Trip 17: Bilton Park, Harrogate
The drive up to Harrogate was fine, plenty of rain, spray, roadworks etc but it only took 2.5 hours. We were welcomed by the stewards and after a great laugh we were shown to our pitch.
We have the option of electric hook up which we took. £10 on the meter should last the 4 days especially as the sun is shining.
After lunch and an hour of reading, Sue suggested a short walk down the hill , then we could call in at the pub before walking home. It was an opportunity I could not refuse. The beer was great, we sat out in the sun, then a very light shower then more sun.
We walked home, read outside before going inside for a tea of Lidl southern fried chicken and fries etc. A great end to the first day.
Day 2:
We walked to Harrogate this morning. We joined the Bilton Greenway which is on the disused railway line. One way goes to Harrogate and the other way takes you to Ripley.
The trail takes you to the current railway station which is next to Asda . We passed Asda and headed for the park.
Before we reached the park there were several impressive buildings that we passed. They include the Crown hotel and the Royal Pump house museum.
The park is typical of Edwardian design, with a band stand, a Sun Pavillion, a Magnesium well & Pump House for the mineral springs. A Japanese garden, a New Zealand garden dedicated to the men and women of the NZ Army who stayed in Harrogate during the Second World War.
We left the park and walked into the town centre where there is a variety of independant shops. One street was dedicated to estate agents, there were no other shops in the street. There are also very upmarket shops, we saw a bespoke shoe shop with shoes priced from £300 to a jewellers with Rolex watches in the window, one was priced around £24,000, we didn’t go in to have a closer look.
After a good walk around the town centre I wanted a cake but we could not find a bakers, there was a superb fish shop and also a couple of butchers but no bakery. We decided not to try Asda and to continue our walk home.
We couldn’t find anywhere to eat lunch and the park was now the other side of town so we headed home. The route brought us out by the local pub, The Gardeners Arms, so we called in for a drink. It was warm enough to sit out in the garden so I got the drinks and Sue chose a table well away from the pub. They do not serve food so we discreetly ate our sandwiches in the garden.
We left the pub and continued on to the campsite. Our timing was perfect because it just started to rain as we got to the motorhome. Today we had walked 8 miles.
Day 3:
We kept to the plan and walked into Knaresborough, our first stop was the bakery to get some cakes for lunch.
After a night of Storm Agnes rocking the motorhome, things are a little quieter this morning but overcast so our planned walk to Knaresborough was still viable.
We headed for the Castle and had a walk around the grounds before going back into the town to walk around the shops.
Today we were not going to miss out on somewhere to eat lunch. So we headed down the cliff towards the river but then we remembered Sue wanted some coleslaw so we went back up into town.
Eventually we did make it down to the river and we sat on a bench to eat lunch and watch the tourists trying to row their hire boats.
We headed back to the campsite along the way we had come, and by the time we got back we had done another 6.5 miles. The wind was still quite strong and the sun was nowhere to be seen. We tried sitting outside but it soon got cold and we retired inside.
I checked the electric meter and we had used 20p in two days, although we have only used it to charge the batteries when there is no sun and at night watching the TV. I turned the fridge onto electric and I will leave it on. I doubt we will use all our credit on the meter.
Day 4:
Today we left the campsite and walked towards Knaresborough before taking a footpath into the Nidd Gorge, this took us down to the River Nidd and we followed the path beside the river for a couple of miles.
Eventually we came to the old railway viaduct over the river. Unfortunately we were at the river and we had to climb up the very steep banks to get to the top. The exposed tree roots were great as hand and foot holds. We were quite pleased with our efforts, not bad for pensioners.
We were now on the Bilton Greenway which is the disused railway line from Harrogate to Pateley bridge.
On our previous visit we did walk the Greenway to Ripley, just for an ice cream but today we headed back to the campsite, making a quick refreshment stop at The Gardeners Arms.
The sun came out every now and then but the wind chill made it very cool to sit outside for long.
Tonight tea was planned to be a BBQ but it was very windy so Sue cooked inside.
For those interested we used £1.45 of metered electricity over the 4 days, although it was only for the fridge and the onboard battery charger.
Iona’s Travels 