UK Trip Day 17 The Yorkshire Dales

James Herriot country .....

It's still raining!

We're not letting it stop us from getting out and about though. Not now Barb has her warm khaki rain gear. She's rearing to go. John busied himself in the kitchen this morning putting together a lovely lamb casserole to slow cook for our dinner tonight, while Barb worked on this blog. Then we got ready to go out for the day. Leyburn was our initial destination. Susan had enthused about a pottery shop here that makes really funky and cute tea pots, some (some? vast numbers!) of which Susan already has in her tea pot collection. A little bit of internet research showed that they had a really gorgeous caravan tea pot and we thought that'd be the perfect present for her.

On the way to Leyburn we drove through the small village of Great Ayton, the birthplace of Captain James Cook. We might come back for a better look in better weather. On the map there appears to be a monument in the middle of moorland. Pop used to say that his mother Ella Cook was distantly related to Captain James Cook. He might have been joking though ... who knows?

We reached Leyburn after only a couple of wrong turns and back tracking (so many roundabouts here). As we pulled into the car park of the pottery barn we noticed that there was a chocolate factory at the back with a teashop. Oh joy! We found a blue caravan tea pot on display, so we were able to achieve our aim in getting one for Susan. Teapot safely stowed in the car, we proceeded into the Chocolate Factory. Yay! After indulging in one of their special hot chocolates and toasties we drooled over the chocolate displays for a while, selecting a box of mixed flavoured truffles for Geoffrey and a few more to sample ourselves. (Not forgetting the large chocolate Happy Birthday star for Susan.)

Teapots

Buying teapot

 

Chocolate

More chocolate

Leyburn is situated right on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, really only a short drive to Askrigg which was the site of Skeldale  house where Siegfried Farnon had his veterinary surgery in the All Creatures Great and Small series. (Askrigg was the fictional town of Darrowby in the series).

The drive there was absolutely gorgeous! Dales country has a lot more trees  than the stark moorland where we're staying.

Gorgeous, in a bleak sort of way

Some views are bleaker than others

We got caught behind a few traditional gypsy caravans being pulled by Clydesdale horses, headed to a gypsy encampment at  nearby Bainbridge.

Gypsy caravan in the distance

A horse!

When we finally reached Askrigg, we parked up and got out of the car wondering where to look for Skeldale house. Barb walked across the road to a teashop called Humble Pie to ask where it was. The girl behind the counter laughed. You were standing right in front of it! It's directly across the road from here. Oops! These days the house is a B&B, but looks much the same as it did.

Barb outside Skeldale house, dressed for the climate

Yep.  That's Skeldale House.

Askrigg/Darrowby with lunatic in shorts

We continued on the back road, little more than a single lane, along to Castle Bolton which we'd seen in the distance from the road as we'd driven in. The castle is big and remarkably well preserved. This is where Queen Elizabeth incarcerated her cousin Mary for a while (along with her retinue of 51 lackeys) before eventually having her executed for treason.

Castle Bolton

Castle Bolton again ...

... and again!

Scenic beauty in the rain

It's that castle again

We had a brief look around. It had started to rain more persistently by now, so we thought it might be best to head for home as there was a dry ford on the road to the cottage that had looked perilously close to flooding on the way out.

Phew! It was still passable. Lots of puddles and water on the road though. At least the sheep were sheltering somewhere and not straggling all over the road as usual - we only had to dodge the bunnies and hedgehogs that run across in front of us.

Geoffrey had finished the jigsaw puzzle by then time we got back. He triumphantly placed the last piece in while we watched. Lucky Bronte wasn't here to hide the last piece so she could do it for him.
The lamb casserole went down well and Susan and Geoffrey were pleased with their gifts (pleased?  Susan was delighted with her chocolate happy birthday star AND her teapot, and that was on top of her birthday party the day before.  She's enjoying being spoilt!). Tonight we plan a day out for tomorrow where we'll meet up for lunch. It's supposed to fine up.

Jig-saw Geoffrey