Neil Hanson's Blog - Posts Tagged "swaledale"
Kindle
Deadline looming - help! But if any Kindle-equipped readers out there have so far failed to buy a copy of The Inn at the Top, for some unaccountable reason, this may be the moment to remedy that shocking defect, as in a fit of seasonal generosity, the publishers, Michael O'Mara Books, have dropped the price on amazon to a mere 99 pence (UK) during January. Enjoy! Normal blogging activity will resume once the deadline has passed and the manuscript is delivered (with luck simultaneously)
Kindle Mk. II
In the unlikely event that there is anyone out there who, for some unaccountable reason, has yet to purchase a copy of The Inn At The Top, March could be the month to do so, particularly if you are the proud possessor of a Kindle. Supermarket giant Sainsbury's are trying to boost their ebook sales and among other bargains, have The Inn at the Top on discount for the month at the bargain price of 99p (UK£0.99). Amazon.co.uk, as is their wont, have come close to matching that promotion, by offering it at £1.49. Feel free to fill your boots!
Back On Top!
I was up at the highest inn in Great Britain http://www.tanhillinn.com a couple of days ago and was delighted to find it in rude good health. It’s been through a couple of changes of management over the past year or so, not always with ideal results, but a new couple have now taken over the inn and the early signs are very promising.
The first thing that I noticed when I arrived is that the inn has not only been redecorated, but is also cleaner than it’s been in ages. The flagstone floors - dark grey shading into black on my last visit - have now been resorted to their original sandstone colour with all the accumulated dirt removed, and the rest of the pub has had a similarly vigorous clean up. The new owners are warm, friendly and welcoming, and seem to have the drive and enthusiasm to make Tan Hill again a top inn for more than mere reasons of altitude.
The weather was perfect too and when the skies are clear up there you feel like you can see forever, with the moors stretching away unbroken to the horizon. And if you pick a clear, moonless night to go up there, you’ll see an array of stars that is unequalled anywhere else in England. There’s no light pollution at Tan Hill and at 1732 feet ASL there’s a bit less atmosphere between you and the stars too. So you can see more stars than you can shake a shepherd’s crook at, including the Milky Way in all its glory and if you’re really lucky, you might also get a spectacular display of the Northern Lights; it only happens once or twice a year this far south of the Arctic Circle, but when it does it’s a jaw-dropper.
The first thing that I noticed when I arrived is that the inn has not only been redecorated, but is also cleaner than it’s been in ages. The flagstone floors - dark grey shading into black on my last visit - have now been resorted to their original sandstone colour with all the accumulated dirt removed, and the rest of the pub has had a similarly vigorous clean up. The new owners are warm, friendly and welcoming, and seem to have the drive and enthusiasm to make Tan Hill again a top inn for more than mere reasons of altitude.
The weather was perfect too and when the skies are clear up there you feel like you can see forever, with the moors stretching away unbroken to the horizon. And if you pick a clear, moonless night to go up there, you’ll see an array of stars that is unequalled anywhere else in England. There’s no light pollution at Tan Hill and at 1732 feet ASL there’s a bit less atmosphere between you and the stars too. So you can see more stars than you can shake a shepherd’s crook at, including the Milky Way in all its glory and if you’re really lucky, you might also get a spectacular display of the Northern Lights; it only happens once or twice a year this far south of the Arctic Circle, but when it does it’s a jaw-dropper.
Sheepish
If you're at a loose end today and fancy a little trip "Oop Dale" you can catch one of the great Yorkshire experiences: the annual sheep show - the Swaledale sheep-breeders' World Cup - at the The Inn at the Top, aka Tan Hill. The usual country show clutter of craft and cake stalls is notable by its absence from Tan Hill. Rather than tourist trinkets, there are a handful of stalls selling wellies, foul weather gear, shepherds' crooks, veterinary products and farm supplies like "Two Gallons of Battle’s Summer Dip", "One Bag of Minerals", and "Five Litres Top Clip Worm Drench", but that's pretty much it apart from the pens of sheep and the men who breed them. If, to the untrained eye at least, the sheep look virtually indistinguishable from each other, all with peaty-coloured, off- white fleeces, black faces and white noses, the farmers - or at least the clothing they wear - tend to be just as identical, all clad in flat caps, tweed jackets, moleskin trousers, wellingtons and Barbour-type coats.
The sheep show at the inn might look homespun and unassuming, compared to the village shows elsewhere in the Yorkshire Dales, let alone the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate, or the Royal Show in the days when it was held every year, but as one farmer said to me, back in my days at the inn, ‘There are classes for our sheep at the Royal Show, but the winner there might not even get a ticket [an entry] to this show. This is where you’ll see the best tups and yows to be found anywhere.’
If the sheep don't tickle your fancy, the Lofthouse and Middlesmoor silver band from Nidderdale will be playing as they have since the very first show in 1951, when they happened to be passing on their way back from a concert elsewhere, and stopped to see what was going on. Inside the inn, the bar will be doing an absolutely roaring trade. If the weather's dry and the wind isn't howling over the "tops", get yourself a pint, perch up on the fellside and listen to the band playing the local anthem: "Beautiful Dale". When the last notes fade away, all you'll hear is the liquid song of the curlew, the gabbling calls of the grouse, the monotone piping of the golden plovers nesting among the tussocks of heather and the beautiful song of the lark raining down from the sky above you - only occasionally interrupted by the noise of the farmers arguing about the judges' choice of the supreme champion sheep. Enjoy!
The sheep show at the inn might look homespun and unassuming, compared to the village shows elsewhere in the Yorkshire Dales, let alone the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate, or the Royal Show in the days when it was held every year, but as one farmer said to me, back in my days at the inn, ‘There are classes for our sheep at the Royal Show, but the winner there might not even get a ticket [an entry] to this show. This is where you’ll see the best tups and yows to be found anywhere.’
If the sheep don't tickle your fancy, the Lofthouse and Middlesmoor silver band from Nidderdale will be playing as they have since the very first show in 1951, when they happened to be passing on their way back from a concert elsewhere, and stopped to see what was going on. Inside the inn, the bar will be doing an absolutely roaring trade. If the weather's dry and the wind isn't howling over the "tops", get yourself a pint, perch up on the fellside and listen to the band playing the local anthem: "Beautiful Dale". When the last notes fade away, all you'll hear is the liquid song of the curlew, the gabbling calls of the grouse, the monotone piping of the golden plovers nesting among the tussocks of heather and the beautiful song of the lark raining down from the sky above you - only occasionally interrupted by the noise of the farmers arguing about the judges' choice of the supreme champion sheep. Enjoy!
Look North
A really nice piece on "Pigs Might Fly" and the real life "Inn at the Top" (aka Tan Hill), filmed by Philip Chapman , was broadcast on BBC TV's Look North (the North-East and Cumbria version) last night. If you're quick you can catch it here till 7pm today (Thursday13th August)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...
It contains a few clips from a documentary made back in the 1980s when I owned the inn, and the frighteningly young-looking protagonist brought back memories of the daily struggle to start the generator and dropping down through a hole in a snow drift considerably taller than my six foot four inches, in search of the water pump. Happy days?!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...
It contains a few clips from a documentary made back in the 1980s when I owned the inn, and the frighteningly young-looking protagonist brought back memories of the daily struggle to start the generator and dropping down through a hole in a snow drift considerably taller than my six foot four inches, in search of the water pump. Happy days?!
Flying Pigs Airborne
If you're out and about in Yorkshire over the next few weeks and want to know more about Pigs Might Fly or The Inn At The Top, you'll find me at the following venues, on the following dates.
PIGS MIGHT FLY EVENTS:
Monday 17 August, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Knaresborough feva, Knaresborough Library, Market Place, Knaresborough, HG5 8AG, Tickets £5 from Knaresborough Tourist Information Centre or www.feva.info
Saturday 5 September, 11am-1pm. Book signing. White Rose Book Cafe, 79-81 Market Place, Thirsk, YO7 1ET. Tel: 01845 524353
Wednesday 9 September, 12.30pm-2pm. Book signing. Waterstones, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP. Tel: 01609 761987
Thursday 10 September, 2.30pm-4.30pm. Book signing., J R Nicholls Bookseller & Publisher, 347b Wakefield Road, Denby Dale, HD8 8RT. Tel: 01484 866413
Saturday 12 September, 11am-2pm. Book signing. The Guisborough Bookshop Ltd, 4 Chaloner Street, Guisborough, TS14 6QD. Tel:01287 610179 books@guisboroughbookshop.com
Tuesday 15 September, 7.00pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Waterstone’s, 15 Coney Street, York YO1 9QL. Tel: 01904 620784. Tickets £2 available in store
Friday 18 September, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Ripon Spa Hotel, Park Street, Ripon, HG4 2BU. Ripon International Festival event in association with the Little Ripon Bookshop. Tickets £8 (students £5) www.riponinternationalfestival.com Tel: 01765 603994
Saturday 19 September, 12 noon-2pm. Book signing. Castlegate Books, 13 Market Place, Knaresborough, HG5 8AL. info@castlegatebooks.com Tel: 01423 862222
Friday 25 September, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Richmond School Sixth Form Centre, Darlington Road, Richmond, N Yorks, DL10 7BQ. Richmond Walking and Book Festival event. Bar and Bookstall. Tickets £8 from Castle Hill Bookshop. Tel: 01748 824243 or www.booksandboots.org/book.html
Saturday 26 September, 11am-1pm. Book signing. Philip Howard Books Ltd, 47 Street Lane, Leeds, LS8 1AP. Tel: 0113 2259797
Sunday 11 October, 7.00pm. “The Yorkshire Shepherdess and Flying Pigs” (joint event with Amanda Owen). Ryedale Book Festival, Milton Rooms, Market Place, Malton, YO17 7LX. Tickets £10 from http://ryedalebookfestival.com/whats-...
Wednesday 14 October, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A, signing, Betty’s Café Tea Rooms, 32 The Grove, Ilkley, LS29 9EE (Ilkley Literature Festival Event).Tickets £35, including a two- course set meal and tea/coffee, from Bettys Café Tea Rooms. Tel: Ilkley 01943 608029
Friday 13th November, 7pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Wheatley Arms, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley, LS29 8PP. Tel: 01943 816496. In association with the Grove Bookshop.
Friday May 20th 2016, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Dales Countryside Museum Station Yard Hawes DL8 3NT. Tickets/details: 01969 666210 hawes@yorkshiredales.org.uk dcm@yorkshiredales.org.uk
PIGS MIGHT FLY EVENTS:
Monday 17 August, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Knaresborough feva, Knaresborough Library, Market Place, Knaresborough, HG5 8AG, Tickets £5 from Knaresborough Tourist Information Centre or www.feva.info
Saturday 5 September, 11am-1pm. Book signing. White Rose Book Cafe, 79-81 Market Place, Thirsk, YO7 1ET. Tel: 01845 524353
Wednesday 9 September, 12.30pm-2pm. Book signing. Waterstones, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP. Tel: 01609 761987
Thursday 10 September, 2.30pm-4.30pm. Book signing., J R Nicholls Bookseller & Publisher, 347b Wakefield Road, Denby Dale, HD8 8RT. Tel: 01484 866413
Saturday 12 September, 11am-2pm. Book signing. The Guisborough Bookshop Ltd, 4 Chaloner Street, Guisborough, TS14 6QD. Tel:01287 610179 books@guisboroughbookshop.com
Tuesday 15 September, 7.00pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Waterstone’s, 15 Coney Street, York YO1 9QL. Tel: 01904 620784. Tickets £2 available in store
Friday 18 September, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Ripon Spa Hotel, Park Street, Ripon, HG4 2BU. Ripon International Festival event in association with the Little Ripon Bookshop. Tickets £8 (students £5) www.riponinternationalfestival.com Tel: 01765 603994
Saturday 19 September, 12 noon-2pm. Book signing. Castlegate Books, 13 Market Place, Knaresborough, HG5 8AL. info@castlegatebooks.com Tel: 01423 862222
Friday 25 September, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Richmond School Sixth Form Centre, Darlington Road, Richmond, N Yorks, DL10 7BQ. Richmond Walking and Book Festival event. Bar and Bookstall. Tickets £8 from Castle Hill Bookshop. Tel: 01748 824243 or www.booksandboots.org/book.html
Saturday 26 September, 11am-1pm. Book signing. Philip Howard Books Ltd, 47 Street Lane, Leeds, LS8 1AP. Tel: 0113 2259797
Sunday 11 October, 7.00pm. “The Yorkshire Shepherdess and Flying Pigs” (joint event with Amanda Owen). Ryedale Book Festival, Milton Rooms, Market Place, Malton, YO17 7LX. Tickets £10 from http://ryedalebookfestival.com/whats-...
Wednesday 14 October, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A, signing, Betty’s Café Tea Rooms, 32 The Grove, Ilkley, LS29 9EE (Ilkley Literature Festival Event).Tickets £35, including a two- course set meal and tea/coffee, from Bettys Café Tea Rooms. Tel: Ilkley 01943 608029
Friday 13th November, 7pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Wheatley Arms, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley, LS29 8PP. Tel: 01943 816496. In association with the Grove Bookshop.
Friday May 20th 2016, 7.30pm. Talk, Q&A and book signing. Dales Countryside Museum Station Yard Hawes DL8 3NT. Tickets/details: 01969 666210 hawes@yorkshiredales.org.uk dcm@yorkshiredales.org.uk
