Friday 30 March 2018

Good Friday.

Weather on Good Friday?   Variable.   Isn't it almost always thus in this country.   We have had pouring rain and cold conditions (snow on the surrounding hills), then a period of beautiful warm sunshine (during which I was stupid enough to spray dandelions peeping through on the patio with weed killer) and then a return of the pouring rain which would, of course, wash off the weedkiller.

Today has been a special day in the little town of Middleham, about four miles from where I live.   Middleham is a premier racing town in the North of England with a large number of racing stables, including Mark Johnston's famous set up.  Each Good Friday the town is opened up for charity and the racing stables are opened to the public - thousands go round and of course many park in our little town and then are bussed down to Middleham, where parking is very limited.

A large amount is raised for a racing charity but also the traders in our little town do well out of the day too as the shops are visited = and more importantly - cafes and restaurants do well too.   So all in all it is an important day in the calendar here, regardless of the weather. 

14 comments:

Sandi said...

How do you tell what is a weed and what is a flower? I like dandelions! :)


John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Sounds an excellent day, apart from the weather of course. I keep meaning to go on a tour of one of the stables at Newmarket.

Heather said...

Glad your little town has had a good day today, and that you got your plants in yesterday. If your weather has been anything like ours it has rained all day and the forecast isn't looking too good for the rest of the Easter weekend. Hey ho! It must improve soon.

Bonnie said...

It sounds like a nice day both for the charities and the area towns. It is always good when both can benefit. Here in Missouri they are forecasting snow for Easter but I don't expect much, if any, build up. Still it would sure be nice to have some warm sunny weather! Winter this year seems to be lasting forever!

Chris said...

I found Middleham in my Road Atlas and see it has an Abbey (Rems of, which I take to mean remains of). Must be a nice place to visit.

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Pleasant enough morning here but the rain arrived in the end. Procession of the cross in town today.

Robin Mac said...

Glad to hear the Charity Day went so well.
Here in coastal Queensland we started off with gusty winds and occasional showers, but the wind is increasing and the showers are getting more frequent with the forecast predicting a 95% possibility of up to 300 ml per day for the next three days! Not much chance of gardening in that weather.
Your garden will look so pretty when all your plants flower.

Derek Faulkner said...

A cold and very wet Good Friday here on Sheppey. It just poured hard virtually all day.Local roads were awash with water and many farm fields showing lakes of surface water as well. A similar day is forecast for Monday and so little chance of any Spring crops going in on the farmland at the moment and gardening on hold yet again.

Tom Stephenson said...

In many other Christian countries, most shops and restaurants are closed on Good Friday. Not here!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Sandi - agree - I like dandelions too but if I allowe them into my garden it would soon be over run with them.
Chris - I didn't know about an Abbey in Middleham, I must look into it. There is of course an Abbey at Jervaulx which is quite near.
Tom - when I was a child all shops closed on Good Friday but as you say, all that has gone now.
Thanks evefyone for your comments.

Minigranny said...

I used to take Mum out for a drive in the Dales and we often stopped in Middleham for a walk and a coffee.

Derek Faulkner said...

I thinks most of us have a problem with dandelions, mine is that I don't have many in my garden (my tortoises love them to eat), so I have to get them from other gardens. Their flowers are also a valuable early nectar supply for bees.
Not sure the reasoning behind feeling that shops and restaurants should close on Good Friday, unless you are religious minded. When I was still working it was one of several Bank Holidays that we could get double time for working on. At the same time, if shops and restaurants had to close on that day then surely pubs would as well.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

I don't ride, I don't enjoy watching sport (except the winter olympics and sometimes football) I can't think of anything more boring than motor-racing . . . yet enjoy watching horse racing on television and have no idea why.

Librarian said...

A very mixed bag of weather here yesterday, too. All of this Easter weekend is going to be up and down, weather-wise. Shops are closed in this country on Good Friday and so today, Saturday, the town centre was full of shoppers as if everything had been closed for weeks and would be closed again for several more weeks. Sad to think that a lot of the food people buy for such occasions will be thrown away.