Yorkshire Dales Day 1

So I am a day behind because we are currently staying at an inn which is over a pub in Pateley Bridge Yorkshire & the internet is only good for 30 minutes at a time & only sitting in the hall next to the door to our room.

Yes really.

So. We'll see how far I can get before the connection drops or I get sick of sitting in the hall...


I didn't get very far. It's Monday now & we are back in London.

And I have real internet. (well, real British internet which really isn't much to write home about).

So we rented a car in York & headed out to the Yorkshire countryside starting with the James Herriot museum in Thirsk.

Now you have to understand that ~for me~ this destination was the whole trip.

I have loved James Herriot's books since I was 10 years old. My oldest son is named Tristan because of those books. The first lamb I had to pull ~ I knew how to do it because of those books.

I have always always ALWAYS  wanted to go to Yorkshire & see the places of the books. See the countryside & the stone walls & the stone barns & meet the people & hear the accents.

And I DID.

And I did it with the other person who read those books with me & memorized them with me & wanted to be there as much as I did.

And it was awesome.

There were several fist bumps, quite a few squeals, many hugs, some tears, several toasts & big, big smiles.

And I took a few photos.

Hey Wyatt! Look! It's me & Mrs. Pumphrey & Tricki-woo!

The gardens of Skeldale house.

The dispensary.

The actual ledger book from the practice.

In the books Tristan runs up & down these stairs taking them 2 at a time.

The "real" James Herriot ~ Alf Wight.

Me & Jeanmarie & James

The type writer he wrote all the books on.

Tris! Look! 

Moo.

The village of Thirsk.

Then we headed out to see the countryside of All Creature's Great & Small

These gorgeous stone walls are everywhere. They go for miles.

White Horse

This lovely couple took our picture & then told us about an abbey close by & gave us directions to it. The directions included "coming to a hamlet with a pub called the Black Swan. Turn at the Black Swan"

If you've never had directions which included "turn at the Black Swan" you need to change that.

See the beautiful doorway? Backing up to a barn wall? And the stock trailer parked there? Yep. A ruined abbey wall is part of their barn. No big deal. Nothing to see here. Move along...

Protecting his farm.

Moving on to Rievaulx Abbey. Possibly the most dramatic, most beautiful of all we saw.

Just a pasture for some ponies. Next to a huge ruined abbey. No big deal. 

Thatched roof cottage.

Hi.

Sheep & pheasants wandering around the grounds.

That was pretty much our first day in the Yorkshire Dales & we ended up in our little inn over the pub with skeleton keys to our room...

Stay tuned for more.

Blessings.