Thursday, 19 March 2015

First Trip, 2015, Hawes

Hawes, 8th to the 14th of March.

Well we booked Hawes in north Yorkshire for almost a week, made a change from always going to York for Dots birthday and this birthday was special.

Day one, Sunday 8th March 2015

We arrived at the site just before we were allowed to but the warden let us on anyway, very good of them and a vast change from York.

Nick Tim and the girls arrived not much later and we all went for dinner. We went up to Simonstone Hall outside Hawes and Tim had to do a couple of trips to get us all there. You may have heard of Simonstone Hall in the news recently but on that day it was just a quiet, very descent place to have our Sunday dinner. As for Simonstone Hall, Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson, I will get back to that, at a later date in the Blog.

We had a very good Sunday dinner and I had a pint of Theakston's Bitter, before we made our way back to the campsite.

Dinner in Simonstone Hall

From the campsite we had a walk into Hawes and the girls had big ice cream, when the others went home Dot and I stopped out for an early beer or two.

We started at the far end of town and went onto The Old Board Inn, were I stuck with Theakston's Bitter.  We sat by the fire and it was lovely and warm, better than where we go on a Friday night.  It was practically empty in there but three at the bar were were very noisy and had been in there since it opened.

After our drink we moved on, next door to The Crown and had the same beer again.  It was fairly full in there but a lot quieter.

After that drink we made our way back to the van and still being full after diner we had crackers and cheese for supper.

Day two, Monday 9th March 2015

The weather was really bad so we did not do anything, in fact we had a very relaxing time watching TV.

Day three, Tuseday 10th March 2015

Today is Dots Birthday and it was nice and sunny (it was the only really sunny day of the holiday).

We had a walk across the fields to Hardraw Falls, we have done this before but Dot wanted to do it, the walkway was not excellent but it was fairly dry, if you were very careful.  Out of the site the first thing we came to was the confluence of the River Ure and Duerley Beck or Gayle Beck (not sure about the name of the beck).

Confluence

Then the shortish walk to Hardraw Falls, you have to go through the pub (The Green Dragon), to get to the end of the valley containing the falls.  It was out of the sun here and very cold but the falls looked ok.

Hardraw Force Dot

Dot wanted to go up to were we had lunch on Sunday, Simonstone Hall, for a birthday lunch.  So from the The Green Dragon we headed along the path up the hill, hoping that it would take us to the hotel.

As the hill levelled out we came to the back (or maybe it was the front) of Simonstone Hall, which I thought was very lucky indeed.  Dot was bothered about getting mud into the Hall but I think they would be used to that happening.

It was pretty quiet compared to Sunday but there where a few people eating in there and we got served straight away.  We both had Beef Carbonnade, which was very nice and we also had a couple of drinks with our meal.

Simonstone Hall

We walked via the road back to the the campsite and van for a rest and to get changed into something with less mud on it, before we went out later for another drink or two.  It was getting on for about five before we went out into town.

We went to the White Hart Inn, which had just reopened after being done up and it was very nice indeed.  We sat in the bar by the fire and for a change this holiday, I had three different beers in there (see separate write up for the beers).

Back in the van latter we watch a film that Nicole and the girls has brought us before bed.

Day four, Wednesday 11th March 2015

Raining again so did not go out until five, it had stopped raining by then, we had time to get some things we needed from the small supermarket before it closed.

We then went into the only pub that we hadn't been in so far, The Fountain, the only people in there where watching the horse racing from Cheltenham. I got another new beer in there (again, see separate write up for the beer) and the place was quite pleasant but not as nice as the White Hart Inn.

So after our beers there, we moved on to the White Hart Inn, where we had another beer before we set off back to the van.

Back at the van we watched another film, before bed.

It was about the time we went to bed that Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson was committing working suicide up at Simonstone Hall.  For him all of the fun he has had, for all these years, seems to be over.

Day five, Thursday 12th March 2015

It was just before dinner when we set off for a walk up to the Wensleydale cheese factory, my shoes were acting up and hurting the back of my ankle.  So I was glad when we got there and had a rest.   In there we got the cheese we had promised to get and ate lots of cheese from the displays.

When we came out, Dot wanted to walk up to the watermill at Gayle, just outside Hawes.  So I put up with my foot and walked up to the mill.  Its was fine at the moment but was supposed to rain latter, so we made our way back down into Hawes.

Hawes

We took the path across the fields which led down to the church and it was very cold by then.  Dot decided it would be good to pop into the White Hart Inn for lunch, so we did without me arguing. Lunch was very good, we had homemade pie of the day, very good and a beer or two before we set off back to the van.

Back at the van it did rain eventually but we just sat and watched some old films.

Day five, Friday 13th March 2015

Another horrible day with the weather but at about four we set off into town. We had a quick look down at the old train station but Dot remembered we had a card to post and only just made it to the post office before the last post.

Rail Bridge in Hawes

Then we just went to the White Hart Inn again and had our tea in there, I had Wensleydale shin of beef casserole and Dot had the 10oz Gammon steak. Then just sat and had a couple of beers (by this time I was just drinking Black Sheep).

When we walked back to the van we just watched films again.

Day six, Saturday 14th March 2015

We were going to do some sightseeing on the way back but discovering the Dot was going out tonight (I did know but had forgotten) and remembering that the Boro where on TV just after twelve, changed what was planed.

We got ready really early and went straight home.