Guisborough

 When we set off for Northumberland earlier this year I decided that, rather than endure paltry sandwiches at a random services, we’d stop off at the town of Guisborough for coffee and cake en route to compliment the fresh sandwiches I’d packed for the journey. We weren’t there long that day, but we were there long enough to decided it warranted a return visit. 

Thelma enjoying the sunshine at Guisborough priory

With good weather forecast last Saturday I decided we’d take a drive up there. It’s just over an hour away from here at the top of the Moors near Rosebury Topping (isn’t that the best name for a hill? It always makes me think of dessert). What I hadn’t realised until I ran a quick google search was that Guisborough is also home to a 12th century Franciscan priory ruin. So we decided to pay that a visit too. 

Odd socks cafe and laundrette

St. Nicholas Church next to the priory

We parked up at the little car park near the priory, and given we arrived at lunchtime we popped straight into a very inviting looking cafe, Odd Socks. It’s actually half laundrette (a rather posh laundrette) and half incredibly popular cafe. It’s dog friendly, welcoming and has a lovely vibe so its popularity is no surprise. We were lucky to get a table.

Love this chandelier 

Lots of yummy treats on offer

I had a delicious sweet potato, carrot and chilli soup which was very comforting. Then we popped across the road to check out the priory.

It was beautiful. It wasn’t particularly grand like some of the other ruins around Yorkshire, but the wide open spaces and fields behind set against the beautiful blue sky had a meditative quality that’s not always there in some of the larger and busier sites.

There was a peaceful woodland garden to wander through, littered with ancient stones from the priory itself and little paths that lead off in curious directions.

Then, there were the beautiful flower gardens where people were picking their own bouquets. We hadn’t booked to do that, but I promised little Miss we would try to do it next summer.

She was happy to find a discarded damask rose on the ground, which she carried with her for the remainder of the day. Truthfully, I’d have loved to pick some flowers but I also wanted to see the town and, not having known about the flower picking we hadn’t left enough time to do both.

It was a short walk from the Priory to the high street and our first stop was a charity shop that must have had about 50 vintage cameras priced from £10 upwards. It took me all of my effort not to succumb. You know how much I love a dodgy old camera, but I think I’ve got a decent selection now and I think if I do buy another one it will be less old and less dodgy. It was heaven for someone like me though. The next charity shop had a great vintage section and even included items from Dior and McQueen. Most of the things I liked were quite small, so I was able to hold onto my pennies again.

We wandered the high street which has multiple coffee shops, pubs, a really well stocked health shop, chemists and so on and, honestly, for such a small town it’s a really nice place. I don’t think it will be our last visit. The last charity shop of the day was a biggie. Little Miss found a couple of DVDs she wanted, while I picked up a fabulous little earring carousel for my dressing table and a new necklace.

The earring carousel saves me from wearing the same earrings day in, day out because I can see them all in one place now.

We finished up our day in a gorgeous bar, housed in the historical town hall, Fico is another popular spot. A kind of deli wine bar, dog and child friendly and Little Miss was thrilled by the scale Lego model of the building we were sitting in and the fact they served Gelato too. What could be a better end to the day? 

The town hall, home to Fico

The Inbetween bits

Little miss has been back at school over a week now, and the rhythm of Autumn, the return to routine, cooler evenings and rain showers (who would ever think we'd be glad to see the return of the rain?) are well and truly setting in. The last blog post brought us up to around mid-August though, and there were still a few weeks between then and now to fill with adventures. Let me give you a whistlestop tour. 

I'd booked train tickets to Leeds waaaaay back in June, adamant that if I didn't book them then we wouldn't get there. Typically, I'd managed to book the only day of the summer holidays where it rained pretty much continuously. All wasn't lost, we didn't make it to the Cathedral as we'd originally planned, but we were able to stay mostly dry in the large shopping centres. 

I didn't get to see that much if I'm honest, Leeds is quite big and once you get into a shop it seems to steal all of your time. I did manage to pick up the chap's present for his forthcoming birthday in his favourite place, the Lego shop, though. We perused a few shops and then had pizza in Cafe Concerto before heading for the train home. 

Keeping with the theme of trains, a few days later we took a trip from Pickering to Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. We have been on it before, once many years ago just between Whitby and Grosmont and then a couple of years back on the Santa Express. This time though we decided to do the full journey and it really is amazing. 

The Moors is such a stunning and wild landscape and the train goes through parts that seem untouched by human hands. Some of the stations had signs up to beware the Adders (the UK's only native venomous snake) if you were leaving the station since the uncharacteristic heat meant there'd been a boom in the Adder population. 

It was relaxing, and harked back to a time of steam trains when a journey was a joyful experience. We had a few hours to spend in Whitby. I had thought the weather was going to be cooler, and was thrilled to take my new All About Audrey green velvet dress out for a trip, unfortunately I misjudged the weather and was boiling in my skin soon after we got off the train. 

Nonetheless, we enjoyed a wander around a very bustling Whitby, and bought fish and chips from the Magpie to eat near the harbour. We didn't have too long there though before it was time for our slow journey back through the moors. That didn't matter too much. We spend a lot of time in Whitby in this day was more about the journey than the destination. 

Next up on the adventure list was date night with the chap. We'd spotted that one of the Indian restaurants in York had won an award in the national curry awards, and thought it well worth a try. Well, the Bombay spice was delicious, I'm pleased to report. 

It was also bustling, so I can understand why it has won awards, but honestly the food was delectable. I can't remember what I had, but I do remember thoroughly enjoying it. Needless to say, as always, we overindulged. We're both very foody people in case you haven't noticed. 

Afterwards we walked across town to the Dubliner, which was also bustling. There was live music, and we had an absolute blast of a time. It was one of those nights that was so good that we barely took any photographs. I always feel regretful when I don't take enough photos, but it is also a sign of an excellent night out, so what can you do other than to vow to take more photos next time.

Sunset from Lendal bridge

Of course, we ended the summer holidays in our traditional way with a day on the seafront. In the arcades, at the fair, eating ice cream and burgers and being tourists in our own town. After all of that excitement, it's little wonder that I was tired by the end of it all. 

Alnwick and Home

 As the end of the summer holidays is approaching, and certainly the end of any decent weather we've enjoyed, I'm still reminiscing on our week in the North, which was too coming to an end. Sunday was our last day before it was time to go. We'd definitely made the most of our time, and I think all of us, including the dog, were pretty tired. 

We spent a lazy day on site, cashing in all of the tickets little Miss had won on the arcades (for a stash of plastic junk to take home), and having our Sunday dinner in the on-site Weatherspoons. Then, it was an evening of packing our bags, ready for an early departure on Monday. 

Since Alnwick was en-route home, we decided to stop off. Originally I'd planned to visit Alnwick gardens, I'm fascinated by their poisonous plants section, but the weather was starting to turn and I didn't really fancy wandering around gardens by this point. No, instead, we wandered the pretty little town of Alnwick. 

We were greeted in the distance by the imposing image of Alnwick castle, and the town itself is filled again with some lovely architecture. There are a myriad of independent boutiques, and in one particular leather goods shop I was extremely tempted by a beautiful leather handbag. I did what I always do and walked around the shop with it for 30 minutes, what I don't always do is put it down and walk away though. I did this time because I am coming to the realisation that I have more handbags than I can use in a lifetime. I've thought about that bag every day ever since, so I've added it to my wishlist and who knows maybe I will buy it at some future point, but I am really trying not to. 

There wasn't really many dog friendly places in Alnwick where we could grab some lunch, so we ended up grabbing some snacks from Greggs and eating them in the car before setting off on the journey home. It had been an excellent holiday, so excellent that little Miss exclaimed it was her best holiday ever. What more could anyone want?

Road Trip to Edinburgh

It’s nearly three weeks since we returned from holiday, and I still haven’t got to the end of my holiday posts. We did do a lot, and it has been busy ever since we got back. So, more holiday tales.

By the time Friday arrived, we were ready for a rest. In the short time we’d been on holiday, we’d already explored lots of places and our promise to ourselves to have at least one day on site, hadn’t so far materialised. We decided Friday was the day. It turns out that Friday was a good day to have a relaxing time on site because it’s one of the change over days, so a lot of people go home and there’s a 3 – 4 hour lull of quiet in between. I booked me and little Miss onto one of the craft sessions, friendship bracelet making, and we took a relaxing walk by way of the lakeside to our session.

 

That was a nice way to spend half an hour and we both come out with some cute beaded bracelets. Then we went to take a look at the ‘show home’ caravans for sale. Some were pre-loved and quite tempting, although others cost more than the remaining mortgage on my house and were definitely more in the category of mobile home than holiday caravan. It’s nice to look though.

 

Later on we spent some time (and money) in the arcade, Little Miss got to enjoy the soft play area and we grabbed some food from Chopstix, which was one of the on site vendors. Then, it was a relaxing afternoon of reading, walking Thelma and doing as little as possible. Saturday morning, we’d planned to go to Edinburgh on the train, but while we were getting ready I decided I quite fancied a cross border drive, so we all hopped in the car and headed for Scotland. It was a super easy drive and in just over an hour we were parked up at a park and ride on the outskirts, getting a cheap and short train into Waverley station.

 

I’ve been to Edinburgh a few times. It ranks highly amongst my favourite cities, and I think if I was looking to live in a capital city I’d choose Edinburgh over London any day of the week. Little Miss has never been though. We’d already warned her on the train that you have to keep an eye open for the small rodents called ‘Haggis’ that run about the streets, I think she may have believed us!

It was Irish themed, although you wouldn’t tell from this photo

 

The architecture of Edinburgh is grand and beautiful, and straight off the train we headed for the old town. It wasn’t long before we saw a Scottish bagpiper, an experience Little Miss hadn’t had before. We chose an Irish pub for lunch, enjoying a delicious Lamb Stew, before heading slowly along the Royal Mile in the direction of the Castle, taking in the street entertainers and buzz of visitors along the way. It was the week before Edinburgh Fringe, and already the crowds were starting to gather in anticipation. We dipped in and out of shops, and in one particular shop I spent a significant amount of time drooling over some very expensive tweed clothes.

 

I’ve always had a weakness for tweed. I think it’s such a classic and beautiful fabric. Mum was a bit shell shocked when she left that particular shop having accidentally spent £12.99 on a box of Peppermint Tea. She’d been too proud to leave it at the counter when she found out the price at the counter. We reached the castle, but we were only able to glimpse it from the barricades at the front since the Edinburgh tattoo was on, meaning only ticketholders could go in. Nonetheless, we got to see a bit of it. 

We headed back down, further into the old town, stopping for tea and cake along the way. It was absolutely buzzing, there were so many tourists and at the Grassmarket area which is home to many pubs, there were pipers, and every table filled with revellers and drinkers. It’s a vibe! After a long day of walking around and perusing some lovely shops, treating myself to posh candles and some nice natural beauty products, it was time to head back to the train station and to the car to drive back to Northumberland. As always, I’d had a wonderful time in Edinburgh and little Miss had been thrilled to visit Scotland for the first time, even if she didn’t spot any Haggis roaming the streets.