1988 Kildwick

Sat 1988-07-16 {12514}

\theta out shopping, pack, & then leave about 11h, arr at Kildwick at 15h 0.5h stop to eat lunch on M1, ~180 mi. "Cottage" (or "flat") is large & comfortable & very well furnished radio/record-player/cassette + TV + 2 gas fires + shower + bath + kitchen with everything. Kildwick a small, sleepy village, the rest of the building being "bed & breakfast". Small parking place, just about big enough for the AX. {Fuel 6.7e-8m^2} Rain. Drive out to Bingley & look at the 3- & 5-rise locks, then to "Anchor" @ Gargrave (where "Applemint" went aground in the night) for dinner. Later to White Lion in Kildwick.

Sun 1988-07-17 {12515}

Start with walk along towpath (in Skipton direction) - returning along road. See "Mallard" steaming along the railway in the distance; then in car to Buck Inn @ Buckden for lunch. Afterward a 5km walk, up, along & down to Cray (all in Wharfedale) then back along the road. Overcast but dry. Then for a drive over very scenic pass, steep enough in places to put the AX into 1st. Buckden - Hubberholm - Lockenthwaite (275m) - Oughtershaw (353m) peaking at 588m, then descending into Hawes. Then B6255 down past Ribblehead viaduct, Horton-in-Ribbledale, Settle, Gargrave, Skipton, Low Bradley & home. Avoid getting wet so far, but getting cooler. Eve in.

Mon 1988-07-18 {12516}

To York. 1st part pretty & rugged, but rest of journey marred by urban sprawl of Harrogate. Dry, but a chilly wind all day, some sunshine towards evening. 1st to Castle museum (modern design & costumes mostly), lunch at Pizza Hut, then a brief look at the railway museum (\theta's feet giving out). Cute, compact sort of place, park outside the walls & it's still 1.70L for the day. "Tourists" pay more for everything, despite their contribution to the city thro' support of the rate-paying businesses. Then a brief visit to Skipton, but find no suitable eating-place, so purchase some booze & return for salad dinner (prepared by me) & wine followed by a short walk along the towpath, in the Keithley direction. This place may be peaceful, but the owner has a habit of using an electric saw-bench, or hammering, or hand-sawing at all times of the day or evening. The cottage looks a bit DIY - presumably the rest of the place is the same. {Fuel 6.0e-8m^2} Incidentally, the locals seem always to use manual credit-card machines in the petrol stations - haven't seen a swipe-reader in Yorkshire yet!

Tue 1988-07-19 {12517}

To the lakes, Windermere in fact, & it rained all the time. Radio 1 roadshow + RAF show polluting the area, so cross the lake on cable ferry & drive around the S half of the lake. Might have been some good spots to sit and admire the scenery, if it hadn't been tipping it down. Head for home, & the rain slowed & stopped as we went E, sunshine in Kildwick. Post 2nd film to Truprint. Eat in, \theta doing OU work. Eve to pub in Kildwick.

Wed 1988-07-20 {12518}

To Studley Royal (Water Gardens) & Fountains Abbey. Very pleasant, warm, some sun even. Abbey ruins being "restored" or made stable - must have been very impressive in its day, although the pleasantly landscaped gardens around it are much later. Typical NT, you pay on the way in, but that's just for the "deer park". Once you're in, there's more to pay for the gardens & abbey. Good walk around, then lunch in deer park. Shopping in Ripon, then down Stump Cross caverns, limestone stalactites &c, lit with various spotlights &c. Change guilders to pounds & get some more pounds out in Ripon. Then to Linton Falls, near Grassington, and a walk along the Wharfe, over it on stepping stones, & back thro' the churchyard. Sun still shining. Brief meander thro' the villages opposite Kildwick, Cononly & Eastburn, a few shops in the latter. Eat in, reading 1853 book on the state of Europe in the middle ages. {Fuel AM 6.0e-8m^2} By eve >600mi so far.

Thu 1988-07-21 {12519}

To Ilkley Moor, drive around & take a short walk up it. Wet night, but some sun causing steam to rise from the road. Lunch at Anchor at Gargrave, then a short walk along the canal towpath here. Warm & humid by then. A look at the Dales Railway, but it runs only on Sat, Sun & Tue. Return to cottage (\theta tired) to read for the rest of the afternoon. Sunny for a bit, then more rain. Now we've run out of things to do, with a full day yet to go.

Fri 1988-07-22 {12520}

Last day. Shopping in Skipton for pressies, & sample the 5p loos - clean & music while you pee - but still 1s to get in! Then up to Malham, a rugged spot about 400m up, look at it for a bit, then to Buck Inn in Malham for lunch. Drive back, \theta reading & working & \phi for walk towards (to) Silsden along the towpath ~6km there-&-back, just under 1h. It rained all the way back. Eve to local, for Tetley for the last time. Pub a bit more lively than at other times.

Sat 1988-07-23 {12521}

Return. 3h, ~290km (2 stops) - rain a lot of the way. {Fuel 5.7e-8m^2} Total dist on hol ~1.5Mm. Back to normal again - no boats chugging past the window, no hills to look out on, just some very long grass to cut. A good, relaxing holiday, fairly cheap as well. AX acquitted itself well, very economical, no complaints about comfort after 1.5Mm in a week, & its hill climbing & general behaviour on the steep, narrow twisting dales roads was superb. Next time we'll do the Settle & Carlisle (if it's still there) and the Dales Rly. And perhaps the lakes when it isn't raining, although they all look a bit weedy alongside Loch Ness.