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The Weekend - Part 1
Aug. 23rd, 2011 01:12 pmI am just settling back after one of my regular weekend visits "Up North", luckily the weather was good, because today back in London it's non-stop rain and gloom, though it is a chance to catch up with chores indoors without being distracted by pottering in the garden....... I did water the garden last evening, which was of course a complete waste of time as it turns out !!
On Saturday morning my mother and I had our usual conversation regarding where we should go.... it really involves mainly being in the car as she is not too good mobility-wise, finding somewhere for lunch and a nice cup of tea later in the afternoon. After studying the map and discounting areas we've been recently I settled on Settle (haha), a market town in the Yorkshire Dales famous for being the starting point of the Settle-Carlisle Railway and also the "Gateway to theThree Peaks area". It's a picturesque drive there and on arrival we found the town to be bustling, with no hope of finding a parking space, so we followed a sign to Watershed Mill on the outskirts of the town.... here there was a cafe and retail therapy !! We took advantage of both !!
The mill dates back to 1785 and was built as a cotton mill to house the new spinning machines of the age (invented by a friend of the mill owners, Richard Arkwright). It was converted into a weaving mill in the 1820's, then bought by Lorenzo Christie in 1861 who brought in new spinning and doubling machines and built up the business which was then taken over by his son, Hector. In the 1930's over 100 people worked in the mill until it closed in the 1950's.
We drove back through the town centre hoping to park so I could take a photo or two.... but it was still busy, busy, busy...... so no stopping, though I did find an image of the locally famous hostelry "Ye Olde Naked Man Cafe"
.............
On the drive back we found a lovely cafe in the equally lovely village of Gargrave and couldn't resist popping in !!
On Saturday morning my mother and I had our usual conversation regarding where we should go.... it really involves mainly being in the car as she is not too good mobility-wise, finding somewhere for lunch and a nice cup of tea later in the afternoon. After studying the map and discounting areas we've been recently I settled on Settle (haha), a market town in the Yorkshire Dales famous for being the starting point of the Settle-Carlisle Railway and also the "Gateway to theThree Peaks area". It's a picturesque drive there and on arrival we found the town to be bustling, with no hope of finding a parking space, so we followed a sign to Watershed Mill on the outskirts of the town.... here there was a cafe and retail therapy !! We took advantage of both !!
The mill dates back to 1785 and was built as a cotton mill to house the new spinning machines of the age (invented by a friend of the mill owners, Richard Arkwright). It was converted into a weaving mill in the 1820's, then bought by Lorenzo Christie in 1861 who brought in new spinning and doubling machines and built up the business which was then taken over by his son, Hector. In the 1930's over 100 people worked in the mill until it closed in the 1950's.
We drove back through the town centre hoping to park so I could take a photo or two.... but it was still busy, busy, busy...... so no stopping, though I did find an image of the locally famous hostelry "Ye Olde Naked Man Cafe"
.............On the drive back we found a lovely cafe in the equally lovely village of Gargrave and couldn't resist popping in !!
The cafe includes a wonderful old-fashioned-style sweet shop, and lots of memorabilia all over the place (clutter - I love it !! LOL) and a cute inner courtyard seen only when you visit "the smallest room" ! It must be a big Bunny living in that kennel !!
Even the sweeties I bought for Franco were wrapped in the old-fashioned way !
Even the sweeties I bought for Franco were wrapped in the old-fashioned way !
