Richmond and Kiplin Hall in North Yorkshire

Being a pleasant and warm day, we decided to make a trip to Richmond in North Yorkshire. This market town on the River Swale, the fastest flowing river in England, has a lot of history. Its castle is one of the finest examples of Norman military architecture and the gas works installed in 1821 made Richmond the first town of its size to enjoy public street lighting. More recently it has become know for being the constituency of Rishi Sunak, the last Prime Minister, who resides close by.

We parked by the river where the water cascades over the rocks and there is a beach of cobbles.

It was fairly busy and, for the first time this year, people were exposing their pale limbs to the sun as if they had been living underground for the winter.  

We then went on the Kiplin Hall, a four hundred year old stately home on a 90 acre site which was formerly a hunting lodge. Since our last visit, the entrance had changed and there was now had a new café and courtyard which cleverly blended in to the rest of the property.

We had enjoyed the walled garden on our last visit which was in high summer but, apart from the spring bulbs, there was very little to see at this time of year. 

The Hall overlooks a large lake with a path and woodland so we began to walk around it. We passed a bird hide where binoculars had been thoughtfully provided and saw people fishing before reaching the folly.

The Folly had previously been empty but the interior had now been make into an ecological education centre with illustrations of wildflowers, animals and insects to be found here including some containers which you had to sniff to see if you could recognise the scent of various animals! There was also a whiteboard and pens to draw or write on. Mainly children had drawn the birds, ducks and swans they had observed with creatively spelt labels. A couple approached us and advised us not to go much further as the lake had overflown and wasn't passable without waterproof boots. We returned to the Hall which, although containing many interesting artefacts and illustrations of how the gentry and servants lived in bygone days, we couldn't leave the dog. We returned to the café, had tea and a cheese and apple chutney sandwich  before setting off for home.

A trip to the Yorkshire Dales

We took advantage of an unseasonably warm and dry day for a trip to the Yorkshire Dales.

Although we know the area well, we never tire of the beauty of the spectacular landscape. We saw waterfalls, new lambs, snowdrops and hawthorn leaves emerging.

Taking a footpath which forms part of the Pennine Way, we made our way to Gayle Falls which is a favourite view as we have a print by Sam Chadwick on the wall of our living room.

From there we visited  the Wensleydale Creamery where we sampled and purchased some cheese.

 The boys didn’t look happy about waiting outside

Definitely one for the memory bank!

Day trip to Cleethorpes

 After all the recent fog, it was great to see some sunshine.

I was pleasantly surprised by this seaside town which is situated on the Humber Estuary in North East Lincolnshire. 

There is a pier which houses a large fish and chip café

We had our sandwiches and coffee before taking a stroll on the beach. The tide was out but there were loads of shells (people and dogs too) but sadly no sea glass to add to my collection.  Many large boat and tankers were sailing up and down the estuary which enters the North Sea.  

We had a walk round the large boating lake in the park

We saw seagulls, geese, ducks, coots and swans

The bridge leads to the a light railway

Cleethorpes has Amusement Arcades, activities for children and a variety of eating places.  

Choose a sunny day and give it a go!

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Advent stories

 It's that time of the year again when Loren hosts  annual tradition of writers sharing small, spooky Advent stories at  https://isawlightningfall.blogspot.com/  .  Bearing in mind that spooky is definitely not my genre and with just 100 words to play with, here is mine.

“This must be heaven” thought John. Faces were peering down on him and could just about make out an angel, a nun and, surely not, with a fluffy white beard, Father Christmas! Confused, John attempted to sit up but the nun placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“You’re in safe hands now,” said the angel soothingly.

John began to relax until Father Christmas whipped out a stethoscope saying “Luckily for you we had just left the hospital on our way to a party when we found you on the road. It’s hell out there on the black ice.”  

Go to the blog to read more ..... if you dare!

Festive greetings

Fireworks in the Park

 Although there won't be fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night in our local parks (funding cuts and health and safety issues), there were indeed fireworks in the two parks we visited this week.

Roundhay Park

Golden Acre Park

Seascapes and Sandscapes

On a recent visit to Burton Constable Hall, we enjoyed an exhibition of photographs by Steve Morantz, who is part of East Riding Artists.  The exhibition is called At the Edge and we particularly enjoyed the atmospheric works which depict seascapes, sandscapes and scenes of Hornsea, where Steve lives, and the wider East Yorkshire Coast. What’s more, we could name every location!

The exhibition runs until 8^th December 2024

Burton Constable Hall

 The Orangerie

 We have visited the house many times which has some fascinating artefacts

Lancashire Coast (for a change)

This break took us over the Pennines to the West Coast.  Our first stop was Clitheroe, a market town in the Ribble Valley.

We then drove to the Victorian seaside town of St Anne’s-on-Sea where we had booked in to the Offshore Inn, a dog friendly, frontline hotel.

We walked along the promenade, battling against a strong wind, and walked along the pier. You could feel the structure swaying and the soft sand, which the sea doesn’t reach, was blown across the beach in an unusual formation which resembled waves.

That evening we drove along to the better known, adjacent town of Blackpool to view the notorious Illuminations. We have seen the display before but this time we had the road to ourselves. Perhaps because, these days, there are Light Nights in many towns and it is not unusual to see sophisticated lighting displays in gardens, but we weren’t overly impressed.

The next morning we drove in the other direction to Lytham to visit Fairhaven Lake, a 

scenic location offering many activities such as boating, children’s play areas and tennis as well as gardens and other wildlife. The park is on the seafront, where the Irish Sea meets the River Ribble.

This is a full size replica model of a Spitfire bought by people of the area, unfortunately shot down over the English Channel 

Now used as a boatyard, this was the original clubhouse of the Fairhaven Golf Club

We continued to Lytham Hall where we had lunch in the charming tea room. This fine Georgian house is a Grade 1 listed building and was once the ancestral home of the Clifton Family, spanning over four centuries.

There is a garden centre and a stall selling interesting antiques such as postcards, coins and other artefacts. We bought a Victorian perfume bottle with a silver top to add to our bottle collection. We strolled in the woodlands and formal gardens.

The centre of Lytham is lined with mostly independent shops and cafes and leads down to the beach.

 Lytham centre

 Formerly the Assembly Rooms, this is now the library

On our final day we walked to Ashton Gardens, an attractive 10 acre park in the centre of St Anne's. It has a grade II listed War Memorial, a Pavilion tea room, a play area and water features.  

Like its neighbour Lytham, St Anne’s centre is full of small shops and eateries. It was a pleasure just to walk about and view the beautiful architecture.