Cow and Calf Rocks on Ilkley Moor Wednesday 10th August 2016
Heather growing wild on Ilkley Moor Wednesday 10th August 2016
Dramatic western sky above Ilkley Moor Wednesday 10th August 2016
We enjoyed a lengthy conversation on topics ranging from her favourite music which is Mozart to the Ilkley Literature Festival. She asked if we had seen the three local rocks carved with poems by Simon Armitage. They are part of a 47 mile trail featuring carved rocks known as the 'Stanza Stones'. Amazingly one of the 'stanza stones' is featured in my last blog about 'My Favourite Mountain!'. So at this point I gave the lady my card about my website 'Beyond the Sacred Mountains' so that she could find my blog about the Blackstone Edge stanza stone.
It was at this point our conversation took an incredible turn! She saw the photo on my website card. She asked where was it taken and I explained it was in the Eastern High Himalayas in Bhutan. It was at this point she added she was born in India and regularly went up into the Himalayas in the Kulu Valley with her family! I shared my passion for the Himalayas. She told us the story of her younger days. Her father was principal of a college on the plains in India. She remained in India throughout the Second World War and she left when she was ten in 1946. She loved their family trips up into the Kulu Valley. She was delighted to hear that we had enjoyed our family trip to the Kulu Valley in 1997. Below is a photo of me with Louisa and Susie in the snows of the upper Kulu Valley beyond Manali. The road was blocked with snow just beyond this point. When it is open in the summer it is possible to drive through the Zanskar Range of the Himalayas to Ladakh.
David, Susie and Louisa in the upper Kulu Valley India 1997
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the delights of Ilkley. We enjoyed lunch and afternoon tea in local teashops. It had been a lovely day with the highlight for me the 'chance meeting' up on Ilkley Moor!
The sun has just come out so we might go out for a local walk.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Regards
David