The plan for today was to go up to Jedburgh, Scotland, to visit the Mary Queen of Scots museum (mostly just to say we've been to Scotland) and then come back into England and over to the coast to see Alnwick Castle, which was used for the exterior of Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter movies. On the way back home, we were going to stop by Heddon-On-The-Wall and see Hadrian's Wall. (actually, the original plan had been to go to Edinburgh, but once I saw that Alnwik was within an easy drive, that became the new plan)
We left the hotel in the still pouring rain and headed north. We hit traffic. Bad traffic. Crawling along traffic. Stop and go traffic. It looked like it went on for a long time. After a while of crawling and stopping, we decided we had better not go to Scotland, or we wouldn't have enough time to have fun at Alnwick. Then, we stopped for a long time. I turned off the car. Every once in a while, we would move, like people were going in spurts. We turned on the radio to see what was going on, and it turns out the freeway was closed because of the rain. So, we changed plans again. There's really no practical way to get up there without the freeway, and all the ways go past Newcastle, which we had just learned on the news was flooded to the point where people were moving furniture and valuables upstairs if they could.
So, another change of plans. We would do today what we had planned for tomorrow - the James Harriot Museum and Ripley Castle, both of which were pretty close to Harrogate, and the opposite way from Newcastle. (the freeway south was free and clear) But, we were still stuck. The GPS showed an exit right behind us, but none ahead for a really long time. She kept telling me to turn around in the places for emergency vehicles, but as nobody else was doing it, I figured it was probably illegal. We did eventually find a legitimate turn around spot, and we took it.
After that, it was only a little while to Thirsk, where the James Harriot Museum is. The GPS wasn't sure exactly where it was, but I figured there would be signs. I hadn't found the exact address yet, because I didn't think we'd be going today. Winging it worked fine, though, because there were indeed signs. Em saw it first, but I had no idea where to park. Luckily, there was a spot right out in front. But, it was parallel parking. Crap. I didn't know where else to go, though, so I gave it a try. I was successful! I felt quite triumphant.
So, you may know James Harriot as the author of such books as "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "All Creatures Great and Small." I had read some of his books as a kid and enjoyed them, and when Em showed interest in being a vet, we started reading them together. This was what she really wanted to do in England. His real name is Alf Wight, but he couldn't write under his real name, because that would have been considered advertising, and that was illegal.
The museum is in his home, which was also his veterinary surgery (surgery just means his vet office, though he did perform some surgeries there). The rooms were done up as they would have been when he lived there. There were also a couple of mannequins done up to make it look more lifelike.
This is the dining room, which also served as his office and waiting room.
The dispensary, where he would have made the drugs to treat the animals.
Until the 1950's, almost all of his vet work was with large animals on farms, but when small animals started being part of the practice, this is where he would see them and perform operations on them.
The breakfast room, though he would also perform operations on the breakfast table
A nice, large kitchen
And out back, a barn area, where large animals would have been kept in the winter
It was, indeed, quite stormy and rainy.
We also saw some of his books and original manuscripts
The next bit was about the BBC TV show back in the 70's. We had never seen it, though, so it wasn't all that thrilling. If you have seen it, you may recognize this
Next was a kid section, with lots of activities. We just scanned most of them, but some were funny.
The museum contains the only veterinary museum in all of England (I think that's what it said), and that part was next. Some of the devices they used (and maybe still use?) were pretty nasty looking.
We did some shopping in the gift shop, and then we were off to Ripley Castle. On the way, we passed some Gypsies on the side of the road, complete with caravans and palm reading. Awesome.
We also saw this very flooded river. It was going across the road and making a lake out of the carpark on the other side.
We arrived at Ripley no problem. There's a big carpark, and it's free.Woo! Anyway, we parked and sloshed our way to the village. The castle is much older than the village, because in the 1800s, the owner of the castle (and therefore the town) decided, after a trip to France, that the village would look better French. So, he tore the whole thing down and rebuilt it in an Alsatian style. Nice, huh?
I had promised Em ice cream at some point, and as there is a little ice cream shop in Ripley, our first stop was ice cream. I got a shortbread cookie instead. The ice cream shop/general store also had some snack lunch items, but we decided to visit the castle first, and then come back for lunch.
We headed to the castle and bought our tickets. They were timed, and we had almost an hour, so we thought we'd better get lunch after all. We went and bought some pasties, but the problem was that there was nowhere to eat them. The little shop doesn't have a seating area, and it was pouring still. We took shelter in the doorway of the chapel. I guess they've had trouble with theft, though (or maybe church theft is a problem in the area?) because they're protected by SmartWater. SmartWater is pretty cool (I just looked it up). There are a few different kinds. They're all fluids with stuff mixed in. One kind that you put on your stuff so if your stuff is found elsewhere, it can be traced to you. Another is sprayed on an intruder when they set off an alarm, and it can't be washed off. So, they can be tied to your crime scene. Pretty neato.
Then it was almost time for our castle tour, so we went to hang out in the shop, where it was warmer. We found a couple of purse-sized umbrellas for only £4.99 each, so score one for us. The rain jackets had been great for the occasional sprinkles and short bursts of rain we got in Ireland, but they weren't cutting it for the Biblical deluge we were in now.
This sign was in the bathroom. Lady gardener. Hmm.
I thought this bookmark pretty much summed up our Miss Em.
It was another "no-picture" place, and we were again too closely monitored to sneak any in. Actually, the castle itself isn't spectacular, but the tour guide was. She had so many stories to tell, and seemed so interested in the history of the castle that she really brought it alive. The tour was an hour and 15 minutes, but when we left, Em (who is pretty tired of castle tours) said it was really great and only felt like half an hour.
There are some walks that look quite lovely around the castle grounds and the village, but it was just too soggy to be fun. We only have one pair of shoes each on this trip, and the thought of spending very much time with wet feet doesn't sound nice. So, we walked around the castle itself for a few minutes.
We went into the chapel next
One of the stories of the castle is that King Edward III was hunting boar in the castle's park when he fell off his horse and was about to be attacked by the boar he was hunting. Thomas Ingilby, the owner of the castle, swooped in and saved the king from being killed. Edward knighted him on the spot and authorized him to use the boar in his coat of arms. So, from that day on, the place has been filled with representations of wild boars.
My camera had been fogging up all day from the changes in temperature and humidity (so had my glasses), but I think this picture actually looks pretty neat with the fogginess.
We watched the news tonight, and it turns out that the part of the A1 (the freeway north) that we were stuck on later turned into a lake of it's own. A 30-mile stretch of the A1 was closed due to flooding, including where we had been. 100 cars' worth of people had to be rescued.I'm kind of glad we didn't make it up north, because we probably wouldn't have been able to get back!
Emma says - I am so glad that I had a book with me, because we got to read it together in the car. I know that it's kind of mean, but I'm kind of glad we couldn't go up to Scotland, because we got to go to the James Harriot museum, and it was really, really fun, and I'm really, really glad we got to go. If any of you know how much I love veterinary things and animals, then you will know how amazingly awesome that was for me. Ripley was really fun. It was a lot more alive than other castles we've been to. It was stories instead of facts. My ice cream was really, really good.
We left the hotel in the still pouring rain and headed north. We hit traffic. Bad traffic. Crawling along traffic. Stop and go traffic. It looked like it went on for a long time. After a while of crawling and stopping, we decided we had better not go to Scotland, or we wouldn't have enough time to have fun at Alnwick. Then, we stopped for a long time. I turned off the car. Every once in a while, we would move, like people were going in spurts. We turned on the radio to see what was going on, and it turns out the freeway was closed because of the rain. So, we changed plans again. There's really no practical way to get up there without the freeway, and all the ways go past Newcastle, which we had just learned on the news was flooded to the point where people were moving furniture and valuables upstairs if they could.
So, another change of plans. We would do today what we had planned for tomorrow - the James Harriot Museum and Ripley Castle, both of which were pretty close to Harrogate, and the opposite way from Newcastle. (the freeway south was free and clear) But, we were still stuck. The GPS showed an exit right behind us, but none ahead for a really long time. She kept telling me to turn around in the places for emergency vehicles, but as nobody else was doing it, I figured it was probably illegal. We did eventually find a legitimate turn around spot, and we took it.
After that, it was only a little while to Thirsk, where the James Harriot Museum is. The GPS wasn't sure exactly where it was, but I figured there would be signs. I hadn't found the exact address yet, because I didn't think we'd be going today. Winging it worked fine, though, because there were indeed signs. Em saw it first, but I had no idea where to park. Luckily, there was a spot right out in front. But, it was parallel parking. Crap. I didn't know where else to go, though, so I gave it a try. I was successful! I felt quite triumphant.
So, you may know James Harriot as the author of such books as "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "All Creatures Great and Small." I had read some of his books as a kid and enjoyed them, and when Em showed interest in being a vet, we started reading them together. This was what she really wanted to do in England. His real name is Alf Wight, but he couldn't write under his real name, because that would have been considered advertising, and that was illegal.
The museum is in his home, which was also his veterinary surgery (surgery just means his vet office, though he did perform some surgeries there). The rooms were done up as they would have been when he lived there. There were also a couple of mannequins done up to make it look more lifelike.
This is the dining room, which also served as his office and waiting room.
The dispensary, where he would have made the drugs to treat the animals.
Until the 1950's, almost all of his vet work was with large animals on farms, but when small animals started being part of the practice, this is where he would see them and perform operations on them.
The breakfast room, though he would also perform operations on the breakfast table
A nice, large kitchen
And out back, a barn area, where large animals would have been kept in the winter
It was, indeed, quite stormy and rainy.
We also saw some of his books and original manuscripts
The next bit was about the BBC TV show back in the 70's. We had never seen it, though, so it wasn't all that thrilling. If you have seen it, you may recognize this
Next was a kid section, with lots of activities. We just scanned most of them, but some were funny.
 |
| Rheumatism treatment for horses |
 |
| Cuts of pork game |
 |
| Reasonably priced |
The museum contains the only veterinary museum in all of England (I think that's what it said), and that part was next. Some of the devices they used (and maybe still use?) were pretty nasty looking.
 |
| See the gigantic speculum up top? *shudder* |
 |
| Obstetric tools. You can see from my reflection in the glass how big they are |
We did some shopping in the gift shop, and then we were off to Ripley Castle. On the way, we passed some Gypsies on the side of the road, complete with caravans and palm reading. Awesome.
We also saw this very flooded river. It was going across the road and making a lake out of the carpark on the other side.
We arrived at Ripley no problem. There's a big carpark, and it's free.Woo! Anyway, we parked and sloshed our way to the village. The castle is much older than the village, because in the 1800s, the owner of the castle (and therefore the town) decided, after a trip to France, that the village would look better French. So, he tore the whole thing down and rebuilt it in an Alsatian style. Nice, huh?
I had promised Em ice cream at some point, and as there is a little ice cream shop in Ripley, our first stop was ice cream. I got a shortbread cookie instead. The ice cream shop/general store also had some snack lunch items, but we decided to visit the castle first, and then come back for lunch.
We headed to the castle and bought our tickets. They were timed, and we had almost an hour, so we thought we'd better get lunch after all. We went and bought some pasties, but the problem was that there was nowhere to eat them. The little shop doesn't have a seating area, and it was pouring still. We took shelter in the doorway of the chapel. I guess they've had trouble with theft, though (or maybe church theft is a problem in the area?) because they're protected by SmartWater. SmartWater is pretty cool (I just looked it up). There are a few different kinds. They're all fluids with stuff mixed in. One kind that you put on your stuff so if your stuff is found elsewhere, it can be traced to you. Another is sprayed on an intruder when they set off an alarm, and it can't be washed off. So, they can be tied to your crime scene. Pretty neato.
This sign was in the bathroom. Lady gardener. Hmm.
I thought this bookmark pretty much summed up our Miss Em.
It was another "no-picture" place, and we were again too closely monitored to sneak any in. Actually, the castle itself isn't spectacular, but the tour guide was. She had so many stories to tell, and seemed so interested in the history of the castle that she really brought it alive. The tour was an hour and 15 minutes, but when we left, Em (who is pretty tired of castle tours) said it was really great and only felt like half an hour.
There are some walks that look quite lovely around the castle grounds and the village, but it was just too soggy to be fun. We only have one pair of shoes each on this trip, and the thought of spending very much time with wet feet doesn't sound nice. So, we walked around the castle itself for a few minutes.
We went into the chapel next
My camera had been fogging up all day from the changes in temperature and humidity (so had my glasses), but I think this picture actually looks pretty neat with the fogginess.
We watched the news tonight, and it turns out that the part of the A1 (the freeway north) that we were stuck on later turned into a lake of it's own. A 30-mile stretch of the A1 was closed due to flooding, including where we had been. 100 cars' worth of people had to be rescued.I'm kind of glad we didn't make it up north, because we probably wouldn't have been able to get back!
Emma says - I am so glad that I had a book with me, because we got to read it together in the car. I know that it's kind of mean, but I'm kind of glad we couldn't go up to Scotland, because we got to go to the James Harriot museum, and it was really, really fun, and I'm really, really glad we got to go. If any of you know how much I love veterinary things and animals, then you will know how amazingly awesome that was for me. Ripley was really fun. It was a lot more alive than other castles we've been to. It was stories instead of facts. My ice cream was really, really good.
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