Of Castles And Carparks And Cruising The Countryside

On Wednesday we headed home (home to my daughter's, not home home), but not before making stops in two nearby towns. We mentioned to someone at the hotel that we were going to Harrogate and he said we should stop in Knaresborough which is right on the way. He said it was a cute little village with an aqueduct and we'd probably enjoy it. 

He didn't mention the ancient castle. 

Back in the 1170's Hugh de Morville and his followers took refuge in this village after assassinating Thomas Becket. 

The castle was taken in 1644 during the Civil War and mostly destroyed in 1648 because of an order from Parliament to dismantle all Royalist castles. 

Many of the buildings in the town center are built from 'castle stone'. 

Knaresborough is a market and spa town on the river Nidd. Discoveries in the area lead researchers to believe there was a strong Roman presence in the area, and Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. 

We walked through the market, the first one held here was in 1206, and then over to the castle ruins for a look inside? 

You do go inside but technically the inside is also outside now as it's just the ruins. 

The docent at the castle said we shouldn't miss the river walk so we climbed down another million stone stairs (I'm getting my steps without even trying this trip!) and got a closer look at the bridge too. 

There were homes and cafes along the water, and after walking a bit we trudged back up the hill and got in the car to make the short drive on to Harrogate. 

If you know my hubs you know he has great style. There's a men's shop in Harrogate he follows online so when we realized we'd be nearby we decided to see it in person. He and the owner chat back and forth from time to time so we were hoping to meet him. 

Harrogate is another spa town and the greenspace when you enter is amazing. The shop owner told hubs it's a 200 acre public parkland surrounding the city center and it's so pretty. We ate lunch at a spot called Farmhouse and both ordered Japanese bowls. They had a lot of breakfast type dishes on the menu, which I guess is where the name came from, but we both thought the Asian flavors in the bowls were fantastic!

I didn't take a picture of the bowl but I did snap one of the pretty tea service. 

Hubs did not have tea lol. 

We walked to the shop after lunch, and had the nicest time chatting with the gentleman working there. The owner was out and messaged hubs later he was sorry to miss us. 

Of course there was a shop dog who looked a lot like our pup at home and who we're missing. We take pictures of dogs. We can't help it. 

They had the most beautiful robes in this shop and I was thinking hey, maybe I'll get one for hubs for Christmas, but then I saw the price and-yowza!! I won't even print it here because you wouldn't believe it, but this particular company made the silk robes worn in Downton Abbey and these are similar if that gives you a clue.

We made it back to Cambridge in time for dinner with 'the kids' and the kid's kids and it felt good to be back in our home away from home. 

One of my favorite things about traipsing around England is discovering villages I'd never heard of until now. The small villages here all seem to hold some beauty, some historic significance, and usually an amazing church or cathedral. Plus you traverse lots of gorgeous English countryside to get to them and that's worth all the stress of driving on single track roads with signs saying two way traffic?!, and carparks that require super sharp 90 degree angled turns into spaces so narrow you have to slither out of your seat sideways. 

In the words of Oliver Wendell Douglas...'Land spreadin' out so far and wide, Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside!'