Not long back from a visit to Sunderland to see son and daughter-in-law, punctuated either side of the weekend with a stay in Yorkshire on the way up and Rutland on the way back down. Lovely trip, very well looked after and we got lucky with the weather as well.
Spent two nights at the Wentbridge House Hotel on the way up. Just off the A1 (and I mean just off the A1!) in, unsurprisingly, Wentbridge – very pleasant, excellent restaurant etc. On the second night (a Thursday) went to the local pub for a meal and had to wait an hour for a table; surprising, but great to see a village pub so busy midweek in these challenging times. So many seem to be closing but this one appears to be thriving. Definitely deserved the pint and Yorkshire pud after the hike (ok, ramble) to the next village during the day. Also called in to the National Trust property the Nostell Priory, which was worth the slight detour, if a little pricey. Not a priory at all (but built on the site of a medieval priory), it is in fact an 18th century house built by James Paine and revamped by Robert Adam for the Winn family. Clearly not paupers, as the interiors include a collection of Chippendale furniture made specially for Nostell and paintings by Brueghel, Hogarth and Kauffmann.
In Sunderland, visited the local icon the Penshaw monument via a leisurely ‘pub ramble’. Recently taken over by the National Trust, you can now climb to the top of the monument and take in views of around forty miles or so on a reasonably clear day (which it was). Went to Durham and managed to squeeze into the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition – well worth a visit if you are in the area.
On the way back down the A1 stopped off to visit the English Heritage Conisbrough Castle and its well preserved 12th century castle keep. The restored floors and roof mean you can now access the top of the building and get terrific views of the surrounding area. Apparently, the site is about to undergo a revamp, which it does need; the facilities don’t really match the grandeur and importance of the site.
Spent two nights on Rutland Water at the Barnsdale Lodge, which was excellent and good value. Managed a walk around the Water (and, it has to be said, quite a bit of road as well, poor choice) to Hambleton village, which was lovely and had the benefit of a pub with much needed refreshment in the shape of award winning ales. Also had a lovely Norman church and some fine period buildings.
On the way home called into the English Heritage property, Lyddington Bede House, which is a Grade I listed building and was part of a former palace of the Bishops of Lincoln. By 1600 it had passed to Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, son of Lord Burghley, who converted it into an almshouse for twelve poor bedesmen (and two women) – it continued to be used until 1930. Although you had to be in stricken circumstances to be housed here (as well as free from lunacy, leprosy and the French pox!), I suspect a great many working people who didn’t end up as bedesmen lived in far worse conditions than those highlighted here. Lyddington is also a very pretty village in its own right.
We then had to make good time back to sunny Suffolk as ‘someone’ had to be back for a “girls night out”. Discriminatory? Should I complain?