If you want a real experience then Betty’s is a must. Very easy access from Leeds especially for Olympics visitors. Queues can be long. If too long take a 2 minute walk down the hill to the side to Catwalk Cafe. Home made cakes etc and prices are reasonable. However, my favourite is 2 miles out of town. My personal faviourite is Limetree Cafe at Moorland Nurseries, Forest Moor Road, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire HG5 8JY. There, I think, all the food is home made and the cakes and scones of the best! Just look at this scone I bought today (27 May) and the cabinet full of fantastic food! Hot meals available too.
After that you will see coffee shops in abundance in Harrogate, so you can try a different one every day.
Did you know we have two Betty’s? One in the town centre (picture below) and the other is at Harlow Carr RHS gardens. I will post a new blog on Harlow Carr soon.
Yes they really have to swim that deep river and hopefully the bed will float.
Bed Race 2011 on PhotoPeach
This is a link to larger images of the slide show above. I think I took a picture of 87 of the 90 beds. Sorry if I missed you but at times it was a bit crowded. http://photopeach.com/album/uo4ghl
Below is a report of the 2010 race. Yes it is really a BED Race!! Something strange about us English. But it is all about raising money for Charity. Over the years it has grown and is now a really big event. The Knarsborough Lions are hoping to raise over £80,000 in 2010. Here are photographs from 2009 (2010 ones are in a separate post in this blog).
Decorated beds arrive 10am – 11am in the Castle grounds. 11.00 am entertainment starts in the Conyngham Field (Fete and food). 1.00 pm Procession of beds in Conyngham Hall. 2.45 welcome ceremony. 3.00pm Knaresborough Bed Race starts and finishes at 3.45pm. Yes it is true as part of the race they have to somehow cross the river!!! Not a stream, a proper deep river! They must be mad (my personal view as author of this Harrogate Blog!).
People do come from all over the world to see this, so please expect it to be very busy. Some some roads are closed to allow the race to take part on them. If you want a place to see the river crossing, you will need to be there very early or very lucky. Enjoy the day. NB I will add ‘live’ pictures via my iPhone to a new blog. So do feel free to log on Saturday afternoon to view them.
There are road closures on the day as it is a large event and the race does take place on some normally used roads (full details at the end of this Blog). These take place from 12.30 pm to 5.00 pm
STOP PRESS Friday 11th June – I have just been for a walk along the river and there was Aled Jones being filmed by the BBC interviewing a bed race team. I think it is for a Songs of Praise.
Details of road closures: The following roads will be closed from 12.30pm to 5pm
* High Street (Buses will be allowed to/from the Bus Station via Gracious Street junction only)
* Bond End/Low Bond End (Note: After the Parade has passed at about 2pm, eastbound traffic from the Ripley direction will be allowed through from High Bond End onto Boroughbridge Road only).
* Part of Harrogate Road and High Bridge
* Part of Boroughbridge Road (from Bond End to Stockwell Road Junction)
* Cheapside
* Castlegate
* Brewerton Street (north from the junction with Wellington Street to Cheapside)
* Market Place
* Silver Street
* Fisher Street
* Waterside (From Castle Mills to High Bridge)
(Note: These streets can, if required, be re-opened after the Race has finished at about 4.30pm)
The Stray Fair is now open and looking busy on my way home from work today (25th August till 4th Sept 2011) ready for August Bank Holiday weekend. It will be open daily from 2 pm – 11 pm (Sunday 2 pm – 9 pm). All rides £1. The photos below are from the Stray Fair 2010.
I spoke to the owner of the big Ghost Train who gave me permission to come inside and take photos of the Stray Fair before it opened in June. VideoVideo
I could not photo everything, so I hope this gives you a good idea of what is there. jm
My street is now a ‘No Cold Calling Zone’. If you hate answering to door to sales people or are worried about distraction burglaries (someone talks to you at the door while someone else enters your house around the back) then why not set one up for your street?
You need to contact the police who will give you the the information needed. You then need to contact your neighbours to make sure there is no one who objects. If there is an objection, you can just make the zone smaller to exclude them. The police will then send off the form to Trading Standards, who then carry out their own survey to ensure everyone agrees, then it is set up.
It is then illegal for cold callers and the police will take action against them and move them on.
Just a short drive from Harrogate, Brimham Rocks is so unusual. It is great place to visit for people of all ages and is most visited page on my Harrogate Blog.
Children love to run and explore rocks at Brimham Rocks that seem to defy gravity and many ask to be climbed. But the shapes are so interesting and it is a great location just to walk around. The rocks are scattered over about 50 acres of moor and some other shapes are like elephants, hippos, bears & and mushrooms.
I am posting just one picture of the many different unusual rock formations. All the rock formations are natural and made by nature. No trick photography, honest!
Owned by the National Trust, the location is free to visit. The only charge is for car parking (free for members).
Harrogate is an ideal UK holiday destination. As a Spar town it has historic buildings, specialist shops, just for ladies to buy exclusive clothes, with a touch of class from a romantic image of towns from our past.
Top Shop with Top Man and Miss Selfridge has opened a now shop in Harrogate on 25th November. It is opposite the new Primark shop that opened a week before. I took a look in on its opening day and it was very busy. There is a 1st floor sales area as large and the ground floor.
Primark has now opened a great new store in central Harrogate. I had a quick look around on its opening day and I was very impressed. Primark has been refitted to a very high standard and looks most impressive. I think it is a huge success and very good for Harrogate.
Great to see the town centre so busy and virtually all shops are occupied. We have so many different shops too and the centre attracts all ages as well as both sexes.
Some months later to my review above I must say what a great success this now Primark store has been. It is very central so easy to find. All over Harrogate you can see people walking around with their distinctive paper bags.
Harrogate is not a large shopping centre, but well worth a visit. There are so many unusual shops so quite different to other shopping centres where you see the same shops and the same goods for sale. So do look around in other shops too and find something different too.
I am now semi-retired but my company is the leading designer / supplier of specialist Audio Visual Furniture. We are based in Yorkshire and all our AV Furniture is made in Yorkshire. Please click the link to go to our main trade website.
Jenson Button opened the new Victus Restaurant in Beulah Street on Monday 5th September. The Mayor of Harrogate was also there.
A notice in the window today (Sunday 4th Sept) says it will open on Tuesday 6th @ 7.00 am. So I guess the official opening is for publicity.
Over the past few months I have been watching its conversion from a Sports Shop to this new great restaurant. They have had some soft openings, which I missed. They have some reviews on their website.
Jenson Button is an investor in the restaurant so he may even come again sometime. I will try and keep you informed.
The new restaurant will be open for breakfast through to evening meals and to quote Victus themselves:
We want our food to be healthy (sometimes naughty), very tasty and delivered to you quickly and conveniently. Whether you need to pick something up and dash back to work or whether you can spend a bit more time to relax and enjoy our dishes, Victus aims to suit your needs. We prepare fast food in terms of its promptness but Victus cooking is from the heart!
We are seriously passionate about food and want to share great cooking with you.
I hope to have a meal there soon and let you know what it is like. If any readers would like me to comment on any other matters, please let me know by leaving a comment. I will do my best to help you.
Jenson arriving early at 11.30 to open the restaurant at 12.00. I could have had a photograph taken with him if I had someone to take a picture for me! Not many there at that time and I was right at the front.
