Incredibly sunny day today, though still very chilly. Headed out this morning to the home and museum of Jim Wright, who was the real James Herriot, the name he used in his books about his life as a vet in the North Yorkshire dales. It was only about a mile from my hotel, so an easy drive. I did not trust my car GPS this morning, however, so I listened to both it and my cell phone GPS, just in case. My biggest problem was figuring out how to use the park and pay machine at the nearby car park, but a friendly lady helped me figure it out.
So, below is the real house that Jim Wright lived in and managed his vet practice from i n the town of Thirsk.
This is the tiny room where he treated small animals such as dogs and cats.
Even though his home was in town, there were fields behind it and a barn where he occasionally treated larger animals.
And the church down the street where he was married.
After the museum, I headed to the local Super Tesco store and picked up groceries for the week. It took me quite a while because things were not organized exactly how I was used to finding them. Got some frozen meals, milk, OJ, fruit, eggs, butter, bread, some chicken thighs, and other stuff for 3-4 days. I can get more things on Monday at the local Co-Op in Castleton, which is the village closest to Danby. Danby does not have any stores, but Castleton is only a couple of miles away.
Then, onward to Danby and the cottage I have rented for the week at Church House Farm. Below is a typical country road in North Yorkshire. Doing a good job of driving on the left, but I do wish that the roads were just a bit wider. There was a lot of traffic today because it was a national holiday and part of the four-day weekend of celebration for the queen's Platinum Jubilee--think a combination of the 4th of July and Labor Day Weekend. No school for yesterday and today meant a lot of families were taking long weekend trips. Also, there were a lot of bike riders out on back roads. I did not take any photos of them because it was difficult enough to avoid cars coming the opposite way. A sunny day is so unusual here that it would have brought out visitors even without the holiday.
I was happy that this country road took me through the middle of the North Yorkshire Moors. I was happy to be here on a sunny day because when I was here four years ago, it was so foggy I could not see them.
Unfortunately, no one told the sheep that this was not a good idea to be out grazing along the highway because of the traffic. I pulled over and took some photos, but the ewes did not like me being too close to their lambs, so they moved away.
The green boxes you can see on the close right and far left down this road are filled with salt and sand for freezing weather.
The moors are really unique. They are not a natural phenomenon, but were created by centuries of sheep eating the trees and young shrubs that originally grew there. And if you have read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, know that the moors they wrote about looked very much like these.
There were a lot of closed roads, and I ended up going a long way out of my way to get to my destination because of the various "diversions," I am getting very close to Church House Farm.
And here it is! This is not a driveway, by the way, it is typical for these small country roads to go directly through a farmyard. It does dead end at another farm just a few hundred yards away, however.
The cottage I am staying at is the third door from the left. You can see my blue car parked in front of it. It has a downstairs living area, full kitchen, and upstairs bedroom and bathroom.
But most unique is that this is the farm where my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Carter, put down as his "abode" on the marriage information he gave the reverend at the church where he and his wife, Mary Easton, were married. They were both very poor, but his occupation was listed as "husbandman," which means he cared for animals. Neither could sign their names, so they made their mark, and the minister wrote the names out. They had one child the year after they married and then immigrated to Canada soon afterwards. Their granddaughter born in Canada was my grandmother! Amazing.
I'll post more photos of the cottage I am staying in tomorrow. Also, I am planning to take photos of all of the gravestones in the nearby church, starting tomorrow before it rains. Their names will not be listed because they died in Canada, but I hope to find graves of their parents and siblings, as well as older generations of their families. And it is such a beautiful place here!!
Less walking today--only 5,473 steps and 2.14 miles.
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