Three days in Harrogate

The castle is one of the best-preserved 900-year old castles in England. It is both a tourist attraction and a private home.

Robert de Romille, a Norman baron built the first castle here in 1090. It consisted of a wooden Motte and Bailey, which proved unable to withstand attacks from the Scots. To defend better against them a stone keep soon replaced the original building - a sheer drop down the cliffs on one side, into the Eller Beck also made successful attacks more difficult. Skipton Town sat huddled beneath its castle for centuries, feeling safe in its closeness.

The Clifford Family became owners in 1310 and as you enter through the archway of the main gate you see, the family motto, "Henceforth" in French cut into the stone above the battlements. Robert Clifford appointed Lord Clifford of Skipton and Guardian of Craven ordered many improvements to the fortifications of the castle but died in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when these were barely complete. This marked the end of the English interference in Scottish affairs for a time.

During the English Civil War Sir John Mallory with a garrison of three hundred men held out in the castle for three years against a Parliamentary siege. Eventually the Royalists negotiated surrender terms with Oliver Cromwell who ordered the removal of the castle roofs and its defences.

In the 1650's Cromwell allowed Lady Anne Clifford, the last Clifford to own the castle, to restore it on the condition it would no longer have a serious defence. She had the upper parts of the round towers rebuilt but with much thinner walls than those below. To add light the outward facing walls had windows added for the first time and she had the outer curtain wall and gatehouse repaired.

The rainwater gutters carry the family arms and the year of the restoration, 1659. As a commemoration she planted a yew tree in the central courtyard to mark the Castle's repair from the Civil War.

The main castle consists of six drum towers, with a domestic range connecting the two towers on the northern side, protected by a precipice overlooking Eller Beck. The first floor comprises the original kitchen, great hall, withdrawing rooms and the lord's bedchamber. New kitchens, storage and work cellars make up the ground floor. The remaining towers are mainly military in nature and purpose. 16th and 17th century additions have created a new entrance staircase (replacing the original drawbridge), a further domestic wing, and new, larger windows in the walls.

Through the entrance is the Shell Room - throughout the walls are hundreds of mother-of-pearl shells, collected by the Clifford family over the years.

After climbing Lady Anne's steps, you find yourselves in a lovely little courtyard, the Conduit Court, so named because the castle's piped supply of spring water ended here. Growing here is Lady Anne’s yew tree. From this courtyard, you can enter most of the rooms. To the right of the castle open to the public, is the Tudor Wing, now a private home.
There is a free guide which explains the best way to explore the castle, it also means you follow a route in the same direction which is helpful as some of the passageways are narrow.

Open daily from 10am (Sundays 12 noon.) There are tea rooms, shop and picnic area. Parking is in the town.

Viewed from the riverbank Knaresborough resembles a chaotic patchwork of colourful buildings clinging precariously to the sides of the gorge rising steeply from the River Nidd.

As I discovered it has much to offer - a castle, the oldest chemist shop in England, historic streets, boating and a mixture of charming buildings - including a house built into a rock. Traders here have held a market here on Wednesdays since at least 1310. There are some unusual offspring, legends and folklore. Part of this bustling settlement's appeal lies in the unspoilt quarters with their intriguing maze of alleys and ginnels. The viaduct view and the river complete with interesting boats enchant.

Standing supreme, high on the cliff top overlooking the River Nidd gorge, is Knaresborough Castle. Originally built in Norman times the castle one of several royal castles around the country served as a temporary home for the king as he toured the country for meetings with his barons and attending to royal duties.

Parliamentarian troops besieged the castle during the civil war. At first the massive stonewalls built of soft stone simply absorbed the cannon fire. Bringing up heavier artillery the Parliamentarian started to damage the walls. Decision time had arrived for the besieged forces. They tried to escape through a secret sally port of which the castle has three. The Parliamentarians spotted them. Hastily retreating back into the castle they seized prisoners on the way. Having a bargaining counter they surrendered in 1644 on condition their lives were spared. The castle was largely destroyed in 1648 on order from Parliament to dismantle all Royalist castles. Masons used some of the stone in building houses in Knaresborough.

It is possible to deduce the structure of the castle from the remains. Towers along its length punctuated the enclosure wall, and a pair spared the destruction still forms the main gate. At the junction between the inner and outer baileys, on the north side of the castle stood a tall five-sided keep. The keep had a vaulted basement, at least three upper stories, and served as a home for the lord of the castle. The castle baileys contained residential buildings, and some foundations have survived.

The remains are open to the public. The grounds serve as a public leisure space, with a bowling-green, a putting green and as a performing space, with bands playing most afternoons through the summer. The property owned by the monarch forms part of the Duchy of Lancaster holdings, however Harrogate Borough Council looks after it for her.

Famous folk associated with Knaresborough are Guy Fawkes (plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and Jack Metcalf, born in 1717 but caught smallpox and became blind. Despite this he was a violinist, major road builder, forest guide, an expert swimmer and smuggler. He died at the age of 93 but a pub in the Market Place bears his name.

Mother Shipton born in a riverside cave here during a violent thunderstorm in 1488 is England's most famous Prophet. Her crooked facial features frightened many. People feared her prophetic visions. She foretold the dissolution of the monasteries, the defeat of the Armada, the Civil War, the Great Plague and she forewarned of the Great Fire of London in 1666. She foretold that Cardinal Wolsey would not become Archbishop of York. He died before facing a charge of high treason. Today her prophecies are still accurate - consider:

'Carriages without horses shall go.

And accidents fill the world with woe.

Around the world thoughts shall fly

In the twinkling of an eye...

Under water men shall walk,

Shall ride, shall sleep, shall talk;

In the air men shall be seen

In white, in black, and in green.

Iron in the water shall float

As easy as a wooden boat.'

She forecast the time of her death in 1561 and many friends wept bitter tears at her passing.

Knaresborough is indeed a colourful place with equally colourful people.

On our way to Skipton we drove up a short side road to Bolton Abbey. I didn’t expect to see much except roofless walls but this Abbey still had part of the buildings intact and serving as a local church. The rest of the buildings had had the lead stripped off their roofs during the Reformation and nature took its course followed by quarrying of the stone for local buildings.

In 1154 a small group of monks of black-robed Augustinian canons and their Prior came across the hills to form the abbey. They were popular with the locals. Ordained priests they lived together like monks but aided and helped the locals. While their first duty was prayer and warship, they also preached, taught, ran hospitals, sheltered travellers and allowed local people to share their church.

Although based on religion the abbeys were at the forefront of technology in their day. They were the seat of learning and helped to push new methods of production and thinking. Here the monks ran a business empire. Their income came from produce, tithes, rents and dues from farms, mills, lead mines and other enterprises. With these they paid travelling masons to build their living quarters and a great church, the architectural beauty of which compares well against any in the country.

Work often halted because of marauding Scots severe winters and illness. Just before the Desolation work was still in progress on the west tower of the church so it never reached its full height. On entering the church we passed through it - now transformed into an antechamber filled with light and colour. In 1984 the modern laminate pine roof with its central boss in the shape of the Yorkshire rose converted the incomplete tower into its present shape. The church ceiling draws attention. Though restored it is the one installed by the canons. The golden angels and bosses are especially fine - the worn stone alter dating back to pre-Reformation days.

On display is a model of the abbey. Boys of the Ermysted Grammar School in Skipton crafted it in 1954. It gives a good idea of how the buildings would have looked.

It is ironic that because Henry VIII had a dispute with the Church in Rome that didn’t approve of divorce the people who suffered the most were the abbeys that had nothing to do with the matter. Left unfettered though they would probably eventually have received as gifts much of the land in the country in return for prayers for the deceased. The amassed wealth was simply too much for the king to resist. Show corruption in the abbeys, or perhaps invent it if absent, and they became an easy target. Destroying the buildings also however removed a valuable part of the country’s heritage.

However a more pleasant spot for a family walk and picnic would be hard to find. A ruined abbey to admire and for the kids to play in, a shallow river, the River Wharfe, to sit by and the kids to splash in, and a woodland walk for them to build up an appetite in, ready for a picnic! With 30,000 acres of beautiful countryside, over 80 miles of footpaths and ample space to run around and enjoy the fresh air, there is something here for all ages.

Descriptive leaflets and guidebook showing various paths are available from the Estate gift shops. Electric wheelchairs are available giving access to the Priory ruins, riverside, Cavendish Pavilion and the Cumberland and Green trails in Strid Wood

Our first view of Harrogate approaching the town from the west was one of towers and domes. These emanate from the churches of St John and St Luke, the Harrogate Conference Centre, the railway station and the green dome of the Hotel Majestic, all of which sprang up in Victorian times.

Dr Edmund Deane first publicised the area which became Harrogate when he drew attention to a spring there producing the strongest sulphur water in Great Britain in a published paper in 1626. During the 18th and 19th centuries others found more springs – they were rich mostly in iron or sulphur – and Harrogate developed to become one of Britain’s most celebrated spas, offering cures for everything from gout to nervous tension. Dark Yorkshire stone forms the core of the town. This and its Victorian architecture gives the town its sombre dignity which is offset by gardens, parks and stretches of grassland that give the town its open air.

As the demand for the cure declined in the face of competition from scientific drugs, Harrogate adapted by becoming a major conference, exhibition and tourist centre. However it remains a picture postcard of chintzy Englishness.

Behind the Crown Hotel stands the Royal Pump Room, an ornate octagonal birdcage construction dating from 1842. We wandered around the museum of local history it now contains. Through a viewing point in the floor we could see the original well-head in the basement. I knocked back a small glass of mineral water at the counter from this spring known as ‘stinking spaw’. It stank of rotten eggs and my wife catching a whiff declined. Anyway I’m sure I felt more energetic next morning so just think what affect the normal three weeks treatment would have.

We had a wander in the valley gardens in Bogs Field. Here are many of the sulphur and iron waters used in the spa treatment at the Royal Baths. Thirty-Six springs arise within an acre. No two are exactly alike in chemical composition. Several of the well-heads are still there and even the streams look a salty colour. The ducks and trees seemed normal but maybe they have become tolerant overtime.

Harrogate was where the grand dame of the English whodunit, Agatha Christie came during her baffling 11-day disappearance in 1926 and where the film producers shot the Vanessa Redgrave film version of that still-unexplained event. She had booked into the Old Swan hotel under a false name. Meanwhile, her abandoned car had sparked the biggest manhunt in English history and the first to use an aeroplane. After almost two weeks, a musician in the hotel orchestra recognised the Queen of Crime from a newspaper photograph and told the police.

A must when visiting Harrogate is to have a tea or coffee and some cream cakes at Betty’s. It opened its doors in 1919 offering a tempting array of delicious Yorkshire and Continental confections in the shop, and an elegant Café Tearoom served teas and meals in the traditional English style. It was an immediate success and has been going strong since then.

More than one million customers each year visit Betty’s so often there are queues of people waiting to get in. It is a real Agatha Christie experience, as it hasn’t changed that much since the 1920’s - luxurious finger licking cakes and pastries, afternoon tea to die for and a fine array of coffees and teas. We luckily got a seat near the large glass windows and watched the world go buy in refined and genteel splendour.
Not cheap but well worth the experience.

Harrogate's draw as a spa has revived following restoration of the Victorian Royal Baths, a splendid Grade-II listed building in the town centre. Inside it is a colourful Moorish fantasy with Islamic arches and screens, painted ceilings, glazed brickwork and terrazzo floors. For £10, visitors can spend a few hours in the Turkish Baths moving between rooms of varying temperatures to steam and clean. Treatments involving rubber hoses and funnels are no longer available but images appear in sepia-tint photographs lining the entrance hall.

This hotel was the only one available in Harrogate through Hotel Connections a company offering discounted hotel deals we booked through. We weren’t sure what to expect but on entering the grounds of the hotel the sheer size of the place overwhelmed us. True to its name it is majestic in appearance though mostly built of red-brick rather than Yorkshire stone like most of the buildings in the town. This hotel built to accommodate the spa visitors is a Victorian building (1897) set in large landscaped grounds so it has an ‘olde worlde’ feel to it but has adapted to changed times and conditions.

It is sometimes amusing to look back at the standards of behaviour then. One of the oddities of early 19th century life in the Harrogate hotels was that guests followed certain niceties of behaviour. Whereas gentlemen paid for the wine at each table, women paid for tea, coffee and sugar. At the ball, both ladies and gentlemen paid a shilling entrance fee but the gentlemen had also to pay four shillings for the dancing. Women, however, who were pretty and who danced didn’t pay.

In its grand days the hotel would have had a door attendant. We humped our own cases in without any help from staff that would have helped in Victorian times. On entering the lobby we did go back to a time when British hotels were grand. Marble everywhere, high ceilings, and stained-glass windows, huge rooms, and chandeliers at every turn - superb. Guests from a wedding reception were milling around as we entered though the hotel routine continued to run smoothly. The reception staff were efficient and our room was ready.

The lifts to our fourth floor room were Victorian –small and they jerked when they reached the floor as though trying to throw us out. Sometimes we used the grand staircase to come down in the Victorian manner.

Our room was immaculate and large. This came as a relief for sometimes hotels taking discount bookings compensated by offering inferior rooms. This hotel could have done so for judging by other reviews it is renovating rooms and not every person gets a refitted one.

Ours had been refitted at some time. The colours were light apart from a brown carpet. Some of the old touches remain such as the original doors and ornate coving. Furniture consisted of a large dressing table/ desk, a small table, an easy chair and settee and large comfortable twin beds. The wardrobe was built in with full-length mirrors in the doors. Also included tea/coffee making facilities, TV, telephone, trouser press and hair-drier. Bathroom was modern, clean and roomy with high-quality fittings and shower over a bath. The views over the rear garden looking towards Harrogate town centre were attractive.

Breakfast was self-service but well-organised. A good variety of juices, cereals, fruits and cooked food were on offer. Most of the fruits though were of the canned variety. Staff quickly took orders for coffee or tea and cleared away dirty dishes. This hotel has a spacious dining area so even when it is busy they can cater for it. Sliding open doors could quickly enlarge the area open when we were there. Queuing for breakfast or meals is unlikely to happen here as it does in some hotels.

The hotel has a gym and swimming pool, which seemed rather small but as we do a lot of walking we didn’t use them. No doubt conference people would find them useful.

A walk through the gardens of this hotel quickly takes you down past the conference centre to the centre of town and to a wide choice of restaurants. We ate out in the town while in Harrogate so we can’t comment on the quality of the meals in the hotel. We can say, though the restaurants in town offer excellent quality meals so you have choice if the hotel meals disappoint.