Beautiful Britain - Knaresborough, Yorkshire

Sunday came around all too soon and it was time to head home from our weekend catching up with good friends in Harrogate.

It was such a lovely day that we weren't quite ready for home yet and decided to spend the morning in Knaresborough.

We are so glad we did, it was just lovely.

We parked up in the town centre and had a wander across to the castle, which you can walk right round the outside of.

It's a really pretty castle and the views, down the valley to the viaduct, were spectacular. It had been worth the visit just for that.

We then had a wander round the town and couldn't help stopping every time we saw another Trompe L'oeil, which were all over the place.

We then decided to take the lazy route and drove down to the car park by the river so that we could take some photos of the viaduct and have another amble.

It was really lovely along the riverside, the sun was shining, it was lovely and warm and it was really pretty.

There was just time for a quick ice cream in the sunshine before making our way back to the car where it really was now time to head for home.

We'd had a lovely weekend with plenty of good food, good weather and good friends. What more could you ask for? Looking forward to next year's meet up in Betws-y-Coed already.

Next week, I will pick back up with the lovely Suffolk coast.  See you then.

Beautiful Britain - Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire

You will have seen from last week's post, that we were off to Harrogate for our annual catch up with old friends. We were looking for something to do on our way and decided that Beningbrough, a National Trust property near York, would fit the bill nicely, and it most certainly did.

From the minute we turned into the main drive we knew that this property would not disappoint. You approach the property directly from the front, along a grand, tree lined avenue, and it is a pretty impressive sight.

Approaching the main entrance to the grounds from the car park it all looks very intriguing, with a glimpse of a huge pottery tiled tea pot in shades of blue, surrounded by a drift of prettily planted terra cotta pots.

It was definitely inviting us in and making us want to explore more. There is definitely an air of a secret garden about this property.  It is just waiting to be discovered and we were eager to oblige.

Once through the entrance reception you are in a courtyard with the usual NT plant sales on display. The difference here though, to anything we've seen at any other NT places, was the inclusion of driftwood sculpted horses heads amongst the planting. It just all looked very pretty and definitely worth a few pictures.

As we'd had a long old drive, we knew that our first real stop would be the tea room, situated behind the big blue teapot, which I just loved. I've never seen anything like it before.

Following our lunch, which included my favourite NT flapjack, we decided to explore the gardens first, as it looked like we might be in for some rain.

We started off in the walled garden, which was a real treat. It was a real mix of flowers, fruit and vegetable planting. The herbaceous borders were full to bursting with colour and different varieties of plants.
As you will see they had some pretty impressive Jerusalem Artichokes, which I was very taken with.

From the walled garden we wandered past more herbaceous borders, stuffed full of colourful perennials, heading for the Italian garden.

We went through the metal gate and followed the Italian border, backed with a high red brick wall, towards the back of the Hall. The border was stuffed full of brightly coloured blooms, with lots of little hidey holes amongst the planting to sit and ponder for a while.

This border leads round to the back of the house, which overlooks open parkland. We wandered past the back of the house and the orangery, flanked by yet more bits of garden, hidden behind tall hedges, through the courtyard, past the old laundry and were finally at the main front door.There is plenty to see in the house, which is spread over three floors and set out in such a way that you can see how the house has been used over the ages. There is loads of interactive stuff for kids to get involved in and, for those not so good with lots of stairs, there is a lift which services all floors.

After a good mooch round the house it was back to the entrance way for a good look round the requisite NT shop, where I managed to make a start on the Christmas shopping, before heading off to Harrogate to carry on with the rest of our weekend.

We only spent a couple of hours at the property today but, had the weather been a bit better and us not having been on a schedule, I can see that it would be very easy to while away the best part of a day there.

It's somewhere I would definitely recommend as being worth a visit and somewhere that I would happily visit again when we are back in the area. The gardens were definitely our favourite bit.

Oh yeah, bonus points ..... The big blue tea pot is only a flippin' Pokestop!! I wish we'd known before we had finished our visit.

Beautiful Britain - Harrogate, Yorkshire

Normally I'm very good at keeping my posts in order, and I've still got lots to tell you about our
holiday on the Suffolk coast, but we're just back from a jam packed weekend spent in Harrogate with friends, so I thought I'd make a bit of a detour there first.

We headed off on Friday morning and spent the afternoon at Beningbrough Hall, a National Trust property just outside of York.  I'll tell you more about that in another post, but it's definitely worth a visit if you're up that way.

It was our 5th annual meet up and we were all staying in a little Bed & Breakfast called Ashwood House, ideally placed for visiting Harrogate, with plenty of parking, and within about 10 minutes walking distance of pretty much all you'd want to see.

We had a lovely big room on the top floor, which was light, bright and airy and had everything that we needed to keep us comfortable for the two nights we were there.

Friday night started off with a sneaky prosecco before we headed out for something to eat.

We ended up in a Thai restaurant, about 10 minutes down the road, called Sukothai and, from the minute we entered it looked very promising.

We opted for a set meal and couldn't resist photos of the starters, which looked absolutely spectacular. All six of us were well impressed and couldn't wait to tuck in. We weren't disappointed, all were really tasty and the plates were soon cleared.

The mains were soon delivered, a selection of three different Thai dishes, with plenty of rice. We were too busy eating by now for any more photos, but I can certainly say we had a great meal, which was also pretty good value.

Having had a long day, Martin and I opted for heading back for a reasonably early night, whilst we left the others to take in a few more beers along the way.

Saturday morning, filled with a very good breakfast at Ashwood House, and we were on our way out to explore Harrogate, with a definite stop at Betty's on the cards, even if we ended up queuing.

We were blessed with good weather and started out with a wander, heading for Valley Park.

We had a good walk around Valley Park, which looked lovely in the sunshine.

 

We had the obligatory selfie ...

... before heading into town and ending up at Betty's, a bit earlier than ideal, as we were still full of breakfast, but hey, there was no queue, so it was a bit of a no brainer.

Though we weren't really hungry, there was plenty to tempt us.

We felt it was an absolute must to try at least a little treat and I opted for a raspberry macaroon, stuffed with raspberry butter cream and fresh raspberries.  Now it may sound odd, but I've never had a macaroon and I've always wanted to try one. I wasn't disappointed, it was just the right sized treat for a mid morning snack and went down very nicely with a glass of chilled elderflower bubbly.

We were soon back out in the sunshine exploring the town centre, with plenty of shopping going on along the way.

Once the sun had passed the yardarm, it was time to find another spot for a bit of light refreshment of the liquid kind and it was into The Fat Badger for a comfy seat and a nice cold drink.

With aching legs, not having done so much walking for a while, Martin and I decided it was time for us to head back to base for a bit of a chill before heading out to try out Gianni's, an Italian restaurant just down the road.

We went back via the spring at the Old Pump House, where the obligatory photo was taken for Geocaching purposes, though Martin refused point blank to try the water ... it did smell pretty bad, I have to admit.

We also had another wander round Valley Park, where we stopped for a quick sandwich.

 
 

It was then time for a bit of a chill out and the setting up of the craft stall, before meeting up again before heading out to the Italian, which provided us with another very good meal.

Sunday morning and, after another very good breakfast to finish off a lovely weekend catch up, it was time to say good bye and to head for home, but not before agreeing next year's meet up was to be in Betws-y-Coed, with a walk up Snowdon for some and a trip to the top on the train for us, another of my 50 things to do before I'm 60.

We decided to take in a quick visit to Knaresborough on the way, which I will tell you more about later. 

Ebenezer Chapel - Knodishall, Suffolk

Number 7 on my list of 50 things to do before I'm 60 is to holiday on the Suffolk coast. Well, I am pleased to confirm that I've achieved another big tick.

We are just back from spending a week in Ebenezer Chapel, a holiday cottage in Knodishall, a pretty little village, just in from the coast between Southwold and Aldeburgh.
I have plenty to tell you about our week's stay but first let me tell you what we thought of Ebenezer Chapel.

Our first impressions came as a bit of a surprise. We parked up and walked up to the cottage thinking we must be able to park closer for unpacking purposes. We soon found out that this was not the case!
Whilst there is only a tiny bit of outside space, the Chapel is in a lovely spot, though it is literally just a few yards opposite the Methodist church. We did wonder if it might get busy, especially on a Sunday morning. It is on Knodishall Common and, as such, is approached from two sides by public footpaths, so we also thought it may possibly not be that private.
Unpacking did end up being a bit of a pain, though it could have been much worse. We were lucky that the weather was reasonable. I can't imagine it would be much fun at all, making the nine trips of 75 steps each way, up that would then be a pretty muddy footpath, though we do have a bit of a tendency to pack for every eventuality.

It does say on the website that there is no private parking, but that certainly didn't prepare us for not being able to park up closer to unpack and pack the car.

Within a few minutes after unpacking it was clear that the public footpaths were pretty well used, so there would definitely be no wondering about in the buff as there are lots of windows.

Inside, the main living area is impressive, light bright and very nicely decorated. It's very contemporary, with natural wood floors and doors and decorated in grey and white tones, whilst maintaining plenty of comfort.
It also had the biggest log burner that we've ever seen, not that we used it as we were blessed with the hottest temperatures of the year.  We were very grateful for all of the big sash windows, which let in plenty of fresh air and a bit of a breeze.

Two bedrooms lead off the living area, with no wardrobes, which seemed a little unusual. There are open hanging rails in each bedroom, which are functional, but we weren't really keen on the idea of. We like to be able to hide all of our stuff away to keep everything looking nice and tidy.

One of the bedrooms is en suite with a large shower, which looks good and worked really well. Both bedroom windows are covered. It turns out that this is to resolve a privacy issue, as both look out directly into a neighbour's garden, but it was strange to have no views.

There is also a nice roomy family bathroom, with a bath and shower.

Whilst the interior of the cottage is lovely to look at, storage is not brilliant. There is nowhere to store shoes, nowhere to store suitcases and very limited free storage space in the kitchen, including a pretty tiny fridge. We struggled to fit a few days worth of provisions and soft drinks in there, definitely no room for the beer!

It wasn't the best start. Having read the guest book I decided we must be really picky as everyone else who has stayed here has loved it.

As the week went on and we settled into the swing of living in the cottage, we did end up really enjoying our stay there.

It was nice not having any traffic driving past, it was nice being able to have all of the windows and the front door open in the heat, only having to be concerned about the occasional dog walker wandering past. The Methodist church opposite only had visitors a couple of times in the week and we hardly noticed them.

The lounge was, oh so comfy and the rest of the living area was so spacious.

Whilst the initial impressions did make this a cottage that we wouldn't re-visit, they didn't spoil our holiday and we had a really lovely week. We were blessed with very good weather and some cracking sunsets. 
Knodishall is a really pretty little village and is an ideal spot for exploring the Suffolk coast, which was just lovely.
 I think that Gorgeous Cottage we stayed in back in May in Yorkshire has spoilt us!