Yorkshire Rose, Cherry Tree, Red Lion: Tour de Yorkshire

Huddersfield was the closest pick-up point for the Urquart Lochs and Glens holiday. In addition to yesterday’s blog post, it’s about £170 per person so not so much of a bargain for individuals. Sometimes they have single surcharges, but I don’t think they had one for that holiday. I’ve already posted a review of Huddersfield Travelodge on Trip Advisor.

There was lovely food in the Yorkshire Rose pub just below the Travelodge, as there was for breakfast in the Huddersfield Cherry Tree Wetherspoons and Red Lion in Skipton. In the Yorkshire Rose I had the added bonus of being there at the best time of day to sample the excellent Boondoggle and Wainwright’s golden ales.

Tour de Yorkshire

I relived travelling through Yorkshire in hot spring sunshine last weekend, as the televised (ITV4) Tour de Yorkshire enjoyed glorious sunshine. On the last day it passed nearby, and it was great to see them clear and close-up, after not really seeing them through the crowds during the Tour de France in 2014.

Moreover, breakaway winner of that day’s stage, France’s Rossetto, reminded me of me when I was thin from travelling in the 1980s/90s; and leading from the front like his epic 100km breakaway was my favourite kind of running style when young… it would have been when I was older if I could’ve done it!

Here’s some photos and a video.

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Lochs and Glens Holiday Real Bargain

We stayed at the Glenmorag in Dunoon, which was a nice old characteristic hotel, with good organisation and delicious food; reminding me a bit of The Shining, which was shown on television that week and featured on Gogglebox! Also had the bonus of seeing a deer in the greenYgrey grounds.

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I don’t have any connection with David Urquart coaches, and lots of other firms provide similar holidays, but I think the value for money promise of their advertising is shown by the four nights holiday only costing about £170, and normally one night at the Glenmorag costs £65.

Apart from all the coach travel, we also had a nice hour-long cruise on Loch Lomond:

While it had been a nice holiday, and quite lucky to have mild temperatures, and dry sometimes sunny weather when out and about, never getting wet, it was also nice to head south to the tail-end of the heatwave going on south of the Clyde.

It’s also been great to spend some quality time with the Sun again this week, after our busy schedules meant we haven’t seen each other much since our Sunnymoon/Honeysunny!

Dunoon Afternoon

We had the afternoon in Dunoon, base for the coach holiday. It seems a nice chilled out town on the Clyde, and also had the bonus of seeing a rabbit.

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Tighnabruaich great greenYgreyish

On the morning of our final day, we travelled west to Tighnabruaich, which is kind of pronounced tea-an’-a-brew-ish, which was apt, because the region had a lot of nice cafes etc. The island of Bute is across from the mainland town, beyond Loch Riddon in the patch of sunlight on the horizon photo and the Kyles of Bute in the green park close-up. The other photo is of a loch while travelling west.

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Sunnymoon is Over, Honeysunny Time in Loch Lomond

The sunnymoon period was over the next day, visiting Loch Lomond, but it was dry, and atmospheric. As in Norway where the narrow fjords with steep mountains are the most spectacular, I think lochs such as nearby Loch Long and Loch Awe are more picturesque in places, but Lomond is nice too, with several islands, and a visible mountain line dividing the Highlands and Lowlands going through it. As the biggest freshwater body in Britain at about twenty-four miles by five, it also has been-there-and-done-that value.

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No O Ban in Oban

As we headed farther north-west, I thought we might face questions about our human-star mixed relationship, but I was relieved to see there was no O ban in Oban, and my beloved star was able to shine as brightly as possible in the lovely coastal town facing the island of Mull across the Firth of Lorn.

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