Yorkshire

Snape May 19 -  June 9

We landed at Manchester airport in the early afternoon and picked up our rental car. We then drove across the M62 to Snape, just outside Bedale in the Yorkshire Dales. Sarah had arrived earlier in the day and was waiting for us.

Parr Cottage was originally part of Snape Castle which is right behind the cottage.  The only part of the castle open to the public is St Mary's Chapel, so our first outing was to explore the Chapel.

Snape Castle's claim to fame is that Katherine Parr lived here before her marriage to Henry VIII in 1543. She was Henry VIII's last wife and she outlived his death in 1547. She died in 1548. It is rumored that she married her third husband, Latimer, in this Chapel. Henry was her fourth and last husband. 

The Chapel is reached along a narrow footpath from the road. The ruins of the rest of the castle are very visible.

Within walking distance of the cottage is the Thorp Perry Arboretum which is an 85-acre woodland garden arboretum . The Arboretum was originally created by Colonel Sir Leonard Ropner (1895–1977) in 1931. Today the Thorp Perrow estate is considered to be one of the finest arboreta in the United Kingdom. We walked to it along a back road.

We had hoped to get in for free, but that wasn't possible. As admission was £15 each, we decided to just have a cup of tea and a cake.  Maybe next time

As we always do, we paid a visit to Coverham Church, to see Freddie's grave. It was a beautiful day and it looked wonderful. A very pretty place to spend eternity.

After Sarah left for Belfast, Kris and I took a trip to Bradford, primarily to attend a Symphony concert at St Georges Hall.  We stayed at the Midland Hotel, which I passed every day on my way home from school, but I had never been inside. We did some sightseeing in the afternoon, including the National Science and Media Museum, which was a disappointment and what had been the Wool Exchange. When Bradford was the center of the worldwide wool industry, the Wool Exchange was it's heart. Another building I passed every day on my way home, but I had never been inside.

In the evening, we walked to St. Georges Hall, where Paul and his mum often went for concerts performed by The Halle Orchestra. It was almost demolished in the 1980's but thankfully was saved and eventually restored. It opened in 1853 and was refurbished between 2016 and 2019.

The next day, we had an appointment with the Headmaster of the Grammar School, Simon Hinchcliffe, but we had some time to kill, so stopped at Cartwright Hall, which is close to the school.

Paul sometimes visited Cartwright Hall at lunchtime and his favourite painting was by LS Lowry. Last time we visited, it was missing, so I was pleased to see it back home.

We could have spent longer at the hall, but we had to leave to meet with Simon. Next time !

We spent about an hour with Simon and he let us know there would be BGS OBA meeting in October this year. We plan on going.

On May 35, we attended a concert by The Royal Northern Sinfonia at Tennants, as part of the Swaledale Festival. They played music by Ravel, Haydn and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which we had heard just a couple of days earlier in Bradford. Can't go wrong with Beethoven.

A few days later, Kristine's friend Lindsay, came to stay, but we don't have any photographs. It was lovely to see Lindsey and although she only stayed one night we enjoyed catching up and reminiscing.

The next day, we met Tom, Jodie and Adeline (Addy) at the Nelson Inn, a pub near Harrogate for an early dinner. Again, no photos.

The next day, we drove to The Green Dragon in Hardraw to meet John and Sharon. Sadly, Sharon had a last minute commitment and couldn't make it. Again, no photos.

On the 29th of May,  11 days after we arrived, our friend Helena arrived with her partner, James. They stayed for three nights.

We decided to visit Fountain's Abbey, which is just outside Ripon. Helena had visited from school but neither Kris nor I had ever been and of course, James had never visited the Dales before.

The Abbey itself is in ruins, thanks to Henry VIII in 1540, but parts, like the cloisters, are still intact . The Abbey dates back to 1132, although the buildings were constructed later.

In the grounds, there's also a country house Fountains Hall, built between 1598 and 1611, possibly with stone from the Abbey. The Hall is now owned by The National Trust.

There's also a corn mill, Fountains Mill, which was originally powered by water.  In 1928 a turbine was installed to provide electricity to the estate.

The ruins of Fountains Abbey are contained within Studley Royal Park, which was landscaped starting in 1723 and work went on into the 1740's.  All the water features are man made, as is much of the landscape.

After Helena and James had left, we met with old friends Tim and Janet for lunch at a pub in Bedale. No photos I'm afraid.

We also had lunch with Felicity and Peter at their home in Wensley. Seafood crepes but no photos.

Paul visited the Turkish Spa in Harrogate by himself, while Kris went shopping. Then we had lunch at Wetherspoons next door.

Finally,  Kristine's friends Jackie and Terry arrived for a three night stay.

We drove into Ripon with Jackie and Terry , to see the Cathedral and the Workhouse Museum. 

A Workhouse has stood on this site since 1776. By 1832 there was national concern at the expense of maintaining the poor and a Commission of Enquiry was appointed. Ripon was found to have 33 inmates, 11 men, 11 boys, 9 women and 2 girls. Only one of the men was not ‘able bodied’ at 68 years of age, but those able spent 8 hours a day breaking stones to mend roads 

On our last day, we left Jackie and Terry at Parr Cottage as they were meeting friends later in the day. We drove first to Jodrell Bank.

We left Jodrell Bank and drove to Manchester Airport, where we stayed the night before flying back to Orlando on June the 9th.