Friday Funnies

Seen in Harrogate on our recent trip as if the town knew that our tour group consisted entirely of seniors.

This sign was a new one for me. I haven't seen anything similar locally or on our travels 

How about you?

The two public parking garages in Nashua, NH were recently painted, and they certainly brighten up the areas with these fun colors and designs.

Public parking garage on Factory St, Nashua, NH

Public parking garage on Elm St, Nashua, NH

Do have any similar colorful public garages or facilities in your city or town?

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're getting ready for another adventure; this time in the U.S.

All Creatures . . .

There were some that were great and also small animals. And, since our Yorkshire Dales tour was inspired by the James Herriot books, spending several hours at an agricultural show seemed quite appropriate.

There are some 10 to 15 traditional, prominent annual agricultural shows and major rural fairs held directly within the Yorkshire Dales region each year, running primarily from July through September.

A poster advertising the show

So, on Sunday, Sept 20, our tour group traveled by bus to attend the Nidderdale Show, locally known as The Pateley Bridge Agricultural Show which celebrates farming life, livestock and local crafts. This Dales agricultural show is considered one of the foremost and largest one-day agricultural exhibitions in North Yorkshire. It was held in Bewerley Park, Pateley Bridge. While the main agricultural exhibition is a single day event, the associated fun fair and other site activities ran four days starting on Thursday, September 17.

The agricultural show happens annually on the third Sunday in September, and marks the end of the region's agricultural show season. It is one of the county's foremost agricultural shows with crowds of 15,000 to 17,000 visitors. It was very well attended on the unusually sunny and warm day of our visit. In addition to livestock (cows, sheep and goats, pigs, chickens and more) there were horses, dog displays, a cricket match and displays of produce and crafts.  

Nidderdale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It's one of the Yorkshire Dales and named after the River Nidd. Although Nidderdale is not within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, it's protected as part of the Nidderdale National Landscape. Pateley Bridge is the capital and sole town located in the dale.

This girl was representative of some of the young exhibitors

Pateley Bridge (locally known as Pateley) is a market town in the civil parish of High and Low Bishopside, in Nidderdale, in the county and district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the River Nidd. It is in the Yorkshire Dales and just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

This annual show is one of the county's foremost agricultural shows. It regularly attracts crowds of 17,000 and traditionally marks the end of the agricultural show season. Among events at the show were sheep dog trials, a dog show, show jumping, livestock classes, cookery demonstrations, trade stands and an exhibition cricket match. 

Another young exhibitor and her goat

We watched several judging competitions for cattle, sheep, pigs, cows and goats. A large tent was dedicated to displays covering horticulture, farm crops, home produce, baked goods and handicrafts.

This tent was filled with people checking out the exhibits

Here's a few First place winners, yes even for hay

Food concessions were scattered throughout the park along with over 150 trade stands. Since the group was going to dinner that evening, we settled for ice cream cones which were very good. Yes, we sampled ice cream in nearly every locale on this tour, most was locally produced and so delicious. We restrained ourselves to a single scoop.

The locally made ice cream was delicious

In addition to the agricultural fair, Pateley Bridge is most famous another reason — it's home to the Oldest Sweet Shop in England, which has operated continuously since 1827 inside a 17th-century building. There was no stop for samples.

Oldest sweet shop in the UK  is in Pately Bridge

After the agricultural fair, the tour group traveled 30-minutes to Skipton. This market town known as the Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales is located on the southern edge of the national park. 

An iconic post box and telephone stand in Skipton

The main street in Skipton with the traditional British red post box and telephone stand are perpetual global symbols of British culture, standardized in striking red for maximum visibility on the street. Since mobile phone usage has reduced the need for public pay phones, many UK red telephone stands have been repurposed into community mini-libraries, art galleries, and life-saving defibrillator stations.

 The Craven Museum is in the Skipton Town Hall

This North Yorkshire town is famous for housing a rare 1623 Shakespeare First Folio in the Craven Museum inside Skipton Town Hall. Some 750 copies of the First Folio were published in 1623, seven years after the playwright's death. Not only is the one in Skipton one of only about 235 surviving copies worldwide, but one of just four First Folios on permanent public display. Others are in London, Washington, DC and NYC.

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare’s plays. The text was collated by Shakespeare’s friends and fellow actors, John Heminge and Henry Condell. They worked from manuscripts and prompt copies now lost to us, as well as earlier printed editions of some of the plays. Not all of Shakespeare’s plays were published during his life so that 18 of them only survive as part of the First Folio, including Julius Caesar, Macbeth and The Tempest.

 A rare 1623 First Folio on display in Skipton

The First Folio in Skipton lacks its introductory pages and all of the comedies. While a complete copy of the First Folio contains 36 plays, it's not unusual to find that many surviving First Folios have missing pages. This one has been on display at the museum since 2011. Museum staff change the page opening regularly to preserve it from fading.

Dancing in the Streets

That's what folks were doing the weekend of September 18-20 in Grassington as a 1940s festival recreated wartime Britain with vintage charm. Luckily, this weekend event coincided with our Yorkshire Dales tour and our group was able to attend.

The weekend events began on Friday evening with music and dancing for local attendees. The main events took place on Saturday and Sunday for residents and visitors when there was much more music and dancing in the streets. The event was free to attend aside from food and other purchases.

Grassington is widely considered the prettiest village in the Yorkshire Dales with about 1,100 residents. This picturesque market town in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is widely considered one of the most quintessential villages in the Yorkshire Dales. It's known for honey-colored stone cottages, a bustling cobbled market square and a scenic riverside setting. The town features a small, historic cobbled market square surrounded by independent local shops, cafes and pubs.

The village was overflowing with visitors for the weekend event

Briefly, it became a village that went back in time. Crowds filled the historic streets as visitors donned their finest period outfits and military uniforms for a weekend of nostalgia, music and entertainment. visitors embracing the occasion by dressing in 1940s fashion and military uniforms.

Dancing in the streets during the 1940s Grassington weekend

Participants were dressed in clothing reminiscent of the 1940s and really got into the swing of the music from that time.

Men in uniforms danced with their ladies during the festival

Many men were dressed in military uniforms as they took their sweethearts for a twirl on the asphalt dance floor.

A display of military equipment in the Town Square

The 1940s Grassington weekend transformed the North Yorkshire village from the year 2026 to a snapshot of wartime Britain decades ago. It was truly like stepping back in time for a couple of days with swing band music, re-enactments and costumed parades.

Although dressed in period military uniforms, these men displayed items of modern technology like a digital camera and cell phone.

The Alka Seltzer Sisters were a trio modeled after the Andrews Sisters

Live entertainment was available in several places. In a nod to the swing and boogie-woogie eras and the Andrew Sisters, The Alka Seltzer Sisters were a popular vocal harmony and entertainment trio who performed on Saturday afternoon.  

Live entertainment was available in several places. Jeep Johnson, a period entertainer and singer greeted visitors as they entered the village square. The Lancashire Belle, a 1940s wartime singer, performed classic vintage tracks in the Main Square.

Yorkshire Volunteers Band & Corps of Drums

The Yorkshire Volunteers Band & Corps of Drums marched from the Town Hall through the village on Saturday before stopping to to perform a repertoire of period tunes. to an enthusiastic crowd..

It's because of its historic charm that Grassington has served as the main exterior location for the fictional market town of Darrowby in the modern Channel 5 and PBS adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small (2020). For the series, producers had transformed its cobbled market square and historic shop fronts into the fictional town.

Along with many others, we wandered through the cobblestone streets and were immersed in the sights and sounds of the era. There was an impressive collection of vintage vehicles, including military jeeps and trucks.

There was a display of vintage autos in the town square along with a display of traditional market stalls.

The village bookstore, which was transformed into the local grocer for the show, has a small room dedicated to photos of the cast and other memorabilia. This room was no larger than a closet and had a steady stream of visitors on the festival weekend.

For lunch, we shared a traditional fish and mushy peas, skipping the traditional french fries which have replaced the original fried potato chips. (We did have the fries on two other occasions when mushy peas were not offered.)

Skipping those fries gave us a chance to enjoy some of the locally-produced ice cream, a better choice in our opinion.

Friday Funnies

While I've seen dogs in cars, this was a first — a pooch on a bike seen while on our recent UK trip. But, then I wasn't surprised as Brits do love their dogs and take them everywhere.

Also, the dog was careful enough to look both ways even if not wearing a helmet.

This bike rider and furry passenger were spotted when our tour bus made a stop at a shopping center near Harrogate.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're going to CT for a family member's 90th birthday

We're Back Home

We ended our 9-day tour of the Yorkshire Dales in the UK last Friday, And, after a long day of travel with the time change, thankfully arrived home a day before the weekend's first nor'easter. 

Our large tour group of 45 was on a nine-day tour of the Yorkshire Dales, sponsored by NH Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Titled Discover the Yorkshire Dales, the tour highlighted locales featured in the popular TV series, All Creatures Great and Small. 

Alf Wight

Everyone on the tour had watched either the original 1978 series or the more recent 2020 PBS series (or both) that focused on the popular books by James Herriot (pen name of Alf Wight, a Yorkshire veterinarian). The book title is taken from a popular children’s hymn written in 1848 by Irish poet Cecil Frances Alexander. Wight also used another line in the poem for his book titled, All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Our week-long accommodation was at The Yorkshire Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which dates to 1815 when Nicholas Carter built the first house on Prospect Hill as a premises for the sale of wine and spirits and provided guest accommodations. The hotel has had several names. First it was known as Carters then The Prospect and The Imperial before taking on its current name. It has also undergone many renovations with wings demolished, extra floors added, elaborate iron work and towers erected. 

The Yorkshire Hotel, Prospect Place, Harrogate

Royalty, the rich and famous and countless celebrities have been stayed here. The Yorkshire remained open during both world wars when it was used for support services and accommodation.

Harrogate War Memorial

Some of the hotel gardens were sold off to become the town’s war memorial site. The Harrogate War Memorial is a 20-meter white Portland stone obelisk located in Prospect Square (Prospect Place) in the center of Harrogate. It was designed by English architect Ernest Prestwich who specialized in war memorials and civic buildings. 

Crowds at War Memorial 1923 dedication (Internet source)

Two large bronze plaques list 1,163 local casualties from WW I and II, including a special dedication to Victoria Cross recipients. It was unveiled in September 1923 and its dedication was marked by one of the largest gatherings in Harrogate, an estimated 10,000 people.

Our room at the Harrogate

The hotel has 5 floors and 94 rooms. Our third floor room was modest with a king-size bed, built in nightstands, wardrobe, arm chair, desk and TV. Notably, there was no clothes dresser and the wardroom only accommodated hanging garments. We have become adept travelers at using our suitcases as dressers..

A very high tub was challenging

As expected, the bathroom didn't have wash clothes, but from previous European travels we knew to bring our own. It did have a towel heating rack with oversized bath towels. Getting into the high tub-shower presented unique challenges as there were no hand rails or step stool. In future travels, we know to request a shower-only room. 

Views from the single hotel window

Our hotel room only had a single window, but it provided a great view of the town center, including the war memorial.

During a short walk, we noticed that Harrogate had a lot of rounded buildings with at least one on every corner. Harrogate is a spa town that is about 455 years old, dating back to the discovery of its first mineral spring in 1571. 

Exterior of Harrogate Turkish Baths

Several fellow travelers went to the Turkish Baths housed in a restored 19th-century Victorian spa with Moorish design, Islamic arches, and terrazzo floors; however we did not. The UK currently has 11 remaining original Victorian-style Turkish bath with only about 6 open for public use.

In December 1926, mystery novelist Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared and spent 11 days at The Swan Hydropathic Hotel, a grand 19th-century spa in Harrogate that was renamed in the 1950s as The Old Swan Hotel and remains in business today.

Bettys Café Tea Room in Harrogate

Bettys Café Tea Room is among the most popular places in Harrogate and was 

located directly across from the hotel. Bettys is famous for combining traditional Swiss confectionery with hearty Yorkshire hospitality into a grand, afternoon tea experience. Long lines outside its five Yorkshire locations have turned a simple tea room stop into a major tourist destination

A sundae dessert at Bettys

Bettys was founded in 1919 when Swiss baker Fritz Bützer, later to become Frederick Belmont, opened the first one in Harrogate after arriving in England. There's no information on why it was called Bettys, but it's become a legendary institution for traditional afternoon tea and pastries. And, now also serves lunch and dinner. Rather than tea and scones, we opted for Betty's Gooey Rascal Sundae during our visit.

UK friends, Kath and Andrew, met us for dinner

A highlight of our first full day in Harrogate was a visit from our UK friends, Kath and Andrew, who traveled from Derby to meet us for dinner at The Yorkshire. We last met up in London in October 2023 when we were on another tour. This is long-standing and long-distance friendship that started over 20 years ago at a VA hotel. Over breakfast talk, we learned that we shared the same wedding anniversary date. We've remained in contact through emails and cards and have with  phone calls through WhatsApp.

Surprisingly, the weather was perfect for our 9-day trip with daily temps in the high 60s or low 70s (F) and a couple of light showers. This was ideal as in the weeks before our trip, Yorkshire had been receiving rain on a near daily basis.

Our limousine for the entire tour

Harrogate served as the tour base as we took daily bus trips accompanied by PBS representatives and Linda, a local tour guide. The very capable bus driver, Harry, always managed to maneuver a very large tour bus along the narrowest Yorkshire roadways.

Future posts will contain highlights on some of the sights seen and places visited, including a the 1940s festival, an agricultural fair, and, of course, some castles and abbeys.

Apologies for not keeping up with fellow bloggers recent posts. Catching up on things at home and recovering from a cold have taken up time.