13th August–Skipwith Station

 

http://www.skipwithstation.com/

This is where we have spent the last 4 days – it was an awesome place to stay. There are 2 other carriages converted as self catering holiday homes, chickens roam around and butterflies sunbath in the adjacent corn fields. York is only 20 minutes away and Selby is even closer in the opposite direction. Obviously, we didn’t just drive there and then sit around admiring the jacuzzi in our bathroom, we drove off the beaten track and visited an astounding number of historic sites and places of outstanding natural beauty. As is our, habit fridge magnets were collected along the route, Geoff was disappointed at some of the spots as they didn’t have any shops but even so Ivy’s fridge is almost covered now!  If we were stopping a couple more weeks it would be full.

12th August–Waltham Abbey

 

We actually went looking for 2 sites after church and before our roast dinner. The first, Hill House, is a private property that only opens on a Wednesday afternoon, so we were out of luck there (it had looked really good in the book)! Geoff managed a nice drive down some splendid country lanes with lots of missed turns so we headed back to the M25 and back towards Ivy’s. Waltham Abbey was easier to find but when we got there it was actually part of a park. The English heritage part was minimal, just a bridge and the gate. The gate was positioned next to a stream and bridge and Geoff spent some time throwing stones at a fish that just didn’t move.  Waltham cathedral is still in use so we wandered round there as well, another splendid ceiling. Also in the grounds was a mosaic where the meridian line passes through the grounds.

11th August Knebworth Show

 

Another country show! This one was a lot closer than the show at Bedford, only 8 miles from Hatfield, just up the A1. No one else had the energy to join us so just Geoff, Maddy and myself went for the 11am start. As we walked in we came across a parrot show with rescued birds, From here we could see the main arena, beagles, ferrets, craft stalls, all the usual things and then there was the knights corner! Not jousting this time just sword play and hitting each other very hard.  Oh and archery . . . .

		The Show VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Then we headed to Knebworth hall gardens as they were included in the entrance fee, a maze, a dinosaur park, rose garden, walled garden, herb garden and for an extra £2.50 you could tour the hall, which has been used in films such as Harry Potter and St. Trinians (the David Tennant version). Maddy waited outside – bored already.

		The House VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

9th August–Warner Brothers Studio Tour

So exciting – the Harry Potter Studios in Leavesden have recently been opened to the public (at great expense to me) so you can view some of the sets and costumes used in the 8 movies. Be warned the shop is expensive, metal wands are £25, a house robe £74.95 and the studio tour guide is £9.95, so prices are not for the faint hearted. However it was an amazing couple of hours, with stage lighting either enhancing or ruining my pictures. I hadn’t taken a tripod with me and sometimes a flash isn’t enough, I expect people with phones get great pictures as they compensate for everything!

We set off at 4pm, although it is about 20 miles from Hatfield our ticket time was for 6pm which cut across rush hour, which we were not particularly keen in getting caught up in. In the end we got there in 40 mins and adjourned to the cafe for a drink while we waited. Maddison is under 16 still so as a child was able to have a children’s passport with stamps to collect and snitches to spot.

People are let in in groups so they fit in the cinema then after that you get to wander. Enough typing

		Harry Potter VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

the pictures say it all . . . . .