Thanksgiving in the Dales

This morning Brad, JoAnn and I had breakfast at Bettys before heading off for a drive through the Yorkshire Dales. It was another beautiful winter day, though a bit chillier in Harrogate than it had been in London. We drove over to Grassington, a quaint little village in Wharfedale, and browsed through the shops before taking a short hike to the even quainter village of Linton. I love this short hike because the views are spectacular, you get a wonderful introduction to the drystone walls of Yorkshire and you cross a bridge over the dramatic Linton Falls with views of some fantastically-shaped limestone. But my very favorite part is a visit to the 12th-century church in Linton. As we approached the bridge the wind whipped up and the skies darkened. Then the wind died down and we got a great view of a robin on a fence post and said hello to a cute little cat. The wind picked up again and we began to be pelted with rain. We took refuge in the church. It was so peaceful, warm and quiet in there. We took our time exploring the delights of the little church and by the time we left the wind had settled down and the skies had cleared. Typical Yorkshire weather. We witnessed a shocking event on the way back to the car. That cute little cat attacked and caught a pheasant!! We think it was a juvenile pheasant but it was still quite a large catch for the little kitty-cat. Neither I nor JoAnn could bear to look at the devastating scene.

Back in the car for a drive to Appletreewick, a village as picturesque as its name sounds. By this time the skies were bright blue. The road to Appletreewick is narrow, twisty and turny and affords stunning views of the countryside. Our destination was the New Inn, a cozy pub with friendly staff, where we had our Thanksgiving Day dinner. Brad and JoAnn both had a big salad with Swaledale cheese. I had fishcakes, potatoes and peas. For dessert we all opted for Sticky Toffee Pudding in Cream. It was an unorthodox Thanksgiving Day dinner but everything was absolutely delicious and the setting couldn't be beat!

After dinner we headed back into Harrogate. We topped the evening off with a visit to the Odeon Cinema where we saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.