Swapping the puppy for pooh…
The dreaded school half-term holiday came round again last week so we moved house.
Not a large move really - just 225 miles to the edge of North Yorkshire and into a locals' boozer that stands on the corner of a village street somewhere outside York.
It all started a week last Friday when Dave the director telephoned me and asked if I wanted to go home. Thinking I was being asked to leave for some unspecified offence, I was naturally reserved.
But when he explained that the move was to be a positive one, I jumped at the chance. After packing some overnight gear, Beryl and I left the Tortured Puppy.
The Black Bull is the first building of note in the small village of South Milford. With its Leeds postcode, Pontefract telephone code and Selby Council dustbins, the village is a mish-mash of districts.
The pub's inhabitants are all local to the area and, short of tarring and feathering me, have viewed my every move with suspicion.
But once the ice is broken, I am sure the customers will show the innate friendliness that surprises and pleases even the hardest southern visitor. And having been born and presumably bred in Yorkshire, I am well used to Yorkshire values.
As the pub is closed for refurbishment, we have had a week in which to re-acquaint ourselves with the area. I travelled to the town where I was brought up and was surprised to see a great many differences. The pace of life here is somewhere between London and Somerset. That is to say, people pace their daily lives at a sensible rate.
The massive power stations at Drax and Ferrybridge provide a great deal of local employment here and their shift system means local traders are assured of a flow of customers throughout the day.
No food will be served in the pub except when the pool and football teams are in, and then it will consist of mucky fat sandwiches.
The only complaint I have is that my new office was once a child's bedroom and is graced with a Winnie the Pooh border. Once I have changed that to Paddington Bear (Pooh is such a wimp) I will feel happier.
It could have been worse, however. Had the room been assaulted by two-dimensional Sonic the Hedgehogs then I don't feel we could have taken the job at all.
