Day 16 - Tuesday 17th July

We had lots of activities to fit into today. We were going to Ripon, Brimham Rocks, Druids Temple and a Comedy Club in Harrogate.

As we were not meeting Linda until 1pm we had time to go into Ripon for a look around and visit the Cathedral. In the Cathedral we both brought some lovely painting cards that were brought out in a series for Yorkshire travel. They are just the right size to mount 3 in a frame. The pics say it all for the Cathedral. I paid 3 pound for the priviledge of taking the photos but they were well worth it and they need all the dosh they can get to maintain a Cathedral like this.

It was tight but we came back to Masham to make our lunch and then to Grewellthorpe to meet Linda. Linda and Mac (dog) hopped in the car and we were off to Brimham Rocks. This was an old stamping ground of Linda's and she said how she often used to just come up here. It is a place of great serenity. Linda told the story about how Mandy had to be rescued after climbing down the Rocks near Lovers Leap and got stuck. Again the pics speak all - a place with outstanding views.

After Brinham Rocks we headed for the Druids Temple. I think if you were a tourist with no local knowledge you would be flatout finding this place. I am so glad we managed to have time to see this. It is like a miniture Stonehenge with all the stones in a circle. I hope my photos have done justice in capturing this. When we walked on further we came to a spot which overlooked a reseviour. This is one of the photos I put in the banner panel.

I limped everywhere this afternoon as my knee was giving me gip but it was well worth it!! We had to move fast to get home, shower, change, dinner at pub and then into Harrogate for the Comedy Club.

We made it! The Standup Comedy was at the George Hotel. The first fellow was not too bad. He asked if there were any Australians in the audience and I made the mistake of identifying myself. He waxed lyrical about how I pronounced my name, how we eat kangaroos and call bedlinen, towels etc Manchester. He was quite funny. The seoncd one had a couple of good bits but he was sending me to sleep and then for the last 15 minutes it almost turned into a woe is me rather than a comedy.

All in all we had a good night with Mandy, Graham, James and Amy. James and Amy are such lovely young people (not saying that Mandy and Graham are not lovely older people!). Ha!! They are a lovely family.

Wen drove home which took about 40 or so minutes at night on narrow roads. Bravo Wen. Talk about narrow roads, I forgot to add - in our travels today we met a huge tractor with some sort of harvester thing on the back. He went up the bank to try to give us room. We squeezed past with a coat of paint to spare. Wen caught the look on the tractor drivers face and he was thoroughly enjoying himself. We came to the conclusion that anyone driving a volvo who gets in a spot of bother becomes a source of great amusement.

Tomorrow is a rest day and we are going to take Linda for dinner tomorrow night. We are also going to cook dins tomorrow for the next night when Linda and Mum are coming for dins after visiting the Salt Mine at Bradfield.

Click on the images below for larger images.

Mandy's garden	Mandy's garden	Skipton
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