Bumbling round the Dales with the Bees
We’d been promising to take our lovely neighbours, Carol and Andy, to our static in the Dales for some time but our jaunts away in Absinthe have left us with few weekends available.
Finally, we’d managed to plan a free weekend so, with a worrying look to the weather forecast, we drove up on Friday to air the van and to tidy up a bit before their visit.
Friday night meant fish and chips from the shop in Sedbergh – Alison had a child’s portion but there was still enough to share with me! It also meant a few gin and tonics and a chill after a very hectic week.
We overslept on Saturday morning (too much gin?) so had to quickly have some breakfast before the Bee’s were due to arrive at 12. Alison managed to persuade Fred, the on-site manager, to let them park their car in a free van space opposite so she walked down to let them through the barrier.
After a brew, we set out to walk along the river, past Sedbergh School and into the town.
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| Sedbergh School |
It would have been rude not to have a beer in the Red Lion as we passed by, then another in the Bull too.
It was Sedbergh Sheepfest over the weekend so there were quite a few ornamental sheep around – Sedbergh tries very hard to attract visitors throughout the year – and they’re always rewarded with a good time and a friendly welcome.
After a quick change, proceeded by several gins (we were trying a new one to us, called Williams Great British Extra Dry Gin – and very nice it was too), we walked back into town for a meal at The Dalesman.
We had a great night, with good food, excellent wine and lots of laughs. What we hadn’t expected when we left the pub was a seriously heavy rainstorm which left us all wet and dripping by the time we got back.
Some ginger liqueur and Match of the Day helped – the Premier League a distant memory for me and the Bees. Hopefully, my team will be back next year but the Tangerines will have to wait a little bit longer.
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| Carol, modelling Alison’s Slpy |
After bacon butties on Sunday morning we set out in Absinthe to visit Hardraw Scaur Waterfall – at 100 feet, the highest single drop waterfall in England. Usually, it’s £2.50 to visit the fall (you enter via the Green Dragon pub) but we’d managed to pick the weekend of the annual Hardraw Scaur Brass Band competition, when it was £9 per head.
It’s always worth a visit though – I’ve been coming here since I was a very small child, when, somehow, the waterfall seemed even bigger!
After a swift pint of Jorvik from the pub we walked across the fields into Hawes.
We stopped at Farfield Mill on the way back to the van, then had cake and tea before Carol and Andy headed back home.
A brilliant weekend that we must do again some time.
There’s a full set of photos here: FLICKR
THINGS WE’VE LEARNED:
We’re really going to miss the static if we ever give it up
Some red rose people are really quite nice
We need to try more different types of gin
The Yorkshire Dales take some beating (although the North York Moors are pretty good too)
You’re never more than 6 feet away from an employee