Holiday to North Yorkshire

23 – 30 Aug 08

Saturday 23 Aug

James arrived at my place on Saturday evening. Rather than leave then, we decided to start our holiday in Driffield, enjoying ambience at the Tiger for this years Folk Festival. There were about 9 musicians packed into the small front room of the pub not leaving much room for an audience, but we were quick and persistent and soon managed to grab ourselves a prime position next to the players and enjoyed an evening of great, impromptu folk music on guitar, banjo, accordion, double base, ukulele and fiddle. I don’t think I recognised any of the tunes, but it’s always great to hear live music.

Sunday 24 Aug

After the final packing and some breakfast, we headed for James’s parents farm to pick up the caravan. We stayed for a tasty farmhouse lunch, and then before we took off in the caravan, we went to see the local miniature railway enthusiasts open day. Loads of grown men (and a few women and boys in training) riding around on fully functioning, but much smaller steam trains. Although they were obviously having fun, they were also taking it very seriously, all running to a tight timetable. The engines were great, and even the carriages they were pulling were all perfect authentic replicas. I do love all things miniature, and it was a sunny, warm day, so I enjoyed it very much.

By late afternoon, we picked up the caravan and headed off to our first campsite near Helmsley. It was only 15 minutes away! We got the bikes out, electricity hooked up, set up the gas bottle for the fridge, put the wine in to chill, and headed into Helmsley to have a drive through. What a gorgeous Yorkshire town!! All the shops were closed, but it looked like a charming place, and we had a good walk around. Back to the campsite to explore on our bikes, and a cosy night in the caravan. I’m sure we had the oldest and possibly the smallest caravan. Great!!

Monday 25 Aug

In the morning, we headed back into Helmsley for the morning which is a very popular place, especially on a bank holiday! First stop was a small (how appropriate) dolls house shop absolutely crammed full with really tiny, gorgeous stuff. I was like a kid in a sweet shop, and simply had to have something! We then went into an equally tempting delicatessen and bought some yummy, smelly cheese. Back to the campsite, to pack up anything that might get damaged or cause damage and check out by 12noon, and then off to our next caravan site just outside Ripon. Being a bank holiday, they had been full for the weekend, which is why we had to change campsites. The trip from Helmsley to Ripon was full of gorgeous scenery and picturesque villages – and a shining example of why people love to visit and holiday in Yorkshire.

That evening we headed off to nearby Harrogate in search of Salsa and tapas. As James and I are now keen salsa dancers (we are still trying to perfect our turns in the beginners group but are on the verge of moving up to “improvers” !!), I had managed to find a salsa club in Harrogate in a room above a tapas restaurant. I had called them and was reliably informed that they always had a class on a Monday night. So, we arrived on Monday night to be told that yes, salsa every Monday, except this Monday!! It was an inviting looking bar so we stayed for a drink, and perhaps one or two tapas dishes….or six…yum! After our delicious meal, we had a wander around Harrogate to check out the night life, and saw a few bars but not much else. Was all the night life hiding? Had we not found it? Perhaps Harrogate is not a happening place in the evening? Oh well, we have our exciting caravan site to return to!

Tuesday 26 Aug

We headed up to Leyburn and found a gorgeous little chocolate factory. I could work there! Obviously we were tempted to a selection of handmade chocolates in the small shop at the end of the small factory tour. I must admit, the chocolates were even better than the ones we got in Bruges. We also visited a small teapot factory. Fun, but not really my cup of tea! (see what I did there….!!) We enjoyed exploring this interesting little town and managed to get last minute tickets for the nearby “Forbidden Corner”. It describes itself as “the strangest place in the world”. Now, I haven’t been everywhere in the world so I cant really qualify that statement, but it was certainly a very strange and interesting and fun place. We arrived and had a picnic first (with some of the gorgeous cheese and salami we had bought in Helmsley).

Then, we headed inside, not knowing quite what to expect. There are lots of interesting follies, statues, carvings, underground tunnels, mazes, optical illusions, and more. You get a leaflet giving a hint of the things you can find, but no map, so by default you are lost from the beginning and the fun is in exploring and trying to find what you might have missed. By the time they were closing, we were still lost and still wondering if we had seen everything. A bizarre place indeed and well worth a visit.

Wed 27 Aug

We decided to make a trip to York (without visiting the shops!) I sent a text to my nephew Benji who lives in York, to see if he wanted to meet up for lunch/coffee & cake, but unfortunately he was working. We parked and rode the bus (it was James’s first PaR experience and he was very excited!). Then took a look around some gardens near the cathedral, a walk along the river, and then a walk along the city walls, with the lovely views of the cathedral and the city.

We headed into the York Dungeon (obviously I had a half-price voucher!) What makes the experience fun are the staff who show you around each section. They are dressed up, and playing wonderfully gruesome or funny or scary parts. Audience participation cannot be avoided, and there are plenty of surprises. In one room – a mock court room – the “judge” picks on someone as a victim to put in the dock, to the amusement (and humiliation?) of the crowd. Unfortunately, I was that person!! I am not a natural or willing performer, but ok, I will admit that it was quite good fun. I suppose. All too soon the gruesome journey is over, and we are directed through the shop (with its “yukky dip”) and outside into the daylight. Time for cake (extra large portion in converted church to make up for not meeting Benji), and then back to Ripon.

Just in time for Ghost Walk in the medieval (small) city of Ripon. Well, more of a history tour really, with Maurice in a black cloak. He did pass on a few stories where people thought they have seen ghosts. Of course, I don’t believe in ghosts…..except for the one that visited me in Denmark, but that’s another story. We did end up in the graveyard in the dark, with stories of monks and things that go bump in the night. As if!! Well, actually, something did go bump later that evening. It was me. Falling off my bike and hitting a concrete plant holder. Don’t worry - the bruises have nearly gone, and I covered up the black eye with make-up.

Thurs 28 Aug

Harrogate today. Had a look in a few shops, well, charity shops really. Posh ones in Harrogate! Bought a great badge maker for Lydia. We took a look in the Spa Museum. There are loads of natural spas in Harrogate. James tasted the special spa water, despite the fact that it smelt like rotten egg. He said it tasted disgusting. So I tried some…..NOT !

We decided to stay on and catch the 5.30 cinema screening of Mama Mia. I did see it a couple of weeks ago, but its such a fun film that it was great to see again!

Fri 29 Aug

Ripon had a Continental market today, so we cycled into town in search of smelly cheese. We found some! And great salami. And had mini crepes which were really yummy. Today was a warm day and was even threatening sunshine.

In fact, it was so warm, that we headed to Knaresborough and hired a boat. James did lots of rowing and I did lots of steering. We took some cheese and biscuits and wine with us and tied up to a tree for a while. How very decadent!

When our time was up (come in No. 61….), we went for a walk further along the river and then rolled our trousers up and went for a paddle in the river. We left our shoes on and they got very squidgy!

Eventually we headed back to the caravan site and then took a bit more cheese, salami and wine and headed off down the footpath near our caravan, which led down to the river Ure, and had a picnic. It was a lovely warm evening. The caravan site was packed and lots of people sat in caravans looking out at other caravans. Why didn’t they do like us and escape to lovely picturesque countryside only a few yards away? Who knows! As the light faded we headed back to the caravan and decided to check out the caravan park club house to see what entertainment was being offered. Friday night was a popular night. It was an interesting experience. It was bingo night which was taken very seriously by all the Geordies. Absolutely everybody did bingo….except us. But, it did allow us to do some interesting people watching, but we were clearly the odd ones out!!

Sat 30 Aug

Final day of our holiday today. The time this week has just flown by and it has been really relaxing and we had lots of fun. We are definitely planning on taking another beak in the caravan. Another warm day and we weren’t quite ready to leave, so we extended our stay until 6pm and cycled back into town for a bit more Ripon sightseeing. Does this holiday really have to come to an end? Our conclusion is that one room living in a caravan is very cosy and great fun. Having a kitchen in the bedroom is very practical. Close living – great!