Yorkshire Dales
Yorkshire Dales (23 July to 10 August)
The drive to Yorkshire was uneventful and when we arrived at the village of Healey, just outside Masham around 2pm our rental house was waiting for us.
Rowan Cottage
The view from our bedroom window
Just down the road was a pretty little Victorian church, appropriately known as St. Paul's.
Our plan was to take it easy in The Dales, but in practice, we were quite busy.
Two days after we arrived, we drove to The Cornmill Nursing home in Garstang, where Kris' s mum, Joan, was living at the time. As I was still testing positive for Covid, I didn't go in, so I left Kris with her Mum and she took a taxi to her sister's place when she had finished. Next day, she took the train back to Skipton.
Our next outing was afternoon tea on The Wensleydale Railway.
The train went from Leeming Bar to Leyburn and then back to Leeming Bar. A pleasant afternoon, if rather warm on the train.
Leyburn Station
One afternoon, we took a tour of the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond. It opened in 1788 and although it was used as a warehouse for many years, it is now the oldest operating theatre in the UK. It was reopened in 1963 and has been expanded and restored several times since. The most recent restoration was during Covid when some seats we removed and the remaining seats made more comfortable.
The Royal Georgian Theatre, Richmond
On a different day, we attended an evening performance of "Stepping Out", a dance show, which was a lot of fun.
Our next trip was to Scarborough, Filey and then on to Hornsea to visit an old friend of Kristine's.
We started in Scarborough at "Oliver's Mount" which gave us a nice overview of Scarborough.
We then drove to 34 West Street, which was where my father's mother and aunty lived when I was a child. It may have been were my father was born.
34 West Street, Scarborough
My father and I would visit here almost every weekend when we lived in Filey. My father's mother died here when I was about six.
We also found the Royal Crescent, where two of my Great Aunts, Jessie and Margaret lived. We would usually visit them the same time we went to 34 West Street.
The Royal Crescent, Scarborough
Our next stop was Peasholm Park, which I often visited when I was a child. We especially enjoyed the miniature naval battles that they still have, although we didn't see one that day.
Our final stop in Scarborough was down by the harbour. The tide was definitely out !
Scarborough Harbour
We had a quick walk round the small funfair, Luna Park, next to the harbour which I remember visiting as a child.
We drove on to Filey, where Paul lived between 1955 and 1958.
This was the house, 24 Rutland Street - the one on the right. My Dad who was a dentist had his surgery on the ground floor and we lived "over the shop". My sister Sarah was born here in 1956, in a snowstorm.
Now it's been converted to flats and at the back, we could see construction work going on.
The back of 24 Rutland Street
I went to The Blue Birds Primary school for almost two years - I'm second from the right on the third row. Happy days !
We drove down to the beach and took a walk along the promenade to the Coble landing. ( A coble is type of fishing boat used in this area)
It was nice day but rather windy
The sun came out briefly and that's Filey Brigg extending all the way to the right. We used to walk out there as kids.
The coble landing. Those are "cobles' on the left.
After Filey, we drove to Bridlington, where we stayed the night. The only excitement was next morning, when Kristine locked herself in the hotel bathroom and the faulty lock wouldn't budge. The hotel manager and I had to break the door open to get her out.
We drove to Hornsea, to visit Kristine's friends Carole and Ken, with whom we had lunch, but we don't have any photographs.
We took another train trip but this time, it was all day. On our way to Skipton to meet the train, we stopped in Grassington, where "All Creatures Great and Small" is filmed.
Grassington
We arrived in Skipton in plenty of time to catch our train, which was waiting for us.
The journey was over the famous Settle to Carlisle line, with beautiful Dales scenery along the way.
We arrived in Carlisle, which was mostly closed as it was a Sunday. It was also cold and we weren't really dressed for cold weather, so we went the Cathedral to stay warm.
Carlisle Cathedral - not so impressive on the outside
But a nice interior with a spectacular painted ceiling
Finally, back to Carlisle Railway Station, where we could eventually rejoin the train for our return journey to Skipton
We stopped in Appleby on the way back to take on water and it gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs
Of course, a highlight of the return trip was traditional afternoon tea.
(August 10)
We made a second trip to Lancashire to visit Joan at her nursing home in Garstang . By this time, I was no longer testing positive for Covid so both Kristine and I were able to visit her. I spent about 30 minutes with her and then left Joan and Kristine together for about another 45 minutes. This was the last time we ever saw Joan as she passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 19, 2022.
After visiting with Joan, we drove to Lyndale, to meet with John. He took us to see his latest development, which is located in a old ironworks. The actual ironworks are preserved, but John is developing some of the outbuildings as homes. The first one was almost finished.
The top of the old ironworks
The new house - built on top of an old storage area
The very modern interior built on three levels
We spent the night with John and Sharon and next day drove back to Yorkshire.
While staying in Yorkshire, we had to pay a visit to West Scrafton and Coverham Church.
Coverham Church
We also visited Jervaulx Abbey, which is very near to Masham. I used to visit with my mother. It was built around 1145 and destroyed by Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530's.
Wildflowers at the side of the road, just outside West Scrafton
Foresters Cottage from the road
In West Scrafton, I finally got to use my drone !
West Scrafton from the air
Foresters Cottage from the back
Then we drove over to Carlton and went to Highfield, which is the first place my family and I stayed in the Yorkshire Dales in 1957.
The view from Highfield to Roova Crags
The back of Highfield
The road to Highfield - Kris enjoying a beautiful Dales day
The day we left Yorkshire, on our way to Greece, we stopped in Nottingham for a few hours to visit the University and my old Hall of Residence, Cripps Hall.
This must have been taken in 1970 or 1971. That's Dave Dickson first from the right second row from the front.
First, my old room at Cripps Hall, which surprisingly was open with no one around.
The bed is wider than it was in my day and we didn't have a fridge, either, but otherwise it's pretty much unchanged. I lived here for the first two years of my time at University.
This was our Junior Common Room, where we would meet in the evening. The bar would be open for one hour between 9:30 and 10:30 and was staffed by students, so the beer was cheap.
Then on to my first flat, which was close to the center of Nottingham.
When I lived there, there was an exterior stairway up to the second floor, but that seems to have been removed. We had the ground floor flat.
The front of the building is really rather attractive, but we always used the rear door.
We spent one night near the East Midland Airport and next day, flew to Corfu, Greece.