Tour de Yorkshire – Right Past our Noses!

We’re chuffed to bits that the Tour de Yorkshire will be zipping past our place for the 2020 grand international race!

Moors above Slaithwaite – the Climb to Scapegoat Hill

We’ve always said that Scapegoat Hill (forming the crest of Golcar village, where Ginnel Corner is located) is one of the most gob-smacking walks/drives/climbs in the country  – and at last, we’re achieving some international recognition.

So, come along and join us all for the weekend of 2-4 May when the big race is happening. The Saturday 3rd May leg will be one of the best Yorkshire roller-coasters ever to be witnessed. Heading from Barnsley – the race heads through chocolate-box Summer Wine Holme Valley to the arguably more handsome and craggier Colne Valley, taking in Meltham, Marsden and Slaithwaite. The Golcar side is crowned by Scapegoat Hill  – and then it’s onto gorgeous Todmorden and the ‘dropdown’ from Hebden Bridge, Halifax and into Huddersfield.

The very fact that the millions of pounds invested in the Tour, goes to show you that our area  – and our hitherto undiscovered secrets of awesome landscape and unspoiled scenery … are finally getting the attention that they deserve!

See https://letour.yorkshire.com/the-latest/routes-for-2020-tour-de-yorkshire-announced/ for the dates – and perhaps to plan ahead for future stays when we’ll be less ‘bustling’!

 

Golcar Lily Day 2017

Golcar (pronounced ‘Gow-kuh’ by the locals) nestles in the Colne Valley of West Yorkshire. And on booking your stay at Ginnel Corner and hearing about us, you may also have come across the phrase ‘Golcar Lily’.

Various theories propound as to why the area is associated with this particular flower (if you check out the Golcar Lily pub website, you can read more about them here – http://www.golcarlily.co.uk ) and it seems most likely that the flower was adopted by the area when the persecuted French Huguenots settled in the valley; the lily being their emblem.

Our personal favourite explanation as to the lily however, is the one that relates to the Methodist missionary, John Wesley. He was said to have been somewhat impressed by the ladies of Golcar when he visited the area in the 18th century. Indeed, he compared them with certain other villagers of Huddersfield – remarking that they were “as gentle as Lilies when compared with the uncouth & ignorant peoples of Bolster Moor & Scapegoat Hill.”  A comment that still results in some cheeky banter between the locals living in these neighbouring villages!

 Golcar Lily Day

Despite the lily being identified with the area for over two hundred years now, Golcar Lily Day itself is a comparatively new arrival. The festival was actually the inspiration of a local woman, only some ten years ago. You would be hard pressed to find a more successful example of hard work, community spirit and pride that you will discover if you happen to be staying in Ginnel Corner on Golcar Lily Day.

Apart from the performances by Morris Dancers and even belly dancers – the village is also filled with market stalls and with ‘good old fashioned family fun’; tractor pulling, flat cap throwing, cup of tea races, a coconut shies, Punch n’ Judy, sporting activities, funfairs etc. The food and drink (did we mention the wonderful Golcar Brewery?) is to die for and if you prefer a more genteel pace then you can head just a couple of hundred yards past our cottage to the famous Colne Valley Museum  – which Ginnel Corner unashamedly models itself on and enjoy historical facts and a cream tea. Guided walks also take place – right past Ginnel Corner which is the first house on the trail – along along with many concerts and musical performances (but more on these particular treasures of the Colne Valley in our future blogs.)

And perhaps the most fantastic thing about Golcar Lily Day is that all of this is free! The good folk of Golcar organise and plan one of the most well-attended and fun day out local festivals in England; not to make money, but to celebrate one of the most beautiful corners in northern England and to remind all of us that community spirit can – and does – live on.

Colne Valley Museum Now Open for 2017

The fantastic Colne Valley Museum has opened again for 2017, with the fantastic news that they have also secured a major Heritage Lottery grant to develop new initiatives. You can read more about them here

“Why the ‘eck would thi’ ‘oliday ‘eer?”

“Why the ‘eck would thi’  ‘oliday ‘eer?” Translation for those of you who aren’t familiar with Yorkshire dialect and accent; ‘Why the heck would you holiday here?’

It might seem strange to you – if you have already had a sneaky peek at the photographs of the view from Ginnel Corner cottage – but after setting up our holiday cottage here, we can’t begin to tell you how many times a local friend or a neighbour has wondered this aloud.

And it always makes us smile to hear this. Having lived in various towns, cities and rural parts of the UK – as well as having travelled across the world and lived in southern Africa for several years – we are very familiar with such a sentiment. Perhaps this is part of human nature – because it seems that even those of us who live in the most beautiful parts of the world, begin to take where we live for granted. It’s all too easy, isn’t it? To let our day to day stresses and strains with work, family and life in general take the shine off the place where live (and deep down inside us, love.)

So when a West Yorkshire resident asks us ‘why do people choose to holiday here?’ we sometimes end up telling them the story behind why we ended up here. You see, as a couple, we lived and worked for several years in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. After having our first child, we decided to return to the UK. But where should we settle exactly? One of us hailed from the north – and the other from the south. We needed to be around the hills and the most stunning scenery in the UK (pure oxygen for us … the hills) so we had already settled on ‘The north’ – and yet for work reasons, we also had to have fast access to London.

Well, there we sat. In a baking hot office, rubbing the red Kalahari sand from our eyes as we poured over a map of the UK. We looked at the main train lines to London. We looked at where the best countryside was and easy access to cities. We looked at the best tourist, outdoors and family friendly attractions for our growing family. We got a pin and hovered over west Yorkshire and then  stuck it right between Huddersfield and Halifax. Both are perfect sizes for a large town in our opinion; drenched in the most beautiful moorland scenery and slap-bang between Manchester and Leeds.

Not that you’d know it, however. Visitors to Ginnel Corner are stunned by the peaceful nature of Golcar village in contrast with the fast pace of Leeds and Manchester – should you choose to visit them (and why not just hop on a train to them – even easier than the roads!) The Tour de France ‘Tour de Yorkshire’ passed right through our locality and ever since then, the popularity of the area has soared – and not just with those afflicted with cycle-mania! The panorama from Ginnel Corner’s windows also looks to the famous Holme Moss ascent, which the best cyclists in the world took on – and still continue to do so, today.

View from bedroom in Ginnel Corner

So, people who stay at our cottage come from all over the world – seeking a central location where they can have a day trip over to the cities, to the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, to the North York Moors, the Lancashire coast or down to the Pennines and beyond.  Some of our guests even like to nip to London on the train for a day or two.  Just have a look at our ‘Things To Do And See’ page, which will provide you with just a tiny illustration of the kind of things on offer.

Ginnel Corner in Golcar is chosen by many of our visitors because it represents not just a ‘gateway’ to explore much of England – but also an unusual and tranquil portal of escape, whatever your background and baggage.  Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about our location in relation to visiting family, friends or certain events in England. We’d love to help you!

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What’s all this about LILIES?

Golcar (pronounced ‘Gow-kuh’ by the locals) nestles in the Colne Valley of West Yorkshire. And on booking your stay at Ginnel Corner and hearing about us, you may also have come across the phrase ‘Golcar Lily’.

Various theories propound as to why the area is associated with this particular flower (if you check out the Golcar Lily pub website, you can read more about them here – http://www.golcarlily.co.uk ) and it seems most likely that the flower was adopted by the area when the persecuted French Huguenots settled in the valley; the lily being their emblem.

Our personal favourite explanation as to the lily however, is the one that relates to the Methodist missionary, John Wesley. He was said to have been somewhat impressed by the ladies of Golcar when he visited the area in the 18th century. Indeed, he compared them with certain other villagers of Huddersfield – remarking that they were “as gentle as Lilies when compared with the uncouth & ignorant peoples of Bolster Moor & Scapegoat Hill.”  A comment that still results in some cheeky banter between the locals living in these neighbouring villages!

 Golcar Lily Day

Despite the lily being identified with the area for over two hundred years now, Golcar Lily Day itself is a comparatively new arrival. The festival was actually the inspiration of a local woman, only some ten years ago. You would be hard pressed to find a more successful example of hard work, community spirit and pride that you will discover if you happen to be staying in Ginnel Corner on Golcar Lily Day.

Morris dancers on Golcar Lily Day

Apart from the performances by Morris Dancers and even belly dancers – the village is also filled with market stalls and with ‘good old fashioned family fun’; tractor pulling, flat cap throwing, cup of tea races, a coconut shies, Punch n’ Judy, sporting activities, funfairs etc. The food and drink (did we mention the wonderful Golcar Brewery?) is to die for and if you prefer a more genteel pace then you can head just a couple of hundred yards past our cottage to the famous Colne Valley Museum  – which Ginnel Corner unashamedly models itself on and enjoy historical facts and a cream tea. Guided walks also take place – right past Ginnel Corner which is the first house on the trail – along along with many concerts and musical performances (but more on these particular treasures of the Colne Valley in our future blogs.)

And perhaps the most fantastic thing about Golcar Lily Day is that all of this is free! The good folk of Golcar organise and plan one of the most well-attended and fun day out local festivals in England; not to make money, but to celebrate one of the most beautiful corners in northern England and to remind all of us that community spirit can – and does – live on.

Welcome to Ginnel Corner

Ginnel Corner  is an 1830s weavers cottage, located in Golcar – a hilltop village in the heart of the Colne Valley, set in west Yorkshire.

The cottage was completely renovated in 2016; we worked hard to decorate it in a manner that we hope will remind guests of its heritage – but with the added comforts of modern facilities.

But never mind the house… take a look at the views!   We have to confess that nothing pleases us more than when a visitor simply says ‘Wow!’ on entering the cottage and looking towards the windows…

We immediately fell in love with Ginnel Corner and whatever your reason for visiting – we hope that you will too.