Thornton-le-Dale

Saturday 15 June

The trip to Thornton-le-Dale was really quite straight forward apart from road works on the A14, which lead to a diversion via March and back to the A1 via Peterborough. We arrived in the stated time window despite the diversion. By 5pm we were in the cottage and unloading the car. Everything has to be bought through the garden down the steps and in through the kitchen. It’s quite a way compared to the few steps it takes at home.

When the car was mostly unloaded we drove into the village to get milk, and parked in front of the ice cream shop. Too much temptation, after getting the milk we returned to find the ice cream shop to find it was closed. Well almost, when I asked the guy he was more than happy to serve ice cream, but the ladies would have turned us away. Nevertheless they served us and very nice it was too. Ice cream drips everywhere and I had to clean my trousers when we got back!

The cottage has a living room, a dining room and a kitchen down stairs. There is ample room for the dog’s cage and his bed. There is also plenty of space for him to lie flat out on the floor. Upstairs there are two bedrooms, a double and a twin and a bathroom.

Later we walked into the village and bought fish and chips from the, apparently very popular, fish and chip shop. We bought it back to the cottage and ate it sitting at the garden table. A very nice evening. Even later it was time for the dog’s late night walk, but by then it had started raining, so we waited a while. The rain did not stop, so we put our coats on and went out. That was coincident with the rain beginning to pour, the large spots splashing off the road. The houses have roofs that are steep ant the apex but much less so near the gutters. In this rain the water comes down the roof, misses the gutters and pours onto the paths, or the people walking below. Even Brody was avoiding the pouring water. We were both soaked. My coat is still damp today (Sunday).

 The cottage, from half way up the garden.

 Most meals were eaten here, the weather was good enough every day except Friday.

Sunday 16 June

St. Hilda's

Today we did two of the six walks around the village. Walk 5 took us to St Hilda’s church, Ellerburn, where sadly the bats have returned. Inside it looks like building or decorating is in progress. The pews are covered with sheets of plastic, and those are covered with bat droppings. There is a notice apologising for the smell. The description of this walk talks of the lovely views but you have to be patient, eventually there are lovely views. The route back follows the stream, so Brody took the opportunity for a dip.

We returned shortly before lunch via the Buck Hotel and decided to try for lunch there. It is Father’s day so it’s likely that they are fully booked. We arrived about 12:15 and found a table easily enough. Sunday roast was ordered with a pint of firefall – the local beer. The pump had been changed so it took a while to get the pint ready , by which time I was in the process of signing up to ‘The Cloud’ so that I could use the free Wi-Fi. The starters arrived quite quickly. Jo’s garlic mushrooms were exceptionally good, my pea and ham soup was a poor choice with pork to follow, but the soup was nice enough. Both the main courses were excellent with tender meat and nicely cooked vegetables. For sweet the sticky toffee pudding was recommended which is not usually my thing, but it was good.

Returning to the cottage we watched the rain delay to the Queen’s final dosing occasionally, and then watched the first set and a bit before preparing for the second shorter walk. This took us along a stream between the houses and the road. It had very small brown trout darting about under the bridges to keep out of site. We returned home again and watched some more of the Queens entertainment. Later I returned to Thornton-le-Dale car park to give Brody a run.

Jo bringing wine

Monday 17 June

We drove to Filey as it promised to be a lovely day and parked n the country park ca park. It is huge field, and Brody loved running across it after the ball. First we ent on the beach and allowed him to swim in the sea, which he loves. It stops him getting too hot. The tide was in which was not a good thing as there is no access to the brigg cliffs at beach level. After walking and playing for a while we returned to the car park. Having watered Brody (he drank two litres of water!) we ordered lunch in the Cafe. It had a very 1970’s feel about it, and I felt I was imposing on them asking for lunch. The food was OK, although the portions were not generous and the cake I had was a little dry.

Me on the beach, with Brody and a new friend

After lunch we walked along the top of the brigg. I a few more years that will be impossible - erosion will separate it into islands, but for now it’s a lovely walk. We returned and headed to the beach as the ‘path’ was now visible and we could walk to the end of the brigg. You can no longer walk down the cliffs at the end, it is all too fragile. The ‘path’ turned out to be the covering of the sewage pipe! In some places it is not a path at all, there are just boulders to clamber across. At the end of the brigg there is a ‘safety seat’ and phone in case you get cut off by the tide. No chance of that today the next high tide was over 10 hours away. We walked right to the end after a lady returning had described getting to within a couple of metres or seals. We did see the seals, but only through binoculars. There were a couple of guys out trying to get pictures with some very expensive looking cameras and very long lenses. I hope they got more than we did. It was a lovely walk, but the dog was suffering and had to be put on the lead to stop him drinking sea water. Back at the car he drank another 1.5 litres. We only managed more tea and a small piece of cake.

We headed to Tesco to get some supplies and meat for a barbecue. Brody needed to find somewhere to relieve himself. Returning to the cottage we had barbecued kebabs and salad on the patio, were we had also eaten breakfast and finished with profiteroles and pineapple. We finished the complimentary wine and opened a bottle of Shipham’s Rose. Then I washed the salt out of Brody’s coat, an experience he hated.

Another summers day, and a very enjoyable and relaxing one it was too.

Tuesday 18 June - Dog on Train shock!

After an early visit to the garden for a less than a well dog, we decided to visit the North York Moors Railway. Pickering station is just a few miles away, so we were there in few minutes. The car park was already full, but we found a space in the approach road. We bought two adults and a dog return to Grosmont. We disembarked at Goathland, the station that was used in Heartbeat (and Harry Potter?). We had tea and cake and walked around the station and chatted to the lady in the shop about dogs and her cow that was about to give birth. An hour later we caught the next train to Gromont. Grosmont is the centre of the NYMR. Here, you can visit the engineering sheds and see the work in progress, or visit a shop with some old models of various trains. Hornby ‘OO’ guage engines for £70, just like one I have in the loft.

A train in Grosmont Station

If we had found the path to Goathland earlier we would have walked back one station. Instead, we had lunch on a seat in the car park and wandered through the woods around the railway yard. Later we visited the church, and saw the new kitchen being built, and some information about the history of the area. We caught the 16.30 back to Pickering.

Travelling on a train with the dog is an interesting experience. Some people are pleased to see him, and make a fuss of him, others are largely indifferent. Some are quite unhappy, as were the last couple on the way ba.ck. I think they were surprised to see a dog on a train.

After tea on the patio we walked Later we had a call from Robert with the news that our next grand child is a boy, not a girl as we had previously been told. We are looking forward to meeting him sometime in late November.

Less walking today, but still a tiring day, and we have been dozing in front of the TV.

Wednesday 19 June - Best Salad ever?

Today could be the last of the good weather. We decided to visit the walled garden at Helmsley. Dogs are allowed on a lead. The walled garden is adjacent to the castle and parking is in the town car park. It was the first time I paid for parking with a credit card. The garden is lovely in parts, but in other parts is unkempt, or even unmanaged. Even so there are some impressive plants and some interesting raised vegetable beds. It’s one of those places where so much more could be done - better labelling of plants, some explanation of why the beds are laid out as they are and something about the growing plan – how they decide what they need, would have helped us to understand what was being attempted and what was being achieved.

Laburnum Arch

Perhaps the best salad ever?

One day I will write about my laburnum tree.

Along one wall are green houses, half of these are used for growing vines and as seating for the cafe. This is the high light of the visit. We stayed on for lunch, and both had the Salad plate with pureed beetroot, feta and walnuts. It was probably the best salad I have ever eaten. Each portion of vegetables was put around the centre dish which contained the pureed beetroot. It was colourful, tasty, full of textures, and presumably very good for us too. The staff were pleasant and helpful, and the food was delivered in a reasonable time.

After lunch we played with Brody (who hates being on the lead for so long) in the picnic area. I managed to throw the ball over a wall into the castle grounds. We had planned to visit the castle after the walled garden, and were glad that we were able to take the dog inside. He wasted no time in finding his ball, and we then returned to the entrance to start the audio guide. The castle is a ruin now, although some of the buildings remain in good condition. There is plenty of open grass so I played with Brody as I listened. It was the hottest day of the holiday and Brody was soon exhausted, he went to sit in the shade and left me to listen to the history. The castles only action was in the Civil War, when the round heads blew up the main tower.

After walking around Hemsley for a while we made our way towards home, taking a diversion to visit Dalby Forest. £7 a car seemed too expensive to walk a dog in the woods so we returned to the cottage. After tea we went for another walk around Thornton-le-Dale. Walk no 5 takes us up a hill with great views of the surrounding countryside, then past a house with a model village in the front garden. A nice walk.

Jo found a very brief history of the cottage which said that the left hand side had been a butchers shop and the right hand side a sweet shop. That explains the odd front to the property.

Thursday 20 June - Full Wets Test

The forecast for today is very poor, rain for most of the day, so we decided not to visit the forest. Instead we walked into town. Brody retrieved a large log from the stream as we walked into town to buy gifts for the family. We played in the car park picnic area for 30 minutes with Brody. Later we walked down to the bakery for lunch. I had tuna bake; Jo had Whitby scampi and chips. We sat under a covered area with vines growing above us. After lunch we walked to Ellerbeck, via the beck and back across the hill – in reverse. At St. Hildas there was a woman shouting at a horse that she didn’t have any polos, Brody didn’t like her dog, so we wandered on another path for a few minutes to put some distance between us. Back in town we ate an ice cream on the green, Brody ate the one the polo woman’s dog did not want. Back in the cottage watched the tennis and the annoying smile of Vesnina, just as she serves. After tea the rain had finally arrived, so we walked around the town in our full wet gear. We walked past the cricket ground and through the woods and right at the end – all the way to the junction this time, them back up the hill to the owlets/

Friday 21 June - Fry up?

The threat of rain had receded so we drove to Lealholm. There was a thick fog for the last part of the journey. Once there we wandered around the village for a bit.

Man crosses river with dog.

Then we walked on the bridleway and footpaths to Glaisdale – 2 miles according to the sign post – along the Esk Valley. At one point we crossed a wall that Brody was just brave enough to jump down, I couldn’t see how he could get up going back. At Glaisdale we sat on a hill next to the war memorial and ate our sandwiches. Several walkers on some sort of trek went past. We walked back to Lealholm via the road. On the way we passed a sign to Fryup. In Lealholm we had tea and cake in the tea shop, then drove to the Scaling Dam and walked around the reservoir. About another two miles of walking completed. On the way home we stopped at the Fox and Rabbit for an excellent meal. The portions were generous, and the food served piping hot. Brody slept under the table. 

Saturday 22 June - Holiday Home sick already?

Time to pack up and leave Thornton-le-Dale. We were up early and packed and ready to go. After a last walk into town to buy gifts for the family we returned to lock up. Brody walk back to the house and sat by the back door, he obviously did not want to leave. We persuaded him to get into the car, and we were off. The journey was uneventful, we stopped at a services on the A1 and gave Brody a run behind the Premier Inn, but the hill (presumably a traffic noise baffle) was beginning to break up, and there were several large cracks in it, one of which he fell into and hurt his leg. It only stopped him for a moment but it was enough for me to end the play and return to the car. We arrived home between 3pm and 4pm, and I for one was exhausted.