Gandalf the VW Campervan is parked up on the edge of Grassington in the North Yorkshire Dales.
We are staying at Wharfedale C&MC club site and it was a very last minute booking. We were due to leave for Edinburgh on Tuesday, but on NYE our heating and hot water system went down at home and with everyone on Bank Holiday even if we’d have managed to get an emergency call out, the likelihood of us getting parts were slim. So we decided that we’d close the house down on NYD and hit the road to somewhere with heating and hot water- a campsite of course! We lucked out and got a pitch on Wharfedale Club site and so on Sunday morning we departed bright and early and enjoyed a pleasant journey up the A1, arriving on site bang on check in time. 1pm. Annoyingly the weather all the way had been terrific, and of course the second we pulled up the heavens opened! And stayed open for the remainder of the day. It wasn’t going to bother us though, we immediately got our raincoats on and made the short walk in the rain to nearby Grassington, a very picturesque traditional Yorkshire village.
Soaked (we stupidly didn’t wear our waterproof trousers!) we headed straight for the Devonshire Pub, on the high street. Some may know this as The Drovers Arms; the exterior of the pub was used in the recent All Creatures Great and Small series on channel 5.
We enjoyed a spontaneous lunch there which warmed us up before making our way back to Gandalf just before dusk.
Considering we’d driven from Norfolk , to fit in a pub lunch and walk felt satisfying. The hot shower was beyond enjoyable! We also made good use of the on site drying room!
The rest of the evening was spent chilling before a Turkey and ham pie which we’d brought with us for tea cooked in the Remoska.
We slept like logs last night, hearing the occasional hoot from a nearby owl.
Monday dawned drizzly and it didn’t really improve through the day, not that it bothered us as we remembered our waterproof trousers today . After a quick bacon sarnie we made our way back towards Grassington before picking up the Dales Way towards Kettlewell.
A couple of miles along this, and many wonderful panoramic views, we took a path off the Dales way into Grass Wood, a nature reserve which had remains of medieval settlements dotted about.
We then made our way back to Grassington in time for lunch.
We’d enjoyed our lunch so much yesterday (and because the pub at Linton was closed due to Covid) we had lunch at the Devonshire again- which didn’t disappoint – the sausage and mash was terrific- but before that enjoyed a rewarding drink in each of the other pubs in Grassington. Jazz was made to feel very welcome and he loved the fires in all the pubs. A successful Grassington Pub Crawl!
Once again we made our way back to Gandalf before dark, enjoying showers and the drying room but feeling totally invigorated. We both (but me particularly), adore Yorkshire – especially the Dales. I honestly feel instantly better when we see those rolling green hills, dry stone walls and inviting pubs with flagstone floors and roaring fires.
Tomorrow we’re off on our scheduled trip to Edinburgh- with Jazz who wasn’t supposed to come. Mum has a knee injury and what with that and our house services not working, she can’t look after Jazz. So whilst we are going to the two ticketed exhibitions that brings us up there in the first place, Jazz will be having some time with Uncle Simon who lives in Leith. I’m so glad he’s here with us though! He’s loved the walks and the dog friendly pubs.
It’s been a great couple of days and we will DEFINITELY be back to this site. In fact we’ve already booked a return trip.
Until Edinburgh
Lx
