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UK 2023

July - August 2023
A 31-day adventure by Sarah Read more
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  • TravelerUK 2023
    2
    1112
    Day 8

    Cononley, North Yorkshire

    July 30, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    How stunning are the Yorkshire dales! Today was a tiring day of being on the road, and we are both happy to be relaxing in our next bnb. We are here till Friday.
    It was bad planning on my part to shift locations on a Sunday in regards to having a Memorial Meeting. We ended up zooming into Bedford while parked at a service centre, which was surprisingly OK! Bought Cornish pasties after our service then continued driving north.
    This farm runs sheep. Such a beautiful property! The railway line runs close by. We have a couple of train trips planned while we're here. But right now we just relax. I've just spotted a jigsaw on the shelf. Maybe I'll have a go at that.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    12112
    Day 9

    East Riddlesden Hall

    July 31, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Today started off slowly and we didn't feel in the mood to do anything too adventurous. First job was to go into the next village (Skipton) and find a raincoat. I didn't pack one as I thought it was meant to be summer here! It's going to be rainy all week and Ian doesn't want me to catch my death of cold.
    Then we drove to East Riddlesden Hall which is only 10 minutes away from where we're staying. It's a manor house now owned by the National Trust. Wuthering Heights was filmed there apparently. Lots of old furnishings and beautiful hand crafted items. We had lunch in the Cafe (upstairs in the old barn) which was delicious.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    Day 10

    Grassington and Skipton Castle

    August 1, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today we drove to Grassington which is only about 25 minutes from where we are staying. It is a very pretty village which is used for the latest James Herriot TV series as the town of Darrowby. There were a surprising number of people wandering around. There were 3-4 coaches in the car park, so very popular. There were lots of interesting shops and we had a drink at a Cafe.
    That ginger cat was so similar to our late Garfield that I went to say hello. He was very friendly and put his paws around my neck and head butted my chin. Twice we walked past that bench and both times different people were giving him a cuddle. I think he's on the town's committee, a bit like Skimbleshanks.
    On the way home we dropped into Skipton Castle. It appears that every place has their own castle - like Australia has OTRs! This one is somewhere between Warwick and Kenilworth in relation to preservation. It has a roof (unlike Kenilworth) but is not quite sealed enough to furnish like Warwick, apart from benches to sit on and some things hanging on the walls. Bits of it date to 1090 but most to 1310. Now I know I said I like old things, but I think I am a fan of modern toilets!
    We didn't wander back through the town. There was too much commotion. Apparently 1 August is Yorkshire Day. Not sure what was going on but we were a bit tired to check it out.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    11122
    Day 11

    York

    August 2, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    It is hard to put today into words ...

    It started lying in bed at 7:30am listening to the torrential rain and wondering if we should just stay home. Maybe we should have. If we hadn't prepaid the tickets to Jorvik we would have bailed for sure.

    But Ian didn't want to disappoint me, and I was just hoping it would be worth the effort. We had about an hour's drive to a Park and Ride just outside of York (which turned out to be 1.5 hours due to roadworks). Then the 20 minute bus trip turned out to be 30 minutes and we were wedged in like sardines. A ten minute walk in the pouring rain and we made it in time for our 12:20 booking but had to wait 15 minutes in the rain before we could enter. We were so wet! At least my £34 jacket earned its keep. Ian's turned out to be not as waterproof as he thought and he had a wet shirt for the rest of the day.

    When we finally got inside, it was so cramped and noisy I started to feel overwhelmed and had to fight the urge to escape. It seemed like a giant queue ... to what? Then I realised we were being ushered onto a carriage, like a very slow roller-coaster carriage. I actually had no idea it was that kind of attraction! It was extremely well done. The centre was built on the original excavation site. The wax figures are very lifelike, but there was one guy who was actually real pretending to be fake. 🤣

    Then we headed back into the pouring rain to try and find somewhere dry to sit. We felt like Mary & Joseph trying to find an inn - everyone was full up! We did find a Starbucks which was passable.

    We popped into an antiques store and then to York Minster. What an AMAZING edifice! And that organ - wow! I would have loved to hear the choir or organ rehearse, but we were out of luck.

    The bus trip back to the Park and Ride was another nightmare trip. I got a seat, but Ian had to stand down the back of the bus. Why is traffic so slow in the rain? It took forever.

    So, York: was it worth it? Ask me another day. I think it is a very interesting city, but today it was too crowded and too wet for us to enjoy it. I had a slight stress headache all day. You just can't predict the weather. At least we got there and back safely. Hopefully we don't wake in the morning with a cold.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    124
    Day 12

    Haworth: Bronte Parsonage

    August 3, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The weather was much brighter today. The original plan had been to ride on the iconic Skipton-Settle-Carlisle railway to Appleby and back. Alas there was industrial action this week with many trains cancelled, and while we could have found a train out, there was no guarantee we'd get one home. 😕

    I felt very disappointed, as the railway was one of the reasons I chose this bnb near the railway line. We didn't want to waste this wonderful weather. Drove to the Bronte parsonage museum in Haworth just to get us out of the house.

    The day exceeded my expectations. There was much more at Haworth than the parsonage. There was a whole cobbled street full of interesting shops. I finally encountered a patchwork quilt, and I got to have a tinkle on a pipe organ!    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    3
    1
    Day 13

    Stoke-on-Trent: Wedgwood

    August 4, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today was an epic day of travelling. Our drive from Birmingham to Yorkshire took us 3.5 hours last Sunday, and today was meant to be the reverse of that, 4 hours to Gloucester. 2 hours would get us halfway to Stoke-on-Trent where I wanted to check out the china shop. Alas that took 4 hours to SoT 😵‍💫. Partly because Murgatroyd (our satnav lady) thought we'd prefer a scenic detour, and partly because the M6 was very congested in places.

    On the bright side, I found a lovely Royal Albert mug for £12 (less than half price). I love a bargain! It was from a set of 5 mugs which they reproduced as part of a centenary celebration. Mine is Spring Meadow from the 1920s. I presume the set got broken up for some reason. If I bought the single mug with a box it would have cost me £37. Hopefully it gets home in one piece.

    The trip to Gloucestershire from there was driven mostly at 20 mph for the first hour. We arrived at 5:30pm having been on the road sine 9:30am. Admittedly we had a couple of stops, but we could have got to Melbourne in that time! Ian's leg is tired from hovering over the accelerator and brake. He's a trooper!

    Our accommodation feels very luxurious. It is pretty modern inside. Their place is an old barn from the late 1700s. Our place was originally old dairy milking sheds. They were rebuilt in the 70s and used as garages for vintage cars. I think only some of the original building was able to be reused. The bricks out the front are modern. They bought the place a couple of years ago and renovated into a bnb. It has a dishwasher and a washing machine, which is currently in use. Some things don't change on holidays!    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    112
    Day 14

    Cirencester: Market Day

    August 5, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Today we drove to Cirencester as it was Market Day. Markets are always a bit unpredictable, and I while I love artisan craft markets, I didn't want to drive 30 minutes for a perfect home grown pumpkin. Thankfully Cirencester did not disappoint. A very pretty streetscape, old wonky buildings, lots of lovely shops and a bustling market (and a Church of course!)

    My raincoat got a workout again. Some of the markets are outdoors in front of the church. Some of them are indoors in Corn Hall. There were lots of lovely things! I nearly bought a bag made from cork fabric. It feels lovely and is waterproof. It feels like a cross between leather and fabric. I did buy a necklace made from Italian ladder yarn. The trouble with me and craft markets is that I look at all the creations and think "I could make that" or "I'd love to give that a try" and I'm generally too tight with my wallet. The thing is, time is not a limitless commodity and the reality is I'm not going to get around to trying all these things so I should just buy something if I like it. I love textile creations the most.

    We also found an impressive antiques shop and Ian found a few treasures. There was a fascinating coin collection in there: Roman coins from Bible times, eg first Jewish revolt in time of Domitian.

    St John's church was also interesting to visit (and dry!). This also had a very ornate pipe organ. I really want to hear one of these played! I'd love to be there when someone is practising. They had a fundraising shop at the back and I found a few more Hannah Dunnett items.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    13
    Day 15

    Highnam and Gloucester

    August 6, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Today began with us streaming into Rugby's memorial meeting. That was good and the speaker had a lovely tenor voice which came through the mic and added to the experience. Their streaming tech was up to Jeremy's standard, unlike last week which was on Zoom with truly terrible music.

    We had a quiet lunch at home and then the plan was to visit an Open Garden which was at Highnam Court just down the road. The driveway was easy to find but there was no way to open the gate. Plan B was to go to the neighbouring church as you could walk from the Church carport. Murgatroyd led us to another gate that was only accessible on foot. When exiting onto the main street we could only turn left and found ourselves heading into Gloucester. OK looks like we visit Gloucester first and visit the garden on the way home.

    Gloucester is not a lovely city. Some bits felt quite grotty and rough. It was also quite busy today. We had a stroll through an antiques shop as well as Gloucester Cathedral. This isn't my favourite Cathedral. It's a bit gaudy. We didn't stay too long, and Ian was glad we still had hubcaps on our hire car!

    Time to give this open garden another crack. Same problem. You would think if someone wants to attract visitors to their place they would put some decent signs up. The driveway we were directed to was correct, but was for the owner, not the public. We tried the church again and this time we were able to find the church carpark and walk over to Highnam Court, although it was now 4:10pm and it closes at 4:30. The ticket people didn't charge us and let us have a quick run around the property.

    The gardens were very impressive after all that. Very formal. There was one section called the Knot Garden which looks like the hedges are weaving under and over each other. A pity we didn't have time to relax and enjoy the gardens or the refreshments in the Orangery.

    We popped into the church where we had parked. Not huge, but such a pretty one! Everything was so ornate, and the artwork was truly lovely with beautiful Bible quotations.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    11112
    Day 16

    Tewkesbury

    August 7, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    So it's not just Castles, Cathedrals and antique shops: Today we enjoyed a boat tour of Tewkesbury on the River Avon. It was very pleasant. It was a little boat with only 10-12 aboard. The skipper had some interesting things to say about the history of the town. The Avon is quite a long river and if we had plenty more time we could have ended up in Stratford-on-Avon. I think our 3 hour parking would have expired.

    The Tewkesbury Antiques Centre was a treasure trove. We both had a good poke around and found some things to buy.

    Then we went to check out the Abbey. What a lovely building. This has been around for 900 years. I put my phone timer on to remind me to head outside in time for the chimes on the hour - I've missed them everywhere else. Success.

    After Tewkesbury we still had some time to kill, so we decided to visit the Slaughters - Upper & Lower Slaughter. Weird name! I think everyone else had the same idea. We drove there but couldn't find anywhere to park. So we drove up and down the lovely street a few times then drove home. Seems no point living in such a peaceful place that everyone in the whole world wants to visit which surely ruins its peacefulness.

    We passed this absolutely gorgeous thatched house. Murgatroyd got a bit confused as we did a U-turn or two to get a photograph.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    22111
    Day 17

    Bath and Crockerton

    August 8, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today was a travelling day. Highnam (Gloucestershire) to Crockerton (Wiltshire) is only 1.5 hours drive so we planned to go via Bath and check out the Roman bath. We could have gone on the motorway via Bristol but we decided to go via Cirencester because I wanted to buy a bag that I saw on Saturday and regretted not buying. It's made of cork fabric, which I haven't come across before. I am really happy with it ☺️

    I didn't book the Roman Bath tickets in advance because I didn't know how long we would stay in Cirencester and we've had traffic delays and parking problems in the past. We didn't want extra stress of a deadline. We did find parking thanks to Murgatroyd, however there was an almighty queue for the Bath. We would have had to hang around for a couple more hours and we were a bit tired.

    Considered going through the Cathedral instead. You can climb to the top and look down on the Bath! However that was also a tour that we would have needed to wait for. So we decided to give it a miss. If we've got nothing better to do in the next couple of days we might try again, but if not I shall content myself with Maxine's photo (and we've seen enough Cathedrals of late).

    We're staying at Crockerton which is a tiny village about 30 minutes east of Bath. Very secluded here. When we first arrived we weren't sure where our accommodation was. We thought for a moment that our cabin looked much smaller than we imagined - it was actually his shed. Phew! Sometimes hard to tell from the photos. Our suite is part of the main house. They live mostly upstairs. It's very luxurious and I'm sure we'll be very comfortable. We ate out at an Indian restaurant tonight. Makes a change from Sainsbury's frozen dinners.    Read more

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