Howarth 1940s Weekend

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Although it was my fifth one as a widow, it's still not the easiest of days to get through. And people talking about weddings wasn't going to help.

Which was, all things considered, unfortunate.

The only solution was to go out and do something. So I headed over to Yorkshire, and the Howarth 1940s weekend. This event has been running for over 20 years and takes over the entire village; visitors are encouraged to come in costume, and many do. As this was my first time visiting I can't say if the competing attractions of the royal wedding and the FA Cup final kept many people away, but the place was absolutely packed.

Most of the action took place on Howarth's picturesque, cobbled (and steep) Main Street. The Home Guard were based at the bottom.

That's a lot of camouflage

This lady must have regretted posing for a photograph; she was stuck there for ages as we all took snaps!

Running repairs

I have no idea what these chaps were doing, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves!

Judging from the bottle, wine may have been involved

Slightly further up the street were military and civilian vehicles.

Vintage cars

Nurses by a military truck

Lots of the shops entered into spirit of things.

My kind of shopping!

It was impossible to get a good photo of Main Street, as it was always full of people. This one was taken late in the afternoon, when things were getting a bit quieter. It gives some idea of just how steep the street is.

Can you believe that people cycle up here? For fun?

Just to prove that I really was in Howarth, and not just any Yorkshire village.

The Parsonage gets a 1940s look

The Parsonage, from the churchyard

There were a few utterly bemused tourists around, who had come for the Brontës, and hadn't realized that there was anything else going on!

You would be confused, if you saw this!

As is obvious from the photographs, it was very sunny and very warm. I didn't think a rolled hairdo would survive the drive over, so had just put my hair in a snood. As the day wore on, I came to regret not wearing a hat to keep the sun off. Certainly I was grateful for the fact that I'd worn my 1943 Simplicity pattern dress, which is made from a thin rayon: for the lovely lady in the Rosie the Riveter costume I was talking to about it, the details of making the dress are here.

It was a long drive there and back, but a very good day, and certainly achived the aim of keeping me occupied.