Knaresborough

Well what a lovely little town and arrived by train into the Feva festival where we caught the last weekend of the music and art. The tourist information centre as usual was a great source of knowledge about what to see and do. We attended the Picnic in the Park free open air concert behind Knaresborough House and enjoyed the 3 bands playing including Barcode Zebra who had a female singer with a fantastic voice. The rain did come down at one point but as we were already sitting under a leafy tree we didn't have to move or even put on our rain jackets. With a lot of families bringing along their food and drinks it was a calm but enjoyable atmosphere with no one getting drunk and making a nuisance of themselves. It's finished at 5pm so went off to catch a group called Cartoon Food which I was not sure about but found this 4 piece acoustic band very enjoyable. One guy was using a wooden box as a drum and they had great harmonies. We headed off early from this to grab some dinner at a near by Chinese restaurant and then off again to the third concert of the day in St. John's church with Knaresborough  pro Musica playing Baroque music including Bach. The violins sounded incredible and the church acoustics the best I have heard. We slept well that night having enjoyed a wonderful diverse range of good music. The Sunday meant a visit to the Farmers Market and then later walking to a historical shrine called The Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag, which was built into the side of a hill by a stone mason called John the Mason in 1408. This became a wayside shrine for pilgrims but now is only open between 2 and 4 on a Sunday between April and September. Got talking to thevolunteer manning   the site and had a good conversation about the Reformation and the impact on the Catholic Church in England. We finished the night off at a pub called The Mitre listening to a local band Area 40. They sounded very good but it was crowded and very hot so we left before they ended to walk back under a full moon.....very romantic. 

Took a bus to Harrogate which we could catch just around the corner from her apartment. We are 20 minute walk into town so good to do short walk to bus station straight to Harrogate. We collected our batch of leaflets and brochures on what to do in Harrogate after first having a coffee in the famous Bettys tea room which have been operating since 1919. The town is busy with shoppers with rows of designer shops and the usual chains. We went looking for a hairdresser for me as the length is driving me crazy and discovered some interesting second hand and vintage clothing shops just out of the main area. Harrogate is a spa town and will be the finish of the first day of the 2014 Tour de France. 

The Knaresborough people are very friendly and we spent over an hour talking to the owner and her mum in a local cafe after having lunch. They were very funny telling us all the goss about town and we learnt what markets and shops to avoid. Wednesday is the big market day and the square was filled with stalls and people buying local produce. We picked up a magazine on keeping chickens for when we get back home so that should be informative. 

We visited the castle and you will see me below sitting on a medieval dunny. It also has a great museum showing what life was like in medieval times and some history of some of the towns characters. From the castle gardens you can see the viaduct and I managed to get a photo with a train passing over the bridge.