Theatre Royal – turnrightoutofportsmouth

On our last day in the Dales we decided to go to Richmond, but on the way we stopped off in Leyburn to do some washing.

Whilst waiting for this to finish we first of all did a bit of shopping in a local supermarket, Campbells (actually a CostCutter but also a family run grocery store), and then a quick wander down to ‘The Shawl’ (I was intrigued by the name 🙂 )

We got some wonderful meat in the grocery store (which made us both a wonderful beef stew and a somerset pork casserole).

We found the initial part of the shawl to be playing fields leading up to limestone terrace that extends for almost 2 miles (but we didn’t have time to find this bit). Romantics like to think it’s called The Shawl as Mary Queen of Scots dropped her shawl in the area whilst escaping from her imprisonment at Bolton Castle. This may well not be true! But the views are amazing 🙂

We moved onto Richmond, where we drove around for a while trying to find a parking space – eventually parking halfway down the hill towards the old station. Before heading to the castle we had a drink overlooking the market place, followed by a quick mooch around a little market in the old Victorian market hall.

Then onto the castle that dominates the town. It’s not huge but is a pleasant enough way to pass an hour or so. The views from the top of the keep are wonderful : Continue reading “Richmond & Leyburn”

We moved on from Cambridge in the rain. And it didn’t stop for over 20 hours! However the site that we’d found, Kings Forest Caravan Site, was perfect for us. The owners say just pitch up and they’ll come to find you – they’re very laid back, we saw them after a couple of days 🙂

Lee is very engaging and his wife said she was thinking of coming to see if we needed rescuing!

When the rain stopped the following day we made our way to visit Lavenham, one of many mediaeval villages in this area. They retain their charm due to the fact that with diminishing fortunes from their heyday as important wool merchant towns, they lacked the funds to upgrade housing stock etc, and were therefore left behind as other towns developed. What a legacy they have left! Lavenham alone has 204 listed buildings… Here’s a small selection 🙂 Continue reading “Charming Lavenham and a wonderful surprise in delightful Bury St Edmunds”