, though sometimes (even with our wonderful and magic 'Google') it can be hard to piece together the information.