Knaresborough

Another place we visited when Mick was on holiday was Knaresborough, a market and spa town in the borough of Harrogate, on the River Nidd. The town is famous for Mother Shipton's Cave & Petrifying Well and though we didn't visit these attractions that particular day, we have done before. You can read all about them in my Knaresborough And Mother Shipton post from back in 2011.

We only had two or three hours to spare on this particular day so we didn't want to travel too far. We thought Knaresborough, which takes less than half an hour by car, would fit the bill, especially as it was market day. We started off by the castle.

We didn't go in the castle, it was a beautiful day so we, like many others were doing that day, had a stroll around the grounds.

The castle is set overlooking the River Nidd. It's an iconic view with the viaduct straddling the river below.

Knaresborough's market is one of the oldest in the country and is held every Wednesday. 

The market is held in the centre of town and there's a good range of stalls.

There's plenty of independent shops to look round in the town too.

As I was walking up the street I saw a sheep hanging above a shop. I hoped it was a wool shop, and it was. Knitting Pretty is a little gem of a shop which stocks a good range of commercial yarn alongside some hand-dyed. 

I couldn't resist bringing a skein of George & Rose yarn home with me. This is the Woodland colourway, it's not showing very well in the photo but it's a green base with darker green and purple speckles, it's really pretty. The George & Rose yarn is hand dyed in Knaresborough so it's a nice memento of our day out.

I also treated myself to another classic to add to the bookshelf, Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Castlegate Books is a lovely bookshop right by the market. I like to support independent book stores where I can.

It would have been nice to take a walk by the river while we were there but we just didn't have time so we've promised ourselves that we'll return soon to do just that.