O'er hill 'n down ....

Aysgarth falls on River Ure

Yorkshire has been a great revelation in England (probably helped by the best weather of our trip) and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time. The Yorkshire Dales National Park (we are still struggling with the English interpretation of National Park in comparison to Australia) was a great day as we visited Aysgarth Falls and then the town of Hawes. Aysgarth Falls is a series of three waterfalls (not exactly what we think of as waterfalls as there is only a fall of a couple of metres each time) on the River Ure but quite spectacular. Apparently it is quite dry at the moment (for England) and so the falls were not exactly thundering. Picturesque scenery which was utilised for a scene in a Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner – I seem to recall that the movie was an absolute lemon (can’t say I have seen it) so not even the great scenery could save it.

Old tourist bus in Hawes

Bridge across stream in
Yorkshire Dales

Heading further in to the National Park we arrived at the village of Hawes. This village was just so ‘cute’ and quite busy as markets were on as well as the sheep sales so all the whole district seemed to be in town. Time spent ‘rambling’ over the hills and dales of Yorkshire was wonderful and capped off with visiting the Rope Works for an education and Wensleydale Creamery for beautiful cheeses. We did balk at having to pay the equivalent of $A10 to go to the waterfall (Hardraw Force) through the pub on our walk. A good revenue raiser – the only access to the waterfall is through the door of the pub. Given our previous experience with the falls at Aysgarth we decided to give it a miss and have a look on Google. We did find out that Hardraw Force is the longest single drop waterfall in England with an estimated 100 feet drop so we are pleased we didn’t spend the money. The tranquillity of our rambling through the dales was interrupted by a couple of low flying jets from the RAF. Not sure which base they came from but they were certainly close to the ground. As they headed west they rolled on their side to head down the valley between the hills.

Clifford's Tower York

The following day was spent in the city of York which was quite amazing. We utilised the Park & Ride – weren’t going to take the motorhome to those narrow roads of York and went to the York Castle museum. This was one of the best museums we have visited on our trip – it was exceptionally well done with lots of recreations (a Victorian street of York, the prison cells of the debtors prison, WWI experiences of York people). Time really did fly because of how well it was organised and the fact that it was so engaging. Next to the York Castle was Clifford’s Tower which was the sight of a Jewish massacre in 1190.  

Tomorrow we continue to head back down south – we know we have reached the midlands because we were again caught in gridlock. It has been so pleasant to not have standstill for time we have been in the north. We head off to see Sherwood Forrest – continuing to relive our childhood stories.
We then return to London and get to go to the Theatre on Friday night to see 'Matilda'.

Love to all
S&E