The Nostalgic Spring Sojourn | Part 4

I was back on the bus Thursday morning, this time in the opposite direction, into York and to the railway station to meet up with my companion for the day. The walk from Patsy to the bus stop seemed to get the curtains twitching – quite possibly black leather is not considered ‘de-rigueur’ for caravanners, sporting as I was my new waistcoat, procured as a Christmas present to myself in Canterbury. Thankfully people that know me can see past what may well be considered slightly odd attire – and find a slightly odd person. Anyway..

I had about twenty minutes to kill, so the default activity – at least this early – was necking some caffeine before heading to the relevant platform to meet Sandra – fellow caravanner from near Chester and now someone I consider a very dear friend. I’m delighted to present for you below, Sandra’s blog post of the day’s events:

Tour de York & A Mash Tun

The day started as it meant to go on, the train was on time and the sky bode well for a lovely day. Our first port of call was the left luggage office to one side of the station, in a small portacabin type of building. There was a small queue of people patiently waiting their turn to offload their bags and get off to do sightseeing in the city. Well I heard a phrase a while back, namely, Sales Prevention Officer; this person definitely qualified and then some! We were treated to a speech of monologue proportions about everything that was wrong about his job and strongly worded admonishments about failure to return to collect our bags before the bewitching hour of 8pm! I tried to get him to agree to 7.45pm, which would fit in with train times but no, 7.30pm, take it or leave it! Knowing glances, or maybe stifled giggles passed among the waiting queue.

As we had had the fortune to do a fair bit of advance planning and research, we had a loose plan of what we wanted to do. But first priorities need to be addressed and we had picked out a lovely little independent coffee shop, in a turret overlooking the river bridge, near to the station, The Perky Peacock Coffee Shop. Tea, coffee, biscuits and brownies were consumed and allowed a good look at the map to work out a suitable route for the day. Given the lovely sunny weather, we also agreed on a boat trip in the afternoon.

Following the coffee etc, we ambled up towards York Minster and spent a pleasurable half hour walking around the outside in the warm spring sunshine and people watching as we went. Our ultimate aim was to visit the Shambles. There were the usual number of cafes, souvenir shops, Harry Potter themed shops and one butchers left, (The Shambles was originally a road of butchers plying their trade). In a way, we left wondering a little if it is one of those places which is a tad overhyped, down to personal choice of course.

There was an outdoor market selling food and clothing but the find was the sandwich shop, Henshelwoods Delicatessen, again highly rated on trip advisor, to buy some lovely sandwiches for an impromptu picnic sitting in the gardens by the river and the York Castle Museum which was our next port of call. Sitting out in the warm sunshine, a time to sit in peace and quiet watching the world go by and a good old natter when the mood took us! We also noted the amount of flood wood and leftover mud from the river flood earlier in the week.

We then ambled over, neither of us do fast these days, to the York Castle Museum to begin what turned out to be a fascinating couple of hours travelling through the ages. There were rooms decorated and furnished in a relevant decade right up to the 1970’s. Cue much giggling and finger pointing of, yes remember seeing this that and the other. Then it was the turn of clothing through the ages right up to the 1990’s and a Vivien Westwood exhibit of shoes. Again, much hilarity about what we used to wear and the styles. We also visited the Castle prison, so grim and dark but ended the visit on a high note in the 60’s style room. A real life Lambretta motorbike and for the technically minded, early computer games and toys like Spiralizer, Cindy Dolls, magazines and comics from years ago completed the picture.

We were in need of another sit down, fortunately the landing stage for the boat tour was a 5-minute amble and departed almost as soon as we boarded. By now the sun was high in the sky and sitting down in the saloon, quaffing refreshing cool drinks, we remarked how lucky we were to be there. Drinks consumed we ventured upstairs and passed the rest of the trip sitting outside in the sun with magnificent views of York Minster and the various bridges and sights of the city. We were fortunate, or not, depending upon your viewpoint to have the Captain of the boat who had clearly missed his vocation as, in his opinion, a stand-up comedian. We, on the other hand, were not so sure ….

We got off the boat down river by the York Museum Gardens and strolled through, people watching and commenting on how, as the sun was out, people were lying or sitting on the grass, sunbathing. Given the area had, undoubtedly been well flooded by water, we were somewhat surprised. The gardens are home to St Mary’s Abbey ruins and the Yorkshire Museum. By now time was fast approaching the only time booked event of the day … The Tour of the York Brewery and so we made our way there.

There was a short wait and we were off … fortunately there were only 4 of us on this tour, so plenty of questions and answers, helped by a really good tour guide, meant a fun and interesting time was had by all. Now for the prize of doing the tour, time to research several of the beers, some of which will ultimately end up in the Ale Archive blog in due course.

By now, we were starting to get rather hungry, we were fortunate to be advised to go to Brigantes Restaurant in the adjacent street. A lovely meal was had, with excellent service and, of course, a couple more research beers. We then suddenly realised that the 7.30pm curfew of the Left Luggage was approaching very fast indeed. A quick look at the map and we realised we were only 5 minutes’ walk away so we managed to arrive bang on time. However, the Sales Prevention Officer had yet more stings in his tail. We opened the door to be greeted by what can only be described as a sauna level of heat!! One very grumpy sales attendant who wasted no time in informing us we were the last people and he was waiting to go home!

A short amble to the station, meant that we were on time, a quick coffee and goodbyes until next time. All in all, a fabulous day.

There was a twenty-five minute wait for the next bus that would take me back to the site – and the York Tap with it’s twenty-something handpumps was thirty seconds away. I availed myself of just the one, considering that no dedicated ‘researcher’ worth his salt passes up any opportunity. Lazily though I didn’t bother to don my specs to check the writing on the handpumps and ended up with something akin to fizzy grapefruit with an aroma of bleach. Oh well.

All in all a cracking day – thank you Sandra for your lovely company and for saving me writing a blog post too!

A Diary from the Dales - Part 5

And indeed the last part too, as our time in the Dales - first Yorkshire, then Derbyshire has come to an end. We’re now just an hour or so from home - Patsy’s home anyway - in East Horsley, not too far from Guildford until the weekend.

Saturday saw us meet up with some friends from just south of Sheffield for lunch and a mighty good chinwag. There was a lot of catching up to do and Trev’s jaw of course got a thorough work out, but the rest of us did manage to get a word or two in as well. After a coffee at the ‘van we headed to - you guessed it - a pub to replenish our reserves - depleted from all that jawing. The Royal Oak in Hurdlow - about 15 minutes drive from the site - was  the destination and being a Saturday lunchtime it was quite busy but they squeezed us in and boy, are we glad they did. We all had something different and all agreed it was stunning. Good honest pub grub well presented and in sensible sized portions - i.e. big enough! Add to that a selection of real ales and great company and it was an extremely enjoyable couple of hours or so.

We went our separate ways mid afternoon, us with an invitation to visit Peter & Pam for Sunday lunch the following day. A nice home cooked roast? Of course we accepted.

With lunch set for 2pm Sunday we took the opportunity to have a bit of a drive around in the morning and so headed south, stopping first at Ashbourne for a cuppa. The café was extremely busy, occupied mainly by middle aged men clad either in lycra or leather. No it wasn’t the tail end of some fetish party but clearly a popular stopping off point for the Sunday morning two wheeled crowd. Given the attire on view I still managed to get a few looks…

We headed north and east next, stopping briefly at Carsington Water reservoir. Lot’s to do here and it looked like a great place for families. It was clearly worth more time than we had - so, another place for a future visit.

Further up, just after joining the A6 was Matlock Bath, squeezed in between the river and steep hills, this too was extremely busy, clearly a favourite stopping off point for the two wheeled crowd - the ones with engines anyway. This also went down on the ‘must come back to’ list.

We turned off the A6 to avoid going through Bakewell again, instead passing the beautiful Chatsworth estate before joining the Sheffield road and arriving at our friends a little after 1pm.

Lunch was, as expected, delicious - Pam is a damn fine cook - and there was, thankfully enough apple pie for a second helping. We had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

By complete coincidence - honest(?) the time of our departure meant we happened upon the Pack Horse Inn at around six pm - when they reopened for the evening trade. We had wanted to go back for another pint at least and with them being closed Monday and Tuesday this would be our last chance. Again, a friendly welcome and four new ales to try too. I only had two but they were excellent - this pub had a really friendly atmosphere and we will most certainly return.

Monday, and our last full day in the Dales. We had pondered getting the bus into Derby but with changeable weather again forecast we decided to stay relatively local and return to have a look at Matlock Bath and it’s neighbour Matlock. It’s certainly pretty and you can see why it’s popular.

While there is one main road through, there is a pleasant walk along the river to be had on one side, or if you need to fill your belly and empty your wallet cross over. A plethora of chippy’s and a few amusement arcades make you wonder if you’re at the seaside. Narrow steep roads climb the hillside behind.

A big draw here is the Heights of Abraham - a country park and caverns accessed by a cable car that takes you up from near the railway station. The views from the cable car alone I’m sure would have been fantastic, but with it being a bit misty we decided to leave it for another time. There were regular trains into Derby from the station too which was noted for future reference.

We had a brief wander around Matlock too - less touristy and more functional - before heading back to the site.

We had a good stay at Longnor Wood Holiday Park. The site is lovely - great facilities and a great location. It’s under the Tranquil Parks umbrella and so is adults only. The site is a relaxed place and there is no list of rules, you are just expected to use your common sense. Our pitch was fully serviced including a TV point - reception on the ‘van aerial was poor at times, so If you have an aerial cable, bring it. There was no mobile phone signal on either Vodafone or Three, and the mobile Wi-Fi dongle, with an 02 SIM card reported zilch also. There is site Wi-Fi and a weeks package will cost a tenner. There is no limit to the number of devices but data is capped at 2 gb. We got through that inside three days, so make sure those automatic updates are turned off!

Right, that’s out for now. Just one more part to come. Nearly there!

A Diary from the Dales - Part 1

With another Twittercamp over, it was time for us to head north again - as we have done for the last couple of years - as our school’s Easter holidays continued.

This time though we weren’t going as far, deciding this year to give Northumberland a miss and heading instead for North Yorkshire in general and the city of Ripon in particular to a campsite on it’s western extremities. This was a part of the UK we had barely set foot in before so were very much looking forward to it.

The run up itself was pretty straightforward - with the vast majority of the journey being straight up the A1, although a one car ‘pile-up’ at the A14 junction and the inevitable road closure meant us heading south first and joining the A1 further down.

I’d punched in Ripon on the sat-nav app and with our diversion we were looking at a couple of hundred miles or so. Trev took the wheel for the first stint, stopping after a couple of hours to replenish our tug Rosie’s dwindling reserves and to swap driving duties.

The earliest arrival time at the site was 2:00pm and with it being so small I didn’t want to risk arriving early and causing problems, so soon after we turned off the A1 we paused to ring and check. Fine, no problem, the warden said, our pitch was ready and waiting.

I checked the route on a map prior to setting off and it looked a straightforward trundle along a road to the south of the city, so was a bit surprised when the sat-nav steered us around the market square, but even more surprised when, on passing the town hall, the app announced proudly that we had ‘reached our destination’. Great.

And then it dawned. I’d not bothered to put the site location into the sat-nav, just ‘Ripon’. Pillock. Fortunately a large vacant loading bay gave us a chance to sort ourselves out and we were checking in just a few minutes later.

The complex is largely given over to holiday homes in the form of static caravans. There are two seasonal pitches and just seven hardstanding pitches for tourers, all with mains electric, water and waste hook up. Which would have been great if our fresh water hose was not sitting in our garage nearly 300 miles away. Doh. Leaving something behind is becoming a habit. One of these days we’ll turn up on site and wonder where the caravan is.

Having set up, a foray to the nearest supermarket was as far as we ventured to stock up on grub for the next few days, along with a selection of locally brews for my seemingly never ending ‘research’ project.

The facilities are worth a mention at this site - they are fantastic. Clearly very new and immaculately clean, the shower cubicles are spacious although the push button fixed temperature showers can’t be cheated with the usual the awning peg/ladder combo. There’s also a laundrette with iron and pot wash area - all immaculate.

Wednesday and after a nice lie in, we decided to stay local, travelling no further than the car park by Ripon’s Cathedral. Extremely reasonably priced - for someone who lives in the south east anyway - at just £2.00 all day.

The Cathedral was the main focus of our interest looking stout and extremely substantial from the outside, somewhat of an illusion as it is not as tall as many.

The original cathedral dates back to Saxon times - some 1300 years ago - but all that remains of that is the spooky little crypt. One can only wonder how many have passed through over the years, whether for prayers, or as visitors like us.

It’s well worth a visit - basic entry is free all though you encouraged to leave a donation which seems reasonable. A couple of quid buys you a permit to take photo’s and a guide at three pounds helps you make the most of your visit.

 

At the front of the cathedral a narrow road led into the market square. Trev had spotted a tailoring repairs and alterations shop which I was on the look out for since the zip in a pair of my leathers gave up the ghost last week. Two pairs of heavy leather jeans may be excessive in a caravan, but I like to alternate - anything that is stretched to it’s limit across my substantial backside and thighs deserves a day off, if only to retain it’s shape. Anyway, I had them in the car just in case and they promised they’d have ‘em done by the weekend. Superb.

We spent another couple of hours strolling around the city. The centre is not big and under grey skies didn’t look it’s best but pleasant enough and clearly very functional with plenty of folks going about their daily business. Like many places we have visited, it would look so much better devoid of cars.

Keen to press on with my extensive research project, we called in at a pub for a couple before heading back. Timothy Taylor brew one of my favourite ales - Landlord - and this was available but I took the chance to sample another couple of their ales instead - Bolt Maker and Ram Tam. Both tasted divine and will appear on my Ale Archive. Eventually!

Thursday, and it was time for our tug Rosie to take the strain, although mercifully for her, without the caravan on her back as we made our first foray into the Yorkshire Dales.

First up was Richmond - a Georgian market town passing overlooking the River Swale and recommended to us by a friend on Facebook. Perched on the edge of the dales it is a real gem of a town, it boasts - apparently - the largest cobbled market place in England and the town’s name is the most duplicated in the UK with over 50 Richmond's found world wide.

Whilst the castle was closed, there was a lovely walk around it’s perimeter giving fantastic views down to the river below.

Clearly they breed ‘em tough up here - they need to. The sight of several old dears making short work of Richmond's’ steeply sloping paths against a strong icy wind was impressive.

Next up was Reeth - another recommendation and further into the dales. Another real picture postcard of a place but the rain, which had been threatening had now appeared, so we didn’t stop, but pressed on.

We were heading towards Tan Hill, a high point in the Dales and home to a pub that can boast to be the highest in the British Isles at 1,732 feet above sea level. We remembered seeing this on some TV programme a while ago and I’d made a note on my phone, but had, predictably completely forgotten about it.

The weather got worse and worse as we climbed - driving rain and howling winds gave a stern reminder of how bleak - as well as beautiful - the dales can be. On a better day the drive would have been really fun, however the sight of the pub standing against the stark landscape was a welcome one. Of course there was no point coming all this way just to have a look….

That’s all for now, look out for the second part of our adventures in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales coming soon.