Zambia World Wide

This is not so of the Yorkshire Dales, they still seem the same as I remember them from when I was a child. I am not going to mention all the places we went to as I have written of many in earlier chapters, and they have changed very little. The weather was brilliant and we had plenty of time to walk across the moors and visit some of the hillside towns and villages. We went to Stump Cross Caverns again but after seeing the caves in the Cheddar Gorge, although we enjoyed the visit, it was a little disappointing. Knaresborough we re-visited as we wanted to show the boys where Mother Shipton had lived, which was in a cave next to the Petrifying Well. Unfortunately it has all changed, today there are concrete steps, to and from the well, the entrance to the cave has been enlarged and there are now turnstiles and tour guides. It is today impossible to get a real idea of the way Mother Shipton lived. Knaresborough was just as we remembered it, we took the boys around the Castle which they enjoyed although it goes without saying that they spent more time in the torture chamber than any other area of the Castle. We also hired a rowing boat and took the lads boating on the River Nidd, which brought back many memories. This is a very historic part of Yorkshire and there are a number of quite famous people from around this area.

Probably the best remembered person born near here was Guy Fawkes who tried to do us all a favour but unfortunately failed. Blind Jack was also born near here, he was about 6 years old when he had small pox and lost his sight. He was quite an amazing man, he did many things which at the time were thought to be impossible for a blind person. He is best remembered for his road and bridge building across the North of England. While in Yorkshire we went to Leeds for the day to visit relatives. My parents were on holiday with us and wanted to meet family who were living in Yorkshire, around the Leeds area. My uncle and aunt (Leslie & Eileen) had lived in two cottages which had been internally converted into one. The cottages were part of a row along the canal bank called Dandy Row near the Mill and had been built for the workers back in the days when the Mill was a thriving industry. While we were away they had moved out of the cottages to a suburb of Leeds which is where we met them and other members of my father's family. My memories of the Mill are a little sketchy, my parents would spend the afternoon chatting with relatives and we lads would be free to roam along the canal bank and around the mill. I remember the Water-wheel inside the Mill and the Weir to the left of the Mill, there was a tractor and fire-engine parked at the front of the workshops, both were very old but in working order. The reason my Uncle and Aunt had moved to Leeds was because the Mill and Cottages were in such a bad state of repair, and the money was not available to renovate either as the Mill by this time was shut down, they could no longer compete against the modern manufacturing companies. I returned to Thwaite Mill which is now a working museum and was amazed to find it had been renovated and was now in full working condition. It is always nice to spend time in Leeds and meet relatives that we have kept in touch with, and catch up with all the gossip. It was a worthwhile trip as we visited places and met people we had not seen for a long time. It was good for the children as they got to see places and meet people that we had spoken of, but until now had not met.

Having returned to Great Yarmouth, it was time to start buying the clothes and Christmas present's for the lads we would need in the next two years. The present's we would hide from the lads until Christmas, which was no easy task. In all the years we had travelled between England and Zambia, I cannot remember a single flight when we have not been well over-weight with our baggage. How we got away with it I really don't know, it can only be the airlines understanding of life in a third world country. They were probably accustomed to people like us so turned a blind eye. This time Jan really went over the top, we were 40Kg overweight all of which we carried as hand luggage. There was so much that even Gary and Craig had to carry some of it. My parents drove us to the airport and having said goodbye we were off to Istanbul.