It’s that time of year again, this time for two weeks, returning last Friday – another journey up the A1, this time with a little controversy thrown into the mix. On the way up, we did not overnight at Wentbridge Hotel! To avoid those pesky roadworks we veered away from the Al onto the A57, then onto the M1 to stay at a Premier Inn just off the aforementioned motorway. Superb, as instead of the predicted three and a half hours, it took us only six hours to get there – admittedly with a one hour lunch stop included. Great decision eh. Them’s the breaks!!
Whilst in Sunderland, following a bout of sickness and diarrhoea which I blame conclusively on a pint in the Chesters, we managed to get out and about to the following:-
- A revisit to the Sunderland Museum, which is kind of a tradition for me now, but I’m always amazed by the layout and presentation of the exhibits. Shipbuilding, mining and glassware are all represented, along with a room dedicated to local life through the industrial age. All clearly delineated and well put together. All towns / cities do some things well, some badly. This was a success.
- We finally got to the Turner exhibition at the Laing Gallery in Newcastle. Entitled “Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia“, it featured over twenty Turner works with, as the centrepiece, “The Fighting Temeraire“(1839). The latter masterpiece, which I am convinced I’ve seen before in the Tate Modern, made absolute sense as a focal point for an exhibition that explores the rise of steam power and industry in Britain. This is of particular relevance to the North East, with ship building still very much part of the identity of the region (see museum above). It is I think significant for the North East and its industrial heritage that the two steam tugboats that pulled the Temeraire in reality – the Samson and the London – were manufactured on Tyneside. Wonder whether or not they got to choose this very specific painting to display as it was of course on loan from the National Gallery. Good to see it so well attended, all OAPs were charged a very reasonable fee (one for us oldies) and the Gallery building architecture was also worth a wander around.
- Also made a return visit to the University city of Durham, revisiting the Cathedral to take a look at the (rebuilt) model Lego Cathedral. Interesting to see the ‘dove sculpture’ exhibit in the main building and it was pleasant to revisit the layout and cloisters of the cathedral after such a long time away.
- On the last day, we had intended to walk down to the Glass Centre (another frequent haunt) but on a detour to a pub found that it was part of a wider conversion and an early development of the Riverside transformation. And so it was that we had a wander around Sheepfolds Stables, which housed fine dining, firm favourites and global street food right through to sophisticated cocktails, sweet treats and speciality coffee. Sheepfolds Stables offers an eclectic mix of exceptional food and drink operators. We decided to try a little fine dining and took a punt on Ember, which served up the rich flavours of Asia; stunning small plates, fusion cuisine and mouth-watering a la carte dishes (all influenced by the chefs’ own cultural experiences apparently) are on the menu at Ember. Not so sure about the claimed stunning views directly overlooking the River Wear though – maybe when the rest of the development is complete 🙂 . Anyway, the food was indeed excellent and, having only been open for a few weeks, we hope it proves a success – hopefully, the new bridge across the Wear will ensure sufficient footfall to support the regeneration.
After a last night Trivial Pursuit with the returning cat owners (a narrow loss but it was an away fixture), we set off on the relatively short trip down to Gisborough Hall for a three night stay. Described as on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, not far from the coast, the Hall is a country house hideaway and luxury home-from-home retreat. The Old Hall feature room was very fine indeed, on the first floor with two large feature windows overlooking the grounds at the front of the hotel. Breakfasts were lovely and we had two bistro meals (De Brus Bar & Grill) and one evening meal in the main eatery (Chaloner’s Restaurant)- all top notch. So much so that Mrs. No Name opined that she “would not, not go back again“; high praise indeed.
Whilst there we took a look around Guisborough (yes, it is spelt differently and, no, I didn’t really bottom out the reason), intending to visit the Priory and local Church of St Nicholas, which houses the De Brus Cenotaph. Sadly, both were closed, although we could see most of the priory ruins on the walk into town, as you can discern from the collage. On just a cursory visit, Guisborough appeared to be a typically fine market town, with the dubious (to some) additional benefit of housing a Caffè Nero, which meant a decent coffee at last, something we frequently seem to miss on these breaks away.
We also visited the coastal town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, a seaside town around fifteen minutes drive from the Hall. I guess it would now be described as a relic of a different era, but we enjoyed our day there. A walk along the a Grade II* renovated pier no less and the only pleasure pier on the whole of the North East and Yorkshire coast. Then a brief look at the Saltburn Cliff lift (pedants at this stage would point out that we saw the tramway first – and I am a pedant obviously, so I will point out that as we were on Marine Parade on the cliff top we saw the funicular on the way down to the pier. It is nonetheless one of the world’s oldest water-powered funiculars. After the opening of Saltburn Pier in 1869, it was concluded that the steep cliff walk was deterring people from walking from the town to the pier. Sadly, it was out of action when we were there (although they did appear to be working on it), so we had to get to the pier the old fashioned way. Down close to the pier we came across a ‘crazy golf‘ (am I still allowed to phrase it as such or must I now use the new ‘adventure golf’ moniker. Whichever, we tied the game but Mrs. No Name won a free round on the ‘extra hole’ so we had to play again – I shall refrain from mentioning who won the second. Lovely lunch at ‘Real Meals‘ as a reward for climbing back up from the pier.
After a lovely stay at the Hall, we took the slightly longer trip (A1, M1, A14 for the travel journey nerds) down to Rushton Hall for a final two night stay, which, fortuitously, also encompassed my birthday. We’d been to Rushton Hall before, when we stayed at Peacock Cottage in 2018. Always remembered the hotel and in particular the Great Hall and the building did not disappoint on our return. The room was also perfectly fine and it’s not often I have the opportunity to watch a TV in the bathroom from the comfort of the bath – ironically, or perversely, I preferred the shower! Self service breakfasts were disappointing (both the self service aspect and the food quality, although I suspect the latter was a function of the former. Dinner at the 1593 Brasserie was ok, with desserts probably the highlight of the meal. The Hall is the reason to stay here however – a magnificent Grade I Listed Country House hotel, Rushton Hall is nestled in 25 acres of immaculate grounds and splendid 16th Century surroundings (which we managed to walk around despite the somewhat inclement weather). It had been in the possession of the Catholic Tresham family since the fifteenth century, when William Tresham bought the estate in 1438 and is architecturally splendid to this day. We managed to get keys to the Snooker Room and succeeded in playing a single frame, which I would definitely have been very embarrassed to see featured on TV. Kudos to the professionals! We could have played for longer, but we tacitly agreed to finish whilst behind. We also had a short sojourn (on foot) into Rushton village and noted that despite its size, it managed to support a primary school, a pub opposite the village cricket pitch, a health retreat, bed and breakfast and hotel (though that would be the Hall I suspect, as I saw nothing else). The village is also home to Rushton Triangular Lodge which is in the former grounds of Rushton Hall and which is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of the village. You can read about our previous 2018 visit to the Lodge here
What I would say is that the Rushton staff is a completely different experience to Gisborough. Because they followed each other so closely, it was clear that the friendliness, banter and cheeriness of the first hotel was markedly absent from Rushton, although they were largely unfailingly polite. Horses for courses I guess, but we northerners are just warmer, friendlier people!!! As the quintessential grumpy old man, I’m just the exception that proves the rule. 🙂
Anyway, breakfast on the last morning, then the final leg of the journey home and don’t spare the horses! Another lovely break and happy to report that all three cats are doing fine, although one elder stateswoman is way beyond her one hundredth year (in human years).
Brilliant story telling as usual