Hebden Bridge continues to impress me.
This week we went to a Folk Roots festival at the Trades
Club, we saw the amazing David Tennant performance in the live beamed Richard
II from Stratford upon Avon and have just returned from a showing of a great
little film called “ Sunshine on Leith”, based around the music of the Scottish
band, The Proclaimers. ( It is one of those charming little films that has you
smiling all the way through, apart from the bits when you are in tears).
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| Hebden Bridge Picture House |
The live RSC showing at the local cinema was brilliant. Apart
from the actual production of Richard II, and the glorious David Tennant, the
cinema was packed to the gills. It is a community owned cinema, and the money
raised by the showing will be a great help.
The showing of Sunshine on Leith was one of the cinema’s Thursday
morning sessions. Again, the cinema was packed. Tea and biscuits are also included in the Thursday morning
price. Tea and cake are always available.....so much better than coke and pop
corn ! ( I do have to admit that wine was available to accompany Richard
II......and that was an excellent idea )
On Saturday we are going out for a meal in Hebden Bridge,
with friends, and struggled to decide which restaurant to book...especially as
a new Italian place opened today. We decided on the local Turkish
restaurant....we’ll wait to try the new Italian till next week.
On Friday, the Hospice shop, where I now volunteer, is
holding a “Glam and “Glitz” night, unveiling the Christmas stock. I’ve just
been baking chocolate chip cookies to contribute to the available nibbles. I
suspect there will be lots of gorgeous home made nibbles created by the very
loyal and dedicated bunch of volunteers. I don’t expect the Glam and Glitz
night to be quite as thrilling as Richard
II, but I’m sure it will be good.
Mark tells me he has just booked tickets to see Dick Gaughan
at the Trades Club in a couple of weeks, and we’re going to see the RSC’s
Frankenstein in December too ( another cinema trip)
There is just so much to do in this tiny little town.
I love that sign! Sounds like Hebden Bridge is pulling out all the stops so you don't miss Caunes too much...is it always so full of choice? I'm so sorry I can't just pop along to your Glam and Glitz night...it is the sort of thing I do miss. Have a great evening - or rather - have several great evenings! Axxx
ReplyDeleteThe best bit, is that all the pubs, restaurants, the cinema, the tea and coffee shops and the Trades Club are all within 5 minutes walk, and Manchester is 25 minutes away on the train. It is a great little town...it has its problems, but mostly, it's a good place to live.Jxxx
DeleteGolly, talk about a mad social whirl! I've heard so much about the David Tennant Richard II that I'm very envious of your having seen it. DD went to a similar live cinema showing in Harrogate last Saturday, though in her case it was Tosca direct from the NY Metroplitan Opera. Good luck with your Glam and Glitz night - just the thing for dank, dark November. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think these live beamed performances are fabulous. There really was an atmosphere of being at the theatre, waiting for the performance, as we sat there, sipping our wine, but thinking seriously about having a nice cup of tea.
DeleteIt's a good job you're fit!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a really vibrant community and a great place to live.
We still can't get over being so close to theatres, cnemas, galleries and events after all those years cloistered in rural France...
We used to live in a 14 house hamlet, actually only a couple of miles from Hebden Bridge...but going out in the winter always meant driving, and it was always easier just not to bother. With a vibrant little town on our doorstep, we are becoming much more sociable ( is that how you spell that ????). From what friends say, although Caunes is also a good place for events, it does close down in the winter. So, I am feeling we are getting the best out of both places we now call home.
DeleteSo much going on in your town. What a lovely place to live. The RSC live broadcast is a fantastic idea. I would have loved to see David Tennant in Richard II...although I have to admit that I think he is gorgeous and would watch him in anything..brilliant actor too apart from being gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your mad social whirl Janice. You'll have to let me know what the Turkish restaurant is like xxx
David Tennant was really wonderful. I would love to see it in Stratford, but this was the next best thing, and probably, as all the camera angles had been well worked out before hand, we saw more than you would in the theatre....there was snot and spit and sweat all over the place !
DeleteThe Turkish restaurant in Hebden Bridge is very good. We go there frequently. All the food is very fresh, beautifully cooked, and with an interesting choice....lots of grilled meat and lovely salads. The staff are great, a couple of Turkish men and several local girls as waitresses. The atmosphere is always good, and it isn't too expensive. I'm looking forward to our evening there tomorrow. Jx
Lovely to hear of all this variety.I am sure you will carry on discovering so much more.We used to walk frequently around Hebden Bridge a few years back ----- always ending in the town for coffee and cakes.Sad we cannot make your ' Glam and Glitz' tonight as we are off to the Lakes for our last visit of the year.We will pop into the shop before Xmas and try and catch you.x Maria.
ReplyDeleteIt would be lovely to see you. I seem to be working Sundays and Monday mornings at the moment.
DeleteI have a secret liking for the Proclaimers too - so uncool they're cool, I think. Love that Hebden Bridge sign - I only ever see the other one, driving in from Mytholmroyd before heading up over the moors.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Hebden Bridge - 500 Years of Creativity!
They are good signs aren't they ? I have to admit to only recognising the "I would march 500 miles..." song by the Proclaimers....but the script writer must have had great fun writing the story around the lyrics of their songs. I particularly enjoyed the convoluted way they managed to get " Letter from America" in it.
DeleteTiny town but it has a great reputation.
ReplyDeleteyes....and well deserved. Jx
DeleteHoping to come back again next summer, I think about Hebden Bridge quite a lot.... the beautiful countryside and all that creativity and community spirit. I can pine for it! Do you find it dark in the winter though, with the town being in such a valley? Someone mentioned that to me recently when I told them we'd like to buy a home there.
ReplyDeleteOn a grey drookit kind of day, maybe the mainstreet is a bit dark.....but when the sun is out, Hebden Bridge always looks lovely. The valley is wide enough for it not to feel too hemmed in. One of the main issues for house buying here though is that very few Hebden Bridge houses have any garden to speak of....you have to go up the hills, and overlook the town for that. It suits us, as we have a big garden in France, and it is nice to be able to just leave our small patch here in England without worrying about it. It is a lovely town
DeleteI'm glad to have your opinion on that, thank you! I was a bit thrown by their comment in the face of my unbridled enthusiasm for our future plan. But they lived in Sweden for a while and both had SAD as a result of the restricted daylight hours so are maybe over-sensitised to the issue.
DeleteA small garden is a positive advantage as far as I'm concerned :)
Janice, this all sounds so wonderfully entertaining and inspiring, with tea and biscuits to boot!
ReplyDeleteSo many local coffee shops have folded hear-about, leaving the chains such as Starbucks and Caribou, which are fine, just not quite right, though. Wonderful post.
Until very recently, there were no "chain" stores in Hebden Bridge. ( apart from Boots, which is a pharmacy chain) "Fat face" has now opened in town, but that is the only non independent shop. It is good to wander around the high street shops, recognising that it really is not like all the other high streets in the country/world. I find it depressing to look down a street of shops and not know where you are for a moment, as all high streets tend to look the same. Our favourite place for coffee is a lovely café called "Organic House". The coffee is excellent, the big brown leather sofas are comfy and they sell the most fantastic dairy free courgette cake.
DeleteSounds a great place to be in the winter. I'm afraid rural France tends to close down at this time and you have to make your own entertainment. But even French high streets are starting to look like clones of each other. The owner-occupied shops are in trouble in the present crise and so many of them are going to the wall.
ReplyDeleteHi Janice,
ReplyDeleteMissed this post - can't work out why, as they always come to my inbox. Never mind, better late than never. You seem to be keeping busy and Hebden Bridge a great place to live, with a mix of the things you enjoy doing.
I know what you mean about living in a hamlet. We live in a small village about four miles out of Stafford with a bus a couple of times a day. when we downsize (we are rattling around now the family have left home) we think we'll move into Stafford and perhaps be able to walk to town, but alas it doesn't have many small independent shops.
Hope you enjoy your planned outings. X