Yorkshire Trip

I'm an entire season behind on my blog... Here's to catching up quickly!!

The last Monday in May is a bank holiday here in the UK, so we decided to enjoy the long three-day weekend by taking a driving trip to the northern part of England. We rented a car and headed up to Yorkshire on Saturday. We had found a lovely little Bed and Breakfast on a working farm with a charming couple who loved children. They had a special crate full of old toys for Brooks to play with - really cute. Brooks enjoyed checking out the sheep and baby lambs when we arrived and we wandered in for a quick peek at the pig barn (whoa, the smell!)


Before heading to the local pub for supper, we drove into the North York Moors National Park and were amazed at the landscape. The elevation and the rough and rugged plants and the loud sharp wind, even in the beautiful May evening, made for a very lonely scene.


The next day we got up and enjoyed a yummy breakfast (everything local and organic and fresh!) and drove further north still until we were almost at the border of Scotland. We pulled off the highway and followed signs for Hadrian's Wall. Roman Emperor Hadrian (c 100 AD) built this stone wall across the width of England, and placed soldiers there to oversee security and taxation. Once the most heavily fortified border in the Empire, the wall was built primarily to deal with the pesky ancient Scottish tribes who were regularly raiding the borders of the Empire (I kept thinking of my friend Ewan Kennedy's ancestors). Much of the old wall and neighboring ditches and garrisons remain, and we spent a wonderful day hiking around a couple of sections of the ruins, enjoying the countryside, the fields, the views.


Note the built-in stone staircase to use to climb over the wall. I love those!


We also really enjoyed the WIND. I tried to picture being stationed along this wall, waiting for the Scottish next raid, and stoking the fire to try and keep warm. Notice - I was wearing my winter coat in late May!


We passed several creative stiles which allow ramblers a way over and into the next pasture, but keep sheep and cows safely in. I always love approaching a fence and seeing how the farmer would provide a way through, over or around.




Eric and Brooks passing through a traditional "kissing gate" ... These are everywhere in the UK.


At the highest point of the wall, Brooks and Dada enjoyed playing Scots and Romans (our local version of cowboys and indians), mostly because Brooks was so tired from battling the wind that it was easier to get around by crawling!




Running along the south side of the wall, protected from the gale force winds, Brooks could usually keep himself standing up right!


Brooks, can you say "Wind"? Can you catch the wind?


There were rock climbers just out of sight on the northern face of this ridge, and when Brooks saw me lean over to observe, he wanted to check it out himself.


That afternoon, we returned to our BnB in Northallerton by way of Durham. Home of England's third oldest and most prestigious university (after Oxford and Cambridge), Durham's town center is crowned by its cathedral, abbey and the university itself. Several of the buildings in the old part of town were used as sets for the Harry Potter movies, so we had fun picking out various hallways and courtyards from the Hogwarts scenes. I always love walking into a cathedral to organ music - performance or rehearsal, it doesn't matter... I just love hearing the music bounce around the old stones and resonate in the lofty ceilings. We had great timing in Durham!


Brooks LOVED the cathedral door-knocker. In the Middle Ages, fugitives could seek sanctuary by knocking on this door. They would be given 37 days to get their affairs in order, at which time they would either stand trial or leave the country by way of the nearest port.


On the way home from Durham, Brooks fell asleep in his carseat...


So we decided to take another longer drive through the Moors... It was strange, a sort of... park road, I guess you could call it, wound us up and into the rocky hilly areas, past the craggy plants and the sheep pastures, but then we meandered around a corner and there would be someone's house and barn. Their family farm was just right there, the middle of the park. It was charming, both appealing and terrifying to think of living such an isolated life. We didn't see more than one or two people for the whole hour of driving. All I could think of was the Bronte sisters and the lonely life they lived as they dreamed up their sad stories.





After supper in a local pub and a good night's sleep, we enjoyed another ridiculously tasty breakfast and then said goodbye to our working-farm-with-BnB...


And we headed out to the Yorkshire Dales for more hiking and driving. We passed field after field of rapeseed, one of my absolutely favorite sights in rural England. Entire hillsides full to the brim with this sort of shimmering liquid joy... Only when you get close to it can you see the individual plants. From far away, it looks like God just took out His paint brush and slapped some happy sunshine onto a field. I adore it, even the yellow pollen covering my jacket when I jumped back in the car.


Eons ago, the Dales and the Moors were the same kind of landscapes, but after the English farmers reclaimed the Dales, the beautiful fields and pastures there now have an entirely different vibe. Orderly. Neat. Quite tidy. The stone in the field has been used to make houses, barns and fences. The grass is green and the sheep are white - for me, there seems an overwhelming sense of peace there, not loneliness. It feels as far from "rugged" as possible, though the wind blows equally as strong.


Visiting both areas in one weekend was wonderful. I thought this view captured the differences well. The farmer has carved himself a bit of pasture land out of the lonely hillside and created a different kind of beauty.


All in all, it was a lovely weekend. We drove back home to London on Monday and had great conversation in the car, singing fun songs to Brooks as he got tired of his car seat. This kind of weekend is just about the perfect way to see our current home, little bite-sized chunks at a time. Isn't it beautiful?!