Wed 21st – Mon 26th June 2023
Carleton Miniott (Wed 21st June)
Our motorhome Fufu needed to visit Carlton Miniott, a small village near Thirsk, to have the LPG gas tank replaced. Arriving on Wednesday evening, we stayed outside the firm’s workshop overnight, but had time to explore the local area and Woodland Lakes Lodges, a specialist angling resort with many well-stocked lakes.
There were fish jumping all around, but I could not catch images of them. There were some birds, including many delightful ducklings and very unusually, a black swan:
Thirsk (Thu 22nd June)
On Thursday morning, buses being infrequent, we chose to walk the two and a half miles into Thirsk while the work was being completed on Fufu.
There were some knitted decorations around::
We had visited Thirsk last summer (see blog dated 2nd June 2022), but this time we had a good few hours to fill, and visited The World of James Herriot, a museum based on the life and work of Alf Wight, OBE FRCVS, the author of the James Herriot books. The museum occupies the former home and veterinary surgery of the author.
The museum is a real time capsule:
The museum is extensive with a cinema presentation and first-floor exhibition rooms. We spent a good couple of hours there in all and would recommend a visit.
Alf Wight was married in the local church, St Mary’s, just a few yards up the road from the surgery.
St Marys was built between 1430 and 1480 on the site of a Norman Church which itself was probably built on the site of a Saxon Minister. There are many interesting features of the building including a fine range of gargoyles:
Below, you can see in the porch roof, swallows had built their nests. The grooves on the walls are where those attending archery practice had sharpened their arrows. Archery practice was a mandatory requirement of men in the medieval period.
We also visited Thirsk Museum, which is on the same road as The World of James Herriot. This had a chair mounted on the wall, known as “The Busby Stoop Chair”. There is apparently a long list of misfortunes and sticky-ends for anyone who had dared to sit in it since 1894. I am not at all superstitious, but there is no point in risking it (touch wood …or perhaps not!).
Kirkby Lonsdale (Thu 22nd and Fri 23rd June)
Having sorted out Fufu’s gas problem, we moved on via Hawes, where we collected a good supply of Wensleydale cheese from the creamery there, to Kirkby Lonsdale returning to stay on the rugby club field overnight.
I have blogged about this very attractive small town recently (see blog entry for the 14th May 2023), so there is not much to add. I did however notice the unusual sign over the door of the Orange Tree pub. Probably to attract in any match day spectators to the nearby rugby ground after the game.
There are also some very pretty houses:
…and the old local smithy’s forge has an interesting plaque on the wall:
Staveley (Fri 23rd – Sun 25th June)
On Friday, we moved onto the Camping and Caravanning Club campsite at Staveley. It is known as the Windermere Site, but it is a lot nearer to Staveley. We were there as participants in a meeting of the Photographic Section.
The site has a strong environmental stance, with areas reserved for wildlife.
On Saturday, we did a circular walk. Our route took us along tracks, green roads and paths, some of which were part of the Dales Way National Footpath alongside the River Kent (which flows on to Kendal).
The forecast for Sunday afternoon was for thunderstorms …and it came down in torrents, giving us an excuse to avoid further walking exercise and recover from Saturday’s walk.
Windermere and Ambleside (Mon 26th June)
The group had planned a photo-trip via the Lakeside and Haverthwaite steam railway and a passenger boat, the length of Lake Windermere, to Ambleside. Thanks to Andrew for organising this.
There are many interesting buildings to be seen on the banks of the lake, including many boathouses of varying design and age:
There is some stunning property and even a castle:
In addition to the usual “plastic fantastic” boats, there were also some more interesting vessels:
After disembarking at Waterhead, we walked through to the small, busy Town of Ambleside for lunch.
On our way there, we explored the Ambleside Roman Fort, which was quite extensive.
The return journey say some nice lighting on the surrounding landscape:
Then we went home.
"See-u-Later" 