Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Riddles in Yorkshire



I am back from my travels. I have travelled across the country and have finally seen the Yorkshire Dales and North Wales.

Our first stop was at the Forbidden corner in Coverdale. Apart from the fact that for the AA directions I put in the wrong post code and ended up about 10 miles away, we found the place before our allotted entry time which was 3.45 pm.

It is a sort of maze set in 4 acres of gardens, which was originally developed for the personal use of the landowner and his friends, who persuaded him to open it to the public. There is a small cafe and a beautiful picnic area should you arrrive early for your entry time, in fact I would suggest arriving early on purpose so you can have a nice picnic (Weather permitting) and just take in the views. I must admit, I was rather excited at the prospect of going to this place as I had seen it on a gardening show on cable and thought it looked rather different.

We queued up for our allotted entry time and were given a leaflet with little sketches and riddles written on them, it was up to us to find them in whatever order we wanted. To be honest, we weren't too serious about finding everything, because Kai is only 3 so would have liked whatever he saw anyway.

I don't want to spoil it for you, but there are lots of little surprises, some may scare younger children. It has been well thought out, but is really unsuitable for the disabled (walking disabled) and not child buggy friendly. There are also lots of dark narrow passageways, but they are exciting and scarey together. At times I found it a bit frustrating as we would catch glimpses of something tantalising only to never find our way to it. Which I suppose is just a darn good excuse to go back again. There was one part that Kai really hated as it scared the hell out of him, but his Mum and I picked him up and made a joke out of it and managed to get him through it.

I have to say, it was a unique experience. My advise if you are visiting is to
A. Try and get an a.m or early p.m time slot. It can get very busy and in confined spaces (Of which there are quite a few) a bit claustrophobic
B. Go outside of the major school holidays
C. Take waterproof footwear/clothing if it has been raining
D. Don't rush around hoping to see everything as you probably won't
E. If you have a long way to travel, try a cheap B & B and make a short break of it as the Yorkshire Dales are extremely beautiful and worth exploring


I will be going back again, at the moment it doesn't matter to me when, as Kai is in nursery so he can have time off when we feel like it. I will be staying in Middleham next time as it is only a 10 minute drive and looked a lovely villiage to stay in. We stayed in the Rose and Crown in Bainbridge (About a 12 mile drive) which was mediocre, although the locals were friendly.

I will be blogging next time about North Wales, but not today.

3 comments:

Pete said...

All looks absolutely stunning Carol. Will have to take my kids

Unknown said...

Knowley,
It is fantastic for kids and adults alike. There were as many adults alone looking for clues as adults with children. It is probably the most original place I have been to and can't wait to get back there.

Anonymous said...

[Stamps foot and pulls horrible face]. I wanna go, too!!!