Well, to say we were a tad disappointed with the weather this morning would be an understatement. In March we were here for a week and it was 'fog fog fog', and so far this week we've had more than our share again. The walks on the Moors that I had planned for the week were taking a back seat, in fact it was fingers crossed that we might be lucky enough to get another one in before we set off home on Saturday.
So to escape our grey damp surroundings we searched the internet for somewhere inland where we hoped that we would find better weather. We aren't greedy and yearn for sun and 25c, just somewhere clear and dry would be nice.
Having exhausted the limited number of English Heritage and HHA establishments in and around the North York Moors, we had to travel further afield. In fact, our trip today comprised a 130 mile round-trip, taking in a visit to Castle Raby near to Bishop Auckland. And yes we did escape the fog, and no we didn't get any sun; just grey skies but thankfully precipitation was at a minimum. That couldn't be said for the trip across as it wasn't until we reached Middlesborough that the fog abated, and unsurprisingly when we came back many hours later it was again thick fog over the Moors between Middlesborough and Whitby.
We arrived at Castle Raby at around 12:15pm, flashed our HHA cards at the entrance and parked up. At this time of year, and time of the week, they have guided tours around the castle, so we had to select a half hour slot. We chose the 1:30pm tour as it would give us time to grab some food and drink....we were 'gagging' for a drink after our 1 hour 40 minute trip across.
So it was straight to the tea-rooms, but, we were rather disappointed. The surroundings were rather drab, the food choice rather limited and ordinary, and the worst aspect was that the place stunk of cooking. I don't suppose everyone is as fussy as we are, but we really can't face dining in somewhere that smells a little like a 'greasy spoon', with the associated lingering of the smell on your clothes. So we just had a hot chocolate each, quickly downed and then off to the castle.
On the way across we came across a herd of deer that were in the field between the entrance to the estate and the castle. They were clearly used to people as I walked across to within about 30ft of the herd and they hardly bothered to look up. I didn't want to push my luck though and scare them off so took some photos from behind a tree.
We reached the castle a little before our allotted tour time, so spent some time looking around the area between the main castle building and the defensive walls above what was once a moat; enjoying the views of the outside of the castle with it's contrasting styles. At 1:30pm we entered the main building and were soon off 'on tour'
The place itself is stunning, it's more of a mix between a traditional medieval castle and a country house. Some of the rooms are very decorative, some functional, some basic. Our major gripe about having to go around with a tour guide was the fact that we didn't get to spend time looking at all the things that were of interest to us, and often if the lady was narrating the tour in a smaller room, then due to the number of people you found yourself stood outside the room listening in and were then whisked off on the next leg of the tour before you'd had time to look at anything. We could have spent twice the amount of time in the castle than we did if we had gone around at our leisure.
At around 2:45pm the tour was over and we spent around 90 minutes touring the grounds and gardens, plus a very interesting visit to the coach-house where the guy there was more than pleased to see us as he had someone to tell his stories to about the various carriages housed there and their histories, and show us the Tack Room which is normally locked, only to be viewed from outside. It certainly ensured that the finished our visit on a high point
Overall a very worthwhile visit, now just to fight our way back through the fog to Whitby; where in fact we chose to end our day with fish and chips from Mr Chips.
So to escape our grey damp surroundings we searched the internet for somewhere inland where we hoped that we would find better weather. We aren't greedy and yearn for sun and 25c, just somewhere clear and dry would be nice.
Having exhausted the limited number of English Heritage and HHA establishments in and around the North York Moors, we had to travel further afield. In fact, our trip today comprised a 130 mile round-trip, taking in a visit to Castle Raby near to Bishop Auckland. And yes we did escape the fog, and no we didn't get any sun; just grey skies but thankfully precipitation was at a minimum. That couldn't be said for the trip across as it wasn't until we reached Middlesborough that the fog abated, and unsurprisingly when we came back many hours later it was again thick fog over the Moors between Middlesborough and Whitby.
We arrived at Castle Raby at around 12:15pm, flashed our HHA cards at the entrance and parked up. At this time of year, and time of the week, they have guided tours around the castle, so we had to select a half hour slot. We chose the 1:30pm tour as it would give us time to grab some food and drink....we were 'gagging' for a drink after our 1 hour 40 minute trip across.
So it was straight to the tea-rooms, but, we were rather disappointed. The surroundings were rather drab, the food choice rather limited and ordinary, and the worst aspect was that the place stunk of cooking. I don't suppose everyone is as fussy as we are, but we really can't face dining in somewhere that smells a little like a 'greasy spoon', with the associated lingering of the smell on your clothes. So we just had a hot chocolate each, quickly downed and then off to the castle.
On the way across we came across a herd of deer that were in the field between the entrance to the estate and the castle. They were clearly used to people as I walked across to within about 30ft of the herd and they hardly bothered to look up. I didn't want to push my luck though and scare them off so took some photos from behind a tree.
We reached the castle a little before our allotted tour time, so spent some time looking around the area between the main castle building and the defensive walls above what was once a moat; enjoying the views of the outside of the castle with it's contrasting styles. At 1:30pm we entered the main building and were soon off 'on tour'
The place itself is stunning, it's more of a mix between a traditional medieval castle and a country house. Some of the rooms are very decorative, some functional, some basic. Our major gripe about having to go around with a tour guide was the fact that we didn't get to spend time looking at all the things that were of interest to us, and often if the lady was narrating the tour in a smaller room, then due to the number of people you found yourself stood outside the room listening in and were then whisked off on the next leg of the tour before you'd had time to look at anything. We could have spent twice the amount of time in the castle than we did if we had gone around at our leisure.
At around 2:45pm the tour was over and we spent around 90 minutes touring the grounds and gardens, plus a very interesting visit to the coach-house where the guy there was more than pleased to see us as he had someone to tell his stories to about the various carriages housed there and their histories, and show us the Tack Room which is normally locked, only to be viewed from outside. It certainly ensured that the finished our visit on a high point
Overall a very worthwhile visit, now just to fight our way back through the fog to Whitby; where in fact we chose to end our day with fish and chips from Mr Chips.
Comments
Post a Comment