Zambia World Wide

Every year we would have a holiday even though at the time couldn’t afford to spend much. Consequently most of our holidays were spent camping. We would usually go to the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales, these areas we came to know very well and had a great deal of fun. We also visited many towns and villages such as Harrogate where we would walk through and play in the Valley Gardens, wander around the town, drink the natural spring water and roam across the stray. A few miles from Harrogate was Knaresborough which is a beautiful small market town on the river Nidd with its own castle which is always worth a visit. The dungeons and torture chamber are still in excellent condition and give a good indication as to just how barbaric we were in those times. There is also a small market place which is great to wander round, who can resist market day at a small country market. It also the place where Mother Shipton the philosopher (although in her own time people her to be a witch) lived in a cave by the river next to the petrifying well. Once again this is a memory I will never forget, some years back I took Gary and Craig to the cave and well but alas it had turned into a tourist attraction, with concrete steps down and up, turnstiles and guides. Nothing like the way I remembered, steep muddy paths, slippery grass which it was often easier to slide down than walk. The cave entrance has been enlarged so it is no longer necessary to enter on hands and knees. It no longer gives any indication of how Mother Shipton lived ( I suppose it is called progress or just a means of making money ).

The river at Knaresborough is a very pleasant place to walk on a nice day, it is so peaceful and tranquil one can wander and forget the day to day problems we all have. On the bank it is possible to hire punts, canoes and rowing boats, how I remember the fun we had on the river. We also visited many other places in Yorkshire such as York with its beautiful museums, cathedral and town wall. The quaint streets known as the shambles is a real spectacle and to my knowledge has not changed to this day. The castle museum impressed me the most, the cobbled street with period shops and the products sold back then plus of course the carriages from many periods in history down the centre of the street. We did of course visit many other places such as Skipton, Pately Bridge, Stump Cross caverns to see the stalactites and stalagmites. We also spent time at the strid which is where the water flows fast through rocks that are close together, it is said that through the ages many have tried to jump the gap when the water is at its worst but few have made it. We also always went to Leeds which is where my grandmother lived, we also had other relatives in and around Leeds. I think I will mention here about a trip we made to Leeds when we heard that our grandmother was in hospital, she had fallen down the stairs and fractured her hip, she was 98 years old at the time. My dad got a call to say what had happened and decided to travel to Leeds to see his mum. However my mother also decided to go, this meant us lads would also have to go as there was no-one we could stay with in Great Yarmouth. We were quite young at the time so my memory is a little vague, however I do remember the journey. It was a nightmare.

We had quite a good car in those days, it was a Citroën light fifteen, front wheel drive which was rare back then (most cars were rear wheel drive). It was the middle of winter and the snow was thick on the ground. I know today people complain about the state of the roads after heavy snowfalls. I can only say they should have been around back then. Also it should be remembered that the cars back then were not as good as the one’s you drive today, they had no screen washers and the heater was just a duct through from the engine compartment, so we tended to get leaves and other rubbish blowing into the car. Plus in cold weather the heat blown into the car was very little. I don’t remember what time we left Yarmouth but it was quite late in the evening and of course dark. I do remember that the windscreen kept getting covered in slush and dirt and that every few miles my dad had to pull over, get out and clean the windscreen. We kids were on the back seat, huddled under a blanket trying to keep warm. I also remember that after travelling for some time we pulled into a pub car park and went in the pub where there was a roaring log fire which we sat around as close as we could get (it was heaven) we soon warmed up before travelling on. We arrived at my uncle house somewhere around midnight, we were all absolutely frozen, it had been a long cold trip and we were glad that it was over. Next morning we went to see our grandmother in hospital. The journey back we did in daylight and it was quite uneventful.