Further south towards Robin Hood territory

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After the shocking weather of yesterday we were hoping that today has dawned a bit brighter and upon pulling the curtains we found it has!!
The route today is mostly A1 driving but taking in a couple of places and sights that we missed when we travelled over this way from our time in Settle.
First though Gretchen had to drive through the Tyne tunnel an experience she would rather avoid as she doesn't do tunnels that well especially when they are under water!!Leading up to the tunnel which is tolled the road becomes a free for all and we only saw that the lane we had chosen didn't give change from the automatic toll collector.So we scambled to find the right change hoping other cars behind us would be patient noting our French number plates and recognising us as visitors!!
The road on the southern side was under some sort of reconstruction and the road signs were still back amongst the area being built making it difficult to see where the exit we needed from the roundabout was.One thing with roundabouts is of course you can always travel around them again and again if you can't find the right exit the first or the second time around!!
First stop was only a short distance away in the walled medieval town of Durham where we wanted to look over the cathedral.
Finding a parking building was probably the easiest we have had in the UK.The town is very compact and the cathedral dominates the landscape on the highest point in the town.
There was also a castle which we could have looked around as well but we had other things to do further south in York so we decided just the cathedral would do this time around.
The cathedral was free to enter(great for the BBA)but they did accept donations and we were happy to make one after seeing this grand building built in Norman times and quite different in design and look to other cathedrals we have been into.
The cathedral wasn't as large as those in London but the different design made it interesting to see the contrasts between those in the south of the country.The ceiling was not as ornate either with timber used rather than plaster with artwork.There were the usual stones in the floor under which prominent people of the cathedral or town were buried.When we started out looking over these cathedrals and churches we used to walk around the stones where we could depict the writing so as to avoid walking on someones grave.Silly really when the person under the stone had died hundreds of years ago and sometimes isn't actually buried there as we have found out but it is just a memorial to them.Unfortunately cameras were forbidden inside the cathedral although there do seem to be a lot of tourists who don't understand English!!!
We had a short walk around the town with its cobbled streets and market square.By the number of people out and about it is a popular town to visit with all its rich history dating back more than other towns on the east coast.
York was the next stopping point and although we had been there from our time in Settle we hadn't taken in the Shambles or a walk on the wall that rings the old city because it had rained on the day we visited.
The weather by now as we moved further south seemed to be improving and by the time we reached York,even though a heavy shower had passed by us,the sun was out,albeit watery!!
Like Durham the city fathers at York have made their public parking areas handy to the main routes in and very well sign posted.
York was a buzz with visitors although with the roads in the centre of the town closed off to traffic it made getting about easy.
We were tempted to afternoon tea at Bettys as we passed by it but there didn't look like there were any spare tables and there were people queued up for a cuppa in this flashy teashop of great fame.What the English will do for a cuppa!!We did peer in the window and noticed how well presented afternoon tea was with delicate china and a cakestand on each table with finger size sandwiches,scones and cakes.
We took some direction to the Shambles from the helpful mobile tourist cart in the centre of town.A Shambles for the uniniated,is/was a meat market usually in the middle of town where the animals of the town were slaughtered and the meat prepared and sold to the townspeople.The street(s)are usually very narrow and on a slope with gutters so that the blood from the slaughtered animals ran away.Over the years these areas have been turned into tourist attractions in the market towns with the shops now selling ice creams.

Following our find of the Shambles and a walk down the very narrow street with the roofs of the opposite houses almost touching each other we walked onto the wall that surrounds most of the old city.
In some places the wall has been gobbled up by housing or shops while in others it has been retained almost in the condition it was when it served its purpose of holding out enemies of the people that lived within the walls.
The wall is part of the charm of York and as we walked along a sizeable piece that was still in place we took in the gardens and backyards of some of the original houses built in the town and still occupied today.In one part there were still the remains of the original Roman wall upon which the current wall was built.Since that wall had been built the land around had been built up significantly as the Roman wall was partly buried compared to the current one.
So with two of the attractions we missed on the first town around to York now viewed we were back on the road heading back to the A1 to continue the journey south.
We were close to Leeds at one point on the way south and we were sorry we just didn’t have enough time today to detour and catch up one more time with cousin Rhona and Eric.Time was just against us with our accommodation prebooked at the Travelodge Retford still about 50 or so miles further south.
Our instructions to get to the Travelodge,were that the hotel was located in the northbound lane at the interchange with the A1 of the A57.
With the hotels generally at interchanges and in good view of the road we thought finding this one would be a breeze!!How wrong we were!!
There were no buildings let alone a hotel at the interchange.So we drove over the northbound lanes of the busy A1 and a little way down the A57 and into Sherwood Forest!!There were certainly not going to be any hotels in a forest!!
So we drove back over to the other side of the A1 and took a drive east,even though it was against the instructions we had.We soon came across the small tidy little village of Ranby complete with its HM Prison,barbed wire and all(we wonder if the people of this quiet charming little village wanted the prison in their peaceful backyard).
We spied a pub at the edge of the village and thought publicans know everything even where their hotel competitors are and we were in need of a beer(half pints only as we or should I say Gretchen still had to drive somewhere to get us to the Travelodge).
The friendly publican knew where is was alright and gave us instructions to head further south on the A1.He picked up on my black shirt with the Kiwi and wished me and the AB’s good luck for the test this coming weekend.I hope we can be somewhere that we can pick the game up on TV.
So it was back to the A1 and sure enough we discovered what our problem in the first place was in locating the hotel at the junction of the A1 and the A57,there are TWO of them!!!about 3 miles apart.And to add to that Stan’s map which is a 1998 version of Britain’s roads was printed before this additional A1/A57 interchange was built!!!To be fair though Stan’s book of maps has been very accurate up until now and has proved very worthy of guiding us Kiwis around Britain with very few problems.
It is probably going to be a noisy night though as although the hotel is set far enough off the highway the road to the huge truck parking area runs right past our room window.Lets hope the double glazing keeps some of the noise out!!

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Comments

[Chris]

The Shambles
Did I see Great Aunty Gretchen with a walking stick in the photo of the Shambles? All that walking must be taking its toll. The people of the North do appear to get shorter.