Nautical Knaresborough

 Thursday 16th. September 2021.         Knaresborough with a Nautical Theme.

For today’s adventure the Lads are venturing to the North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough situated on the banks of the river Nydd.  Little did the group of 4 have any idea of what was about to happen on this trip. John , Brian, Colin and Dave left Leeds Railway Station aboard the 10:29 train heading north passing through various locations such as Horsforth, Harrogate and Hornbeam before eventually arriving at the station in Knaresborough. With the thought of playing a game of Pitch and Putt the lads made their way to this location at a site close bye the river here in the town. As they progressed they noticed that quite a number of other visitors had arrived here also, the riverside car park was almost full to capacity. 

The Lads soon came to the spot where the pitch and putt was located only to find out that is was closed for some reason, which was somewhat of a disappointment, so from here they returned to the riverside footpath and headed back towards the town noticing that the river was occupied by several rowing boats.

Suddenly the idea of the Lads taking a trip on one of these rowing boats entered into John’s head, was he really thinking that we were all in agreement . Nevertheless after a bit of persuasion  we did eventually climb aboard H.M.S. Brit-Vic, alias Boat Number 55. With a rather sceptical Brian taking up his position in the bows a position he never moved from , then Colin and Dave took their seats in the stern, the steering position. Lastly into the boat was John, he had volunteered to do the rowing since it was his idea to embark on this adventure. With final instructions from the Captain ashore off we went heading hopefully up steam.

Not before too long it became apparent that John had the recurrence of an old war wound so his attempt at rowing came to an abrupt end forcing a change of position in the boat, this lead to several minutes of hilarious laughter and confusion, finally Colin ending up with the Oars in his hands. John managed to get seated alongside Dave. Now we finally made some headway up river although with some difficulty attached ! as our boat moved steadily through the water managing not to collide with the many other boats that were on the river Colin decided he had become somewhat exhausted, so another change ensued in the boat , this time it was Dave who took up the honour of rowing, this he did with much a gusto having had some previous experience whilst spending almost 12 months attending the sea cadets at the age of 14. With relief on their faces and feeling somewhat more at ease the Lads began to enjoy this river adventure. Avoiding several near misses and a broadside collision the boat managed to navigate the massive stonework support pillars of the 2 river bridges ie, road and railway viaduct.

 

Finally with their feet back on land the Lads headed off in search of some lite refreshment at one of the nearby Cafes , only to find that a waiting time of almost an hour would have to be endured in order to get served. So now a decision to climb the many steps leading up to the Ruined Castle was agreed upon, some 10 minutes later the Lads found themselves on the outskirts of the town at this advantage point of great views of the river below.

Once in the town centre the lads kept up their nautical theme by enjoying a lunch time meal at Drakes fish and chip restaurant,  just  sat eating and reliving their river boat experience. After lunch the Lads now spent a few moments browsing the few shops before heading off for an ice cream courtesy of Colin , which was most appreciated, these were consumed as the lads returned to the railway station in order to take the train journey back to Leeds.

The weather conditions here in Knaresborough today have been absolutely beautiful , we have enjoyed rather warm sunshine only surpassed by our hilarious river adventure.

Cheers Lads for such a wonderful day .