Blitz-Tastic Wensleydale

Leyburn Needs You!

(well done tourist information board for getting the wrong era on the advertisements)

Yes, the last weekend in July was the annual 1940's weekend in my old school town of Leyburn, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. Run in conjunction with the Wensleydale Railway the 1940's weekend was packed to the rafters with stalls, singing and dancing, and folks having a reet good time- me and my family included!

This was the first year I managed to get to the weekend, it has been running for the past 3 years. Man did I have a  whap-diddly fun time, ALL DAY! We went for the Sunday, and we were up bright and early that morning getting hair, make up and spiffing Land Girl outfits sorted. By pure fluke I managed to tong my fringe into some faux bangs, and they stayed put. Phew! The red lippy topped the outfits off, and stayed at the top of my binoculars case/handbag for fast reapplication!

My dad laughed when he saw me, and I initially felt sad, but he said it wasnt in jest, but a laugh of joy at how fab I looked- "you look just like my mother" he kept saying. Love it! My sister just said 'Well we cant go see Grandad like this, it'll push him over the edge!" (we did go to see grandad dressed up, and after recent feedback he said we looked smart, especially Becky (moi :-) ) 

Anyway, back to the day. It started off with a photoshoot in the back garden. Any chance for dad to use his many cameras!

 

Driving into town I was really excited, and when we were driving past the crowds of people it did feel like going back in time. We parked up, and strolled back towards the hubbub. There were a few funny looks from tourists, but the reception from the other 40's folk was wonderful. My gawd the outfits on others were just amazing. Victory rolls, felt hats, red lippy, beautiful dresses and seamed stockings. There was a real wind up air raid siren, and most people took cover in the pub when it went off. The hottie 'US Army' boys were extremely nice, and even let us hop in their truck. Unfortunately the back seat did not come into use, dang!

 

I felt really proud to be part of the day. It's nice to have people admiring you, rather than you looking on in awe. I admit my head felt fizzy and giddy all day, it felt like a dream to be there. I also noticed that 8 out of 10 people had brought their little dogs too, next year my aim is to have a little pooch to take with me too, even if I have to steal my pals Jack Russell, Bailey.

There were couples dressed up, there were parents that had only dressed their children up, but there were some families where everyone was dressed up, avec baby gas mask suit! 

 

  

 

    

One of the our family friends provided the carnival games and swing boats, but I never did get to have a go!

There were so many beautiful vehicles, adorned with various name badges and doodles. The US Trucks all had names, the one we sat in was called Pearl :-)

  

 

 

We enjoyed a 99 ice cream, nom!

They must have had small heads back in the day, because these 'adult' glasses were tiny, and I have a small head!

We didnt get to see much of the singers, but the one we did see sang wonderfully, such a sweet little coochy voice. She sang some of my favourites, but not my most favourite of all, Oh Johnny Oh by the Andrews Sisters, nobody ever includes it!

I made a new friend, his cane even had a bulldog face imprinted on it! I want a bulldog! 

We had an awesome day, and vowed that next year, we'll do it bigger and better. My parents are planning on dressing 40's for the day too, and our little (but much taller than us) cousins. I'm hoping my friends will come too and we can all have a big 40's barbeque in the garden when we get home. 

I would really like to spread the word about this event, and urge you to take a trip to it next summer. It may be small but it's getting better every year. Anyone that's interested I can advise you of places to stay, and they even have a camping site for the more adventurous! Fancy tonging your hair into rolls after sleeping in a caravan all night, is it possible?

Get in touch if you fancy taking a trip up North for this next year, or even just a visit to Wensleydale, its a pretty spectacular part of the country! It would be nice to meet you if you did come up for the event. We need to get more vintage-ites up here because I can't afford London, teehee ;-)