It's not too grim up north!
My parents recently returned after spending two months travelling around Ireland, Wales, the continent whilst also spending a few weeks staying with Nicole and I cooking and cleaning to keep up their board!
However before they left we all spent a few days driving up into the frontier that is northern England. We decided to hire a small car but were upgraded to something that resembled a tank at the last minute. Nicole had not time to get used to the size of the vehicle as we needed to navigate through central London, however this (despite my protests) was not a problem and we were soon on our way up the uninspiring M1.
Peak Distric
We decided to try and find our way to Nottingham Forest ala Robin Hood however the plan was abandoned when we got caught up in the scary outers suburbs of Nottingham itself (gun crime capital of the UK). We evacuated to the ever so quaint town of Bakewell (home of the Bakewell Tart) in the Peak District for a spot of afternoon tea. A bit of shopping later (that saw dad and I buy one of the old style country hats) and we were on our way to Buxton to spend the night. Unfortunately Buxton proved to be a little busy traffic wise so we opted for a place called 'Chapel - capital of the Peak District'. What a f*cking dive it was - after 5 minutes deciding whether we should stay in the sh*thole we decided to leg it out into the wilderness.
Dad and I in Hayfield
Upon looking at the map I realised we were very close to where Ric grew up - a quick text to Rio de Janeiro (as the lucky b*stard was off on holiday) later and we were kindly directed to the small village of Hayfield and to the 'George Hotel' (thanks ric!). We spent the evening have one too many drinks in front of the fire and a very decent dinner. Then Nicole and I decided to do a 'pub crawl' (nicole had had a few...) we had walked about 20 metres when an intoxicated local lass told us to follow her to a decent pub as long as we didn't mind climbing a few fences... we followed and ended up in 'the lodge' which was filled with people who had came from a very limited gene pool...
Nicole and I in Whitby
After a decent night sleep we were on our way north to Bronte country. We spent the morning looking around the Bronte's home and village of Haworth and then legged it north to the seaside town of Whitby (the place where Dracula landed in the UK - fictionally of course). Whitby was a really nice place that I would fully recommend however we had to leave early in the evening to get to our booked hotel in York.
Dad, myself and Mum on York's walls
York was really quite impressive. The size of Yorkminster was incredible and the walking around the town walls is a must. The old town area of the shambles was really amazing - the building overhung the streets almost touching each other. However the city wasn't as olde worldy as I thought (I had a northern Bath in my mind) but still very much worth a visit.
So off on a 1st class ticket home (it was cheaper than 2nd class - crazy rail system over here) and then the next day mum and dad flew back to Australia via Singapore (and via a flood of tears dad tells me). It was sad to see them go but glorious to have my bed back!
However before they left we all spent a few days driving up into the frontier that is northern England. We decided to hire a small car but were upgraded to something that resembled a tank at the last minute. Nicole had not time to get used to the size of the vehicle as we needed to navigate through central London, however this (despite my protests) was not a problem and we were soon on our way up the uninspiring M1.
Peak Distric
We decided to try and find our way to Nottingham Forest ala Robin Hood however the plan was abandoned when we got caught up in the scary outers suburbs of Nottingham itself (gun crime capital of the UK). We evacuated to the ever so quaint town of Bakewell (home of the Bakewell Tart) in the Peak District for a spot of afternoon tea. A bit of shopping later (that saw dad and I buy one of the old style country hats) and we were on our way to Buxton to spend the night. Unfortunately Buxton proved to be a little busy traffic wise so we opted for a place called 'Chapel - capital of the Peak District'. What a f*cking dive it was - after 5 minutes deciding whether we should stay in the sh*thole we decided to leg it out into the wilderness.
Dad and I in Hayfield
Upon looking at the map I realised we were very close to where Ric grew up - a quick text to Rio de Janeiro (as the lucky b*stard was off on holiday) later and we were kindly directed to the small village of Hayfield and to the 'George Hotel' (thanks ric!). We spent the evening have one too many drinks in front of the fire and a very decent dinner. Then Nicole and I decided to do a 'pub crawl' (nicole had had a few...) we had walked about 20 metres when an intoxicated local lass told us to follow her to a decent pub as long as we didn't mind climbing a few fences... we followed and ended up in 'the lodge' which was filled with people who had came from a very limited gene pool...
Nicole and I in Whitby
After a decent night sleep we were on our way north to Bronte country. We spent the morning looking around the Bronte's home and village of Haworth and then legged it north to the seaside town of Whitby (the place where Dracula landed in the UK - fictionally of course). Whitby was a really nice place that I would fully recommend however we had to leave early in the evening to get to our booked hotel in York.
Dad, myself and Mum on York's walls
York was really quite impressive. The size of Yorkminster was incredible and the walking around the town walls is a must. The old town area of the shambles was really amazing - the building overhung the streets almost touching each other. However the city wasn't as olde worldy as I thought (I had a northern Bath in my mind) but still very much worth a visit.
So off on a 1st class ticket home (it was cheaper than 2nd class - crazy rail system over here) and then the next day mum and dad flew back to Australia via Singapore (and via a flood of tears dad tells me). It was sad to see them go but glorious to have my bed back!
posted by Cyclops at 9:31 AM
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