Another Birthday

Another year older and what a wonderful birthday I have had. My lovely daughter found a beautiful cottage in Boroughbridge where we stayed from last Wed to Fri.

Dove Cottage

I had the large double bedroom and my daughter was in the second bedroom.

Boroughbridge, in North Yorkshire is a very pretty town full of quintessential old-world charm. The High Street has a wealth of lovely independent cafes and tea rooms, shops, pubs and restaurants.  There is a host of small shops and interior specialists selling gifts and mementos, gorgeous fashion boutiques that offer clothing and accessories from both major designers and one offs. You’ll struggle to walk down the high street without dipping into the shops, or sampling cakes and scones from the cafés. There is also a butchers shop, veg shop and, one of my favourites, a fish-n-chip shop.

The Market Cross

War Memorial

At the time of our visit the World Cycling Championship was taking place in Harrogate and surrounding areas. Boroughbridge was decorated with flags and cycles. There are strings of knitted cycling shirts hung on the railings behind the memorial.

Boroughbridge's location is also very attractive, being just a few minutes from the A1(M) it makes an excellent base for visiting the Yorkshire Dales, Ripon, Leeds, York, Harrogate and many more.
Ripon and Harrogate were our main destinations. We arrived early on Wed afternoon to visit a family friend we hadn't seen for 9 years. We enjoyed lunch with him in his cafe in Ripon. After hours of chatting and reminiscing we went back to the cottage to enjoy relaxing, watching TV and eating chocolate! 

Thursday was my birthday. We started the day at a place I have wanted to visit for years, Newby Hall dolls house exhibition. Oh what a delight it was, there aren't enough superlatives to describe how amazing the collection is. There are so many beautiful houses on display, I can't show them all. They are all behind glass so there was a lot of reflection from lighting. I knew I was going to buy the book of the exhibition so I will scan some photos from it. I thought of limiting my selection to just 6 but after going through my photos and the book I have triple that amount!! So I have decided to do a separate blog dedicated to them.

Sentry duty

After the glorious dolls houses we went to Harrogate for a cream tea at Betty's Tea Room

Scrumptious

The weather was miserable rain and parts of the town were cordoned off for the cycle routes so we had a brief walk around before returning to the cottage.

Home the next day. It was a great birthday treat, all arranged by my darling daughter.

~ Be well ~

Polly x