Goathland

I always get mixed up between Goathland and Grosmont with both of them having railway stations, being so close to each other and starting with ‘G’.  Last week I went to Goathland, a village in North Yorkshire, on the North York moors infact. The railway is still running, linking with Grosmont and Pickering, and we’ve decided at some point next year to come back and have afternoon tea on the train.  After waiting and seeing a train arrive at the station, we walked alongside the railway, following the footpath to Grosmont.

Goathland was used as the setting for ‘Heartbeat’ (never seen it), and when I googled that to confirm it I found out that the railway was also used in one of the Harry Potter films (never seen them either!).

Durham

The other weekend, after afternoon tea at Wynyard Hall, we drove into Durham which isn’t too far from Wynyard.  After we’d had a look round the shops in the city centre, we headed for the cathedral – which had scaffolding sat on the top of it.  You can go inside the cathedral – for free – but I wasn’t allowed to take any photos inside.  To complete our look around Durham, we wandered back across the bridge and walked along the River Wear, to get some picturesque photographs.

Afternoon Tea at Wynyard Hall

I was treated to afternoon tea a couple of weekends ago.  When we first arrived we sat outside in the sunshine with a pot of breakfast tea, before moving in to one of the dining rooms.  This meant that I got to see the views of the countryside and the river as well as the library and other rooms inside the hall.  We had also had a pianist in our dining room which was a nice addition. 

I had all of my sandwiches egg mayonnaise because I’m fussy, we also got a scone each and a selection of cakes, and a funny little thing that I can only describe as an egg cup filled with passion fruit – I have no idea what it was really, but it was nice!

A Guide to York

I did a post on York last year, but I haven’t been in ages so here’s another.  This time I had lunch in Betty’s Tea Rooms and it rained – a lot.  Luckily though, most of the photos I took were before it started to pour down.

Places to visit in York:

Betty’s Tea Rooms

I’ve been to Betty’s a number of times before but never to the one in York, (there are actually two in York, though one is a lot smaller), so when we were there last week we decided to try it out.  There was quite a queue as it was lunch time, but we didn’t have to wait long to be seated which was lucky since it was raining!  We got to sit downstairs which was nice; I had my usual – egg and cress – and my boyfriend had a pasta dish that I can't remember the name of, and a pot tea for two.

York Minster

York Minster is a cathedral in the centre of York.  It was completed in 1472 after centuries of building.  We went inside the Minster, it’s about £10 entry but you can go in to the first bit for free if you just want to get a feel of the place.

York City Wall

York has a castle wall around the city, most of it built somewhere between the 12^th and 14^th century and the first parts built in Roman times, about 71 AD.  A lot of the wall still remains today and the last photo in this post was taken from the wall looking towards the Minster – a unique way to see York’s sights from a different perspective.  There are a number of ‘bars’ where you can exit or join the wall, so you don’t have to walk the whole thing!

The Shambles

Finally, for this post, the Shambles, which is basically an old street in York, with a cobbled road and buildings dating back to the 14^th century.  Close to the Shambles is The Fudge Kitchen, which is well worth a visit – the vanilla fudge is my favourite!

Aysgarth Falls

On our way home from the Forbidden Corner, we stopped off at Aysgarth Falls.  Aysgarth Falls are three waterfalls (Upper Falls, Middle Falls and Lower Falls), in the Yorkshire Dales, near to the village of Aysgarth, hence the name.  The upper falls can be seen from the bridge that you need to cross to get to it; the first photo in this post is taken from the bridge.  The falls are free to access, though they do have an honesty box – which we did add too!  You can walk right out onto the limestone steps and at some points the water from the River Ure was shallow enough for us to almost reach the other side.

The falls are mostly surrounded by woodland; we were going to walk into Wensleydale but Google Maps told me it was over 8 miles away! Still, there is a nice short walk across a couple of fields full of lambs and the bluebell covered woodland before you get to the Middle Falls.  The Middle Falls can be seen from a viewing platform and as far as I know you can’t walk to them. You can, however, walk alongside the Lower Falls where I managed to snap a blurry photo of a heron flying away.

Middleham and Bolton Castle

I didn’t actually go inside these two castles, but, I was there and I got photos so I thought I’d put them up anyway.  We had dinner in Middleham in a little café before we went to the Forbidden Corner.  Middleham Castle (above) is an English Heritage site and is only £6 entry so we’ll probably go back at some point. 

We drove through Castle Bolton (Castle Bolton is the village where Bolton Castle is) and stopped outside the castle for a picture; there are amazing views over Wensleydale surrounding the castle. Built in the 14th century, Bolton Castle is where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned.