We Say Goodbye to Richard and Annette.

 Friday 27th May 2022 in Skipton.

 After the rain and wind of yesterday, the morning promised a much better day, although the clouds were still dark above. Skipton has many very handsome former mill buildings, most of which have been converted mainly to residential use.

As Richard and Annette had taken "Carleton" back to the Pennine Cruiser base last night, they were very quick at transferring all their stuff off the boat and into their  car. We agreed to meet for a coffee and a snack in "The Three Sheep" café before they set off for home.

The week certainly hadn't turned out as we had hoped and it probably didn't leave them enthralled with the idea of narrowboating, but we do hope that their experience was like the "curate's egg", i.e. good in parts! We very much enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them, and Bella and Zak, better. We certainly had a lot of laughs together! We shall miss them and hope to see them again soon.

Skipton truly is a lovely town. This is "Sheep Street" and typical of the small cobbled streets and yards.

Another real find! Lunch was at a small café called "The Flip Side" that made excellent crêpes. Delicious! What a pity we are leaving tomorrow!

In the early afternoon we watched as the new hirers for "Carleton" were briefed and then set off for their week's hire. It is always strange to see the same boat with different people on it!

Being steam train "nuts", we have always wanted to see the renowned Ribblehead Viaduct. It is not that far from Skipton, so later in the afternoon, we took the train to Ribblehead station. It was worth the effort even for the journey itself, which was through spectacular Dales scenery, with both Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside in view.

The viaduct really is impressive close up. The red arrow is pointing to R standing underneath it to give an idea of scale!  It's HUGE!!! Construction started in 1869 with a workforce of 2,300 men and it opened to rail traffic on 1st May 1876. How on earth did they get those massive stone blocks up there?

The Pennine Way does not go under the viaduct but there are still footpaths going off in all directions. . Lots of walkers passed us, bearing huge rucksacks.

There are few facilities at Ribblehead with the exception of the "Station Inn". Feeling somewhat battered by the fierce wind, on the way back to the station we dropped in for a drink, only to be greeted by a familiar figure standing just inside the entrance. HM must have got word of our visit! (she declined to share our packet of crisps!).

Back at Skipton, after picking up a "few bits" at Morrisons next to the station, we settled down in MM for the night. The bar adjacent to the hire base was busy until after dark but never loud or noisy.

MM had another day off.