Wednesday 23 June 2021

My Estate

 I left the farm when my dear farmer died four years ago and I moved the short distance into our little Yorkshire Dales market town - only a mile away or over two fields as the rooks fly.   So everything was familiar and it hardly felt like moving house except for the fact that I was moving to a very much smaller house - or rather from a fairly old farmhouse with high ceilings, bit rooms, a big Aga heated farm kitchen and a big vegetable garden to a small bungalow on last estate before you leave the town - then over two fields and you are at my farmhouse.

At my age of course it was a sensible move and now, after four years, I am used to living amongst people again (the farmhouse was quite isolated) and I am very happy.   It is a lovely estate - a mixture of semi detached and detached houses and bungalows, one or two small modern terraces, several three storey properties - all set at differing angles and at differing distances from the road or from each other.   Trees have been planted and, as a friend pointed out, it rather has the feeling of a separate village to it.    Every one has a garden of some kind - mine is larger than most because I live in a detached bungalow with a garage tacked on the side and a footpath all round and the back garden stretches the full length of the property.   But I used to be a keen gardener and I have a nice gardener now.

There is only one road 'into' the estate and I live on that road so that early in the morning and again at tea time there is traffic going out and coming home. I used to have my dog, Tess, and we walked three times a day every day so that I know a very large number of people on the estate - those who are also dog lovers and walk their dogs daily - usually past my house.   We chat and pass the time of day - so there is always something to look at.   No vehicle goes out into the big wide world without passing me if you like to put it that way!

Today a quite different happening took place just outside my window - for the first time I can ever remember.  A class of children either from the top end of the primary school or the lower end of the Comprehensive have been having Road Safety lessons.   They cycled from my bungalow to the Main Road, round the Traffic Island, back to the road opposite my window, where they turned right (remembering to look right, look left, look right again before turning with the appropriate hand signal).   They cycled out of sight and then a couple of minutes later appeared again.   They were all kitted out in shiny green jackets and helmets.   And the bikes were identical, suggesting that maybe they belonged to the school and that lessons were starting, maybe during P E lessons.  I really enjoyed watching and when Priscilla and I began our walk, after thinking about it I decided to go the same way that I always do - so that I was seen as a hazard to be avoided, and they all did so without being told to do so.

Well that's about all that has happened.   So far the sun is out and it is warm as long as you keep out of the brisk wind.   Priscilla and I did our walk and encountered a piece of hedging with a pink wild rose in bloom.   I smelled it before I saw it - exquisite.

20 comments:

Yellow Shoes said...

A lovely piece of background information on life in your town.

Ellen D. said...

Your home sounds so perfect! Close enough to still enjoy the farmlands but with conveniences of town. I am glad you get out to visit each day on your walks.

Minigranny said...

That was a great idea to be 'a hazard to be avoided'! Very useful for the children's road safety lessons.

Rachel Phillips said...

I wondered what I was going to read when I saw the heading "My Estate". The road safety for children still goes on here too. Country schoola seem good at keeping to the old ways. Lets hope that education as a whole takes the view that it isn't all computers and universities and children can do well when encouraged in the simpler tasks of life starting with bicycle safety.

JayCee said...

I still remember taking my cycling proficiency test at the age of 10 or 11. Chalked road markings and dummy belisha beacons were all laid out on the school playground and the instructors watched us with their clipboards and pens. I was very proud of my certificate.

CharlotteP said...

A small estate with only one road in is a good place to live, in my experience. I live in one too; right at the bottom, as far from the main road as you can get, so there are no cars tearing past. Like yours, it's a good place for children to practise cycling, and there is an alleyway a few houses on, which goes to the next estate (bigger!) but there are a couple of useful shops. People stay here a long time, and are very friendly. Only 2 miles the other way, and I'm in Bewdley, and open countryside beyond...sometimes I yearn for more rural surroundings...but maybe it's not sensible!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Charlotte - I used to know the area where you live so well. One of my dearest friends, Doris, lived in Kidderminster and we vissited often. Her husband had been a gardener on the Sandringham estate and finally head gardener for Kidderminster council. We lived in Wolverhampton for 17 years. I taught there.
Too right Rachel - I think things are again coming round to that way of thinking - can't get there soon enough for me.

Tasker Dunham said...

That made me laugh - I'm sure you make an excellent hazard to be avoided. They might have been doing their cycling proficiency test.

Sue said...

The school near where my Mum lives regularly holds cycling classes and then the cycling proficiency test for the pupils, it seems so much fairer and nice that the school provides the bikes and helmets and make all the pupils feel like it's not a competition for who has the best bike.

I remember taking my cycling test and failing on the the righthand turn for cutting the corner. It didn't stop me going here, there and everywhere on my bike for years though.

Your estate sounds lovely, a good mix of housing styles usually makes for a good mix of people.

Janie Junebug said...

I often see your comments on John's blog and thought, This is someone I need to visit. So here I am and right away I have a snapshot of where you live. I had to become accustomed to seeing people from my home when I moved to Florida in 2009, and now the sight of someone through my living room window no longer shocks me.

Love,
Janie Junebug
www.dumpedfirstwife.blogspot.com

Heather said...

Your estate sounds so nice - a good mixture of properties and not too much traffic. Since moving into my flat 4 years ago, the council has decided to close the High Street to traffic and it has been re-routed past our building. It is so noisy now but I suppose I will get used to it. I can still hear birds singing so that is a bonus.
I have become quite a nosy neighbour as there are 5 parking spaces outside my windows and I like to know who is coming and going!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Tasker - good point I never thought of that.Welcome Janie - shall pop over to your blog tomorrow. Too late tonight.

Susan said...

You describe a very nice estate with a lovely community of people. Having everything nearby is also a great benefit. You chose your new home well.

Joanne Noragon said...

Good that bicycle safety is taught. It is a voluntary, extra course at most schools here.

Cro Magnon said...

I'm not sure how much land we have here; probably up to two acres. It'll be strange going back to the UK again (if indeed we do) and having no more garden than the size of The Times front page.

Bonnie said...

I remember when you were preparing to move from your farm. The time sure passes quickly. I love your descriptions of your wonderful estate and home. It's great to have nice neighbors to visit with when out and to be in an area where you feel comfortable to take the walks that you take. I love to watch groups of children like that too. We live close to a high school and will often have the runners in track run around our neighborhood.

Librarian said...

You could not have moved to a better place, I think. It all sounds very nice.
Good of you to contribute to the children's cycling safety lesson!
We did that when I was little, and I guess it is still done at schools here, too. It would be good if car drivers had such lessons regularly as well!
Isn't the scent of wild roses one of the loveliest? I have been stopping to smell the roses along my way every time I've been out for walks. I also love the scent of the tiny white privet blossoms.

thelma said...

Children on the street and a safe environment for everyone. What more could you ask for?

The Feminine Energy said...

What a lovely description of your places, from before and now. I can picture it in my mind's eye. Lovely! How wonderful that the children are being taught safety... very practical knowledge, unlike much of what children are taught today. ~Andrea xoxoxo

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you faithful readers - nice to see you are all still around. See you tomorrow.