Drove through Blackpool the next day to see 'Blackpool Tower' built in 1894, at only 518 feet it's only half the size of its French rival the Eiffel. Next stop Samlesbury Hall near Preston. My husbands family rented this 14C. manor house in 1830 when the family was in the coal business. Now mainly a wedding venue the Tudor exterior is nothing compared to the intricate wood carvings decorating the walls, ceilings, even banisters inside. Interestingly the house, when built must have had Catholic residents that hid their priest in the 'priest's hole' just above the chapel to keep him safe from the Protestants. Drove through some local towns where these same relatives owned some land, and may still- when is that 999yr lease up again? (subject of a future blog).
Stopped by a friend of my husbands house for lunch and walked around one of the reservoirs next door. Apparently an entire village was demolished to make room for these huge water stores. Ruins of this town still remain. If we had more time we wanted to go hunting for ghost towns in the North, a by product of the industrial boom and subsequent collapse. This was as close as we got.
The best curry in the UK? London? Think again- Bradford. There were about 20 in this town from the list of 'best curry houses in the UK' to choose from. We settled on one, Mumtaz. This place is an institution. Dine on their delicious food, buy on of their logo purses, or prepared foods, how about a hamper of chutneys, curry baby food?, what about pan (a digestf). You can even have a full Pakistani or Indian wedding here. Food was delicious but maybe next time we'll pick another one with a little less bling.
Stayed in Leeds, just a half and hour away. It is a big city with lots of shopping malls, and a nightlife that doesn't stop. They also have 4 star hotels, that are cheap especially on lastminute.com!! We realized this really is the place to be when we discovered the 'Alcolizer' a coin operated breathalyzer in the parking garage. Some cab company should advertise right next to this thing- great money making scheme. Stopped in Harrogate because we spotted a really neat old tea room, 'Betty's'. Soon we discovered that this too was an institution, but a delicious one. My first Yorkshire Cream tea of the trip. I thought it was tea with clotted cream in it but its actually just tea with scones and clotted cream to put on top. Once it arrived I had a flashback to having tea the first time I was in London with my family as a youngster. Delicious!
We had quickly stopped at a ruined Abby earlier in the drive. Where locals had turned the remains of the looted Abby into a house. But Fountains Abby was really beautiful. With few tourists willing to face the snow and ice we practically had the remains to ourselves. This was one of the biggest Cistercian Abby's in the UK which was ultimately destroyed by Henry VIII in the Dissolution.
Drove on up into the Yorkshire Moors- slightly less impressive covered in snow and stopped at an old pub in the middle of the National Park at Hutton le Hole for a pint. Out of the Moors we quickly rounded the harbour at Whitby, Captain James Cook's hometown and got some pictures of the ruined Whitby Abby on the hill above. By dark we made it to another of our friends homes where we would stay the next two evenings.
Next day took it easy walking around Malton, the local town and saw where the animal auctions are in the summertime. Zipped up to Castle Howard and met our friends neighbor the local vicar for drinks- funny guy!
Our final day we drove up to Brodsworth Hall only to find the grounds were closed due to ice. So we snuck over a couple fences to see this house that my husband used to frequent as a kid. "Wow it looks so small now" he said. Isn't that always the way.
Returned the rental car and wandered around York for a couple of hours. Had 'Sunday Roast' a tradition in the UK, usually either lamb or meat with veg, potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding ( a similar food would be a popover). Our last site was the National Railway Museum, I didn't think I would like this at all but it was really cool. Wish I could have taken my dad along, he would have loved it everything from the trains themselves to station benches, vintage menus, and ticket stubs. Our bus was broken down so we got an hour luxury taxi ride to the next bus stop and rode five more hours to Victoria Station.
Great time, now back to work....
(pix: Robin Reliant 3 Wheeled Car, (a replica of) The Rocket Engine at York Na. Railway Museum, Samlesbury Hall, Rievaulx Abby, Blackpool Tower)
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