Sweet Darlington

Our next day in the Dales was another long one! We left Kettlewell using a cross-dales route rather than the motorway, and it didn't disappoint: full of lovely view, lots of animals, and even a family of hedgehogs!

Look at that cute face!

 First stop: a small town that had a shop specializing in locally spun wools. They didn't disappoint. Plus, it was market day, meaning fresh raspberries and strawberries! While we were waiting, it was the perfect opportunity for tea al fresco.

The presumed mother was across the street and down the road,
but didn't really want to have her photo taken

Views from the car

 

Next stop: Thirsk. Perhaps unknown to American readers, Thirsk is the actual town where James Herriott (real name: Alfred Wight) was a vet. We had the chance to see his house, which was very, very different from the space as it was depicted in the BBC production of his books. There were obviously a ton of difficulties with recreating the scenes in the house as it actually was, but it was really interesting to see the choices that were made for filming purposes.

The "Herriott" formal dining room,
usually used as the reception area for the veterinary practice

Complete with Tricki-Woo!

The living room, also largely unused

Looking up the stairs

The dispensary was little more than a closet.

Note the microscope and balance

You can just picture the draftiness in the winter

The examining room

The family dining room/living room;
this was the only warm room during the winter months

The kitchen was huge!

the ironing board was an iron + towel

Daily accounting

this shows what a rambling place it was! 

The outside of the Works

Progress!

After that, it was time to leave for Darlington to see Jeremy! We went to the factory, where we were greeted by the front-office staff and Jeremy's supervisor, Ian. It turns out that Ian is a well-known person in the field of historical machining/painting/machine restoration, and was the person who restored a locomotive for The Railway Children! It was a treat to meet him and Jeremy's colleague Steve, a retiree who volunteers twice a week and has been extremely helpful in teaching Jeremy some of his machining skills.

This piece has taken 40-50 hours so far
and was machined from a cylindrical blank

These are the drawings for the piece above.

pretty nameplate!

Ian formed that 2" tubing around the edge
using only heat and his eyes to get the 3-D curvature

A quick visit of his bachelor pad, then wandering around town. Darlington is really sweet, although Jeremy reports a rather too-active pub (read "drink-to-excess" in this context) scene. Dinner in one of the quieter pubs in the market square, then dessert at our hotel.

View from Jeremy's room

Market square

This church dates to the 1300s

And another day gone!

Love,

Alexandra