Vee, I think what you're suggesting is true. Just as in Wales, there is now nothing whatsoever remaining of the old coalmines and coalfields - it's as if the whole industrial revolution had never taken place: 'Nothing beside remains: boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away' as Shelley said. Halifax for instance, a bowl set amongst hills, was once almost invisible from above for the smoke and fumes of the factories etc. which functioned there. Now the old buildings, cleaned up and turned into things like Art Galeries and Craft Centres and Boutiques, it is really rather a chic place. Dear old Bradford - Priestley's Bradford - he would hardly recognise were he to come back for the immigrant population, as you say, and the curry houses at every corner - you get some of the best curries in UK there. And then there's the tourist industry...... 'Last of the Summer Wine country (Holmfirth) and 'Emmerdale country (around Leeds). and in the early '60s, when I first visited Haworth to pay my respects to the Brontes, the Black Bull (where Branwell bought the gin for Anne......) was just like any other pub and buses ran up and down Main Street. Later, I lived there for 17 years and when I left it was almost totally overrun with tourists to such an extent that it was better known as 'Bronte Village' than as Haworth. Purists and locals threatened to deface the 'Bronte Village' signs, in fact - especially since most of the tourists were bus trippers who'd been taken for a day's outing and had never even heard of the Brontes. But they loved the cobbled streets and the quaint little pubs and probably thought us residents were pretty cute too! Stan Barstow gives us this picture of a changing Yorkshire, too, in his later books - touristy Haworth appears in A BROTHER'S TALE(1978). But in his Ella trilogy (1990s), he turns right back to WW2 to tell his story Dido

I didn't make it to my personal goal of 200 books, but I did manage to read/listen to 189 books (even if many of them were re-reads). For my top 10 list, I am only including books that were new reads during 2007. In no particular order: Fiction Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear Deephaven & Other Stories by Sarah Orne Jewett Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen Invisible Lives by Anjali Banerjee Nonfiction (only had 4 that actually counted) Murder in the Adirondacks by Craig Grandon Sarah Orne Jewett (a biography) by Paula Blanchard The Medicine Wheel Garden by E. Barrie Kavasch The Creative Home Herbal by Susan Bellsinger & Tina Marie Wilcox Okay, I said I wasn't going to list any re-reads, but here are my top 5 favorite re-reads from 2007 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Beauty by Robin McKinley Persuasion by Jane Austen Farewell I'm Bound to Leave You by Fred Chappell

Thank you Havingfun Husband for advising our community. She was so loved, her posts were helpful, happy, and inspiring. She was my faraway friend, I always looked forward to her posts. We had communicated via private messages about life, family, and physical issues and challenges. But she always lifted me up with her words and insight. I envision her propped up on her colorful lively pillows, resting in peace. My sincere condolences for your loss.

For me, the absolute champion, never-to-be-surpassed series is Game of Thrones. Great acting, great writing, intriguing plots, and beautiful locations. True, it is very violent, so I - hating "blood 'n guts" - spent a fair amount of time peeking between my fingers with squinted eyes. That said, it is epic, a story of human foibles and weaknesses and occasional courage. If you can cope with limbs being lopped off, of everything that could go wrong being shown on screen, and if you can follow the convoluted plot and myriad characters - I recommend it. imo there's nothing else like it. The dragons! DH and I also loved Mad Men. We came to it toward the end of its run, so there was a lot of binge-watching to catch up. It would have been my favorite but for GOT. We've watched many of the above-mentioned shows, especially enjoying Foyle's War.