On the second Monday of our holiday we left Peebles (after me being able to buy shoes) and made our way to our next destination; Finghall in Yorkshire. Again we had hired a small self-catering house on a lovely farm, to stay for the next four days. The house is called The Smithy and is a really well thought out refurbishment of an old barn. More about that shortly though. Coffee first. The first place we went while staying in Finghall was to Chesters by the River. Just to have some of their coffee and delicious scones. Quite a long way to go for said refreshments but worth the trip. Chesters is at Skelwith Bridge, a few miles outside of Ambleside in the Lake District. This is the river that is overlooked by the outdoor seating area. It's the river Brathay.
The weather was nice enough for us to take a table outside.
These quaint cottages are on the other side, away from the river.
Coffee and scones with jam and cream. Yummy!
And we also, very indulgently, shared this piece of coffee and hazelnut cake. They must have run out of walnuts!
Back to The Smithy. This is it ... didn't realise it was such a blurry photo but I've only got this one.
There were a few small caravans also staying at the farm. Everything was really clean and well appointed. I loved this clock on the outside wall.
The flowers were still in bloom and looking very colourful.
This friendly old collie just wanted to play constantly. He brought his ball for us to throw so he could catch it. Sounds pretty normal, doesn't it? Not when you discover that his preferred ball is of the golf variety! Every time he caught the ball you could hear it rattling his teeth. I'm surprised the poor thing has any teeth left!
While staying in Finghall we took the opportunity to visit the Bowes Museum.
The artifacts are housed in this magnificent building. It looks like someone's residence but it was actually built specially as a museum.
We really enjoyed our time at the museum. It was very interesting and the guide knew a lot about it. The highlight was seeing the Silver Swan, a magnificent musical automaton, being wound up and going through its motions.
The husband took the opportunity to go for a few cycle rides while we stayed at Finghall. So I took the opportunity to crochet some more of my cotton blanket!
I sat outside in the enclosed patio area and discovered this sign above the back door.
The blanket was really coming on well - part of it is draped behind the bench.
Another place we visited was the National Railway Museum in York. The husband thought it would be a good place to visit not least because the entrance is free. What we didn't realise was that it would cost £9 to park the car! We didn't mind as the museum is well worth visiting. Here's a few photos of trains just to let you see what it was like.
This is the Chinese engine, one of the largest single-unit locomotives ever built in the UK. It was presented to the museum by the Chinese Government in 1981. It's hard to tell from a photo but this thing is huge.
There's a separate hall for the royal trains.
I was amazed to find this special van for transporting bananas.
The next day we decided to just take a drive and admire the beautiful scenery. First of all along the side of a lovely river.
We stopped here to take some photos as it was so peaceful.
Not another car in sight!
We climbed up, getting pretty high, crossing the bleak looking moor.
The scenery was just spectacular. On the way down again we spotted this viaduct and wondered why there were so many cars parked at the side of the road. Then we realised a train was about to cross over so we very quickly parked, jumped out and took some photos.
We headed on into a lovely village called Ingleton where we had tea and a bit of a wander round.
I love the names of some of the wee villages in this area. Names like Constable Burton, Patrick Brompton and Newton-le-Willows.
At the end of our four days staying at The Smithy we only had another couple of days left before going home. We were intending to visit Yarndale on the Saturday so we spent the Friday night in a nearby hotel. I've already told you about our time at Yarndale in my first holiday post here - thought I'd better do Yarndale first!
There's very little left to tell you now but I'll leave it until another time. It's great to get your lovely comments and I can't believe I have some more very welcome followers.
I'll leave you with a tiny posy I cut in the garden today. Roses, crab apples, crocosmia (just the seed heads left), fuchsia and something with berries that will have to remain nameless because my mind has gone blank.
Bye for now!
