Granddaughter Number Two wanted us to do ladies-who-lunch today. She misses family social life while away at university and is determined to make the most of her time at home. There was no discussion about where she wanted to go - her favourite cafe in Greenfield. She and her mother had a few errands to complete before we could meet so when I caught the bus to Greenfield I decided I had time to pop into Tesco, across the road from the cafe, before meeting them. I wanted a few things that for some reason the Co-op does not stock - such as Boddington’s beer and grapefruit juice - presumably because there is not a high enough customer demand for them.
The first thing I saw when I entered Tesco was Granddaughter Number Two, who was striding along and did not see me at all. But then I ran into my daughter and the small boy, who was wailing because he did not want to sit in a trolley. Neither did he want to walk. He wanted his mother to carry him. A morning of running errands had made obviously him tired and grumpy. Maybe he was hangry! (He cheered up later after hot chocolate with marshmallows!)
It seems my daughter had decided, like me, that there would be time to pop into Tesco for a few items before meeting me at the cafe. She was surprised that I had managed to get there so quickly by public transport!
While she put her shopping in the car and prepared to move the vehicle to a parking spot a little closer to the cafe, ideally just next to the cafe, I walked over to try to secure us a table and to reserve a slice of chocolate Guinness cake for Granddaughter Number Two. I was told that the cafe was full - it was Friday lunchtime, after all! - so I ordered a slice of cake to take away. At that moment my daughter, Granddaughter Number Two and the small boy arrived. Apprised of the situation, Granddaughter Number Two asked if I could please order her a bacon sandwich to go as that cafe’s bacon sandwiches are superior to any others locally.
While I was doing this another group of people arrived and asked for a table. I overheard them being told that only the sofa area was available. My indignant side popped up at that moment: why were we not offered the sofa area? I asked. We would be more than happy with that. And so we preempted the new arrivals and ensured that the stuff I had pre-ordered and already paid for could be delivered to our table in the sofa area, which is one our favourite spots in Granddaughter Number Two’s favourite cafe.
After we had had our various refreshments, my daughter, Granddaughter Number Two and the small boy went off to collect Granddaughter Number Four from school and I headed for the bus stop. As there was going to be at least a ten minute wait I decided to walk to Uppermill and catch the bus from there, rather than stand in the drizzle for ten to fifteen minutes.
From Uppermill I caught the small bus that runs a long and convoluted service between Ashton Bus Station and Oldham Bus Station via Mossley, Greenfield, Uppermill, Diggle, Delph, Denshaw, Moorside and various housing estates en route. The whole route must take forever and a day! Originally conceived as a bus service between Denshaw village and Greenfield train station, timed to coincide with trains from Manchester and thus be useful to local commuters, at some time during Covid lockdown it changed into the weird and wonderful lengthy service it is now!
Anyway, as I went through Diggle I noticed that many gardens were positively festooned with scarecrows of various shapes and sizes. What was going on? I wondered. Clearly some new way of celebrating Easter. Other countries in Europe have very solemn religious processions, Diggle has scarecrows. I overheard a couple of schoolgirls commenting that it’s usually Delph that has scarecrows. But Delph has scarecrows that all have donkey heads, The Delph Donkey Trail, and besides that’s at Whitsuntide. So I looked it up on the internet when I got home. This is what I found:
“This is a self led trail around the village looking for scarecrows, most of which are situated in private gardens but can be seen from the pavement. This years theme is MUSIC. How many can you spot?
The trail is run by Friends Of Diggle School who are a registered charity ( registered charity no 1035075) to raise funds for Diggle School.
£3 a sheet sold by several local businesses in the village including The Gate Inn, Diggle Chippy, Diggle Lock and Grandpa Greenes.”
No information about how long this has been going on, but there are suggestions that it has been around for a while. Who knew? There’s even a spooky version for Hallowe’en. My guess is that they are copying Delph!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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