Hawes not Harris

We had planned a much different trip this time around, flying off to a sunny beach in Lanzarote! But due to circumstances beyond our control, this did not happen. However, we had booked our dog into the kennel and decided to do something. Even return to the Hebrides and do things that were impossible when we had her with us!

Thankfully, Alan was keeping track of weather patterns and realised we would not be very lucky if we headed off to the Hebrides, even though there were ferry places available. Such a disappointment….but where to go then?

Again, watching the weather, we headed southeast to Yorkshire, stopping in one of our favourite places - Hawes, in Wensleydale. If any of you are Wallace and Gromit fans, you will be very familiar with Wensleydale cheese!

So many pies, so little time!  But we ALWAYS get apple!

We have enjoyed visiting Hawes for well over 30 years, bringing all sets of parents here and our children. We have a special place in our heart for Cockett’s Bakery and have been known to go miles out of our way just for one of their pies. They used to do the most amazing apple and blackcurrant pie. That must have stopped about 20 years ago, but even with that loss, the pies are legendary and we will always get one if we are close enough to Hawes!




We arrived about 3:30 and got a lovely campsite close enough to walk into Hawes easily. It was 75 degrees even at that time of day, lovely, sunny and warm. What more could we ask for?

We walked down the Main Street, which seems to actually be the only street! We visited the Cheese factory at the opposite side of town from where we are staying and bought the requisite cheese to be able to enjoy Wensleydale as one should! I also discovered a local gin called Masons and they had the nicest looking little gift bag with a small bottle of Masons in assorted flavours and 4 little bottles of Fevertree tonic! Too good to pass up so I chose the Peppered Pear edition and will look forward to trying that with a friend of mine when we get back.

Since it was too late to do anything else, we simply enjoyed our evening in Hawes and relived all the times we have been there in the past, with my all parents - Mom and stepfather, Dad and stepmother, my in-laws, our kids and our niece who was visiting from Florida.  Looking back over the years, it seems that we will use just about any excuse to get down to Hawes (and buy a pie!).

The local yarn bombers were all over!

The "GR" initials indicate this
post box was placed here during the
reign of King George V,
the grandfather of our current Queen.

There are some huge lorries travelling through the town.
But this brought back such a pleasant memory of when we
brought our niece here and one very similar to this took
her by surprise!

Our campsite is very near the Dales Countryside Museum and the Ropeworks just on the other side away from Hawes. It is a lovely site. And if you go right instead of left, you are in the Dales along with hundreds of sheep and glorious scenery!

We wandered along the river in the evening and discovered a bend in the river and a nice sunset. While I was waiting for Alan to get the perfect sunset shot, I happened to look across the street and noticed a public footpath sign heading to Sedbusk, 1/2 mile away! Note to self, let’s do that tomorrow!