Plans for today included a trip west over to Fountains Abbey and the surrounding gardens, but, as the weather forecast wasn't that good it required a jaunt to see Mr Google to see what he could come up with as an alternate plan.
After 10 minutes or so spent looking around the visitor centre we headed off along the road in the direction of the part of the forest where most of the trails were. However, what we didn't realise was how far away they actually were, no wonder people drive and park near them and then do the walks. The nearest was just over 3 miles away! So, we walked the 3 miles along the road but on arrival at the start of our planned trail we noticed that the bridge that appears to form the start of the walk was actually closed off. And as the route across the field was very muddy we decided to simply head back.
We trawled the various attractions within about a 40 mile radius but the majority of interest were closed, and as the forecast wasn't reliable we didn't want to go out onto the moors to receive a soaking. So in the end we decided on a drive over to Dalby Forest where we would go for a walk, but as the forest contains lots of man-made trails we wouldn't have to worry about slipping and sliding in the mud so a much safer and cleaner option.
At 10:45am we left the cottage and headed the 25 or so miles along the A170 towards our destination, a left turn in Thornton-Le-Dale would send us along the road into the Forest. We did get a little mixed up with regards paying to enter as the main gate isn't manned at this time of the year and there is a sign telling you to pay at the machine, however what we didn't realise was that the machine is directly behind the kiosk; so we drove the couple of miles to the visitor centre and paid there for parking.
In a way it was a little disappointing that we didn't get to do the walk we had planned, but on a positive note we did end up walking 6 miles which can't be bad. Before leaving the forest we headed into the visitor centre cafe and took a seat in the leather sofa's whilst each drinking a luxury hot chocolate. Both of us really needed a drink as we'd forgotten to take a drink with us on the walk, so apart from a cupped handful of water from a tap in the public toilets half way through the walk (not advisable) we hadn't taken on any fluid since breakfast.
On the way back we stopped off in Helmsley to have a look in a few shops, but with the main purpose of picking up some fish & chips from Scotts of Helmsley , the reviews that we'd seen were positive so we took them back to the cottage for a late lunch/early tea. Not the best we've ever had, but certainly not the worst.
More photos here.
More photos here.
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