Durham in a Heatwave :: Day 1

Hi there everyone 😀

If you’ve followed my blog for a while you will know that once a year we get together with old work friends for a few days away.

We’ve been doing it for a fair old while and have been all over the place. This year we were having our get together in Durham … somewhere Martin and I have never been … and we were really looking forward to catching up and exploring somewhere new.

Our time away happened to drop in the midst of a June heatwave … but Durham was predicted to be a few degrees cooler than home … so we were ready to make the most of the good weather.

The car was loaded to the gills … with lots of essentials and plenty of ‘just in case’ stuff. As we were hosting one night … the camping fridge was bought out of hibernation and, instead of stopping off on the way as we normally do, we were making a beeline for our accommodation …’

Luckily we had a really nice easy journey and were able to check in early so, once the food was all transferred to the fridge, we headed straight out for a bit of exploring before meeting up with the others later on.

We were heading for Crooks Hall … a National Trust garden … pretty much on the edge of the city. Our short drive took us over the river, with some fabulous views of the cathedral in the bright sunshine … 

We were already very much thinking Durham had been a good choice for this year’s catch up.

Crooks Hall really was a treat. Loads of colourful borders, lots of small gardens within the garden, a beautiful walled garden, views of the cathedral and the old hall itself. I took so many photographs that it is most definitely worthy of a post on its own so I will tell you more about that later …

Once back at The Mayoress, which was definitely going to be a very comfortable little bolt hole for a few days, it was time to get ready to meet up with the rest of ‘The Gang’ …

We were walking to a local pub, renowned for its lovely beer garden, and it was literally five minutes from where we were staying. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of these glorious wildflowers on the way …

We were soon settled in the garden … with the others on the way …

They weren’t long and, after lots of hellos and hugs all round, we settled in for a good old catch up and the first of the holiday selfies … which has become a bit of a tradition …

It was soon time to move on to Zen, the Thai restaurant where we were having dinner. It was a bit pricy, but the food was fabulous and it was a lovely way to end the first day of our break …

After a very nice meal we walked back to The Mayoress in the warm sunshine … which sounds just lovely, but did end up making for a bit of a fairly strenuous activity and … there may just have been a bit of a sit on a garden wall at some point for a very much needed breather 🙈🙈🙈

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A Festive Break near York #1 :: Treasure Trailing around Thirsk

Hi there everyone 😀

We settled in very nicely to Anthology Cottage, just outside the visit of Husthwaite, and knew we were going to be very comfortable spending our week there. It was just an absolute delight …

It was in a beautiful spot with views across the open countryside to the Kilburn White Horse … too far away for decent photos though.

We spent our first day fairly local, with a Treasure Trail around Thirsk … somewhere Martin and I somehow hadn’t visited before.

The trail took us well off the beaten track, spotting bits and pieces that would normally be easily missed …

As well as some more well known and popular spots …

We followed a very old and wiggly wall along the river …

… ending up back in the centre of town, which was fair bustling …

We finished our visit with a welcome pitstop in one of the many welcoming cafes before heading back to Anthology Cottage for some good food and an evening of chilling out 😀

We really do love a Treasure Trail. It’s a pretty cheap activity, which shows you all the nooks and crannies of a town or village and lots of things that you probably wouldn’t normally notice. There are loads available … just search on https://www.treasuretrails.co.uk/

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I do still have lots to tell you about our pre-Christmas Historic Halls visits and our week in York but I think they will have to wait now till after Christmas … as we are now in full list-making mode 😂😂😂 

In case I don’t post again before the New Year I will take this opportunity to thank you all for following and reading this year and to wish you all the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years. See you in 2026 🥳

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Exploring :: Ilfracombe on a Bank Holiday Weekend

Hi there everyone 😀

We’d had a lovely meander from Bude to Ilfracombe and we arrived at Oceans Edge in glorious sunshine and, whilst the parking was a bit tricky, the view was to die for …

Once inside it was even better … the lounge windows being directly opposite the harbour and ‘Verity’ …

There was even a rainbow to welcome us …

The property we were staying in used to be an old sea captain’s house, which had been divided into a number of different holiday lets. We were on the ground floor and the living area and kitchen were stunning …

There was also one large double en-suite bedroom and a smaller twin bedded room with a small shower room. 

We were soon unpacked and settled in and enjoying taking in the view. 

The following day was the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend and we just had a wander around the town centre, which was very busy …

We were particularly impressed by the crazy golf course ..

It was also carnival day and we were chuffed to find that the carnival procession went straight past our front door. It was a bit showery but we couldn’t resist heading out to wait for the procession …

We watched the carnival from the opposite side of the road with the sea captain’s house in the background …

Having visited the church in Widdecombe-in-the-Moor and seen the model I think this was my favourite float …

It’s always really lovely to get to see local stuff going on when visiting new places and the carnival had made our day … and it was literally on our doorstep. 

On the Bank Holiday Monday we had a drive through some of the narrowest lanes ever, through pretty villages …

… for a pre-wedding catch up with Tom, Rachel and Erin on a very breezy Saunton Beach …

We drove back to Ilfracombe to find the streets lined with people waiting for the Legendary Grand Tour of minis. A bit of Googling found that the route went right past where we were staying so it was back out front … this time to watch 100s of minis drive past. It was great fun to watch, lots of cars were dressed up for the event and there was plenty horn tooting and waving going on …

On the Tuesday Jackie and Phil and Jackie’s mum and dad were making their way to Ilfracombe, ready for Rachel and Tom’s wedding on the Wednesday. 

We had just started to head for Combe Martin when the phone rang with a suggestion of lunch somewhere. Luckily we weren’t far off passing The Sawmills and it looked very inviting …

A quick recce confirmed it would do very nicely so we got one in and waited for the others to arrive …

After a very nice lunch we headed back to ‘ours’ for a quick cuppa and look at the view before saying our goodbyes as they all headed off for The Tunnels for a pre-wedding evening with the bridal party …

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