We packed up the few belongings we had taken up to our third floor room (second floor if you are British) in the hope of getting moved to a courtyard room later today. Let's hope we are successful!
Then we left Masham and went to Ripon. Ripon is the smallest “city” in Yorkshire and the third smallest city in England. The designation of “city” is much different here in the UK and has more to do with if a place has a cathedral or a university or some other qualifying factors. But even this is not enough, city status has to be awarded by the monarch!
We have been to Ripon before but In only remember visiting the cathedral, which is always necessary since it is so beautiful. Since dogs are not allowed in the cathedral, Alan and I took turns going in. There is also a fee to take photographs, so Alan paid it and I asked him to take a few for me!
When it was my turn to go in, I was able to truly enjoy the amazing collection and display of 100 years of wedding dresses! The styles were so different, yet so similar it was fascinating. One, designed in 1923 by Coco Chanel, was stunningly Flapper style, but clearly a wedding dress. I fell in love with it. Done in Winter velvet that made my fingers really want to caress the fabric, and the simple dropped waist and virtual nothing design of flapper dresses. The note associated with it explained the family lace on the veil and teh simbyolisme of the orange bloosam, which I cannot remember. But what I do remember is the footnote that said the bride had other ideas and ran off with the challleur days before the wedding! So that gorgeous dress was never worn! (apologies, Alan did not get a photo of my favourite dress and it would have been impossible for me to explain exactly which one it was!)
Here is what the leaflet I got at the cathedral said: The exhibition contains gowns, with their headrests and veils, from 1885 to 2021.
The collection includes a gown donated by Kleinfeld, New York - known for the TV programme "Say Yes to the Dress". And the leaflet also mentions my personal favourite, the gown by Coco Chanel handmade by her for a family friend in 1923.
Kevin Thornhill owns a collection of over 200 wedding dresses which has taken around 40 years to acquire. (maybe I could donate mine! It is so beautiful but much too tiny for any modern bride to wear. I was shocked when I looked at it recently! I don't think I was born as small as that dress I wore on my wedding day!)
There are also over 10,000 origami angels suspended from the ceiling, the title of this exhibition is "A Wing & A Prayer". They were so beautilul. This was a Lockdown project was designed in the early days of Lockdown, to recognise the hard work and dedication of key workers and those on the frontlines of the fight against Covid 19. The congregation was invited to make and contribute these origami angels. The assumption was the church would receive a few hundred….there are over 10,000! They also thought the angles would only be up a few weeks….18 months later, they are still waiting for the end of this pandemic.
Many thanks to Alan for taking these. Skye and I enjoyed our time relaxing on a park bench while he was inside Ripon Cathedral.
Cakes and tea at Wilfrid's
One goal I always have is to have proper English tea while in England. I accomplished this goal in Ripon at Wilfrid’s tea room. This was actually my second choice based on research of tea shops! I had chosen Chimes, which is near Ripon Cathedral and the info stated it is dog friendly. We found it quite easily, almost across the street from the Cathedral, but had not finished wandering yet. That could have been our fatal mistake because when we returned, there was a queue outside but the worst was being told the beer garden was full and that was the only place dogs were permitted! So we walked on.
Almost immediately, we saw Wilfrid's, which was my second choice anyway. There was room for us and the best part was ..... dogs allowed inside! The service there was second to none too. We ordered an amazing cake lemon drizzle sparkle cake (which is only down seasonally and has surprise flavours in it!, millionaires' cake and I got a pot of Yorkshire Tea. The, what I call, "ritual" of tea being served is always so impressive to this long standing and grateful tourist: the teapot, cream jug, and extra pot of hot water. After over 30 years, this is still one of my cheap thrills. The cakes were terrific too.
We then tried to go to Middleham, but could not get parked. I will continue to harp on about how full the UK is and this is without International travellers, this is UK residents doing staycations - like we are!
Leaving Middleham, we then went to Leyburn. We have very pleasant memories of Leyburn since the first time I was there was for a WWII event. The whole town was decked out in bunting and “everyone” was dressed up in 1040s attire. We have only been there once but it was so much fun!
Today was just normal day in Leyburn but it was still very nice to bed there. We had lunch at >>>>>>> sitting outside and just being happy to be there. Then we went back to Masham.
Upon arriving at the Kings Head Hotel, we discovered they had given us a lovely room in the courtyard, each room here is ground level and suitable for dogs. There is even a dog bowl with special mat waiting for her! This room is on the furthest left of the little lane that goes behind the hotel. We have stayed on the other side before and I hope we remember to always request a courtyard room whenever we return. My personal favourite room in on the second (first) floor overlooking the market square. Those rooms are huge and it is fun to look out the windows. But the ease, comfort and access to an outside table wins over even that room. But in every room, regardless of where it is located, there are lovely bits of thoughtfulness, such as the bedside plugs where it is easy to plug in any appliances or battery chargers that might need electricity, without having to rearrange and move furniture to reach them! Also the requisite kettle, coffee and milk left at then rooms. Yes, this is standard, but it makes me happy when the kettle does not have someone else's leftover water in it! And of course, the little dog mat and water bowl, so simple and so thoughtful.
Our reservation for Steak Night at the Bruce Arms was for 6:30 so there was ample time to return to the Bay Horse for another drink. If they cannot serve food, the least we can do is buy a drink!
We visited Black Sheep and Theakstons breweries since we really enjoy going to these places. We times it so we coudl go before going to the Bay Horse for dinner. I got two local gins at Black Sheep gift shop - Black Sheep gin and Masham gin. I do like to buy local gins as souvenirs but have tried to avoid this since I have so many gins now... but these two were in small bottles and that made it "ok"! We got to Theakstons’ too late to get a beer, last call was 4pm. It is a nice pub in the brewery and I am sorry we missed that, but I know there will be a next time.
In speaking about the chef shortage I have learned it is more a perfect storm of so many other factors. Even before the pandemic, the number of chefs coming through was going down. It is a hard lifestyle with split shifts of lunches and dinners. That has been the case for years. Then of course, Lockdown. There was no work for chefs during this time. Some might have toughed that out with furlough payments or whatever, but many also found other ways to support themselves and have not returned to their original profession. Then so many of the Europeans we depended on in this industry, who have now been told they can no longer live or work in the UK without expensive and hard to come by visas…..This makes chefs more valuable and this makes it difficult for smaller businesses to afford them. A perfect storm of bad news for many restaurants.
Steak night was delicious, and fun1 This is a real Yorkshire feeling pub and the service was informal and professional at the same time. We also ended up having a great conversation with the couples at the other two tables in our room. One lady even gave Skye the rest of her steak since she could not finish hers. 
Skye waited patiently for us to finish dinner!
Return to our fabulous room and collapsing after another wonderful day.
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