July 2011
Cherry Tree Cottage Campsite (CCC certificated site)
Millfield Lane
Nether Poppleton
York YO26 6NX
www.cherrytreecottagecs.co.uk
cherrytreecottagecs@sky.com
01904 784306
0771 775 4648
This is a great little site but you need to have your own sanitation etc. There are hens running about in a large enclosure. Eggs and fresh seasonal veg from the garden for sale in the information shed, which also houses recycling bins. Lots of useful little touches like a rotary washing line with pegs, games and books for children to borrow and a book exchange in the shed. Very friendly owners, Martin and Karen Reynolds. It’s a popular site so advance booking advisable.
Cycle tracks in abundance, including one right into the centre of York. Bus into York from just outside the site. Train to Harrogate from the nearby station. Pubs in the nearby village. All you need if you fancy a city break and no need to use the car if you don’t want to.
Tuesday 26th July
Went to York after lunch and walked around all day. I’d forgotten what a great place it is. Climbed up to Clifford’s Tower (joining English Heritage has been good value for money), then had a cup of tea by the river and a drink in a pub while we waited for the bus back.
Wednesday 27th July
Spent the whole afternoon at the Railway Museum. Free to go in but they ask for a donation. Lots to see and well worth a visit. We even had lunch there and it wasn’t at all bad. (Avoid the caff, which is expensive – there’s a proper restaurant where you can get a decent meal at reasonable cost.)
Friday 29th July
Harrogate. Refined and pleasant but I found rather bland. It’s all a bit too uniform and tidy for my taste.
Saturday July 30th
Kim wanted to use the free wi fi in Macdonalds so I reluctantly agreed to venture inside. I’ve only been into one of these monuments to junk food once in my life and that was quite sufficient. I can’t be doing with drinking out of a throwaway cup and, I have to say, my hot chocolate was not that good. As for the food – well, my dears, I would no more eat a burger in soggy white bread than fly to the moon, but they seemed to be very popular. I spent a most entertaining hour witnessing the fattest young people and the worst table manners I’ve ever encountered in such concentration. Never again. (And the toilets were disgusting.)
Sunday July 30th
At Acomb, a suburb of York, there’s a cold war bunker. (English Heritage.) Fascinating if you don’t mind being underground for an hour on the guided tour.
Monday August 1st
Walked around the city walls in York. About two miles but it felt longer to me. We found a Go Outdoors (great shop but they’re few and far between) and bought a few bits and bobs for Dorothy, some walking trousers, and I went mad and spent far too much on a good pair of walking shoes. Why is it easier to spend silly money when you’re away from home?
