Thursday 27th May

Today we visited York with Moira and Rob. While Rob went to The National Railway Museum, we three walked around part of the city walls.



We had a clear view of the Minster from the walls, through the trees.



The front of the Minster was catching the sunlight as we made our way back to The Shambles to meet Rob.

Tuesday 25th May

Rob and Moira are up here on holiday and the four of us spent today at Scarborough.
Moira would have liked to ride on the donkeys but wasn't under 12 years of age.


We walked along to the end of the South Bay and took the cliff lift up to the Grand Hotel.

We were fortunate that it was high tide so we enjoyed watching the waves crashing over the sea wall near the Spa.

The weather was perfect for walking and watching the sea.

At the other end of the Marine Drive we just missed a ride on this train but Rob wasn't bothered as it was a diesel locomotive and not his favourite, steam.

We explored the area above the open air theatre and got a good view of the new stage and seating, which was opened by the queen last week.

Nearby is this machinery that used to run the cable car up to the old Zoo and Marineland.

We crossed the road and saw the model boats that re-enact 'The Battle of Peasholm' during the summer months.

We came across this family of Canada geese in the gardens near the lake.

We rounded off our day with fish and chips at The Wetherby Whaler.

Friday 21st May
The sun was shining so we wanted to find a walk by a river. We chose a section of the Nidderdale Trail near Dacre Banks.

After exploring a couple of miles of riverbank we walked up the steps by the bridge where the trail turns inland into the village.

After eating a picnic lunch while overlooking the valley we drove across the other side to Brimham Rocks.

We strolled along the footpaths enjoying the rock formations, such as this dog shape.

Half way around the trail we reached the balancing rock.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-brimhamrocks

Thursday 13th May
The sun was shining so we decided to go to Scarborough for the day. We crossed from the Grand Hotel to the Spa by way of the newly refurbished footbridge.


There was a group of surfers enjoying the waves.



We walked to the Spa which is in the process of being refurbished.

We strolled back to the car passing the quayside, which was very quiet.

We drove along to the other end of Marine Drive and visited the Open Air Theatre which is due to be opened soon by the Queen and Prince Philip. Everything was being repainted, resurfaced and replanted in time for the opening.

We crossed the road to circle Peasholme Park boating lake where there were lots of water birds.

Friday 7th May
Today we drove over the North Yorkshire Moors to Whitby, stopping at The Hole of Horcum for lunch and a breath of very fresh air.

In Whitby we walked over the bridge and up the 199 steps to St Hilda's Church and Whitby Abbey.

It was a cold and clear day with very few people around and so we were able to get a really close look at the ruins which are more complete than we expected.

The colour of the stone was particularily striking and the detail in the carving was superb.

We walked back down the steps to the Magpie Cafe for fish and chips.

Thursday 6th May
This evening we were invited by the RHS to tour the new building and site at Harlow Carr.
www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Harlow-Carr

It is very eco-friendly and sits well in the newly landscaped section of the gardens. We were shown round by the head of site & invited to make comments as the first public group to see inside the building.

Wednesday 5th May
Today we visited the Yorkshire Air Museum with Enid and John.
www.yorkshireairmuseum.co.uk

There were quite a few out of service aeroplanes outside and the large hanger was absolutely full of planes dating from the earliest days of flight to the 80s.

In the smaller huts there were displays from World War II and they really brought home the bravery of the people in the RAF.