Lodging at Masons

For the 4th year we’d booked into Masons Campsite at Appletreewick for the Craven Arms Beer Festival, an annual battle of the beers between Yorkshire brews and (this year) breweries from Northumberland*.

We arrived on Thursday, to a wet and waterlogged site, so much so, that we were all given mats to park the rear wheels on, to avoid us getting stuck. Before we got to the site, though, we stopped at the Red Lion in Burnsall for lunch and a quick beer.

There were three of us on site on Thursday night and we walked up the Craven Arms for a drink before bed.

The day dawned brighter on Friday so, after breakfast, we set off to walk to Bolton Abbey, following the Dales Way beside the river Wharfe. It turned out to be a lovely autumn day, although the distance was a bit more than some had anticipated.

Fortunately we met up with another member of the group as we walked near The Strid and Simon agreed to give Ian, Margaret and Zoe a lift back to the site, whilst the rest of walked back on the opposite side of the river through the woodland.

By the time we got back to Appletreewick, several other vans had arrived.

Friday night meant a trip to the Beer Festival at the Craven Arms. We all managed to squeeze into one of the small rooms, but there was a lovely open fire burning, which meant the room was the temperature of the sun – cue: several trips outside to cool off.

Saturday was the day for all of us to walk to Grassington (the other way on the Dales Way), via Burnsall. The weather wasn’t as spectacular as it has been in other years but it was still great to be out and about in one of my favourite places.

We booked the other pub in the village for an evening meal and they looked after us fantastically well. The food and service at the New Inn was brilliant and I did wonder why we’d never done it before. Maybe next time…

Food eaten and beer drunk, we headed back to the site for the usual Saturday night fire pit. I love sitting round the fire chatting and drinking and once again Ian played his guitar and sang a few songs – a perfect Saturday night, which a few of us rounded off with toasted crumpets – bliss…

As an added adventure, this year, Angela had booked us into Billy Bob’s near Skipton, so once we were all packed, we set off in convoy to drive the 15 miles there. The weather had taken a turn for the worse with low cloud and rain (which cleared later in the day), so there wasn’t much of an opportunity for a photo shoot with the vans.

We’ve passed the sign for Billy Bob’s scores of times but never actually been. It’s a great place for adults and kids alike – we’ll definitely be back.

Another great weekend in God’s Own County with great friends and spectacular scenery. What more could we want as the season slowly ends?

*the beer competiton was won, yet again, by Yorkshire – funny that isn’t it? 

Many thanks to everyone who’s photos I’ve liberated for this blog – you know who you are and I’m very grateful.

Things We Learned:

An 11 mile walk, followed by 8 miles the next day, is probably too much for Boris (and Alison’s knees)
Some places really do care about service and pleasing their customers
Some weird people think it’s ok to share food in restaurant – very odd…
Those pork pies in Grassington get better every time
It’s possible to do gymnastics in a dressing gown (although I suspect a drink helps)
One bag of logs from the campsite can last a long time 😉

There’s a full set of photos here: FLICKR

Finally, Simon’s brilliant photographic Blog is here: The Adventures of Skooby Blue