Towns beginning with ‘M’

 At long last, half term descended on us on Friday, and I must admit, it’s been rather busy ever since. Despite taking lots of photos of our various trips over the past few days, not a single one has me in it! I could simply be making it all up, but you shall have to trust that I’m not.

Saturday morning I mostly spent doing laundry and packing overnight bags for me and little miss for our trip to the Yorkshire Dales. During the afternoon though, I took Mum across to Malton for a wander.

Bistro 46

Luckily, I had let Mum out of the car in the square while I went to find parking because, when I caught up with her again, she’d found a delightful cafe serving the most delicious brunches.

After a feast of pancakes (mum) and eggs Benedict (me) we went for a wander around some shops. I managed to bag this lovely Staffordshire plant pot for a bargain £4 in the charity shop, now home to a plant which the chap’s aunty sent for me. We found some lovely boutiques that we hadn’t passed before, and a massive health shop with the best selection of herbal tea I’ve ever seen.

The afternoon flew by. We finished up with a drink in Pizza on the Square before heading home. I like Malton and last year I was planning to move there, since it’s a little closer to work too. Eventually I changed my mind though since I love my house, and didn’t fancy doubling my mortgage. Scarborough has its faults, like anywhere else, but it also has a lot going for it and I do love it as my home now.

Pizza on the square

Everything has been so busy lately that me and the chap have struggled to see each other, so he popped along on Sunday afternoon and we all went out for a lovely Sunday lunch. The pub we visited is one we used to frequent for Sunday lunches when we used to go out for them more often, and it was absolutely packed. Everyone must have decided they needed someone else to cook the Sunday dinner! 

Monday, we packed up the car and headed West to the Yorkshire Dales. When I first moved to Yorkshire 12 years ago (I can’t believe it’s that long) I lived in the Dales, near Masham. We made some good friends there, who later became little misses God-Parents. We were off to visit them, but unable to check into our cottage until 4, we stopped off in Ripon first.

Ripon is the 5th smallest city in England, but despite that it has a beautiful cathedral. I could only take photographs from outside because they don’t allow dogs inside. 

Before we got to the cathedral though, we stopped at Wilfred’s for a delicious dinner. I had a spiced cauliflower, spinach and lentil pie with chips. It was absolutely delicious, and very good value for money too. That’s something that’s becoming increasingly important to me, the amount of times I’m truly surprised by a bill in a cafe or eatery these days is shocking. 

Then I stumbled on an amazing shop filled with jewellery, incense, crystals, and recycled sari clothing called Karma. I bought a lovely silver Tigers eye ring. I seem quite drawn to Tigers eye at the moment.

As evening started to draw in we headed off to Masham, and once we found our cosy little cottage, settled in with a cuppa. Later in the evening we ventured out again to meet up with our friends in the pub for a very long overdue catch up. It’s been a while.

The cottage was cosy and warm, although a wild wind battered it all night long. We were up and checked out early on Tuesday, maybe a tad too early as many of the cafes in Masham didn’t appear to be open. Even the brewery was closed, so we drove off to Leyburn for a wander.

It was lovely and sunny in Leyburn, and after enjoying breakfast and, most importantly, coffee, in one of the cafes there we had a wander around the shops. I didn’t find anything in the charity shops at all, mostly it was all bric-a-brac. It’s a nice town just to potter around though, and there are some good little viewpoints out onto the Dales too.

View over the Dales 

At lunch time we headed back to Masham, and after a quick stop at the Black Sheep brewery to get a few beers for the chap, it was off to the town hall for a very brief catch up with our friends before settling down to a performance of ‘The Tale of the Loneliest Whale’, which little miss thoroughly enjoyed.

Then it was time to say our good byes, and head back to Scarborough. It was a flying visit but it was lovely to spend some time back in the Dales and seeing little Misses God-Parents. 

Images of Masham