It seems so long since we last went on holiday, when in fact it's only 2 months so I shouldn't really moan; but I'm middle aged so I will still complain that 2 months is too long between holidays :-)
We've been to Helmsley on many occasions when stopping on the North York Moors, so decided to have a holiday in Helmsley itself as the place itself is stunning. Very picturesque, loads of little cafe's and bistro's, award winning deli's, a large stateley home and it's own castle. Plus, a renown abbey and gardens just outside it's boundaries.
Our choice of accommodation would be Honeysuckle Cottage, an old terraced cottage on the edge of the village which was part of the Duncombe Estate in years gone by, I believe one of the cottages used by staff. It's only about 100m from the centre of Helmsley so all the 'attractions' can be accessed within about 5 minutes.
The cottage was available from 3pm so we made plans to visit Beningbrough Hall on the way up, taking advantage of our recent purchase of National Trust membership. I'd perused the English Heritage and HHA websites (we're members of these also) but we're a week or two early to take advantage of their local establishments so National Trust won the day.
We arrived just before 11am when the gardens opened, ok they were open but at this time of year there's not a great deal to see; give it 6 months and they will be stunning. The house itself didn't open until noon so we spent an hour walking around the grounds and checking out some of the buildings; the old laundry was well worth a visit. I'm so glad we have washing machines these days!
The hour soon passed and we made sure that we were near the front of the queue (not literally) to get into the house. I was however rather disappointed when entering the house to be told that there's no photography allowed; that said, when you understand the reasons why you do have to sympathise with their request. There are some lovely rooms in which to imagine yourself in past-times, but the main focus of the Hall is the artwork. There is a lot of art on show which is in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery so if you like your historic portraits this is the place for you.
After just over an hour or so we exited the house and headed to the on-site restaurant for lunch, but, the large queue put us off so we decided to set off on the next leg of our journey and look for somewhere on route. And we were so glad we did as a few miles up the A19 we saw some signs by the road advertising a cafe called The Purple Partridge, a short 5 minute detour and well worth the visit. The food was beautiful, I had a burger smothered in pulled pork and Donna had a pulled pork dish and they were both very tasty and very filling. £20 with our drinks so well worth it.
We continued up the A19 to Thirsk so that we could do some food shopping in the supermarket before heading east along the A170 to Helmsley, arriving here around 4pm. One disadvantage of the cottage is that you have to use the on-street parking which is easier said than done in a very popular place like Helmsley where it is busy with visitors at almost any time of the the year. So, we parked nearby the cottage to unload the car then I parked the car on a side-street before collecting it later in the evening when it was quieter. Not really that much of an issue I suppose.
Now just the England v France rugby game to relax to....
We've been to Helmsley on many occasions when stopping on the North York Moors, so decided to have a holiday in Helmsley itself as the place itself is stunning. Very picturesque, loads of little cafe's and bistro's, award winning deli's, a large stateley home and it's own castle. Plus, a renown abbey and gardens just outside it's boundaries.
Our choice of accommodation would be Honeysuckle Cottage, an old terraced cottage on the edge of the village which was part of the Duncombe Estate in years gone by, I believe one of the cottages used by staff. It's only about 100m from the centre of Helmsley so all the 'attractions' can be accessed within about 5 minutes.
The cottage was available from 3pm so we made plans to visit Beningbrough Hall on the way up, taking advantage of our recent purchase of National Trust membership. I'd perused the English Heritage and HHA websites (we're members of these also) but we're a week or two early to take advantage of their local establishments so National Trust won the day.
The hour soon passed and we made sure that we were near the front of the queue (not literally) to get into the house. I was however rather disappointed when entering the house to be told that there's no photography allowed; that said, when you understand the reasons why you do have to sympathise with their request. There are some lovely rooms in which to imagine yourself in past-times, but the main focus of the Hall is the artwork. There is a lot of art on show which is in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery so if you like your historic portraits this is the place for you.
After just over an hour or so we exited the house and headed to the on-site restaurant for lunch, but, the large queue put us off so we decided to set off on the next leg of our journey and look for somewhere on route. And we were so glad we did as a few miles up the A19 we saw some signs by the road advertising a cafe called The Purple Partridge, a short 5 minute detour and well worth the visit. The food was beautiful, I had a burger smothered in pulled pork and Donna had a pulled pork dish and they were both very tasty and very filling. £20 with our drinks so well worth it.
We continued up the A19 to Thirsk so that we could do some food shopping in the supermarket before heading east along the A170 to Helmsley, arriving here around 4pm. One disadvantage of the cottage is that you have to use the on-street parking which is easier said than done in a very popular place like Helmsley where it is busy with visitors at almost any time of the the year. So, we parked nearby the cottage to unload the car then I parked the car on a side-street before collecting it later in the evening when it was quieter. Not really that much of an issue I suppose.
Now just the England v France rugby game to relax to....
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