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A Winter Retreat in Santiago
So yeah, we bailed. Yorkshire got too cold, we packed our bags, threw Bertie in the back, and headed for the hills—literally. Not forever, obviously. Just long enough to let our bones defrost. I love Yorkshire. I do. But winter on the moors? Come on. At a certain age, you start thinking, Maybe I don’t need my face sandblasted by freezing wind every ... Read more
Majestic Malham Cove
Malham Cove. It’s one of those places. The kind that turns up in guidebooks with words like breathtaking and majestic, but actually lives up to the hype when you get there. Which is a good thing, because getting there is not quick. We took the Imp, which protested the entire way. Yorkshire Dales roads aren’t ... Read more
Coastal Charms of Robin Hood’s Bay
Back to Robin Hood’s Bay. Again. Because apparently, I can’t stay away. If you’ve been, you get it. If you haven’t—picture a tiny village clinging to the cliffs, twisting alleyways leading nowhere in particular, and the sea looking like it’s got a grudge against the land. Proper Yorkshire. It was blowing an absolute gale. The ... Read more
Rediscovering Rievaulx Abbey
So, yeah. Rievaulx Abbey again. We’ve been before. Loads of times. I couldn’t tell you how many, but does it matter? It’s the sort of place you just keep going back to because every time, you see it differently. Different season, different weather, different mood. Or, in today’s case, same ruins, but a different set ... Read more
Serenity at Fountains Abbey
Right, so we went to Fountains Abbey today. One of those places that everyone in Yorkshire tells you to visit at least once. Been before, but it’s the kind of place that changes every time—depends on the weather, depends on your mood, depends on whether your dog decides to behave (he didn’t). Weather was classic ... Read more
The Mystique of Whitby Abbey
We went to Whitby Abbey today. You know, the big ruined monastery up on the cliff, looking all dramatic and windswept like something out of a gothic novel. (Which, let’s be honest, it kind of is—thanks, Bram Stoker.) The weather was doing that classic North Yorkshire thing where it can’t decide between freezing you or ... Read more
Exploring Pickering Castle
In my first ever post on my retirement blog, Patricia, Bertie, and I set out to explore one of North Yorkshire’s gems: Pickering Castle. The castle has interesting Norman origins and is less than a mile from our house so it makes perfect sense to start here.. It was originally built as a motte-and-bailey fortress. ... Read more