Stamford Bridge, York


A couple of weeks ago we went out for a drive to Stamford Bridge (no, not that one). We found it purely because of its name. Stamford Bridge is a village on the River Derwent near York. The place itself is really picturesque and there are a number of different walks that you can do around the village. The history of the village can be traced back to a Roman fort in the year 70AD. The village was also host to the Battle of Stamford Bridge, which resulted in the end of the Viking era in Britain.


There’s an old railway line which we walked along and took pictures sitting on the edge of the platform before walking across a tall bridge (not Stamford) that had amazing views along the river. Circling back, we ate dinner in a little cafĂ© across from the water and made sure to visit the actual Stamford Bridge before heading home. The current bridge was built in 1725 and finished 2 years later; it is currently grade II listed.


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Dancing Stone, Danby


We came across the ‘dancing stone’ on a walk around the countryside at Danby. Starting at the car park next to the church, you follow the path down through the woods, along country lanes, before making the ascent up quite a steep hill – which was like walking up a river when we were there as it had rained the days before. 

Nevertheless, the view from the top is amazing; you can walk out onto the stone looking down over the patchwork quilt of the moors. 


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Romanby and Newby Wiske


It had stopped raining as we left Betty's Tea Rooms, so we decided to drive home via the little villages nearby so that I could get some photos of the autumn colours. We went first to Romanby, a village not far from Northallerton. I got a few pictures including one of a lovely willow tree draped over a bridge. We also found some conkers to take home to protect us from spiders. 





Next, we drove through the villages of Yafforth and Warlaby, both of which I’d never heard of. I got some lovely pictures of the autumn leaves and managed to photograph a hiding squirrel. We then parked up in a village called Newby Wiske where I managed to take a photo of a heron in a stream, which would have been lovely had it not been for the chorus of especially loud mooing coming from a nearby barn.

We went through Sandhutton and Carlton Miniott before getting lost and ending up in Thirsk. We finally headed home via Carlton where I got some autumn photos.


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Thorp Perrow


We decided to visit Thorp Perrow in Bedale a couple of weeks ago. It’s described as 'a Victorian Arboretum with 100 acres of trees and gardens'. We got there about midday, so it wasn’t too busy when we arrived; however, the Halloween trail had just started, and there was a giant (fake) spider in a tree which was unexpected, so it was probably busier than usual.


After walking around the lake, we then went to watch the bird show. The seats were all taken when we got there, so we had to stand; it turned out that I had the best view in the end - I stood right next to where the owl was sitting. I also got pictures of the other birds, including the cute owl below. During the show, the owls and falcons can fly off before returning for food and swooping over the audience’s heads.


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Gibside


We went to Gibside at the beginning of October; the weather was still quite warm, so we decided to do one of the longer walks. (There were 4 to choose from.) To get in is about £9, so not too expensive and once inside, we headed off on our walk, beginning with the gardens. There were lots of little apple trees and such – I was on the lookout for more conkers after an incident with a spider earlier in the week. I took some photos in the orangery, and then we stopped off at the stables.


After a brief pit stop, we trekked up through the woods, breaking off from the other routes, so it was a bit quieter.  There were cows in the next field, which I was a bit wary of – one walked in front of us, blocking our way! After navigating past the cows, we crossed a stile and headed along a quiet road before re-entering the woods. I made the most of the quiet and took some photos and found some chestnuts. I remember seeing roasted chestnuts at the Christmas Markets last year but I’ve never actually tried them!  


At the end of the forest route, Liberty’s Column came into view; we made our way over, passing ‘Octagon Lake’ on the way. There were only a few people at the monument when we arrived, so I could take as many photos as I liked. There was an avenue of trees towards the end of the walk, but they were nearly all oak trees so I gave up looking for conkers. We had a quick look around the markets that were on before we headed for the exit. As we were leaving, we found a lone conker tree - but I only managed to get one as they were all still high up on the tree. It's currently sitting on my mantelpiece at home to scare away spiders. 




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