Skipton ….. acclimating and getting over our jet lag

September 3, 2017

We wake up (incredibly late at 9:30) to a decent day for these parts a bit gloomy, but no rain ….today is our day to get over the jetlag (quickly) and get our heads into the game, as tomorrow is Day 1, of our Lady Anne Walk…breakfast here is as advertised: copious, tasty and seriously filling!!

Annie (i.e. my Annie) has always wanted to do a walk in the UK and here we are ready (more or less) to walk the Lady Anne Way.

We are following in the footsteps of this indomitable woman, whose life and work still influence the Yorkshire Dales and the Eden Valley, 400 years after her birth.

Lady Anne Clifford was the last in the line of that great family, the Cliffords who owned vast estates extending from Skipton in Craven, to Brougham in Westmorland. Much of the land included wild and rugged country at the head of Wharfedale and Wensleydale, including the Mallerstang Valley in the Vale of Eden.

This inheritance was denied her in favour of her uncle and his son. She and her mother assembled legal and genealogical documents, and, like a bulldog in kid gloves, Lady Anne pursued her inheritance until achieving victory at age 53. At age 60, she was finally able to assume full ownership of her five castles, plus vast stretches of Yorkshire and Westmoreland. She retired to the north of England to restore her property to their grandeur. She lived to be 86 and her neighbours, tenants and grandchildren loved and honoured her in her last months of life. It is on the track from her first castle in Skipton that we hope to follow in her footsteps…

Skipton itself is an attractive market town serving a large rural area, just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park boundary. The town prides itself on being ‘The Gateway to the Dales’. Given the number of inns, cafes and outdoor stores (we counted 4) they have created an industry employing hundreds of locals while maintaining a connection with the past, as well as the existing agricultural base of this area. Its name comes from the Saxon word for sheep – ‘sheep town’. ……and we expect to see evidence of these critters…

In any event, the first order of business is to find the start point for the path we will be following tomorrow….. found it quite easily….signposts; and, a stile > this is how one gets  across fences in pastures and apparently, they come in many shapes and forms, or not at all > thus requiring one to simply climb over the fence…

Next, we take a short look at Skipton Castle which In 1309 passed to the Clifford family and became their main residence for over 300 years.

And, of course,  some final shopping for the walk and wandering around the town. There are riverboats for rent and these have small diesel engines….this one was the cleanest and smoothest running I have ever seen/heard……and, if you need a lunch hamper this store will take care of you:

…of course, we had to visit the wine store…it does seem we are the most heavily taxed province in the world as regards wine & spirits > scored some refreshments and a light meal from M & S Simply Food (Marks & Spencer), as breakfast was ridiculous and we just wanted a chill evening….the selection of ready-made foodstuffs was pretty amazing considering we were in a town of less than 15m souls!!

 

Early evening, pack & prep for tomorrow …our luggage moving service (Sherpa Van) will be here at 08:30 so no time for fooling around in the morning. It was a fun day….and with the wine smoothing the way sleep time came early….