yorkshire dales | a very, very last minute trip

You know those times when you really, really, just want to get away for a few days?  I mean, happens pretty often and if I could book a flight to the Bahamas every couple of weeks then I sure as hell would.  Sadly with this being the real world and all that’s not *quite* a possibility for me right now, but booking a super last minute cottage for a mini trip with my mum is.  So that I did.  I swear we went through every single cottage in the country looking for one that was available; we first fancied North Wales, then looked at the Lake District, then Derbyshire, and finally ended up booking a few nights in Yorkshire.

Not gonna lie, this wasn’t an area that sprung to mind, but I’m really glad it did!  The cottage itself was lovely, the area was pretty, the villages were nice and it was only an hour and a half on the A59 away from home.  Winner.

Tuesday morning we embarked on said long, arduous journey (read: quick and easy besides getting stuck behind tractors) and arrived with a couple of hours to kill before we could go into our cottage.  Off we drove to the nearest little town of Pately Bridge, where both of us just said ‘Ahh it’s so cute’ as we turned onto the main street.  Seriously though, a cuter town I never did see, dolled up with flowers everywhere and union jack flags and all that jazz.

Do excuse the awkward ‘Yes I am taking a photo thanks for waiting I’ll be quick‘ face.

Quick foodie stop at The Pancake House, where I walked on the wild side and ordered a savoury crepe for the first time in my life.  Really pushed the boat out there.  Good choice though!

The weekend after our stay was the annual 1940s festival, and I so wish I’d have been around because that sounds right up my street.  Apparently air raid sirens go off, there are 40s dances, everybody dresses up and the town gets involved.  Hell yes I’d have put 10/10 effort into that one.  However sadly we were leaving on Friday so further trips into Pately Bridge were mainly for food and petrol.  All the exciting stuff.

As evidenced by the above photo, the cottage was so lovely that we didn’t want to go anywhere on the first night and stayed in eating nibbly food and watching Mamma Mia 1 instead.  We seriously lucked out considering how last minute we booked it – the decor of Blossom cottage was just beautiful and the whole place just felt so cosy.

The next day we ventured into Harrogate, a town my mum and I have both visited several times but only briefly.  Just for a wander round, lunch in a cute cafe, browse of a few shops and purchase of an emergency Primark bralette because I realised my strapless bra was fully on show.

I’d asked for recommendations on Instagram (where else) and a couple of people mentioned Knaresborough, so when the lady in the cafe said it was only about 3 miles away thought we might as well head over straight from Harrogate.  We both recognised the area as soon as we drove over the bridge – I can’t remember when exactly I’ve been but definitely came when I was younger.  Knaresborough looked especially darling in the sunshine with blue skies over the river and all that good stuff.   Obviously anywhere looks nicer through tourist goggles but the whole ‘houses built into the hillside by the water’ thing reminded me of both Hallstatt and Lake Como and that isn’t a sentence I thought I’d ever type about Yorkshire.  Credit where it’s due though, Knaresborough (at least the parts I saw) looked lovely.  We climbed the steps to the castle in our oh so sensible footwear choice of sandals, chilled for a wee while, walked back down again and acquired emergency slushies in the heat.  The North is getting occasional snippets of this heatwave Southerners are basking in on the daily so gotta enjoy the novelty whilst it lasts.

Spotted these yellow bikes dotted around everywhere – apparently they’re part of the Tour De Yorkshire.

Honestly don’t know how I’d cope in life without this backpack.  Fits my entire life in and goes everywhere with me.

Day 2 I fancied something a little more outdoorsy, so made the most of Brimham rocks being a 10 minute drive away and headed over for a wander.  The whole rocky area was much bigger area than I expected, not that I’d done loads of research or anything.  I went on my own on this occasion as my mum had a bad knee, so self timer credits for all these shots and all praise the gorillapod.

Felt more like Jurassic park than Yorkshire.  Would definitely go back here to spend a whole day scrambling around and eating a picnic.

Then it rained!  And I was happy about it!  And actually packed a raincoat so was absolutely fine!  Miracle.

Outdoorsy day complete, we made the long journey from one end of the carpark to the other to the adjoining restaurant for dinner.  The Birch Tree Inn had beaut decor and delicious food and in my book you don’t need much else.

Wine was followed by a final night in our cosy cottage before heading home in the morning.  Quite missed having those lights up to bed every evening!

Yorkshire you were lovely.  Not bad for a trip booked at half a days notice!

Lily Kate x

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