Luckily for me I was in between jobs. I finished one contract on Thursday and started another today – Monday.
That meant that I could lounge around on Friday and manage to pick up the car from the rental company without having to rush away from work on Friday afternoon.
It all started rather well. Thrifty Rentals had misbooked and we got an upgrade. So rather than having the cheapest car – usually a Ford Ka (inventive name huh?) – we got a Rover 45. This was two steps up so I was happy.
Whenever we have a car Alex and I do a big shop at the supermarket and the one on Friday night broke all records - £104. Enough to qualify for a petrol voucher. Sounds naff to New Zealanders but when you consider that petrol is 75p a litre (roughly $2.55 or SEK 11) then the voucher is worth it.
Actually it’s only worth it if you use it and I forgot to use it! Never mind.
We left Edinburgh on Saturday morning and the weather was horrible. I had packed all my wet weather gear fully expecting rain for the weekend.
On top of that we weren’t sure what would be open due to Foot and Mouth disease having taken over the country. Yorkshire was meant to be free of Foot and Mouth but you never know till you get there.
There have been reports of Americans not coming to Scotland because they had heard that Foot and Mouth can be caught by humans (which it cannot) and it might cause you to loose an arm or a leg (ah not that either). Sean Connery has taken on the task of putting them straight – it’s apparently Tartan Week or something over there just now.
First stop was Richmond which is in the north-east corner of the Yorkshire Dales. That was after about 3 hours driving to get there.
Richmond Castle was built in 1071. Apparently William the Lion, King of Scotland, was kept prisoner there … who? I personally love these old castle’s which have been partially restored and still retain some of the old crumbling walls or buildings. They are very well maintained – well the ones I’ve been to are.
This one was particularly good for children with lots of areas to explore, steps to climb and areas to investigate.
Further on into the Dales we came across lots of Foot and Mouth (F&M) signs warning people to keep out (the disease can be transmitted from people walking around the infected areas and taking it home with them).
This killed plans to see the Studley Royal Water Garden, Fountains Abbey and Jervelaux Abbey – a privately-owned Cistercian Abbey (whatever that is).
By the time we had been to the above we realised there was no chance of seeing anything interesting in the Dales and so went onto York City and found our accomodation.
York City Football Club was 100m down the road from our bed and breakfast and thank God the game was already in progress. It would have been a nightmare trying to get there before the game as the B&B is also close to the city.
We walked around the Old Town, saw York Minster from the outside (like you cannot avoid seeing it no matter where you are), walked around the Shambles and saw some pretty old buildings which weren’t sure if they were going to fall over or if they were just leaning on the building next door to take it easy.
I should mention there are strong Nordic ties with York but to most readers of this that will not be anything new. Unfortunately the Jorvik (York) Viking Centre was closed for upgrading.
On Sunday we got up and hired bicycles to ride around the cities walls. Made up largely of 4 parts I thought they were great. The city is no longer completely surrounded but what is left is worth looking at.
Plus, and how could I forget to mention this? – the sun came out. It was chilly but the sun did shine – honest!
After two hours we had gone around the city – very slowly – and returned the bikes. Then into the city centre again to go inside York Minster. The Minster houses over half of the medieval stained glass in England! It is also the largest medieval cathedral in Northern Europe.
It was funny for me to see it as I’ve also seen Koln (Cologne) Cathedral which is also a large gothic cathedral. And because Koln is jammed into the surrounding buildings, unlike York which has a space of it’s own, Koln seemed larger.
Then in the afternoon we packed the car and headed north. We took a detour to Castle Howard which is a privately owned estate belonging to … you guessed it … the Howards. Been in the family for 300 years and it was really amazing.
This castle is where Brideshead Revisted was filmed. It was a massive estate with a magnificent garden, lakeside retreat, forest, and plently of statues of famous Greeks to keep you entertained. And if you were prepared to get a little off the beaten track (ah, that is to say “outside” of the estate) you could venture to a beautiful mausoleum. Oh and there was also a Temple of the Four Winds which was beautifully built.
Truly, a grand place.
Then we headed home which took us through part of the Yorkshire Moors. Even though F&M meant little was open we still enjoyed the countryside.…. a nice break from Edinburgh.
