A Day out with the Grandchildren

Followers of my blog may well remember that this time last year we visited Newby Hall and Gardens, and on the way there we called in to the village of Ripley, to purchase their delicious ice cream. It was as we entered the village we discovered that we were there on the weekend they have their scarecrow festival, but it is a scarecrow festival with a difference. All the scarecrows featured have pigs heads, and they all have some allusion to ham, trotters, boar, pig, bacon etc. in their titles.

This is because, many years ago, when the King of England was out hunting with the then members of the Ingleby family, he was attacked by a wild boar, and the Lord of the Manor, Thomas de Ingleby saved his life. In appreciation of this he was knighted by Edward III, and a boars head now appears in the family crest of the Ingleby family!

This is rather a long winded way of getting round to the fact that we attended the festival again this year, and of course, the first place we visited was the world famous Ripley Ices Shop!


Each day there are two or three different flavours of ice cream available. Whatever the flavours on offer they are all delicious!

Enjoying the Ripley Ice Cream!

Lucrecia Boargia

Pig Clegg & David Hameron

Pigstop

After viewing, and trying to match the names of the scarecrows to the scarecrows themselves, we then went on to Pateley Bridge. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and Ruby enjoyed watching the bowling match that was taking place in the park.

Meanwhile the rest of the family were tucking into a picnic!

Pateley was in all its floral glory. This flower bedecked light was on the bridge over the River Nidd.

This was a view at the bottom of the village from the River Nidd Bridge.

It then began to spot with rain, (which had been forecast) so we moved on. We had not planned to go anywhere else, but we had promised the grandchildren that we would take them out for a meal, and as it was only about an hour and a half after we had eaten, we decided to drive up to.........guess where.........

Masham!

Dot and I had stayed there the week before for a couple of days, and enjoy this part of the world, so it was a good excuse to revisit it! We ended up at the Smiths Arms in Beckwithshaw with the grandchildren.