North Yorkshire

Greetings! We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the transition to spring or autumn, depending where you are 😀.

It seems it is quickly becoming autumn here with the days a little shorter and leaves falling from the trees. We are very fortunate to have some house sitting opportunities which enables us to take a break for a short while. It also gives us time to tweak our kit for another cycle tour. The Northern European tour was fantastic in its own right, but was also an opportunity to see what worked and what didn't.

In-between house sits we have visited our friend Lizzie who lives very close to York in North Yorkshire.

We had a walk around the walls of the City of which there are substantial sections still standing. It was built mainly in the 13th century. There are four main bars (gateways), and numerous other stone features. The walkway is raised up so the views across the city are fabulous too.

York Minster is located within the walls of the city so was in view most of the way around. You cannot help but be awestruck by its grandeur and we were looking forward to visiting later in our trip.

We managed a couple of stops along the way, for rehydration purposes, with the second pub selling beer made with New Zealand South Island hops. Was good too!

York Castle (known as Clifford's Tower) is a medieval Norman castle, built in 1068 and located close to the centre of the city. There is an enormous amount of history relating to this one castle including the tragic events of 1190 when 150 local Jews barricaded themselves in, in fear of massacre. On learning that help was not forthcoming most of them died by suicide so as not to end up in the hands of the mob.

The light on the way home made for some lovely views.

The following day we drove to Levisham for a walk on the North Yorkshire Moors. It also happened to be a gala weekend celebrating 50 years of North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Our circular walk started from Levisham Station. We spent some time chasing the trains for a view (!) before seeing two of them at close quarters at the end of the walk.

The walk took us via the Hole of Horcum, a perfect place for lunch. The hole was created by a process called spring-sapping where water gradually undermines the slopes. Over thousands of years the valley has widened to this large basin. The process continues to this day.

Next came a trip to the seaside! Whitby, to be exact. Its been many years since we have been there. Such a lovely place, with loads of sweet shops and more fish and chip shops than you could ever need! There is a popular walk up the 199 steps to the ruins of the Abbey.

We finished with some fish and chips!

The next day we headed to Castle Howard and had a walk around the estate. A grand stately home built 1701–1811 and used as the location for television and film productions such as Bridgerton and Garfield: A tale of two kitties!

That evening we joined The Bloody Tour of York. Mad Alice takes you on a journey around the city telling fascinating tales from history. We would totally recommend this tour next time you are here.

On our final day we were very fortunate to have Lizzie's mum join us for a tour of York Minster. Joan volunteers at the Minster and to have her knowledge ‘on tap’ was brilliant. Thank you Joan!

York Minster was built between 1230–1472 on the remains of a Roman barracks.

It's hard to convey the inside from pictures. However, here's a snapshot of some of the amazing architecture.

We had a great weekend. Thanks so much Lizzie for your hospitality and for showing us around. 😊

Hope you have enjoyed checking out North Yorkshire with us. To ensure we make the most of our ‘gap year’ we have flights booked for the end of next week. We look forward to sharing our travels from Bulgaria.

Look after yourselves and thanks so much for following along.

See you next time

N & M