Yorkshire Holiday 2019 - Along the River

Tuesday, the 26th of March, we met for lunch with our friends George and Lilian Pickles. As long-time readers of my blog, you'll probably remember that George Pickles used to be Ripon's Hornblower for 12 years before retiring from that position; there are several (sort of) guest posts by and an interview with him on my blog. He and his lovely wife are now both in their early 80s and great company - witty, interested and interesting, charming, open-minded, well travelled and just really very very nice people.

The Water Rat is a pub close to where my mother-in-law lives, and I've been there with the family and with friends several times. This year, it has undergone a massive make-over and is now more a restaurant than a pub. It had only reopened on the Saturday before our lunch, so everything was really still brand new.

The owner came to greet us at our table, and when George spotted former Mayor and Freeman of the City Mr John Richmond, he introduced us, too. We felt a little bit like celebrities! The food was very nice, and I was happy to discover the Water Rat stocks my favourite brand of ginger beer. Most of all, though, we enjoyed the company of our friends, and are determined to keep up the tradition on our next visit.

After the meal, we felt the need to go for a walk. The weather looked a bit uncertain about what it wanted to do, and so we decided not to go far. A quick stroll along the river was just right. Ripon sits on three rivers: the Ure, the Laver and the Skell. The one that goes right through the city centre and also past the Water Rat and my mother-in-law's house is the Skell.

On our way back, it was still early enough for the cathedral to be open for visitors, and so we finally went inside after having taken so many photos already from the outside.

Whether you see it as a place of worship or not, it is simply a wonderful building well worth your time. As we've been inside so many times already, we just wanted to have a quick look around - we were going to be back in two days for a concert and on Saturday for a fair anyway.

Back at the cottage, we were both still relatively full from lunch and so opted for a light tea/dinner of salad, two types of bread (toasted) and a selection of cheeses, accompanied by a glass of red, in front of the fireplace and watching TV.