“The road to a friend’s home is never long”

I have no idea where I first heard that, or why it popped into my head when I downloaded the photos from my camera just now, but it is most apt when it comes to thinking about the last few days.

We were heading northwest, to the place where even though there’s no sight of water, one just knows that beyond those dunes there’s the sea. But first, we had lunch with another dear friend to look forward to. Creatures of habit that we are, if we come this way, then we’ll meet for lunch in the same place and I might even order the same thing to eat. It’s all good.

We always look forward to getting together with the couple who live by the sea and on noting some changes on their bookshelves when we arrived, I wondered if the shelf that always amuses me might have changed too? I was quite pleased to see that particular collection has withstood the edit. After all, friends with “Colloquial Serbo-Croat” on their shelves are few and far between.

Another couple of our longest standing friends were already in residence and there followed a fun weekend of eating, drinking, talking and generally catching up.

And culture.

On Saturday evening, the Lytham St Annes Choral Society, the Preston Cecilian Choral Society and the Choir of Kirkham Grammar School were going to sing Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D, accompanied by the Ward’s Stone Orchestra. We were there at Kirkham Grammar School to listen!

On Sunday, our friends suggested a visit to The Whitaker , a museum and gallery in Rossendale. Formerly the home of a mill owner, George Hardman, industrialist Richard Whitaker bought the house and the land that surrounds it for the people of Rawtenstall to enjoy. There’s one of those 3D tours available here which shows how the house has been developed as a gallery and museum.

I loved it. Perhaps the room of stuffed animals not so much, but the Cabinet of Curiosities was a treasure trove of odd bits and pieces, arranged in a quirky, off beat way which I found quite appealing. The figure hanging on the wall was introduced to us as Scary Effigy by the lady volunteer and thinking that I hadn’t heard her quite correctly, I was glad of an information sheet alongside that confirmed what I thought I’d heard.

Apologies for the shadows, but isn’t that the most fascinating and horrendous thing?

Upstairs, we found an exhibition “Everyone in This Room is Connected to Everyone in This Room” , consisting of a collection of velvet “brains” arranged in what was referred to as a brain garden. Only reading about it later did I discover that there were other, supporting materials including some films and Augmented Reality experiences that might have explained/enhanced this exhibit a little more.

Without further explanation I’m afraid we were somewhat befuddled, so continued our wander through the gallery to the more straightforward collection in the rooms across the hall.

Rossendale has long been associated with the manufacture of slippers so it was unsurprising to find some featured in this cabinet together with children’s sandals; the type I wore to school every summer.

But here too were the small personal documents; the sort of thing to be found in local museums like this.

The kinds of things that I find particularly intriguing and which prompt me to try to remember to include a date on everything I do. And I wonder if the sender of a letter in 1838 would ever imagine how fascinating its journey would prove to someone like me, all those years later?

From Rossendale, we drove to another one of East Lancashire’s small museums in Accrington. The Haworth Art Gallery also owes its existence to the cotton industry, having been built by mill owners William and Anne Haworth and bequeathed to the town of Accrington upon their death.

The ground floor is mostly used for temporary exhibitions, but for us, the main highlight of our visit was to be found upstairs; an extraordinary collection of Tiffany Glass.

Joseph Briggs is the man responsible for Europe’s largest public collection of these exquisite pieces being here in Accrington.

We very much enjoyed seeing the large mosaic samples, created for potential decorative features for a bank in Cleveland, USA

Detail of a similar sample for a bank in Pittsburgh, USA. I found these mosaic panels fascinating, having only associated Tiffany with more three dimensional vases and lampshades.

We’d had a really grand day out in an area of the country we’d not been to previously, however familiar the names on the signposts might have been. Such small museums and galleries are real treasures and were it not for like minded friends, we’d not have had the opportunity to discover them.

Monday morning and time for home. We hit the M6 around 9am and made our way through heavy traffic, arriving back in Gloucestershire sometime late lunchtime wondering what we might have to eat. Just as we were thinking of the empty fridge we’d left behind, one of us remembered the little bag of goodness that our sweet friend had given us as we left the pub on Saturday lunchtime. We opened the bag to find a feast inside: cheese, crackers and wine, with all the bits and pieces that make such things special - two little gingerbread bunnies (a pink one and a blue one). Are our friends the best or what?

Meanwhile, we knew that the four we’d left behind that morning were also driving down the M6/M5 a couple of hours after us, for they were heading to Devon. Their journey was for the saddest of reasons, the funeral of one of their oldest and most cherished friends who had died suddenly a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, we were able to offer them the same kindness as they’d shown us, as they stayed over with us last evening, breaking the long journey back north. It might be another few months before we see any of them again, but we know that, whenever it might be, we’ll take over where we left off. We’ll share the same stories and memories and enjoy one another’s company more than ever.

It’s what friends are for, isn’t it?