Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Visit to The Yorkshire Dales

My mum came for the weekend last weekend and we went to visit Herriot land and York. James Herriot wrote some really good books - humorous ones - about his experiences as a vet in Thirsk, Yorkshire between the 1930s and the 1960s. The books were also made into a successful television series that aired in the 1970s - I grew up watching it and have loved the books for years so it was lovely to visit the house that he lived and worked in.

The house has been restored to its 1940s state and it is lovely to see all of the old furniture, pictures and utensils. The kitchen in particular was fantastic. There was also a vintage car in the back which you were encouraged to get in and have a picture taken.

Upstairs, there was an exhibition of vet instruments and a long room where there were interactive games. Downstairs in what used to be the barns, there was a display of information and a 20 minute film explaining the history of Herriot. There was also a section which was arranged as the set for the TV show, where you could look through cameras and even take a phone call as though you were in the show.

It was lovely to see first hand what I had read about and it was amazingly only £5 per adult! I've been to other so-called interactive museums take for example the Viking museum in York which costs a lot more and was useless!

The next day we took mum to York which she hadn't seen since her schooldays ( a looong time ago people!) and it was lovely. It was about 32 degrees celcius! When we got to York Minster (after visiting the National Railway museum) there was a set of travelling Shakespeare players - done in the ancient style. They did a play, packed up the stage and rolled it to their next destination in the town and did another play.

We finished off with a lovely lunch at O'Neil's pub- for £2.95 for a full meal each- great value for money.

We went through the old cobbled strets and enjoyed the scenerey and indulged our sweet tooth. I took mum to my favourite fudge shope where you get to see them making it.

All in all a lovely weekend. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, I do reccomend you check out the Yorkshire Dales - in the summer of course!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What's this about my being at school a loooooong time ago. I'm not that old....well, maybe I am. lol