Archive for May, 2011

Saltaire Arts Trail

{ May 31, 2011 @ 11:00 am } · { Crafts, Culture, Day Trips, Yorkshire places }
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Over the bank holiday weekend it was the annual Saltaire Arts Trail. We could only make it along for the Monday, and despite the rain we were determined to see what was going on. There’s basically two main aspects of the weekend – the ‘arts trail’ and the ‘maker’s market’.

The former involves lots of open houses in the streets around Salts Mill where local artists and photographers have set up mini exhibitions for you to browse and purchase items you like. It’s brilliant being able to firstly see inside these iconic and historic mill worker’s terraces, and secondly seeing how artists display their work in such intimate settings and being able to chat to them about it. The open houses are marked out by festoons of red bunting outside, and we chose to take pot luck with the houses we visited instead of following the guidebook, which was really fun. For a list of some of the artists see here.

The latter is a large craft fair held in the village hall featuring local designers & crafters. This is really my cup of tea, being able to find unique handmade items to brighten up your home or to give as gifts. There were the usual suspects of cards, jewellery, cushions and bags but some more unusual pottery and leather items and handmade toys. I was really impressed by the variety and quality and we came away with a lovely haul of goodies including a fantastic giraffe cushion, a butterfly decoration (from Daisy Florence Design), a brooch and some cards. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to make it to the Swirlyarts stall (one of my favourite Folksy sellers) due to toddler tantrums, but you can’t win them all!

There were also some outdoor crafts to join in for the kids including painting, making dream catchers and helping to make some giant tipis out of fabric scraps which were really popular. The only grumble from the day was the lack of places to eat and drink. It was busy, but not as busy as I have seen Saltaire for previous festivals and the cafes were absolutely struggling to keep up with business today. It was very odd, but there were people queuing outside everywhere and staff telling you it was an hour wait to get a sandwich…. this didn’t seem to get any better even by 4pm when we were leaving. Disappointing as we didn’t even manage to get in anywhere for some tea and cake. Luckily some of the stalls were giving away free cupcakes!

Anyway, if this sounds like it’s up your street, make sure you put the date in your diary for next May. In the meantime there’s also the Saltaire Festival in September which is similar to look forward to.

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Pickles & Potter – taking over the city centre!

{ May 30, 2011 @ 6:12 pm } · { Cafes & Coffee shops, Specialty Food Emporia, Yorkshire places }
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Attention all fans of independent food retailers in Leeds – just a quick post about the new & fabulous Pickles & Potter Deli which opened last week. It’s on East parade in the city centre and is a spacious deli only – ie. no seating. When I went in it was a busy lunchtime but the staff were really friendly and seemed to be coping very well with the rush despite it being the first week!

On the menu there’s their usual great choice of made to order sandwiches and salads but there’s now hot sandwiches on offer too – it was sticky soy ham the day I was there, which looked very tempting. I decided to have one of my favourites – piri piri chicken on focaccia bread, which is spicy and sweet and the bread is always so fresh and light. There is also a cabinet full of ready made up sandwiches, salad boxes, drinks and cake which is great for if you’re in a rush.

I also had a piece of carrot cake, which was delicious but sadly didn’t survive the journey home terribly well – the frosting totally squished into the paper bag…. Not sure what could be done about that except perhaps trying different packaging like cellophane bags or plastic boxes? Or maybe the answer is to just munch it straight away!

Anyway, it’s a fantastic addition to the city centre! For anyone who works in Leeds, hope you can check it out.

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(Also, see previous posts I’ve written about them here and here.)

Spring on the Waterfront

{ May 25, 2011 @ 11:30 am } · { Culture, Day Trips, Family }
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In honour of my husband’s keen interest in ships and tales of great shipwrecks as he was growing up, we thought it was about time to introduce Millie to the Maritime Museum in Liverpool. Luckily it just so happened that the day we decided to go fell within Liverpool’s ‘Spring on the Waterfront‘ festival. Basically, the festival meant that the Albert Docks were even more bustling and vibrant that usual with street performers in elaborate costumes and people singing sea shanties. There were also loads of tall ships decked out in bunting, on many of which you could go on deck and have a look around which was really exciting.

The Maritime Museum itself was a slight disappointment. Granted it isn’t the most exciting place to take a toddler, but the bits that were aimed at kids were a little delapidated. None the less, it is free – and we enjoyed looking at the first floor exhibitions about the Battle of the Atlantic and the Titanic, Lusitania and Forgotten Empress. I was particularly impressed with the museum restaurant on the top floor – which had lovely views over the docks, high chairs aplenty and very good value afternoon tea for only £7.50.

If you can get over the fact that going to Liverpool is a bit of a trek (1 1/2 hours by car) you can have a cheap cultural day out. Within spitting distance of the Maritime Museum are two more free museums – the Tate Liverpool and the Museum of Liverpool, which looks like an amazing building from the outside and I am keen to go back and check out after it opens on July 19th. The next Waterfront Festival is timed to coincide with the new museum opening (and the centenery of the Liver building) and promises to be a sound and light spectacular where you can  ‘watch the buildings tell their stories’…. Sounds like another good family day out!

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Yorkshire Wildlife Park

{ May 24, 2011 @ 11:30 am } · { Day Trips, Family, Yorkshire places }
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We visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park for the first time last month. I had never heard of it, and indeed it does not seem to be signposted from anywhere until you are about 1 mile away from it! But I came across a video about it here on Visit Yorkshire, which made it sound worth a visit and we were not disappointed.

For anyone who doesn’t know – it’s a ‘walking’ safari park near Doncaster. * Cue jaws dropping * Yes, it really is near Doncaster and there really are loads of animals to see. So be prepared and make sure you have a whole day to spend there.

We managed to spot meerkats, goats, flamingos, wallabies, lemurs, lions, tigers, zebra, ostrich, hunting dogs, birds of prey and probably a few other things I’ve forgotten! You really get a varied experience with the animals from being up close & personal with the smaller animals to feeling so insignificant as you gaze across the ‘African plains’. On the one hand you can walk through the fields with the goats and pet them, help to feed the wallabies with the rangers, and be entertained by the lemurs swinging from ropes and trees. On the other, you can take in the view from Lion country with 3 prides of lions in one direction and vast open space of zebra and ostrich in the other.

The thing that pleased me about the whole thing was that it is not a zoo. There is nothing small or tacky about it. It felt spacious and natural and that a lot of care and thought was going into looking after the animals. I know it is never going to be normal to be able to see a lion in captivity in Yorkshire, but I was genuinely impressed.

There are regular ranger talks and feeding times throughout the day, so you can get involved as much or as little as you like. The bottom line is, put on your comfy shoes and bring a camera and you’ll have a fantastic day. Adults are £12 each and under 3s are free.

N.B – A tip for parents – the site is accessible but a lot of it is gravel paths, which make quite hard going with a pushchair. Probably better for people with kids old enough to walk so you can ditch the pushchair.

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Newby Hall

{ May 23, 2011 @ 11:30 am } · { Day Trips, Family, Yorkshire places }
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I’ve been a bit offline for a couple of months but there has still been a lot going on to write about. I’m now going to play catch up with the posts particularly because we have had some great family days out worth writing about.

The first of these is about Newby Hall – it’s a stately home near Ripon, with extensive grounds, its own garden centre and farm shop – not to mention the miniature railway. I have fond memories of visiting as a child but it’s not somewhere that I’ve heard people mention very often in and around Leeds. It certainly is worth a day trip and only takes about 45 minutes by car.

The things I love about it are it’s grounds – the hall is lovely but the outside space really is fantastic. There is a bit of the old landscaped gardening going on, but much of it is like being in an enchanted woodland. If anyone read the ‘Emma & Grandpa’ books as a child, it is like walking through those woods of bluebells and daffodils. You feel like you can get lost exploring paths and stumbling across hidden benches and gazebos far from the crowds.

When you need to rest your weary legs you can hop on the miniature railway that snakes through the woods and lets you see things from a different point of view. Children & adults love it and people stop to wave every time a train goes past. Millie became frantic every time she heard the whistle and waved until her arm nearly dropped off. A true railway enthusiast from a young age!

For the kids there is also a great adventure playground with forts and swingboats, rope bridges and tyre swings. For the adults, there is a craftily placed ice cream stall nearby to tempt you while little people wear themselves out!

We went for Mother’s day and the atmosphere was fantastic, with families enjoying the fresh air. It costs £8.70 per adult for the gardens and under 4s are free. There is a very decent enclosed picnic area with loads of benches and masses of grass to park you blanket on, so you can keep the cost down and avoid the cafe if you’re on a budget.

If you enjoy getting out and about with the family but are a bit sick of Harewood House & Castle Howard, I’d highly recommend you give Newby Hall a try. Hope you have fun!

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