Tha'ars trouble at t'mill....
overnight stay at Borrowby Mill, North Yorkshire
coffee in the guest lounge
Actually there was absolutely no trouble at all at Borrowby Mill B&B. In fact during our stay everything was perfect. The owners were lovely people who couldn't of been more friendly or helpful. The room was fantastic, from the beamed ceiling to the brass bed, even the quirky mirror on the wall & the cute little original window, everything was absolutely lovely.
Such a welcome and needed night of total relaxation & spoiling was exactly what we needed after what seemed like an endless week of one bit of bad news after another. Both Mr Plough & myself were totally stressed & down spirited so I searched high & low on the internet for a 'cheap little night' in a B&B and ended with a choice between a night in a windmill or a night in an old flour mill both sounded lovely but on closer inspection the windmill room was half a mile away from the actual windmill so the flour mill was the clear winner!
So after a late finish from work, off we set to the little rural village of Borrowby, near Thirsk, to check into our B&B. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the place. An impressive 16th Century mill conversion. 5 star accommodation?! But I'd only paid £39 for the two of us for the night! Eeek that can't be right!
As we looked around the mill at the gorgeous dinning room, stunning guest lounge & amazing bedroom I just assumed there'd been some error on my part & obviously the price I would pay would be at least double what I thought it was going to be, but I'd worry about that tomorrow & for now we'll just relax & enjoy our complimentary coffee & cakes and marvel at the remnants of the old mill workings in the sumptuous guest lounge.
Such a welcome and needed night of total relaxation & spoiling was exactly what we needed after what seemed like an endless week of one bit of bad news after another. Both Mr Plough & myself were totally stressed & down spirited so I searched high & low on the internet for a 'cheap little night' in a B&B and ended with a choice between a night in a windmill or a night in an old flour mill both sounded lovely but on closer inspection the windmill room was half a mile away from the actual windmill so the flour mill was the clear winner!
So after a late finish from work, off we set to the little rural village of Borrowby, near Thirsk, to check into our B&B. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the place. An impressive 16th Century mill conversion. 5 star accommodation?! But I'd only paid £39 for the two of us for the night! Eeek that can't be right!
As we looked around the mill at the gorgeous dinning room, stunning guest lounge & amazing bedroom I just assumed there'd been some error on my part & obviously the price I would pay would be at least double what I thought it was going to be, but I'd worry about that tomorrow & for now we'll just relax & enjoy our complimentary coffee & cakes and marvel at the remnants of the old mill workings in the sumptuous guest lounge.
inside the Dog & Gun, Knayton
Our landlady kindly recommended The Dog & Gun at Knayton as a nice little pub to enjoy a bite to eat & a pint of real ale. We weren't disappointed. Although most of the tables appeared to be reserved (I would recommend you book for a meal) we managed to get a seat as it was just past 6pm & quite early in the evening really. The food was simple fayre but scrumptious & indeed Mr Ploughs burger/stacker meal came on a plate the size of a hand basin! It was huge! We enjoyed a lovely pint of Black Sheep with our meal and the bill came to the grand sum of £22 so fantastic value. The Dog & Gun is a lovely rustic country pub and to be honest I could of stayed there all night however we had arrived in the car & by now I was starting to melt as we were sitting next to an enormous radiator & opposite the fire so we decided to take the car back to the mill and walk into the village of Borrowby & try the local pub.
The Wheatsheaf Inn to me was a traditional village pub with the main customers being local people. Its clearly a family run business & the lady behind the bar was very friendly, as were the people around and we enjoyed a nice pint of Daleside Ale.
Now a funny thing happened at the pub, I desperately needed the loo after such a long walk through the village so I spotted a dubious looking door with a toilet sign on it, you know those white doors & when you open them its like the black hole of doom in there & everybody's peed on the floor & there’s loo roll all over, well I envisaged I would find this when I opened this particular door. Instead what happened was I opened the door just as the radio behind the bar sprung into life & blasted David Bowies 'Life on Mars' at full volume & scared the bejeebuz out of me and behind the door was actually outside & an old fashioned alleyway that looked like time had stood still for a 100 years! For a moment I did think the loud music was some kind of burglar alarm or some 'in joke' known only to locals but no it was just a coincidence. Incidentally the loos were quite pleasant too so no worries after all!
Sadly I had a really bad chest infection and unfortunately the smell from the dogs in the bar was making me cough uncontrollably so we just had the one pint & headed back to the Mill for a bottle of wine with us dressed in our matching his'n'hers complimentary robes instead!
The Wheatsheaf Inn to me was a traditional village pub with the main customers being local people. Its clearly a family run business & the lady behind the bar was very friendly, as were the people around and we enjoyed a nice pint of Daleside Ale.
Now a funny thing happened at the pub, I desperately needed the loo after such a long walk through the village so I spotted a dubious looking door with a toilet sign on it, you know those white doors & when you open them its like the black hole of doom in there & everybody's peed on the floor & there’s loo roll all over, well I envisaged I would find this when I opened this particular door. Instead what happened was I opened the door just as the radio behind the bar sprung into life & blasted David Bowies 'Life on Mars' at full volume & scared the bejeebuz out of me and behind the door was actually outside & an old fashioned alleyway that looked like time had stood still for a 100 years! For a moment I did think the loud music was some kind of burglar alarm or some 'in joke' known only to locals but no it was just a coincidence. Incidentally the loos were quite pleasant too so no worries after all!
Sadly I had a really bad chest infection and unfortunately the smell from the dogs in the bar was making me cough uncontrollably so we just had the one pint & headed back to the Mill for a bottle of wine with us dressed in our matching his'n'hers complimentary robes instead!
Borrowby village old market cross
A brief encounter with an uninvited bee in our room was the only (slight) problem we had during our stay at the mill. Breakfast was full English & delicious. After which we headed out into the tranquil garden to enjoy the birdsong & watch the rabbits frolicking amongst the ladybird covered daffodils as we gently swung on the garden swing-bench in the glorious morning sunshine. The price was indeed as stated on the internet, an absolute bargain thanks to booking.com, the usual price for our room is £65, still a bargain in my opinion.
We checked out with a promise to return soon and headed off into Borrowby village.
Its a pretty village, much bigger than I expected, although it seemed to be mainly houses & a strange amount of cross roads! With the daffodils in full bloom near the old market cross the village was very pretty indeed.
We checked out with a promise to return soon and headed off into Borrowby village.
Its a pretty village, much bigger than I expected, although it seemed to be mainly houses & a strange amount of cross roads! With the daffodils in full bloom near the old market cross the village was very pretty indeed.
Thirsk 'castle'
We headed off into the market town of Thirsk. I'd never been before and I found it to be a very pretty town, with its market clock tower & picturesque church & intriguing 'castle' site. Unfortunately it was early on a Sunday morning in out of season March and mainly everywhere was closed. The town appeared to have 2 museums the Herriot museum & the Thirsk museum which is housed in the birthplace of Thomas Lord (of Lords Cricket ground fame) and the most quirky cinema I've seen in a long while! I liked the towns blue plaque trail & the church was very pretty too so I think a return journey in the summer months is most likely!
We managed to have the worst cup of coffee I've ever tasted, in a café in town after which we headed off to Northallerton. I'd never been here before either, unfortunately I don't think I'll rush to return. Good for shopping and probably a popular drinking destination too I would imagine but not my cup of tea really. We did go into 'Lewis & Coopers' (its the Harrods of the north you know!)where we bought 2 of their own bottles of real ale. After which we bought some bits for a picnic lunch and headed to Ripon to spend the rest of the afternoon at lovely Fountains Abbey. I love Fountains Abbey (as you know dear reader) so wandering through the site in the beautiful spring sunshine was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
We managed to have the worst cup of coffee I've ever tasted, in a café in town after which we headed off to Northallerton. I'd never been here before either, unfortunately I don't think I'll rush to return. Good for shopping and probably a popular drinking destination too I would imagine but not my cup of tea really. We did go into 'Lewis & Coopers' (its the Harrods of the north you know!)where we bought 2 of their own bottles of real ale. After which we bought some bits for a picnic lunch and headed to Ripon to spend the rest of the afternoon at lovely Fountains Abbey. I love Fountains Abbey (as you know dear reader) so wandering through the site in the beautiful spring sunshine was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
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