We awoke early this morning, 4:30 local time, as is normal during the first few days of a major time change from west to east. No magical reappearance of Mark’s luggage overnight. We descended the stone steps from the second floor of the 1740 remodeled mill house that is our home for the next week, to the lovely dining room which overlooks the rushing river Bain. The Low Mill Guest House proprietors prepared a wonderful full English breakfast for us, juice, scrambled or poached eggs, English bacon, sausage, baked beans, grilled tomato, blood sausage and grilled mushrooms. With some brown toast and freshly made marmalade, we were able to polish most of the food off, accompanied by tea and coffee. This will easily last us until evening.
Following this huge meal, rather than walk it off, we boarded our vehicle and set out to secure Mark some usable clothing. We stopped first in the town of Leyburn and bought some new socks and a walking staff from the local outfitter. Next over to our provisioner, Campbell’s of Leyburn, to lay in a supply of wine and bottled sparkling water. After a quick walkthrough of our favorite home furnishings store and a stop at a cash point for some local currency, we next travelled further east to Richmond and the local Tesco Superstore. We purchased some underwear boxers, tee shirts and a fleece sweater and flannel shirt to round out the new wardrobe.
Next, we pointed the vehicle back to the west and headed to Hawes for a walk through. Mark discovered the last essential piece of wardrobe, a set of braces embellished with pictures of the local cow breed. We stopped at a local pub to make a reservation for our evening meal. We returned to base in Bainbridge and transferred our purchases to our room and settled in for a few hours rest up and a glass of wine before setting out again for Hawes and our evening meal at the White Hart Inn.
The meal included a glass of Theakston Ale, a glass of Shiraz with a starter of Halloumi bites (fried Wensleydale cheese cubes) accompanied by sweet chili jam. For mains, Deb enjoyed lamb “Henry”, braised lamb shank with sage mashed potatoes, kale and a minted lamb sauce. Mark dined on chicken breast wrapped in Parma ham, accompanied by pommes fondant, leeks, bacon and a delicious wild mushroom gravy. Totally sated, we traveled back in the dark to our rooms in Bainbridge. Again still suffering from the time change, we were in bed around 9:00, exhausted but happy with our day.
Tuesday morning brought a light rain, but again the marvelous breakfast. We tempered a bit by eschewing the tomato and the blood sausage. Next we spent an hour or so in the lounge, reading the morning Omaha World Herald and New York Times. No errant bag on offer, we then set out for an afternoon’s drive. We directed the Nissan southward towards Malham and Ribbledale. We traveled through some amazing scenery on some increasingly narrow roads. At one point we were headed towards Stainforth Force (Force being a corruption of a Norwegian word for water fall) and drove down a path that Google Maps claimed was a passable bridge. We drove over a bridge that allowed only 3” inches of clearance on either side of the vehicle, miraculously (Mark claims expertly) avoiding any scratches to the car. We parked to enjoy the view. On meeting a pair of women walking, they told us no one drives the bridge - too narrow. Luckily fools and tourists are protected from folly! Although it was too muddy for us with no Wellies on hand, we were able to see the salmon climbing the falls on the way to their spawning pools upstream. This was well worth the drive. We continued along the track, which quickly widened to a country road status.
Next on to the village of Malham, the setting for some scenes in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” We stopped at the National Park visitor’s center for a bathroom break and a box of ginger snaps for sustenance. We continued onward in some of the most scenic areas we have yet encountered in the Yorkshire Dales. We returned to Bainbridge at 5:15; just enough time to pause for another bathroom break before heading out for our evening meal. We booked this evening at a recommended restaurant the Wensleydale Heifer in West Witton. This is an AA rated Seafood Pub of the year. Deb dined on their Fish & Chips, a generous portion piece of Whitby Haddock, accompanied by great chips, a curry gravy sauce and minted mushy peas., Mark enjoyed a pan roasted Stone Bass fillet, accompanied by a shellfish risotto. The food was excellent, the wine and ale very drinkable, and the cheese board of local cheeses as a dessert really topped the day off. We returned to our rooms, tired but well sated and travelled. We finally received a notice that tracked Mark’s bag. United Airlines had sent it from Newark to Amsterdam. No further information at this point. Time will tell.
