I was pleased to return for a long weekend in Yorkshire and, for the first time, watch some cricket at Headingley. We have some Yorkshire blood in us and I always enjoying returning.

A little matter of a quarter of a century ago, I was deputed to go to Headingley to score for the B.B.C. for a quarter-final match in the newly-sponsored Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy - it had been NatWest up to 2000 when I had made my B.B.C. scoring debut at Lord's and, the following day, at The Oval. Alas, I was moved from Leeds to Blackpool: it was an enjoyable day and I was delighted to have been offered a further chance but Headingley was a place I always wanted to go to and finally in 2026, I made it.
I travelled by train from Swindon to Bingley and arrived an hour later than planned due to delayed trains but was still at the Mercure Bankfield Hotel just outside Bingley at a good time. I was greatly impressed by the hotel. A Victorian building, it was everything which I enjoy: retaining its grace, the rooms were absolutely fine - and a bath which I could fully recline my 6'5" frame in was an added bonus - and the room was cleaned every day. The prices were far more reasonable than I had expected and it was in a fairly quiet area and just by a bus stop for those not travelling by car.
I now have a bus pass which was most helpful. After a decent meal in the Bingley Wetherspoons, I took the bus to Keighley which struck me as a nice town.
My first full day was spent at Headingley. I could take a bus from the Mercure to Headingley and return directly from central Leeds to the hotel in the evening. The ride was gorgeous and the views made even better by sitting on the top deck.

Everyone was friendly at Headingley and a good number of people in the General Admission area although the Western Terrace was closed. I was slightly alarmed at having one of those mobile tickets with which I anticipated fun and games as I am one of those who is not shackled to a mobile telephone for hours each day so rely on wi-fi. To be fair, the Yorkshire C.C.C. app worked well and having made the ticket appear using the hotel's wi-fi, I was relieved that it stayed available on my telephone to the ground. Not, of course, that it allowed me entry and I had to be given a lesson into how to insert the telephone into the ticket machine to effect entrance whilst also being given a duplicate paper ticket by the helpful ticket office.

I made the mistake of plonking myself in the front row next to the Howard Stand and immediately felt vunerable when I saw a vast area untenanted by fielders. Hampshire's Nick Gubbins plugged it a treat and the ball came to rest right in front of me, but in a gully. Which I couldn't quite reach. I did feel a bit of a fool but the fielder who had to come unnecessarily over to collect the ball, James Wharton, after the spectator's pitiful effort to save him the extra exertion was very pleasant and thanked me for even considering helping. I felt it safer to move to a different area.
It was a pleasant day and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Headingley. I had a further look around other parts of Leeds later on in the afternoon before going appropriately to eat in The Hedley Verity Wetherspoons, named after the famous England and Yorkshire cricketer, in central Leeds. I sat upstairs, naturally at table 100 - although I have never made anything like that score, I hasten to add - and enjoyed the historical photos on display.
My second day started damp but improved although there was always a threat of rain in the air. I visited parts of Bradford and some of its suburbs, places I enjoy before going to Bingley in the afternoon. I am a churchwarden at All Saints Church in Lydiard Millicent: naturally, many of us find it a lovely building but the All Saints Church in Bingley, whilst lower-rise is an equally pleasing place.
The Five Locks Rise along the Liverpool & Leeds canal is an impressive structure and well worth a visit. There is a further Three Locks Rise lower down closer to the town.

After doing well to find a table at the heaving Bingley Wetherspoons, I took the bus to Saltaire, a World Heritage Site. The Salts Mill can be seen fairly clearly from Shipley but, once there, one realises how vast it is. Beautiful too. A stroll in Roberts Park and along the canal and seeing the beautiful buildings capped a lovely time up north.
I was on my way from Bradford Interchange the following morning and stopped briefly in Sheffield en route on the way back. Like Bradford, its roads in parts are more hills but there are some lovely areas and Victorian buildings and I enjoyed my short visit there. Another train delay meant a slightly later arrival home but it was all very worthwhile.