Booze Moor, Whaw, High Faggergill, Low Faggergill, Hoove and Stang….
….how I love Yorkshire Place names.
This small section from my road atlas covers an area of about 5 square miles (that’s out of the 4,500 square miles which the County of Yorkshire covers):
Yorkshire Place Names 1 ©Philip’s Road Atlas
The dotted line at the top of the map shows the border between the counties of Yorkshire and Durham.
This week we spent a whole day driving (meandering) the 60 or so miles from Lancashire, through the Yorkshire Dales en route to Barnard Castle in County Durham.
We’d arranged to meet up for dinner with friends from Scotland who are touring in North-east England . So why not make a two-day holiday out of it? That’s just what we did!
The roads were quiet as the tourist season doesn’t appear to have gotten into full swing yet. And the sun was shining. Perfect!
This short section of our route is pretty representative of the drive:
After a steep climb over Turf Moor, we crossed the Arkle Beck by means of a narrow, little bridge. Then downhill with Seal Houses Moor on our left and Booze Moor on our right we came to the brow of the hill at Stang Top where we saw this sign:
Land of the Prince Bishops ©HelenBushe
What on earth are Prince Bishops?
I’d never heard of them either!
Prince Bishops in England date back to the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, when William from Normandy in France killed King Harold and assumed the English throne.
Durham’s political importance lay in the fact that it was a buffer state between England and Scotland. After two unsuccessful attempts to send an earl to govern this border region, the English king came up with the solution of giving the bishop of Durham secular powers, and therefore the responsibility for protecting English interests, in return for allegiance. – Durham World Heritage Site
From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England’s northern frontier. –Durham World Heritage Site
Once we were into County Durham it was a short drive to the town of Barnard Castle.
We had time for a short visit to the 12th Century castle before checking into our accommodation which was a (haunted) 17th Century inn.
We were only away from home from 10.00 am on Thursday to 6.00 pm on Friday. It is as amazing as much as it is tiring how much we can pack into 32 hours – and how many blog posts might come out of it too.
Barnard Castle 1 ©HelenBushe
Barnard Castle 2 ©HelenBushe
Barnard Castle 3 ©HelenBushe
Barnard Castle 4 ©HelenBushe
Barnard Castle 5 ©HelenBushe
Barnard Castle 6 ©HelenBushe
There will be more posts about this mini-trip, but that’s enough for today!
Welcome to Barnard Castle ©SWH
15 Comments
bushboy · 9 May 2017 at 14:19
Just love the place names and the wonderful photos Helen
Laurie Graves · 8 May 2017 at 13:19
Love this post! Can’t wait for more. And, oh, those names!
HMB · 8 May 2017 at 18:41
Thanks Laurie. I’m delighted you enjoyed it. Must post about the village of Crackpot! I’ll ping back to you when I do !
Laurie Graves · 9 May 2017 at 13:59
Crackpot! Oh, my God. When I told my husband, Clif, he said, “Let’s move there.”
paulfraser11 · 7 May 2017 at 19:35
I love your pictures Helen, great perspective on each and the background information you give is so good. 🙂
HMB · 7 May 2017 at 19:41
Thank you Paul. I like doing a bit of research when I’m posting. It lets me enjoy the places I visit even more. I’m pleased you’ve enjoyed reading it
Hugh's Views and News · 7 May 2017 at 12:09
Did you encounter anything sinister in the haunted Inn? I visited Barnard Castle many years ago, but somehow failed to visit the castle. A lovely part of the world, though, Helen.
HMB · 7 May 2017 at 15:59
Only creaky floor boards, rattling teacups and a wardrobe with flapping doors . Enough!
Hugh's Views and News · 7 May 2017 at 16:14
Sounds a bit like last night’s episode of Doctor Who. It was very creepy.
Kim Richardson · 7 May 2017 at 01:11
How wonderful are those ruins! And your photos, as always, as lovely.
HMB · 7 May 2017 at 16:00
Thank you Kim. We were so lucky to get blue skies
Joanne Sisco · 6 May 2017 at 21:29
A road trip that discovers Prince Bishops, castles, and a haunted 17th century inn. Sounds pretty amazing to me!!
HMB · 6 May 2017 at 21:35
It was a great trip Joanne. We were in Room 6 in the inn. It’s room 7 where all the paranormal activity has been recorded. We did have creaky floorboards that rattled the teacups on the tray and an old wardrobe with doors that kept swinging open by themselves.
Joanne Sisco · 7 May 2017 at 12:55
You would have been disappointed if there had been absolutely nothing unusual 🙂
HMB · 7 May 2017 at 15:58
Absolutely. And it didn’t cost a penny more