Kildwick

Kildwick is a village a few miles to the west of Silsden. By road you can get to it via ‘over the tops’ road or drive along the valley bottom in the direction of Skipton. Last Wednesday I told Fran, Geoff and Warren to get into the family car (yes, it is new SUV!) so we could all go to Kildwick.

We took the valley road and I enjoyed the views. Parked at The White Lion and settled into the garden with a wide open view of the valley and hills opposite. They were my guests so I went into the bar to see what beers were on offer and was completely confused. The pub bears the name Tetley’s which is the name of an old Yorkshire brewery. At the bar, I saw the names of types of beers I had never seen before.

We settled on a local Skipton based micro-brewery beer for me. You can see it on the right in the photo. You may be able to read Copper Dragon on the glass.

In the other glass, with the unusual face and name of Grey Hawk, was diet cola. Fran and Warren only drink that, but Geoff joined me in enjoying a glass of beer. The local beer tasted very good so I had a half pint of beer from another local brewery, but it didn’t taste as good as the first beer.

I then walked around the pub and arrived at St. Andrew’s Parish Church. From the architecture and stone it is typical of many churches in the area.  I walked slowly into the church garden and arrived at the old graveyard. Again, graves and gravestones all made from local stone. My Uncle Lionel is buried here. He died as a baby. I can’t remember why. Perhaps of a virus for there was not the range of medicine and medical services available then. Infant mortality rates were much higher and not only in England.

I rejoined the family and we slowly drove back to Silsden. We had chatted about the family, future plans, holidays, food, friends and lots more over our drinks and enjoyed the late sun in the pub garden. A very nice evening.