It would be wrong to deny how good it makes me feel to see one of my pictures gracing the front of the Community News (April 2024 issue).
Many moons ago, in more carefree days, when leaving Tangiers, one of my holiday companions read, ‘visit Tangiers once, you’ll come again, visit Tangiers three times, you’ll stay for life’. Fortunately or not this didn’t have to be proved true as we never went back to Tangiers. So how does Settle have anything to do with Tangiers? Well, it had to be visited whenever possible, not altogether easy when living in Manchester with only a bike as your main means of transport. So Youth Hostels, of which there were a few, were taken advantage of. Familiarity didn’t breed contempt, just made me more desirous of being in Settle full time, which I now am.
To my mind if Settle didn’t actually exist, a fictitious town such as Trumpton or Middlemarch would have to have been created. Instead we have the real thing, which inspired me then and continues to inspire me now.
It feels strange sometimes to be so removed from your beginnings, the phrase culture shock comes to mind, but if Settle and its surroundings, as well as activities around the town, continue to remain a constant source of interest, then I know without doubt that this is the best place to be.
