Leeds

Leeds seems cold and windy.  During the last part of the trip here, on Sunday, the plane swayed violently from side to side over Yorkshire, as younger passengers yelled and older ones made brave clenched faces.  When we finally made the ground the whole cabin applauded though no-one went as far as kissing the tarmac.

I actually came for the funeral of a good man who was my cousin’s husband.  They had been long married - I was one of their bridesmaids 52 years ago dressed in stiff yellow and white organza as my mother howled at the cost of it all.  The organza was first shortened to party length and eventually ended up in my sisters’ dressing up box so it gave value for money.     

 Years ago pictures of bent, white haired couples would appear in the papers over the astonishing news that they had been married for 50 years.   The protagonists usually looked as though they were having trouble holding each other up and would be sinking into the settee with a mug of cocoa as soon as they had cut the cake.   Modern Golden Weddingites are a new breed, though.  My cousin and her husband held expansive and jovial parties, went on world trips and spent a lot of time in Florida, boating, fishing and generally having a good time.  The fact that he went quickly at the end seems a good end to a happy life.

I have no picture to hand of the long ago wedding but am posting one from even longer ago of my cousin, her younger sister and me at the seaside.  I'm the one on the donkey.

Leeds can be a difficult place to live a sunny life.  I’m currently staying with friends in a pleasant house just down the road from Moortown, one of the more expensive areas of the city.  However, this area, apparently, has a “bad” postcode.  Walking to my hire car early yesterday morning, a leashed dog growled and lunged at me.  The spotty and hooded youth who was walking him dragged him back and then clouted him round the head.

Driving the half a mile or so to Moortown, itself, my friend, Jean, took me round a charity shop known for its quality stock offloaded from wealthy homes.  A mink coat was on sale and, almost next to it, a dressing up outfit offering a child a chance to look like a “Factory Worker”.     Apart from anything else, it seems a rather peculiar take on factory clothing with its white overalls and black and white striped polo neck.