Yorkshire 2019: Harewood House; Harrogate walks; Nidderdale Greenway

On our way to Harrogate, Valerie and I spent half a day at Harewood House. We drove there, but it’s also possible to use local buses, for instance the no.36 which runs every 10 minutes between Leeds and Harrogate.

Harewood House was built between 1759 and 1771 for plantation and slave owner Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood. The house is still the family seat of the Lascelles family, and David Lascelles, the eighth Earl, a television and film producer, lives with his family in the upper floor. The house and grounds are managed by Harewood House Trust and are open to the public for most of the year. The Capability Brown-designed landscape served as a backdrop to the ITV drama series ‘Victoria’.

Our £15 tickets gave us entry to the house – including the Spring/summer exhibition Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters – and also the farm and bird garden. These photos show the view from the restaurant terrace; a Robert Adams ceiling; and a beautiful Irish-designed gown displayed in the dressing room of Mary, Princess Royal:

Harewood House, Yorkshire. View from restaurant terrace. Ann Barrie 2019

Harewood House, Yorkshire. Robert Adams-designed ceiling. Ann Barrie 2019

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Harewood House. Gown by Irish designer in 'Useful/Beautiful' exhibition. Ann Barrie 2019

Acorn Lodge, our B&B in Harrogate, was in a leafy residential street near the Convention Centre. (If we’d been there a few days later, we’d have coincided with the Great Yorkshire Agricultural Show). We had a cosy bedroom on the top floor, and found we could walk to the bus station and train station in 10 minutes by taking the lane opposite the Lodge.

Acorn Lodge, Harrogate, Yorkshire. Ann Barrie 2019

Breakfast at Acorn Lodge, Harrogate. Ann Barrie 2019

On our first day, we did Harry's free walking tour. Super-active Harry does four tours a day, each lasting an hour and 20 minutes, starting at the War Memorial outside Betty’s tearooms, and taking in such attractions as the Turkish Baths & Health Spa, the Winter Gardens, Royal Pump Room Museum, and the Valley Gardens. Harry is a mine of local information after doing extensive historical research. He doesn’t push for tips but we gladly gave him one.

Harry's free walking tour, Harrogate, Yorkshire. Ann Barrie 2019

From here, Valerie and I walked through Harrogate's beautiful Valley Gardens, then the pine woodlands of Harlow Hill, to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Harlow Carr. Of course, we took a break at Betty’s Café Tearooms – Harlow Carr. I chose a sultana scone with strawberry preserve and clotted cream, and Valerie a Scottish smoked salmon sandwich.

Afternoon tea at Betty's Café Tearooms – Harlow Carr, Yorkshire Ann Barrie 2019

This was a favourite quote of my Mother's – she was wonderfully green-fingered:

Poetry & flowers at RHS Harlow Carr, Yorkshire. Ann Barrie 2019

On Day 2, we walked the Nidderdale Greenway, a 4-mile (6.4 km) shared walking and cycle path from Harrogate town centre to Ripley Castle. It took us a while to find the starting point at the end of a supermarket car park, but once we’d done so, and walked over a little bridge, the directions were clear: 

Signposts for Nidderdale Greenway, Harrogate to Ripley. Ann Barrie 2019

Farm fields viewed from Nidderdale Greenway. Ann Barrie 2019

The Nidderdale Greenway follows the path of a former railway line. The Nidd Gorge section may be under threat by a proposal to build a Harrogate bypass for the A61. Local residents, including schoolchildren, have made their feelings clear:

Save Nidd Gorge poster, Nidderdale Greenway. Ann Barrie 2019

We enjoyed balmy weather on our walk. This cycle sculpture, just south of Ripley, celebrates the fact that Ripley was on the route of stage 1 of the 2014 Tour de France:

Cycle sculpture, Nidderdale Greenway. Ann Barrie & Valerie Gardner, 2019

We did not go into Ripley Castle, but explored Ripley village, which was modelled on a French village with a cobbled market place and picturesque workers' cottages. We had one of the famous ice creams, and also visited Chantry House Gallery where we enjoyed Kate Lycett's exhibition 'Catching the Light' – finely worked paintings enhanced by gold threads.  

Kate Lycett card for exhibition 'Catching the Light'. Ripley

Noticeboard on shared path at Ripley, Yorkshire. Ann Barrie 2019

We ate a fine meal in the beer garden of The Boar's Head Hotel. My dish, foreground, was fish, and Valerie's was steak:

Fish dish and steak dish at Boar's Head Hotel, Ripley Village, Yorkshire. Ann Barrie 2019

After catching the bus back to Harrogate, we visited the Mercer Gallery which Harry had recommended to us. A bicentenary exhibition looked at the work of William Powell Frith (1819-1909) exploring the roots of his huge popularity in the Victorian period and the relevance of his work to the present day. Frith filled his pictures with a multitude of characters representing every level of society, and paintings such as The Railway Station and The Derby Day were so popular that they were recreated as living tableaux in London theatres. This inspired a contemporary art project in which photographer Jonathon Turner created contemporary interpretations of some of Frith’s pictures – for instance, 'Many Happy Returns – as tableaux using volunteers in Harrogate and the surrounding area.

'Many Happy Returns' painted by William Frith. Mercer Gallery Harrogate. Ann Barrie, 2019

Interpretation of  William Frith's 'Many Happy Returns' by Jonathon Turner. Mercer Gallery Harrogate. Ann Barrie, 2019

There is a network of walks around Harrogate, and the Ramblers’ Association has published a leaflet on The Harrogate Ringway, a 21-mile circular walk, which can be walked all in one go, or split into sections. We decided to concentrate on a tiny portion of this for our third and last day. We caught the bus to Knaresborough, a picturesque old market and spa town on the river Nidd, 4 miles east of Harrogate. There are spectacular views from the castle, and the town is a warren of medieval streets and stone staircases that weave their way up and down the hill. Being Sunday, many families had come to enjoy the riverside with its boat hire, mini-golf, cafés and walks along the River Nidd. There was plenty of parking by the river, and a holiday atmosphere.

The ruins of Knaresborough Castle are in a commanding  position above the River Nidd, and there are resident ravens.

Knaresborough raven, with viaduct in background. Ann Barrie.

Knaresborough raven. Photo Ann Barrie 2019

We explored the several churches in Knaresborough - had a Devonshire tea pressed on us for a very modest fee at one church –and then made our way back to our B&B.  We left Harrogate the following day, Valerie by car to Sevenoaks, and Ann by bus to Leeds and thence by train to Manchester Airport. We've made a date to meet again in two years' time.

On a concluding note, Harrogate is not only a beautiful floral town,  and a great place for walking and cycling, but it's good centre for exploring North Yorkshire. Cities such as Leeds and York are both within easy reach by public transport.

Blog by Ann Barrie