A Diary from the Dales - Part 2

Our tales from the dales continues - roughly where we left off….

The howling wind nearly took the doors from the car as we exited and scurried across to the Tan Hill Inn. Low wooden beamed ceilings and a roaring fire greeted us, but we were far from the only ones there. Many walkers had clearly been braving the elements and had stopped off to dry out, recharge and re-fuel.

The line up of ales was impressive - eight hand pumps all with ales on, so clearly they must be doing the business. The food that was coming out looked - and smelt - pretty good too. We’d got food in for later but decided a couple of bowls of chips wouldn’t hurt - purely for research purposes obviously. Let me tell you now, they were delicious. some of the best I’ve ever had.

I wasn’t driving, so ordered a second pint, which of course meant a little visit to another part of the pub before we left. On the wall above the loo was a poster giving some info about the pub. sadly these days I need to learn back a bit further to get it into focus - the writing that is. Anyway, the pub is not connected to any mains services - it generates it’s own electricity, has large gas tanks and get’s its water from underground. Accommodation is available in the form of rooms or dorms and you are welcome to bring your caravan or motorhome and camp in the car park. Mind you, towing Patsy all the way up here - on the road we took anyway - is not something I would relish.

I would have happily stayed all afternoon, working my way through the beers but there was more to do and see so we headed off, thankful that the rain was beginning to ease.

We returned the way we came, passing back through Reeth, then turning right and heading south, arriving in Leyburn to something approaching sunshine. To say that Leyburn was another typical North Yorkshire town is a bit lazy, but there were similarities - sturdy looking stone buildings surrounding a large market square and plenty of independent shops. No shortage of pubs either, but we resisted.

Last stop of the day was Masham - home to not one but two breweries - Theakstons and Black Sheep. You’ll find it hard to believe but we didn’t visit either. Don’t get me wrong - I enjoy all their beers - but we’ve been around a brewery before and you’ll find Theakstons & Black Sheep ales here everywhere anyway. The town itself was worthy of a stroll around though which we did.

All in all, a cracking day. Our first venture into the dales rewarded us with some terrific scenery, from stark weather-beaten landscapes to picture postcard towns. And a couple of decent pints too….

Clear blue skies greeted us on Good Friday and after breakfast we joined the queue of traffic at the nearby National Trust property - Fountain Abbey and gardens, just a couple of miles up the road. As members, we got in ‘free’ of course but there were plenty coughing up the thirteen quid to get in too.

I could waffle on here, copying and pasting text from the Trust’s website telling you all about the history, but instead I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

While the Abbey itself is impressive, the area and surrounding gardens and lakes are wonderful too. On a warm day it would be a great to bring a picnic and spend the day, it was fantastic.

We were there quite a while - and were walking for most of it, following the various paths up and around the whole site. This was our only planned activity for the day but with the weather set fair we decided to continue west and into the dales to see what they looked like with the sun out.

Pateley Bridge was the first stop and a welcome one as it was clearly time to refuel - this time on tea and delicious scones, but not before negotiating the narrow high street that had doubtless claimed a few wing mirrors in it’s time.

Heading off, the road got more interesting, particularly when we turned right on to the B6160 and headed north. The scenery of course was fantastic, but I was having just as much fun giving Rosie a little bit of a work out. Steep climbs, tight bends and plunging descents that just deserved to be driven enthusiastically - as long as you could guarantee nothing was coming the other way of course. Sadly, all too often we got stuck behind some flashy sports car with an old codger at the wheel who was oblivious to the mounting queue behind him as he trundled along at the speed of a shopping trolley. Nevertheless it was very enjoyable and the scenery, in the bright afternoon sunshine, was wonderful.

Our drive brought us back into to Leyburn, then across to Bedale before heading back to base via quick pit stop in one of Ripon’s hostelries. Thirsty work this sightseeing you know…..

An Easter(n) Escape part 6 - More North Yorkshire

After throwing ourselves on the mercy of public transport on Tuesday, Wednesday saw us back on the road in Rosie, our bright red Honda for day inland that took us first to Pickering at the southern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. Pickering is popular with tourists not least because it is also home to the NYM heritage railway which runs 18 miles to Whitby. We visited Pickering some seven years ago catching one of the lovely old steam trains from further up the line in Grosmont during a stay in Robin Hoods Bay with HRH, A.K.A Trev’s Mum. It’s a delightful trip through the moors stopping at a number of stations but perhaps most notably Goathland, famous for being used as fictional Aidensfield in the TV series Heartbeat.

The trains only run at weekends in the quiet months but a full daily service resumes this weekend. Not cheap but well worth it.

Next up was Malton, or more precisely Eden Camp just outside Malton. Eden Camp is, essentially a war museum but with a unique twist. It’s actually housed in an old prisoner of war camp  that housed both German and Italian POW’s during its life. There are different scenes and features in each hut that focus on different facets of the war and tell the story of what life was like for people affected by it.

The first hut explains how the Second World War began with the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and the first exhibit that greets you is a large flag with a swastika - universally recognised and regarded as a symbol of hatred and evil. The flag is protected by a glass fronted frame and I could see my reflection in the glass wearing - as usual - my black leather trench coat. Oops! It’s a garment seemingly forever demonised by Hitler and his mob - something confirmed later on when I heard a youngster in a visiting school party up ahead of us spot me and  shout “Oi look there’s ‘itler”. Not the look I had in mind.

Anyway, back to the museum. It also looks at the first world war and other conflicts since. The number of artefacts is mighty impressive and the reconstructions are excellent with sights, sounds and smells adding to the experience.

There is a cafe/canteen and a bar that doubles as a cinema for special screenings. We stuck to the soft stuff and prices were very reasonable.Tasty mugs of tea for just a quid. Large mess rooms allow individuals or groups to bring their own food. We spent way longer here than we’d anticipated but for history buffs you’ll need much longer than a day. Trev spotted the listing for this in one of those ‘things to do whilst in…’ leaflets and I’m so glad he did. At just twelve quid for the two of us it was good value too.

Last stop of the day was the market town of Helmsley again at the edge of the NYM National Park although part of the town is actually in it. It’s clearly aiming itself fairly and squarely at the tourist market - it even has it’s own leaflet which I spotted - but there’s nowt wrong with that. It’s a very pretty place and you know what they say - if you’ve got it……

It presented a little bit of a challenge to get more than a few photo’s without a car in the frame - it’s a popular place and one can only imagine the hoards of tourists during the busier summer months - but Helmsley is hardly unique in that. Nevertheless it didn’t spoil the enjoyment of the place and there were some very inviting looking pubs too but we resisted. Some how.

Returning to Whitby traffic was light enough to allow us to slow and get some photo’s of the fantastic landscape that is the North Yorkshire Moors. The only blot on the landscape was an odd shaped building that sat in a large parcel of land belonging - according to the warning signs - the Ministry of Defence. Typical!

Thursday and our last full day in North Yorkshire. We’d promised ourselves an easy day and a lie in, not least because the weather forecast promised rain until nearly lunchtime - and it was right too. First stop - when we did eventually emerge from Patsy’s comforting bosom (?) was Robin Hoods Bay, four or so miles from Whitby on the road to Scarborough. It’s another picture postcard village with a narrow road winding steeply down to the sea mush like Staithes. As I mentioned earlier we stayed here some seven years ago in a lovely little B & B at the top of the village. In amongst the photo’s below is one of a pub - the Victoria Hotel just a short walk from said B & B. I mention this because it was here that I had my first pint of bitter virtually since I started drinking. My first ever beer was Whitbread ‘Best’ - which goes a long way to explaining why I drank lager for the next 20 years or so. Anyway, I remember the beer that made me see the light - Cameron’s Castle Eden - and I’ve hardly touched a lager since.

Last but not least was dear old Whitby, with a pause at the Abbey for the necessary lens clicking before crossing the bridge and heading in to town.

Having parked up on the east side we headed for the old town only for it start raining. Immediate plans were hatched to dive in to the nearest cafe, but somehow we ended up in a pub. Just while the rain cleared though. Honest! With a few more images committed to digital memory it was time to head back to the site.

Our last night was of course in our ‘local’ - The Stiddy - just around the corner from the campsite. An extremely friendly pub that made us feel very welcome.

So, by the time you get this we will have moved on. Our time in North Yorkshire has again been very fulfilling and the camp site played a  part in that. Not too big, Lythe Caravan & Camping Park offers great facilities and cracking views across farmland and out to sea. There are wooden camping pods too should you have friends that don’t caravan or motorhome.  A volunteer run shop a short walk up the road stocks all the essentials and is good place for a cuppa and a chinwag too.

Right, that’s it from the North Yorkshire Coast. Lincolnshire coming soon!