Childhood memories

When I was nowt but a lad, many years ago in my native Yorkshire town of Keighley, I used to cycle up into the hills and moors above such places as Cowling, Bingly and Skipton. The memories I have kept so close to my heart are of the things I used to see, smell and hear, little things that brought so much happiness to me back then.

I remember many an occasion when I would be sitting quiet amongst the Heather, and listening to beautiful calls of the Curlew, Lapwing and Meadow Pipit. I also remember being amazed by the long musical song of Skylarks, I would watch them take to the sky with fast hovering wings and marvel at the length and sweetness of their song.

Sometimes I would hear a Skylark singing high above me, I would squint and screw my face up as I peered into the blinding sunlight in hope of seeing a tiny dot way up against the blue sky.

One of the other sounds that always brought joy to me was the Yellowhammers' call, I was always amazed by the Canary-yellow plumage of this bird and I loved the call that quite often seemed to be coming from a long way off, the birds often calling from the tops of Gorse or small trees.

Coming from a farming family I also loved the smell of the fields after they had been cut, I would play in the hay as it was being loaded onto the carts or after it had been stored away in the old barn. The smell of cows is also a happy smell to me, mucking out the barn was to me a pleasant experience and a job I loved, I still love the smell of cow-muck, especially on a cold winter’s day.

As adults we never loose our childhood memories. Sights, smells, tastes and sounds bring great cheer to our hearts for the rest of our lives. The smell of cooking or baking does it for most people, the smell of grandma’s jam tarts, lemon cakes or parking pig and toffee on bonfire night will always stay with me.

So why do I bring all this up? Well today I cycled over the hills above Ulverston and found the time to sit quiet amongst the Heather again. Once again i could smell the cut grass in the fields. I closed my eyes to listened to the Curlew, Lapwing and Meadow Pipit.
I found my mind take a trip back to my Yorkshire moors as a Skylark rose up above me and reached for the sky, to sing that familiar song that always takes me back to my childhood days.

Isn’t it lovely how we can so easily become that child we once were? Some of the simple things we have all around us so easily re-kindle our childhood memories.