We spent Tuesday walking around Ripon as rain was forecast but it never came so we didn't make it into the cathedral although we did make it into a shoe shop, which had an excellent sale on, to grab a couple of bargains!
Wednesday we had a lovely day in York in the company of friends who retired there with tea in the historic and atmospheric Gray's Court, scrumptious warm scones with thick cream and jam and a walk on the race course with the dogs to stoke up an appetite for dinner at Ate o'clock, a restaurant in the centre of York which we can highly recommend.
We spent the next afternoon back in Leeds for tea with my uncle and aunt, a good old-fashioned tea with salmon bridge rolls, fruit bread and cake just like the teas we had every Saturday afternoon at my Granny's throughout my childhood. More nostalgia as I went back to look at my old school to find the traditional edwardian redbrick building was no more and in its place a sprawling glass and bright coloured structure like a cross between a leisure centre and a car salesroom - a child's lego fantasy come to life. Made me feel very old and a bit sad.
Finally today the rain reached us so we drove to Nunnington Hall a National Trust house on the edge of the North Yorks Moor. It was like stepping back in time and we learnt the origin of the saying 'sleep tight'. It appears that some beds had ropes slung under the mattress which could be tightened at night to stop the mattress sagging. There was no explanation as to why they couldnt just leave them tight during the day. Maybe some people just preferred the mattress saggy.