Down to London

 After a lovely few days in Yorkshire, we headed back to London for some more sightseeing. Luckily for us, after the torrential storm, the weather was just getting better. 

We arrived at Kings Cross and it was a fairly easy trip to our hotel at Canary Wharf. We wanted something that was easy to get to from central London, but also had the goal to visit Greenwich so it was close to that too. We picked a modern Hilton, which was very nice and quite a change from the 17th century manor house!!

That night mom and I went to the Tower of London for a special Twilight Tour. It was so amazing, the tour was after regular hours. But our group was led by a Yeoman Warder who was so interesting to chat too. It was thrilling to be in the Tower after hours with no crowds all around us! 

The next day was mom’s research day. We started out by going to Trafalgar Square to look for places her characters will be going. By chance we stumbled on the Sherlock Holmes Pub which will be perfect for when Gemma and her friends are back in London. 

There was a ridiculously long line for the National Gallery, so we went to the National Portrait Gallery first. It was fun to see the old paintings of the Tudors and other historical figures. 

After the gallery we had no set goal, so we strolled along the Thames. We stopped for drinks a couple times, once along the water with a view of St Paul’s. Then we visited the Golden Hinde which is a recreation of the ship Drake used to circumnavigate the globe. It was quite interesting as a modern crew actually recreated the voyage recently on the old sailing vessel. 

After a debate about where to go next, between a bar in The Shard for amazing views of the city and over priced cocktails, we settled on the Anchor, which is a pub along the Thames that was originally built in 1615 and rebuilt after the Great Fire.  It was a great spot for a cocktail before dinner!!

Dinner was a simple affair at a little Italian place close to the hotel. The food was delicious and it was a great end to a wonderful day. 

Yorkshire

Our day in Halifax dawned fairly miserable. A significant storm, Babet, was careening through and dumped 50-100mm of rain over the area while we were there. 

Determined tourists that we were, we set off to explore. Our first stop is the town of Halifax. We were there for book research, as one of mom’s heroines is from there. We started at the Piece Hall. Named for the swatches of fabric that would be on display for sale. Now it is a beautiful open square with some shops and restaurants that must be lovely on a clear day. 

We strolled around the town a bit, looking at the Halifax Minster and the markets, before heading on for our next stop. We drove to Shibden Hall. It’s a manor house from the 16th century that was the home of Anne Lister. She lived a (fairly) open life as a lesbian in the 19th century that was very daring for the time. 

After that we drove to the home of the Bronte sisters. It was just a little bit too damp to wander the desolate moors or the stunning little town, but we were able to tour the Parsonage they had lived (and died) in. 

Our second day dawned much better, so we drove up into northern Yorkshire to visit Castle Howard. It was such a beautiful estate, badly damaged by fire but beautifully restored. It also had extensive gardens we were able to walk around. 

Next we drove to Helmsley and had lunch in the quaint little town before walking up to the castle on the hill. Mostly ruins now- as an Earl in the Victorian era wanted a warmer home and also thought letting the castle fall to ruins would be a picturesque view. 

Just a few miles up the road was the ruins of Riveaulx Abbey, which was just a gorgeous ruin of an 11th century monastery that was abandoned during the reformation.  I loved photographing the ruins as we wandered about. 

We had a slow drive along narrow country roads to get back towards Halifax. And we stopped for dinner north of Leeds at the Bingsley Arms which holds the Guinness Book of Records award for the oldest Inn and pub in England. They say it dates to 952AD. 

After our drive back to the hotel, we had a final drink in the little bar with its incredible gin selection. In the morning it would be back to Leeds for the train back to London. 

On the Road Again

 It’s been a year since my Grand Tour. And I’ve been anxious to travel again. (And been scolded I’m not allowed to say I’m jealous of anyone else.) Well my mother had been planning to go to the UK to do some research for her upcoming novels and invited me to come as I’m her “assistant”.

We flew on an overnight to London to start, with a hotel picked solely for its proximity to Kings Cross Station. We arrived in the afternoon, pretty gassed but not wanting to sleep yet. Looking at the map we were very close to the British Museum, so we walked over for a bit of a walk around. 

After that was an early didn’t at a cute little pub by the hotel and then an early bed time. 

In the morning we caught the train up to Yorkshire. One of the main purposes of the trip was to visit Halifax, the location of the girlhood home of one of her characters. As ‘Rose’ will be coming back for a visit, mom had to check out the area!

We stayed in a gorgeous Manor house that was originally built in the 1600s. In the 1960s it was bought by a family who added a wing to turn it into the current hotel. It was a great mix of classic charm and comfortable rooms. 

We walked about in the drizzle exploring the lovely gardens before walking to a cozy little local pub, the Ivy House, for dinner. My mother was ecstatic to see a lamb Henry on the menu and I had a fantastic Yorkshire Burrito. The lovely roast beef rolled in Yorkshire pudding. Who could ask for more! (Oh there was gravy for dipping!)

Tomorrow will be exploring Halifax and Yorkshire. And the weather network is predicting 50-75mls of rain!!