Surroundings, York

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We arrived earlier from London than we had expected so we drove around north of York , the North York Moorsfor a few hours. This is the land that inspired Emily Bronte, James Herriot, and other writers. It was a beautiful drive and a good introduction to the English countryside

Impressive castle from 1699 (designed by Vanbrugh) and still lived in by the Howard family. It is famous for being the location where the TV-series 'Brideshead Revisited' with Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons was filmed and has featured in other TV-series too. The house is huge and has its own chapel. Since big castles cost money, the Howards opened up their home to visitors many years ago and even if you don't get to see it all, you can see many of the fantastic rooms with a guide and also visit the grounds. Whatever you do, don't miss the astrology fountain! There is also a Costume Museum in the old stables, showing fashion throughout history. You can see a few more pictures on my Malton page.

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During the Middle Ages, this was a wealthy, prominent monastery. Originally, it was the minster of St Olave at Galmanho. In 1068, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery.

After King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539, while founding the Church of England, it was abandoned. Now a ruin, it remains an interesting place to visit.

Nearby is an astronomical observatory, built by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in 1831. For many years, it had the world's largest refracting telescope, designed by York's own Thomas Cook. In 1981, it was restored and refitted to mark the 150th anniversary of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

When staying in York you simply must visit the Yorkshire Dales. We jave often visited the Yorkshire Moors but this was our first visit to the Dales - we missed out by not seeing it before!
The Moors and the Dales are very different and the Dales have this historical instance of small single barns in each field - a throw back to the time when fields were individually owned.

Another quaint little town near York is Knaresborough. It is a station away from Harrogate. It is a much smaller town but has some castle ruins and a nice view of the River Nidd. We were there during market day which has been held for well over 700 years now -- that's a long time! Nowadays, the market is like a small flea market with everything from dishware, to sweets to clothing for sale. England's oldest chemist shop (pharmacy) dating from 1720 is also here.

We had one dinner in Knaresborough and found a small place called Hannah's to be quite nice. There were several other restaurants and some cozy-looking pubs as well.

Harrogate is a really nice town about 30 minutes from York by train. It was famous as a spa town for its many mineral wells and enjoyed quite some popularity a century or two ago. Now there is only one bath house still operating. We wanted to enter the baths but the schedule alternates between men, women and mixed and we weren't there on a mixed gender day.

Harrogate has all the trappings of a decent sized town. Plenty of shops and restaurants as well as some historical sites such as the Royal Pump Museum. We enjoyed the one-pound store where everything is just one pound. All the other stores were far too expensive for us!

Depicted here is the original Harrogate Betty's cafe. We didn't eat here but we ate at the one in York and afternoon tea was scrumptious.

The time 1940 a Girls School must be evacuated lets put the school in Castle Howard.
Well Bliss Howard gets rid of the riff raff army. Officer burns his papers in the fire and the paper takes off up the lum (Chimney) never to be seen. It's war time the Lums are not swept chimmneys in the Castle go everywhich way, a time bomb is primed to go off.
The headmistress hears a rushing noise she gets up out of bed and opens door after door opening closing and FIRE A WALL of FIRE !
She closes the door the girls are taken to the bomb shelters and a phone call is made, they search for the number and it rings....(Except that the number for the Fire Brigade changed years ago and no one changed it. Why? Because they knew the number}....It's answerd..."Help Fire fire at Castle Howard help come quick.." Okay said the man and he put on his coat and went to help !!

The fire had now got a real grip the Older girls were told to get out the shelters and help...they smashed the windows pulled down the paintings and threw them out along with priceless books they piled them up in the Boar Garden and then.....it rained.
But where was the bloody Fire Brigade??
Realizing something was amiss someone got on a cycle and went to find a phone. They called YORK....Don't you know theres a war on? We can't just come you know we need to be told by.....them at.....
Two and a half hours later they arrive by, this time a spark lands on the dome and up it goes like a firework! What the fire did not distroy the water did.
Half the house gone (The Best & Older half) the Dome acted like a firebrake and is stopped. Then.......the sound of Airoplanes and they were german....panic fear......but the flew on by.

Luckily in 1936 a photoragpher had take lots of photos and he was still alive !
There are no plans blueprints of Castle Howard nothing, but this chap could recall where he stood and what lens he used and so very clever people rebuilt the Dome. YOU CAN'T TELL it's new. And so when they have the money some day the rest will be rebuilt too.

Leeds is the second largest metropolitan district in the UK. It is located also in West Yorkshire. A vibrant, affluent capital, Leeds complements its economic success with a lively arts, sporting and entertainment scene. New and refurbished theatres, shopping malls, hotels, galleries and cafe bars rub shoulders with stylish offices and award-winning architecture.