Trip 11. Craken House Farm,Leyburn.
It was an easy drive up the A1. We then headed inland to Leyburn. As we approached a village we met a wide load escort vehicle going quite fast, but there did not seem to be anything following him so we cautiously continued through a village and on a narrow hill came across a lorry with a static home of sorts. It took the entire width of the road so we had to reverse.
The two vans and a car could not see what was happening so Sue got out and explained to them and they managed to reverse out of the way, apart from a car which did not move back far enough, Sue got out again to tell them and along with another man got the car to move, I was then able to reverse the motorhome down the hill and up a lane off the road so the lorry could pass.
The campsite was a couple of miles further on and after signing in and the steward taking us to a fairly flat area we soon got everything outside set up including the quest room. It then started to rain.
Day 2:
Sunshine this morning with possibly showers this afternoon. We walked into Leyburn and on the way we called into Leyburn station which is the first station on the Wensleydale Heritage railway. The next train was about to leave so we did the tourist thing of watching it. The line is about 11 miles and take 45mins from Leyburn to Leeming.
Leyburn is very picturesque with a wide variety of shops. We called in at Campbell’s which has everything. We purchased two Turkey/Bacon &Cranberry sausage rolls for lunch and two Samosas because they looked rather good.
We left the centre and headed for the Shawl, which is an escarpment over looking the river Ure valley. We walked along The Shawl for a couple of miles. We met an elderly gentleman who told us where to walk and he gave us lots of information about the area.
We left the Shawl and headed down into the valley, past an old Lead Smelt Mill.
Then over the Wensleydale railway and into the Bolton Hall estate. The estate road took us to the main gates that lead out into Wensley village. Our next stop was The Three Horseshoes pub where we had a pint before finding somewhere to sit to eat our lunch.
We had a look around the church and then we walked over to the village green where there was a bench. We ate our sausage rolls and sandwiches and continued our walk back to Leyburn.
The footpath home was fairly easy although we did have to walk across a field with cows in. Sue made it across the 100yds far quicker than I did but in the end the cows were not interested in us. We arrived home after five hours and we had walked nine miles.
Day 3:
We left the campsite and followed a path to Harmby woods where we found a waterfall.
The wood is not very big so it was not long before we left the wood and stumbled across the Pheasant Inn, but we were too early for it to be open so we followed the road back towards Leyburn after a slight detour which turned out to be a dead end.
Once back in Leyburn we called into Thomas the baker’s for Danish pastries. I decided it was too early to go home but as Wensley was only a mile and a half away we could walk to the pub. We followed the road and called in at the commonwealth graveyard just outside of Leyburn. There were two headstones for RAF personnel who died during the war. It was strange that a lot of headstones had ‘fallen’ over yet I could not lift one back up. We continued onto Wensley.
We found a bench and ate our lunch and as I got up my back went into a spasm. Once I sorted that we decided not to go for the drink in case it happened again so we started to walk back to Leyburn following yesterdays route in reverse.
All those hills we walked down yesterday now had to be walked up and it was not easy but we made it to the Shawl where it was flat and easier.
We met a dog Walker and we had a long chat about where to walk etc.
A bit further on as we came nearer to Leyburn we met another couple who had seen us earlier walking towards Wensley so we ended up having a long chat to them and getting there life story re boats,caravan,Motorhomes and France.
Eventually we arrived in the town centre and we called in at the Golden Lion for a beer before the final half mile home.
Day 4:
This was supposed to be a rest day but it was also market day in Leyburn so we walked into town to have a look around. It was a small market with a couple of vegetable stands and various clothes and trinket sellers. The best outfit was the Fresh Fish lorry. I have not seen such a huge variety in years. Shell fish to salmon , sardines to sea bream.
We called in at Campbells for a couple of sausage rolls and I bought two pulled pork pasties which were out of this world.
After lunch the sun came and went as did the rain but Sue wanted to go for a walk to get rid of some calories. I gave in and we decided to head to the river, it was only just over a mile away and it was an easy walk downhill. The river was quite wide as it meandered through the valley, it created a great slow pool where it had worn the bank away before tumbling over the shallows to the next bend.
On the way back uphill it was more difficult and the cows had moved fields. Sue was convinced they were in the same field as us so we had to be quiet and not attract their attention. They were in a different field and not taking any notice apart from laying down as it started to rain.
The worse of the rain held off until we were about 800m from the motorhome and then the heavens opened.
Tea tonight is pesto fish with some Onion bread that we bought in town this morning.
Iona’s Travels 