July 18

One of the joys of this trip is the unlikely diversions and the things you stumble across just following your nose. We got caught in heavy traffic on our way to Leeds and took some side-streets; we stumbled across the delightful hamlet of Ilkley.

A walk around shows us this town is very “comfortably off”; pearls, twin-sets, big houses and nice shops.

We had lunch at Carluccio’s, a very chic little café restaurant. We were surrounded by beautifully-dressed women with perfect blonde hair, designer sunglasses and white Mediterranean daywear; the boys were in short-sleeved buttoned-up Polo shirts. There was lots of talk of playing tennis.

We talked with a group of 3 women with beautifully-done hair. They were all mums, about my age; two voted “out”, one “in”. What was interesting, and we saw this everywhere, was how comfortable people were to discuss their different views. There were husbands and wives who voted differently from each other, and the closest of friends with opposite viewpoints; and all this causes no trouble between people – just a respectful difference of opinion.

I don’t think Britain is divided, I think the media made this up. I think people have different views for different reasons, and now they’re just getting on with it.

Leeds impressed us; it’s got the busy hum of a successful business centre. Big old buildings and wide streets show the prior success of the city. Tidy renovations, new buildings, lots of flash cars and well-dressed business people show that it’s still going strong today.

I feel we’re more south now than we were. People’s views have softened; more people we talked with voted “in” and more are worried about the plight of the refugees and the economic impact of Brexit than further north.