3. Jun, 2021

3. Jun, 2021

3. Jun, 2021

3. Jun, 2021

THURSDAY 3-06-21

So much for my cunning plan to raise the front wheels to improve the flow of water from the bathroom to the grey water tank at the rear. True we were almost level front to back but we were leaning over to the right, enough to make us very cautious when using the shower this morning for fear the shower tray would overflow and run in to the living area.

We were in no great hurry to leave PikeyWorld this morning as we didn't have far to go. The plan was to visit Giggleswick on the way to Settle, where we would spend the night in one of the town's car parks at a cost of five pounds overnight plus the usual daily hourly rate.

The route looked fairly straightforward but progress was slow due to a large number of holdups, including a sludge-gulper emptying a septic tank, a sludge-gulper emptying road drains, traffic lights because there was scaffolding erected in the road as part of a home improvement, and traffic lights for numerous roadworks, in fact it seems up here, they'll stick temporary traffic lights up for almost anything.

When we arrived at Giggleswick, which is so close to Settle that I assume it's a suburb, the roadside parking area I had earmarked before our arrival was full, leaving us to do a three-point turn in the road and make our way back up the road to the car park at Settle swimming pool, where staff very kindly let us park for a while.

So a little about Giggleswick:

Close to the railway station and opposite the Craven Arms Hotel (formerly the Old Station Inn) is the Plague Stone. This has a shallow trough, which in times of plague was filled with vinegar to sterilize the coins that were left by townspeople as payment for food brought from surrounding farms. The stone was moved a short distance from its original site when the Settle bypass was built.

The parish church is dedicated to St Alkelda, an obscure Anglo-Saxon saint associated with the North Yorkshire town of Middleham. The building dates mostly from the 15th century, but carved stones discovered during the restoration of 1890–1892 showed that a building existed on the site before the Norman Conquest. It has been classed by English heritage as a Grade I listed building. The restoration included replacing the roof, removing the gallery, rebuilding the vestry, and reseating, re-plastering and re-flooring the church.

Richard Whiteley of Channel 4's Countdown was a pupil at Giggleswick School, a public school founded in 16th century. In his will he left the school £500,000, which was used to build a new theatre named after him. Russell Harty was an English teacher at the same time as Whiteley was a pupil. The operatic soprano Sarah Fox was born in the village and attended Giggleswick School. The Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels also attended the school.

2. Jun, 2021