Tree at Chickenley, drawn from Heath Cottage.
Betty Boothroyd, who grew up in a working-class home in Dewsbury.
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 It's
my mum's birthday today and she's reached an age which is palindromic;
the bingo call for it is 'two fat ladies'. My friend Tanya in Singapore
tells me that eight 'is a lucky number: the Mandarin/dialect word
for it sounds like the word for "prosper" . . . you'll
notice traditional Chinese businessmen like to buy cars with license
plate 8888, houses with unit no. 8 (or 88 or 888 or whichever they
can get).'
Hope my mum has a lucky, prosperous year. Amongst her convivial
guests for Sunday dinner at the Heath Cottage hotel
their isn't a single fat lady to be seen. Nicely rounded perhaps.
Gateway to Chickenley
I like the website description of the location of Heath Cottage;
'centrally located for most Yorkshire towns offering a gateway to
the Dales, Moors and Peak District.'
Well, I expect that's true and it's also offers a gateway to Chickenley,
Shaw Cross and Gawthorpe.
The hotel is friendly, airy and traditional in a relaxed kind of
way, with more character than your average chain hotel. And you
never know who you might see here; my mum once saw Betty
Boothroyd, who's varied career took her from a brief spell
dancing with the Tiller Girls . . . to Speaker of the House of Commons.
Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk
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