Knaresborough – “Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales”

Mother Shipton’s Cave – http://www.mothershipton.co.uk

Scotton Old Hall ~ once the home of Guy Fawkes

Scotton Old Hall ~ once the home of Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes Arms, Scotton

Guy Fawkes Arms, Scotton

Guy Fawkes Arms menu

Guy Fawkes Arms menu

Hammering our 20p into a money log/tree on the walk to Mother Shipton's Cave

Hammering our 20p into a money log/tree on the walk to Mother Shipton’s Cave

Lots of riverside wood carvings

Lots of riverside wood carvings

Boats beside our waterside lunch stop at Marigold’s

The House in the Rock

The House in the Rock

St Robert's cave

St Robert’s cave

Painted houses

Painted houses

Blind Jack

Blind Jack

Bri making a wish at the Wishing Well

Bri making a wish at the Wishing Well

Suzie making a wish at the Wishing Well

Suzie making a wish at the Wishing Well

Mother Shipton in her cave

The Petrifying Well

The Petrifying Well

Two-night stays are the theme at the moment.  Our most recent stop was at the Knaresborough Caravan Club Site which we have to say was pretty perfect for us.

On arrival we were told there were just a few pitches left, and we spotted an ideal one before going to fill up the water tank.  We thought that was the way things were done, just to see another motorhome arrive after us and drive straight to a pitch, leave two chairs out to bag the space and then go and fill up.  Fortunately for us, they seemed to misjudge things a bit, squeezing into a corner pitch and leaving us with a spacious grass pitch we’d already spotted (No.62) through the main site area up next to the play area (very quiet though, because the schools aren’t out for summer yet!).

There’s a cheerful little bar/bistro on site.  Varying reviews for it, but we found it convenient for our first night and decent food.  They’ll plate it up for you if you prefer to eat back at your pitch – which we did, sitting at a picnic table in the sun 🙂  The next day you just drop your plate back at the bar.

The next day we did some sightseeing by bike and by foot.  We cycled this route:

Click to access knaresborough_caravan_club_cycle_ride_final.pdf

Points of interest: Waterside in Knaresborough has rowing boats, cafes, the impressive viaduct and Mother Shipton’s Cave. Abbey road in Knaresborough is home to The House in the Rock, Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag and St.Robert’s Cave. There is also Jacob Smith Park in Scriven.

Unfortunately, the House in the Rock & Chapel of Our Lady were closed the day we went, but we managed a brief glimpse of them.  We then stopped off at St Robert’s cave, walking a few steepish steps down.  As Bri ventured into the cave I heard a big splash followed by “oh, sh*t”.  It was pitch black with deep puddles so I decided to just view it from the outside, haha.  Blue plaques adorn the town which is full of people and places of historical interest.  We didn’t get into town to see the statue of Blind Jack, so we’ll have to go back again to meet him.

We had a delicious meal at Guy Fawkes Arms Pub in Scotton just down the road from Guy Fawkes childhood home and 5 minutes from our return to the campsite.  Then enjoyed a relaxing evening.

The weather was kind to us and all in all it was an interesting and fun couple of days.  Next stop Grassington.

ONWARD!

Suzie & Bri.

 

 

The oldest building in Knaresborough, apparently.

Impressive viaduct

Impressive viaduct

River Nidd