Farewell to Max and Tatty then 'Up North' to Harrogate and York

With Simon and Diane in Knaresborough

Back to mum, after a little farewell to Max and Tatty. It’s all go, Tuesday she was at her crafting club, so I dropped her off and came back two hours later. I wasn’t late, but everyone else had left early, all except one lovely lady, Nicky, who was busy persuading her to come to the stroke association meeting that she volunteers at, every second Wednesday. So Wednesday we found our way there, a little bit late, so she joined the exercise class, and I went to Sainsbury’s. They all seem like lovely people, another volunteer comes from Barnt Green, so will pick her up on the way past, so all seems good.

Pancake Rocks at Ilkley Moor

Si and Di's big new house in posh Harrogate

Our turn for a bit of socialising after all this, so Thursday we headed up to Harrogate to visit Simon and Diane in their new house. They’ve moved from Edinburgh to a brand new house, which we really liked, once we’d found it. The road doesn’t even exist on the sat nav! And so started the chatting and drinking and eating. We did also do lots of walking, starting on Friday with a trip over Ilkey Moor (see short Relive video of route with photos: click here). Despite all doing a recap on the words, we never did sing. Very disappointing! 10.5 km though earned us tea and cake.

Jackie scrambling up Pancake Rocks

Twelve Apostles stone circle, Ilkley Moor

Saturday we walked through Harrogate and on to Knaresborough (see short Relive video of route with photos: click here). This earned us lunch, a fab sausage baguette, with entertainment. The entertainment was unplanned, but very funny, a murder of crows descended on the condiments tray left by some previous outdoor diners. As one, they were after yellow, we assumed mustard, but actually mayonnaise. All the yellow sachets were whisked away, one greedy bird gathering the last three sachets in his beak before flying off. If this wasn’t funny enough the next one to arrive couldn’t see any yellow, but just to make sure threw all the ketchup, salt, pepper and sugar all over the table....

Ilkley Moor summit. Always nice to reach a trig point

We then had a look round the town and up to the castle, before deciding we’d earned a pint with 15.5km. The bus took us back to Harrogate, just leaving us with the 25 ish minutes back to the house.

Di needing a bit of help from Simon to get up onto one of the Thimble Rocks

Cowper's Cross. We know nothing about it!

Sunday had a bit of a poor forecast, so after a gentle start, and a lovely brunch we went in to Harrogate to watch No Time to Die, the new James Bond movie. Really good to see it on the big screen, we thoroughly enjoyed it. A bit of a walk around the Valley Gardens before mizzle sent us in for a drink before a lovely Sunday Dinner at the Fat Badger. We stopped on our walk back to finish off our Bond experience with a round of vodka martinis, shaken not stirred. We can’t tell a lie, nobody actually enjoyed it, but at least we now know! 9.5km was not a bad effort for our ‘chilling’ day.

Nearly back down off Ilkley Moor and a lovely view down the valley with the town of Ilkley at the bottom

Monday, walk back into Harrogate, to get the train into York, where neither Brian or I have been. We had a great day, though it would have been better if it wasn’t half term! Simon led us round the sites before our tickets let us in to the Minster. Although it’s complete title is “The Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St Peter in York”, so it is a cathedral it is also a minster, an honorific title given to particular churches in England. Eventually referring to ‘any large or important church, especially a collegiate or cathedral church’ according to Wikipedia. Late lunch was at Brian’s choice of the “Trembling Madness” downstairs two floors of spirits to buy, upstairs a very quirky pub. A quick circuit of the city walls before the train back to Harrogate gave us 16.5km! Still think we’ve eaten and drunk on more than we’ve walked off! (see short Relive video of route with photos: click here)

Walking along the gorge by the River Nidd on our walk from Harrogate to Knaresborough

We left this morning as they had mirrors to be fitted and snagging to be carried out. A much better journey got us back to Alvechurch in three hours, so now I’d better go and cook dinner.

Walking through the lovely town of Knaresborough

The railway viaduct over the Nidd river in Knaresborough as seen from the remains of the castle

Entertainment over lunch. This greedy crow has managed to cram three yellow mayonnaise sachets in its beak and managed to fly off with them 

All the yellow sachets have gone but these two believe there must be more of them hidden beneath the white, brown and red sachets. Only thing for it is to get them all out, throw them on the table and hopefully unearth more yellow one's underneath

Afternoon beers in Blind Jacks pub in Knaresborough and time for a pub game. Flick up your numbers one to ten, throw the dice and flick down the numbers corresponding to the dice numbers. First one with all down wins. We only played one game! Yes, for those who've noticed, the half pint is mine!

Sunday sunrise from our bedroom window. Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning... and it was - it rained. But it's OK, the new James Bond film and dinner in town is booked so we'll be indoors!

Après film dinner in the Fat Badger. A lovely restaurant and great food (the company was good too!) 

And one taken by the waitress just to show I was there too

This is the cobbled Crown Place, between the Royal Pump Room Museum and the Crown Hotel and I had spotted that Harrogate were celebrating 450 years since the Spa waters were discovered here and a light show would be here until this day. Expecting to see a great light show we came along and found this - a bit underwhelming! My guiding skills were ridiculed for the rest of the night!

So on to the bar where we felt we had to celebrate seeing the new James Bond movie, four vodka martinis, shaken not stirred. Here's our barman with his cocktail shaker, mixing it as Mr Bond likes it. The authentic glasses are there lined up on the bar ready...

Pouring them out - nearly ready...

Cheers Mr. Bond! 

Monday trip to York and our first view of York Minster and the city walls on the left

Over one of York's bridges on the Ouse river

I think this is the remains of St Mary's Abbey. Another of Henry VIII's reformation destructions

So here we are outside York Minster, a beautiful building and I have my selfie stick (much to the consternation of the others), so time for a great group photo and look what Jackie's doing!

Four photos I took and she did this on everyone of them!

I thought this was an interesting building but the man at the back on the left was standing where Di is looking at his phone so I asked here to go and stand in front to obscure him. She stood right in front and spread her arms. He looked up, laughed and moved away. I didn't mean her to stand right in front, just in the foreground. Anyway, it caused a laugh 

The Shambles, the ancient street of the Butchers of York, mentioned in the Domesday Book. It takes its name from the word 'Shamel', meaning stall or benches on which the meat was displayed. The street today dates from 1400 when it was rebuilt. 

More use of the selfie-stick with another bridge and the river Ouse

The Treasurers House, York

And finally into the Minster and what a beautiful building it is!

We had to go in here, it's called the Trembling Madness and is described in our Lonely Planet guide as an ancient drinking house. Beers and interesting food in here. Yorkshire Rarebit was on the menu, never heard of that before, only the Welsh variety...

Like Welsh Rarebit it's basically cheese on toast, but the Yorkshire version has strips of bacon on it. Quite nice

We finished off our York visit with a walk round the 1.9 mile long town wall and here's what would be a lovely view of the Minster if I hadn't got a thumb print on the camera lens!

We finished off near where we started enjoying the last rays of the sun and a nice view of the Minster before catching the train back to Harrogate. A great day out and a lovely few days in Harrogate with Si and Di, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Next time we meet will probably be when Si and I tackle the West Highland Way multi day hike in Scotland in May next year. See you then guys!

A week in England

Pauline, Jackie & John at Cotswold Wildlife Park

How does time fly? We started off with a curry at Diwans with Helen and Ian on Sunday, no walking though he seemed ok. We were then busy at mums, new taps, grab rail to help her out of the bath, lock box for a key outside. That was Brian. Along with dentist and opticians. I was on more phone calls, sorting through loads of bits of scrappy paper. Taking mum to the opticians to see if the DVLA say she can drive, and then onto her friend Jan, in Droitwich. Lovely to meet her. Tuesday our annual trip to the financial advisor, never quick, but that’s because we spend more time chatting than working.

Ring tailed Lemur at Cotswold wildlife Park

'Hello' Not so tall now are you!

Wednesday another trip out with John, this time to the Cotswold Wildlife Park, for the four of us. He Sarah and I went many times in the past. He bought her a ‘keeper for the day’ experience for her 50th and has sponsored her a penguin for years. It wasn’t necessarily the easiest day out for him, but we did all have a good time and as he said to Brian when they bumped into each other in the chippy “that’s another ghost put to bed”. It’s all these ‘firsts’ make it all very difficult. Sadly we can’t have a third Wednesday this week as he’ll be in Texas working.

Do you know, the number of times we have visited the Cotswold Wildlife Park and never seen the Red Faced Pandas, other than a bit of fur sleeping high up in a tree, but on this occasion there was action, if all a bit brief 

I wonder if one of these is Sarah's sponsored penguin

With that, on Thursday we came back to St. Albans. They’d messaged to ask if we could cover a long weekend, and knowing how long it had taken Tatty to be comfortable with us, and knowing how many lovely restaurants there are in St. Albans, we said yes. Looking to see what was on this weekends I found a Led Zeppelin tribute band on, on the Thursday, at the Alban arena. They were very good, and gave a great show, it must have been very hard for them as the audience was tiny. A real shame, but we enjoyed it. The venue had recommended The Aspava, a Turkish restaurant next door, which we thoroughly enjoyed, and so started our eating marathon. Friday was Thai, which I’d really been looking forward to.

A casual conversation going on with a couple of lions less than 20m away. I can't imagine the conversation would have been so relaxed if that sheet of glass wasn't there! 

Jackie and her mum's visit to Jan in Droitwich

Saturday we went to Wheathampstead, a small village about 4 miles away with an interesting historical tour of the village. It wasn’t anything stunning, but they’d made the effort and we had a good, if slightly elephant focused, day. The quay by the bridge over the river Lea was damaged by a circus elephant who had been taken down there to drink in the 1940’s. The now nonexistent train was used to transport straw to Luton for the hat industry, and watercress to London. On the return journey washing arrived from London along with elephant dung from London zoo for the local vegetable growers. We then had lunch at the Elephant and Castle in Amwell, home of the local Farr brewery.

First job back in St Albans: make the bed and Max cat was insistent on helping us!

Waiting for Hats Off to Led Zeppelin to come on stage

Sunday we walked up and down the antiquities market, intrigued by how things we remember can now be antiques. Before deciding perhaps we should try Italian for lunch. A good choice, mixed fish, and a bottle of wine followed by a Sunday afternoon movie called Marvellous. If you want a feel good movie give it a go.

Today we’ve done our tidying, might pop out for a light lunch and just wait for the call to say they have landed safely, before back to Mum.

Tatty cat deciding a very small box is comfortable

It took Tatty cat two weeks to reach this stage last time we were here. Fortunately she remembered us and this was on night two

And Max cat also decided laps were the place to be

The sights of Wheathampstead. This is the old railway station closed by Mr. Beeching in 1965

The Crinkle Crankle walls (that curved wall on the right) and St Helen parish church (Saxon origins)

Bit of a story about this, so read carefully: This is Devils Dyke in Wheathampstead, The information board at the entrance described it as a defensive ditch built 2000 years ago. Nearby are other 'earthworks' named 'The Moat' and 'The Slad' and together archaeologists believe they enclosed a settlement that was defended by Catuvellauni, a local chieftan controlling lands to the north and east of the Thames. They also believe it could have been here that Catuvellauni was defeated by Julius Caesar in 54BC whilst trying to defend Britain again the advance of the Roman Empire. I put this photo and this description on a Facebook group I joined 'Ridgeway and Ancient Tracks of Britain' (I can anorak with the best of them you know - I had over 300 likes from this group of my blog post of my Ridgeway adventure (the entry before this) and, so far, 142 likes and 4 shares of this photo - they are quite an interesting bunch really!). Anyway, I had a number of complimentary comments and then one chap wrote "not a defensive ditch - far too big - it's a holloway (a paleochannel) from the last Ice Age" He went on to add "Indeed it's part of a 'Dyke' - these are the remains of Paleochannels which have been extended by prehistoric groups usually to join up bodies of water such as rivers and lakes. They are dry today but during the ice age they were massive water channels which reduced in size over thousands of years. Sadly, these baffle archaeologists and hence this 'defensive and boundary' explanation - yet I just completed the first detailed British survey and found over 1500 dykes in Britain including hundreds in Ireland and Scotland (and some in Scandinavia and not forgetting Holland) dating back to the Mesolithic period. No doubt that farmers and landowners used and adapted them in later years (and hence the confusion) for boundaries and cattle herding - but this is not their original use as the ones in Shetland and Scilly Isles (with minimal populations at the time of construction) can testify!!"   So there you have it - what do I know!