A Day on the Road, then Ripon

“I remember the days on the road, tryna get somewhere
All the time spent behind the wheel …” LRB 1976

We have been well and enjoying our new temporary abode at Ripon. Getting here from our Colchester motel day before yesterday took all day - for two reasons. The first was a brief visit to Shipdham where many generations of Dad’s people lived. The church at Shipdham was very old (of course) and extraordinary for its lead and oak spire. A man who lived by the church gave me a copy of the local newsletter because it has the address of the Shipdham History Group. More on that later.

Anyway we left Shipdham with the priceless knowledge of context that makes history research of any kind come alive. It is a sweet village in the middle of cultivated fields. We had been told by Google Maps that the journey to Ripon would take about 4 hours. Not so, because the A1/M1 narrowed to one lane in four places because of an accident but mainly it was due to road work. We arrived 6 hours later, not 4. Exhausted and pretty phased but very happy to be in Yorkshire.

The next morning we needed to go shopping so we walked into town and went to the Tourist Information housed in the gorgeous Town Hall on Ripon’s huge central market square. We also found the Cathedral, as it emerged from the windy atmospheric streets of the town. Then it was home to wash clothes and generally recover from the road.

Our Ripon accommodation is just about perfect in every way. Stylish, very new, spotless, well kitted out (crisp white sheets, white doona, white towels) and in a “very good” (middle class) part of the town. Now all this is fabulous- but there’s a slight sense of unease, of being controlled by the excellence of the decor and the fittings. I have a faint but present anxiety that I might break something or worse, stain something. Silly really but the comparison with Carey’s Stockwell Garden Flat where the place was not on show but there for comfort, convenience and interest, is striking. There I felt understood as a fallible human.

We are in Bishopton, a road in Ripon that seems quite wealthy. I mean the houses are huge, with manicured lawns, and high fences. There is no graffiti, no garbage in the streets, many trees and birdsong. Cars are new, often top of the range. This suburb demonstrates an observable trait of the English, and this is their understandable anglophilia. They love being English and it shows in their love of tradition, their beautiful gardens and their enjoyment of village life. Just to illustrate, in this short street named Bishopton, the houses are often named. Here are some of these names:
Bishopton Rise
Bishopton Lodge
Bishopton Cottage
Bishopton Grove House
And my favourite
Bishopton Royd.
Don’t get me wrong here. I too am an Anglophile!!
Today was quiet, a walk, a jigsaw, a plan for our next few days, and simple home cooking. Tomorrow the Yorkshire Dales!Baca selengkapnya