Last night (Monday) my cold was at it’s worst so I popped two NyQuil tablets and that was a big mistake when it came to today. It knocked me out and that meant we didn’t get out the door this morning (Tuesday) until well past 10:00. But that was OK because Paul and Gail had planned today as a local day where we could see the local sites and architecture of Leeds which is amazing. I am going to let the photos speak for themselves. They don’t even really need captions. We had a nice lunch in a kind of a food court (where Gail recommended an outstanding Vietnamese salad) and headed home so that I could take a nap and try and kill this stupid cold.
After a little rest we set out tonight to go back to Harrogate for a lovely Italian dinner and then we stopped at the Bingley Arms, Great Britain’s oldest inn. Now I have to say that this is a pretty broad claim to fame but they have historical proof that this inn was founded in that same building in the year 970. That means this inn dates back more than 1000 years. Amazing. Think about what Washington State (or any other state) was like 970. A few native tribes and that was it (probably a lot better off than it is now). We were very lucky to come in on a Tuesday night when there was a very light crowd of regulars who were happy to tell us all about the Bingley and her history. The manager of the inn even took a few minutes to give us a quick tour and show us things like the “Priest Holes” which were holes carved into the inside of the fireplace in the main inn where Catholic priests could hide to evade capture and execution after Henry the Eighth founded the Anglican Church and ordered all priests to leave England or die. I even got to go in the basement to see the start of the tunnel that leads under the road outside to the church across the highway.
Stay tuned tomorrow. Not sure if I will be able to post on Wednesday as we are headed to Wensleydale and the Lakes district and will be overnighting at the Wensleydale Heifer. Not sure if I will be able to post. May have to wait until Thursday.
That was about it for yesterday. As I said, a very easy day.
What is history? An echo of the past in the future; a reflex from the future on the past. —Victor Hugo
Love the ceilings in Leeds…
Great photos again. Mike must be drooling
Bob, I drooled when I saw lovely Leeds 3 years ago. Jim’s pics are just reminding me of its beauty.