28 Jul 2019. <GB> Keighley, England —

THE WEDDING —

East Riddlesden Hall is a 17th-century manor house in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England, now owned by the National Trust. Its romantic barn is a beautiful Yorkshire wedding venue.

The wedding of Tom Cesi and Lauren Foley was the justification for our trip — and here 'tis! A wonderful day that we were honoured to be part of!

This is just a collection of photos taken on the day, but among them you will find...

• the bus that took the wedding party and guests (other than the bridal party) from where they were staying at Ashmount Country House
• Tom and Oliver before departure
• Suzie legging it towards East Riddlesden Hall
• a shot of East Riddlesden Hall (open to the public) from the barn where the wedding was to take place
• Oliver pushing his pram into the barn
• Tom and Oliver waiting for Lauren's arrival
• Lauren's grand entrance, on the arm of her father Gary

[There were no photos during the service — that was left to the wedding photographer!]

• signing the register
• the two best men, Dan and Jarrod, standing in the sidelines, holding their own offspring!
• Tom and Lauren running the gauntlet of confetti
• ... and the kiss outside the venue
• some of the family group photos
• Tom and Lauren being carted off for the official photos, flanked by Dan and Jarrod, still minding their kids!
• Tom, Lauren and Oliver with Tom's step-dad. (The earlier photos were with his dad, over from France for the occasion.)
• ... and with a couple of other ring-ins!
• the cutting of the cake
• their first dance
• and a couple of shots lifted from the photo-booth running during the reception!

27 Jul 2019. <GB> Haworth, England —

Today the wedding party arrived at the Ashmount Country House, but first Warren went out to explore the village.

Haworth is Brontë country. The Brontë sisters were born in Thornton near Bradford, but wrote most of their novels while living at Haworth Parsonage while their father was the parson at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels. The family is buried in a crypt beneath the church.

Warren was suffering from the lack of the morning's 'Times', so decided to go out, explore and, hopefully, return with a copy. Umbrella in hand, off he went to Main Street. Walking down the hill, totally enjoying the shops and eateries on either side of the street (but no newsagent!), he found his way right down to the old railway station at the foot of the hill, and the SPAR store opposite it, where success came his way. 'Times' in hand, he returned up the hill, checking out the old (Brontë) church near the top, before returning to the guest house.

On his return — surprise, surprise — he ran into Tom, Lauren, and the rest of the family. They couldn't check in until 3pm, so when Suzie came downstairs, we all decided to take advantage of Warren's morning explorations, and to go into Main Street to have lunch in a local restaurant — which ultimately turned out to be the Hawthorn, about half-way down the street. (And we really mean 'down the street' — it's an old, cobblestone street, with a not insubstantial downward slope!)

We had a wonderful time catching up with Lauren and Tom, and meeting Oliver for the first time — he is a real cutie! — and meeting Heather and Gary, Lauren's parents — we can see why Lauren is so delightful — and they are obviously smitten by Oliver.

After a long and jolly lunch, the others went off to check in and, although it was raining on and off, we visited the church, and also the parsonage (now a Brontë museum) behind it.

We also happened upon a market in the church hall, which had stalls run by many local artisans. We found a lovely butterfly-decorated glass bowl, which we thought might well add to Tom and Lauren's home.

Tom and Lauren had booked out the guest house for their families and for a select group of friends, and we all met up for dinner — catered in superb country house style. It was here that we all got to meet up, and those who were strangers to each other certainly weren't for long! It was here that we first met Tom's French family, and the best men (yes, there were two — and just the right pair to lead Tom astray!). It would also be Tom's younger brother Max's birthday on the very day of the wedding, so it was celebrated that night!

26 Jul 2019. <GB> Carlisle to Haworth, Scotland —

A driving day, down to Haworth and the Ashmount Country House where a lot of the wedding party and guests will be staying.

But on the way we made a couple of stops! First, we went over to Carlisle Castle, which is over 900 years old, and which played a large part in the border wars between England and Scotland. Spent a bit of time just exploring and enjoying the place, before we set off form Carlisle. There used to be a small prison in the keep, and the 15th-century guards must have been bored, because they carved some graffiti into the walls — and they are still as good (or as bad) as when they were first done!!

On the way south we called into the National Trust site, Sizergh Castle and Garden. This is a stately home and garden at Helsington in the county of Cumbria, about 6 km south of Kendal. We had a little trouble locating it, but finally made our way in. The house is packed with history, but the gardens are stunning!

Another of our detours on the way was to the Ribblehead Viaduct, a spectacular site/sight on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. We had been informed that this was the viaduct the Hogwarts train crosses on its way from London, but this is not the case. The Ribblehead Viaduct is straight, and the curved one in the Harry Potter films is the Glenfinnan Viaduct at the top of Loch Shiel in the West Highlands of Scotland. Nevertheless, we were happy to see two trains cross it, even though neither was the Hogwarts Express!

We got to the country house a day ahead of the rest of the party (we planned it that way), and found that our room, "Honey Pot", was virtually a honeymoon suite complete with four-poster bed, chandeliers, and a spa bath for two! Interesting!