Skipton

It must be obvious to you by now that it is taking us a long, long time to cross the north of England on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. We left Liverpool in early May and we are somewhere just over half way across now; high up in the Pennines with no real urge to move on at all.

 

From Herons….

 

…. and Rabbits….

 

….to Cows coolly refreshing themselves.

 

The Sun shines marvellously for us day after day encouraging us to remain and explore some more the hills and beautiful countryside surrounding numerous enchanting little towns that we are meeting on our journey. Barrowford, Colne, and Gargrave have all captivated us with their own special charm and history. From each it has been difficult to wrench ourselves away from the picturesque little cottages, built solidly with local granite and bathed bounteously with summer fragranced flowers and from our walks in the hills the views are rewarding enough on their own. The local people are charming too though it may have taken some time for a ‘sissy southerner’ like me to grasp a full understanding of their broad dialect.

 

With Rosebay Willowherb….

 

Here in Skipton it is no different. We have been here for a week and are still not ready to move on.

On arrival it is just yet another small North Yorkshire town quietly and charmingly snuggled amongst the surrounding hills and yet on closer inspection it appears to have here everything that mankind could possibly desire. As well as the natural rural charm that the town possesses such as beautiful country walks, a medieval castle, market place, churches and numerous quaint local shops, cafés and pubs, not to mention the historic canal basin itself, it seems to be well represented with all modern amenities too.

 

….and cottages in the Sunshine….

 

All the national shops are here; Morrison’s and a large twenty four hour Tesco are within minutes of our mooring while a branch of Aldi is a little further away. In the town are M & S, W.H.Smith’s, Costa, Poundland and all the others, as well as all the  national banks and even the House of Fraser is represented as Rackham’s departmental store. Of course Wetherspoon’s is here too at which I write this now after devouring a very nourishing tuna mayonnaise filled baked jacket potato.

 

….We lay here contentedly at Skipton

 

There is a girl’s high school as well as a grammar school that was founded in 1492, a well looked after large recreational park with a wild life meadow, a pitch and putt golf course and a sports leisure centre including a busy indoor swimming pool, of which any large town or city in the country would be proud.

We are discovering new amenities every day.

This weekend in the park a large marquee has been erected for a ‘fake’ music festival to which hundreds of people are now arriving. Okay the music is to be provided by tribute bands only (though these are often as good as, or sometimes even better than the original). But it is Skipton they are performing at and not one of the major cities.

I find the activity quite amazing and the whole area quite exhilarating.