With the world focusing on UNESCO's Palmyra ruins in Syria, we heading an hour up the M1 into North Yorkshire, England, on a day trip to the market town of Knaresborough and Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Park, a considerably safer World Heritage site. The site was the fourth of UNESCO's list I have visited in the U.K., following Durham Cathedral, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. We started the day however with a trip to the photogenic town of Knaresborough.
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| Knaresborough viaduct as viewed from Marigold's riverside cafe. |
Yorkshire, being England's largest and, of course, most beautiful county, has a diverse array of towns and villages, each with a unique history and its own claim to fame. Knaresborough, a little over an hour north of us in Sheffield, stands out from the rest due to its geographical position on the River Nidd, its houses clinging to the northern valley face, forested to the south and set apart by the nineteenth century railway viaduct whichstill in use today. We began the day trying to figure out how to use our new waffle maker but since we'd woke up later than intended and it came with a bible thick manual we ditched the idea and set off. We parked at the end of the valley, by Mother Shipton's Cave, England's so called oldest tourist attraction, and walked along the riverside. Although we didn't enter the cave it's a very popular visitors spot, famous as the dwelling place of local crackpot (or described more kindly by their website as 'Prophetess') and her ability to foretell the future during the reign of King Henry VII in the sixteenth century. She also predicted doomsday when the bridge, crossing the Nidd between the cave and the pub, aptly name World's End, collapses three times. No need to start panicking just yet though, it's only fallen once and it looked in excellent condition on Monday! Walking along the northern gorge bottom towards the viaduct you can see the towns mishmash of housing styles, some Elizabethan (the black and white timber beams), some brick built and more curiously, a style I haven't encountered in other places, a black and white chessboard patterned exterior. Down at the waters edge are bed and breakfast's, cafes and boat hire stalls, embracing the tranquility this part of the river holds. We breakfasted in Marigold's at 10, left hungry by a frustrating waffle iron, overlooking a peaceful Monday morning stream. It's worth noting that the food here was lovely and fairly priced, since cafes and restaurants seem to charge extra for a view. We drank tea and ate scones next to Rosemary, Charlotte and Anna, little wooden paddling boats, tethered up to the waters edge. Across on the other bank is a meandering path through the autumnal trees of Knaresborough forest.
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| The ruins of Knaresborough Castle. |
Opposite Marigold's in a steep path that winds up the hill to Knaresborough castle. The view gets more picturesque with every stride taken, as the changing leaves add a warming tint to the valley sides, framing the viaduct across the Nidd. The ruinous state of the towns fortifications stands overlooking the gorge, stood like a sentinel on watch. The keeps crumbling remains and castle museum were unfortunately closed for maintenance during our day trip so we missed the opportunity to see the spectacle that previous occupants would have enjoyed. We did see an old lavatory chute which the castle's inhabitants would have used, exiting near it's foundations, so that's something! The castle grounds were peaceful, well kept and free to roam around, currently and historically part of the royal crown, in possession of the Duchy of Lancaster at present. King John, made famous in connection with the writing of the Magna Carta, is supposed to have spent more money on both Knaresborough and Scarborough castles, the destination of our trip last week, than any others in the whole country (See, I told you Yorkshire was the best county!). It's not hard to see why given their stunning location and panoramic views, he was obviously a fan of gazing out of his window. Heading into the town centre is a short walk of a few hundred yards, through brick and stone uneven terraces, taken up in the modern era by trading and antiques stores, art shops, tearooms and butchers. Aside from the checkered facade designs on some of the buildings there were a fair few 'false' doorways and windows that had been painted to incorporate a scene: one being of an Italian style restaurant with a table for two in a courtyard. It's this sort of singularity that makes Knaresborough different from the next market town.
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| The unique checkered design of some of the towns buildings. |
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| The false painted doorways and window frames. |
If you've read any of our previous blog entries about day trips in England I'm sure you're aware that they always include a good old fashioned tea room and today was no exception. Situated in the main square opposite the Town Hall, Lavender Tea Rooms, a Trip Advisor winner from 2014, sits above Ye Oldest Chymist Shoppe In England. It's no wonder non natives struggle with our language when we still embrace our ancient vernacular and written word. The inviting exterior of blackened timber and white framed windows gave the appearance of an old worldly time when this style of architecture was common, only made less enticing by the fact that you could choose between this or the much newer 'Wine Shop' next door. If I hadn't have driven then alcohol may well have won the day! Established in 1720, or so the signage reads, it exudes character and if it wasn't for the more recent products displayed on the shelves, you'd be none the wiser knowing if it had changed at all since its foundation. What it was, was simply a little shop of Yorkshire, selling local preserves, sweets, biscuits, cakes, comedic remedies to peoples most common complaints (Man Flu, although this is a genuinely excruciating condition, moody teenager syndrome etc) and ceramics. They even had a bottle of Henderson's Relish, God's favoured condiment choice, which is rarely seen outside its hometown of Sheffield, nevermind South Yorkshire. Upstairs through a creaky low ceiling (WATCH YOUR HEAD) staircase we entered the Lavendar Tearooms, the walls lavished with paintings and trinkets of eras gone by, the black timber frames revealed upon the roof. The thing I like about Georgian architecture is that it seems like there is no planning involved, the only thing that is instructed to the builders is what kind of building is required. Construct a two storied shop between these two buildings? Ok, we'll start with timber. Oh, we've run out of timber? Nevermind, we'll call this the ceiling then and make the rest out of brick. More timber's arrived? Ok, we'll make the roof of wooden beams. I think we've forgot the staircase! Nevermind, we'll fit it in between there, you'll just have to crouch down to enter and duck out of the way of the wooden timbers. In a nutshell, that's about all I can imagine when I study the layout of such floorplans. The outside looks just as haphazard as well. Fortunately, the food and service wasn't as peculiar as the design of the rooms, although the choice of soups (Pear & Parsnip, Tomato and Orange) did raise a few eyebrows. As it was, I opted for the pear and parsnip soup as it sounded bizarre but turned out to be intriguingly sweet and hearty, perfect for Autumn, Lidya opting for the just as flavoursome tomato and lentil. I very much enjoy the shop and tearooms combined and think they are worthy of a visit whenever in Knaresborough.
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| A little off the road square. |
We went to Knaresborough knowing we were fitting in two destinations in one day trip. I think this proved to be the correct choice as 3 hours after our arrival we had pretty much seen what we wanted. Other than the cave and a few nature walks there's not a massive array to do within walking distance. Knaresborough is a pleasant little town, great photogenically and easy to get to but just isn't so fulfilling for a full day. For a full day of exploring, visiting nearby Harrogate or head to where we did (in part II), Studley Royal Park.
To Do
- Walk along the river Nidd to the Castle - Only about 500 yards from Mother Shipton's Cave to the castle but a steep path to the top. The views make it worth it.
- Lavender Tearooms - Fairly priced (homemade soup with thick cut bread was only £3) combined with the shop downstairs takes you back centuries to ye old England.
- Mother Shiptons Cave - I can't add anything from a personal point of view as we didn't visit but it's highly popular so can't be bad! £6 for adults.
The Facts
Without doubt, the viaduct is the most photographed of all Knaresborough's landmarks. Construct finished in 1851. The current castle was established in the fourteenth century despite being pre-dated by earlier fortifications as alluded to by its old name 'Chednaresburg' (Burg meaning defensive structure).
For any other information about Knaresborough feel free to look at the official town website - www.knaresborough.co.uk
Ratings
Knaresborough - 3
Castle - 2
Lavender Tearooms and shop - 4
Views - 4
Marigold's - 3
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View of the River Nidd and the viaduct from Knaresborough
Castle. |
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