A sort of lamb nursery in Gayle.
A proper (half) pint at the Old Bridge in Holmfirth.
Once again, we spent two spring weeks in our favorite area: Yorkshire.
We decided to forgo shorts and travel when it was cooler: late April this time. There are more dark ales, and there are sure to be new-born lambs in the fields. And a slight chill on my morning walk gives me just the excuse I need to justify a full English breakfast.
A sort of lamb nursery in Gayle. |
A proper (half) pint at the Old Bridge in Holmfirth. |
For some women, it's chocolate. This is my sin: a full English breakfast - this one in the sunny breakfast room of Apothecary Guest House in Haworth (had to make a special request for only one piece each of bacon and Cumberland sausage. Note, the toast is way off on the left. That's fried bread on the plate. And beans. When I was a kid, my Dad always saved some beans from Saturday night's hot dogs and beans dinner to have with a fried egg on Sunday morning. My brother and I thought he was crazy. We wouldn't admit his lunacy to our friends. Now, after our visits to Yorkshire, I love beans with my fried egg. |
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Later, when it's warmer, the landlords put on lighter ales - and the lambs are still cute, but older. And it's harder to justify that fried bread. Which we learned in 2009, when we visited at the beginning of May.
As usual, we did an Hs holiday: Haworth, Hawes, and Holmfirth, with a night at Heathrow. As we did last year - when it was Holmfirth first, then Haworth, and Hawes. But I never got around to posting that journal. So I will cheat and use walks and photos from that trip.
A word of caution for traveling to England. What you expect when you rent a car (hire, in British English) is not always what you get. Remember, all the ads do say "or similar". Of course, the car will be great fun - and get way better gas (petrol) mileage than you have ever expected. But the smaller the better on the roads we like to travel. Our driveway would be a 2-lane road. And many we use, when we are up where we want to be, are so narrow that there is no center line. If there were, it would be just too silly.
 The Fiat Bravo we had in 2009. If it comes into the US, Chuck will trade in his car. But it was a tad large for Yorkshire, for us. |
 The Kia Picanto we got this year. Chuck was amazed that he had room on each side of a Yorkshire road! And it did great on the M roads - and got over 50 MPG (yes, I did the complicated math - or maths). |
We left from the gorgeous new Terminal 2 at RDU. Whose gates are all designated C. It's a long story. Beautiful sunset - then a lovely sunrise. And we landed at Heathrow. Although we prefer the size and convenience of Gatwick - as well as the last night in the neat village of Horley - we have to admit there is a definite advantage to Heathrow. We get on the M25 when all the commuting traffic is anti-clockwise - and we're going clock-wise. Cuts quite a bit of time - and a lot of aggravation - from our drive. Whatever our destination, we now are sure to arrive by lunch time, for halves in one of our pubs.
Our problem, is finding a place to stay for our last night, before our flight home from Heathrow.
In 2009, we tried West Drayton. It was OK. It's a working-class London suburb, mostly the shops you'd need if you lived there, and rather crowded and commercial. The B&B, Oakwood House, was OK, with friendly and helpful staff. But it was on a busy street. And the pubs we could find, only one of which served food, didn't have the kinds of ales for which we go to England. But we were able to drop our rental car off in the afternoon and get a bus back through other, similar, suburbs to about a block from our B&B. And we got an inexpensive taxi - right on time, too - to the airport in the morning.
In 2010, we found Heathrow Lodge, in a little area called Longford. Which is basically Bath Road, West Drayton. The B&B was, again, OK, with helpful and friendly staff. But the road was wonderful. Not long, but a sort of mini village. Even a little park with a footpath on one side and a road down to a stream on the other. And two pubs that serve food.
 Just up the road from the B&B, before the pub, we found this wonderful thatched cottage and garden. Can you see the thatched peacock on the thatched roof of the well?. |
 The bar at the White Horse, where we made several visits, including a great dinner. |
 Nancy, by the river we found. |
 A wonderful ruined mansion further up Bath Road. |
And this is right under the take-off path of Heathrow. Nancy has taken to waving at airplanes as her first old-age eccentricity. Here, she swears folks were waving back!
Haworth
Hawes
Holmfirth
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