Afternoon Tea Coniston Hotel
Eleven members met on a dry, but chilly Sunday morning for a scenic journey into the White Rose County. It felt great to be meeting again, despite Covid cases in the community still running high, and especially because of seeing Henry and Bernie who we hadn’t seen for over 2 years. With hoods down and plenty of fresh air, we set off for coffee, a natter and refreshments at Garden Makers near Wigglesworth. A dark cloud and a few spots of threatening rain almost scuppered our ‘tops down’ plan, but being the hardy motorists we are, we made it without a stop, JUST!
Once suitably ‘fed and watered,’ we continued through Rathmell to the A65, through Eldroth, then Austwick village where we encountered a Road Closed sign. A quick change of plan meant we had to forego Helwith Bridge and instead take the steep Buckhaw Brow road into Settle and on to Stainforth for a ‘Convenience’ stop. We had clear views of Penygent and Ingleborough, then the ride over to Halton Ghyll and along the valley to Arncliffe, and thus over to Malham, which lifted everyone’s spirits. The roads were amazingly quiet for a Sunday in the Yorkshire Dales, probably due to the eye-wateringly high prices of fuel at the pumps? Our journey ended at the Coniston Hotel, where two more members joined us for Afternoon tea in The View restaurant. Admittedly rather higher priced than our usual pub Sunday lunch but a treat for the ‘ladies’ following the difficult pandemic
