Harrogate: a spa town with a great garden.

Harrogate, where to start?
Sitting here in the park, writing reminds me a little bit of what I wish Harrogate was like. It's sunny and warm, but not too warm. There are some nice fluffy clouds and a cool breeze. So all and all it sounds pretty good. I however didn't plan the weekend that I ventured to Harrogate very well.

I forget that I'm a pasty, fair-haired child that burns. I also tend to forget how great (and important) hats and sunscreen are. I am getting better with that. Especially since I got burnt when I was in Harrogate. In my defence however, I wasn't used to the sun being out here and I had yet to purchase a hat or sunscreen since you can't get a sunburn from rain. So now I'm all geared up with my sunglasses, sunscreen(suncream is what they call it here) and my giant hat. I am sitting on a blanket in a park (sort of in the sun when it's not hidden by the chilly clouds -I'm also wearing jeans and a cardigan to keep warm since it's only 18 degrees today) working on my blog and wondering how long before I give up and head back to make a cup of hot tea. It's nice though to go out and relax and sit somewhere green to work on something. I also brought a book incase I feel like reading. I did however leave my knitting at home since I figured it would be unlikely that I work on all three.

And as I ramble about my current activities, you are wondering what exactly does this have to do with how I wish Harrogate was really like. Well let me get a little closer to the point then. Harrogate was much warmer than today. Well into the twenties. It was more sunny and I'd never been there before so I didn't know what exactly to expect.

I'd heard of Harrogate. I heard that it was a spa town. I'd also heard that it was home to the original Betty's Tea Room (yes that's right another tea room that I'm going to go on about), and I had heard that my favourite wool shop had opened up a secondary location in Harrogate. As yes, and one further piece of information, I knew that there was a bus that ran from Leeds to Harrogate that I could take without having to deal with any mess with transferring buses and such. So, with that knowledge, on Sunday morning, feeling not so hot, I went on an adventure.

First part of my adventure involved finding the right stand at the Leeds bus station. I didn't know the bus number, I just knew that it went to Harrogate. Well turns out Harrogate isn't it's final destination so it took me some reading and some guessing to figure out which bus stand I needed. Second bit was finding out that my West Yorkshire bus card wasn't going to get me to Harrogate. I didn't realize that Harrogate is considered North Yorkshire (not all that far away it is) and that therefore I couldn't used my West Yorkshire pass to get there. Instead I had to purchase a ticket. Now that didn't bother me too much. What annoyed me was the rude way that the bus driver informed me. I dislike rude bus drivers. Anyway, I paid the 8 pound 60 pence and was on my way.

Being unsure what Harrogate looks like, how big it is or how many bus stops that there are I got off as i saw a nice green space that I could walk through once I knew (well was pretty sure) that I was in Harrogate. It was a nice little park that I wandered through.

The park that I got off the bus near was right outside the town centre. It was quite large and had lovely trees in it that look like they might be cherry blossoms.

 As I continued to walk through the park I entered an area with some overhanging trees. I really enjoyed the walk through this bit. I found it very peaceful and calming. The shade was nice too since I didn't have sunglasses on at this point.

From the park, I could see the city centre and decided that I wasn't ready to dive right in yet. Instead I went for a little wander through some of the residential areas nearby. The really neat thing about walking through those areas is that different streets have different historical stories. Although there might not be any of the original houses or building left for some of these have plaques which give passer-byes a little tidbit of information on the history of the immediate area or the street. It was really neat for me to walk by a normal looking group of houses that have been given a historical plaque. The funny thing is, this does happen quite frequently when in this part of the world. It does not get old for me. Not one bit. I think it is great!

Yes, another tea room.  

As I began to swing back around in my walk towards the town centre I found myself a cute little tea room. It was a bit too pastel for my general liking, however they served perfectly good tea with a decent fruit teacake (fruit bun) and butter. It was a good change to sit for a few minutes out of the sun and just relax before continuing on in my wanderings. 

There were a few reasons that I wanted to go to Harrogate. First, I had been told by many people that it is a lovely place to see. Since it is a spa town, there are baths and different relaxing things about the town which makes it a lovely place to be. Second, it is the home of the original Betty's Tea Room (yes another tea room, again). More on Betty's to come... And finally, it is now home to the second location of Baa Ram Ewe. 

Baa Ram Ewe! Great shop. 

Baa Ram Ewe is a yarn shop that is lovely. I absolutely love the Headingly location. I've yet to be to their stitching night, but I will get there yet. It's a lovely little shop that has a nice selection of yarns. It has a range of yarns from the cheap to the lovely but expensive. One day I am going to make myself a lovely and luxurious jumper and I've got the yarn already picked out. But by the time I'm willing to part with the money for my chosen yarn it might be discontinued, who knows.

Getting back to Baa Ram Ewe: in April they opened a secondary location in Harrogate. This is great because those who don't want to drive into Leeds, now there is one in North Yorkshire. For those of you who are still not in the general Yorkshire area, you're still looking at either online ordering or a very long drive. Sorry Sue.

As I tend to do, I wandered about Harrogate a lot while I was there that day. I wandered about the shops, about the estates (neighbourhoods) and about the town. I saw some lovely looking gardens planted in front of some fancy hotels and restaurants, like the one below that you can hardly see:

This is a better photo of the garden above. It is in the centre of a roundabout. It has a golden-coloured crown in the centre of the garden. It was placed there for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It's a bit tricky to make it out, but you can nearly see the outline of the crown. The fleur-de-lis that you can more easily make out are a part of the crown.

I also found a hat shop! It's called 'Hats On Top.' Hehe, clever eh? These aren't the best quality photos, but you get the idea. There were tonnes of fancy hats.

Here are the Royal Baths. It is now a chinese food restaurant. 

This plaque is placed on the side of the building. It's no longer a baths at all. 

 As I continued to wander I found this bar. No, I didn't go inside of it. I felt no need as I was not after a pint or anything of that nature. The reason that I took a picture of it is because it has some historical interest.










There was a bicycle out front of it. With a little sign.


















For your enjoyment, I took a picture of the sign.






























Oh yes, the bar was historically important too.
Which, again, you can read for yourself. No sense in me repeating it...

Betty's Tearoom (yes, again, another)

So clearly I do have an obsession with tearooms. But what you have to understand is that Betty's Tearoom is special. It's  very important part of Yorkshire culture and history. I won't bore those who aren't interested, but those who are can go to this link to get the history lowdown: http://www.bettys.co.uk/About_Bettys/The_Bettys_Story.aspx

Rosti - I forget what kind

While I was there I was sat at a nice table in the centre of the tearoom and served tea with milk and sugar lumps on the side. Because I was alone, I was offered the Sunday paper to read and was given time with the menu. Their recommended special was the afternoon tea, which compared to some of the other prices was quite expensive. Now it did, if memory serves me right, include more than your standard tea, scone and clotted cream, but I was not looking to spend quite that much in my visit. I ordered a rosti of sorts. It was the first rosti I've ever had and I must say, when people in Yorkshire recommend Betty's to you, trust them - it's amazing.

For dessert I had a simple fruit tart. Yum! It was nothing fancy, but it was still amazingly scrumptious!

After a bit of something for afternoon tea/lunch, I continued my wanderings. I found myself in a picturesque park. It was a lovely place to walk through. The sun made it warm and cheerful. There were many people about, walking, relaxing, playing football and laughing with family and friends. In one area it looked like there was also a wedding being celebrated. Rather than me continue to natter on, I'll leave the following pictures for you to peruse:

There was a wishing well. I was very thrilled. I now can't remember what I wished for so I can't tell you if I got my wish. I can tell you however that I was thrilled to have found a wishing well. Too cool!

Some cool carvings in the park:

And...a random plaque that I found interesting.

Final thoughts on Harrogate:

The place is amazing. Lots of shopping, lots of places to have tea, lots of pubs, and lots of park. I wish I'd taken sunscreen, a book, a blanket and a picnic. The food at Betty's was amazing, but I wouldn't have minded having a picnic in the park now that I know how large and lovely the park is. With all my wanderings around Harrogate, and with how sunny and hot it was, I should have been wearing a hat and suncream, as well as had a bottle of water with me to drink. Notes for next time I guess, because it's definitely on the list of places  to return to in my future.