Steve And Tracey's Travel And Food Blog.: October 2015

Monday, 19 October 2015

Leeds O2 Editors Gig And Bolton Abbey Estate...Saturday 17th And Sunday 18th October 2015.

At long last the day had arrived that both Trace and myself had been waiting months for,to see our favourite band,Editors who were playing at the Leeds O2 Academy.
After travelling over to Leeds we booked into the Cornmill Lodge Hotel which is in Pudsey in the suburbs of Leeds,dropped our luggage off in our room and then headed into the city centre.
When we visit Leeds we always go to have something to eat at Cabana,this is a Brasilian resteraunt located in the Trinity Kitchen area in the city centre.The food is amazing and i have included a few photos with this post to illustrate how good it is.We had three courses each and for starter i had Spicy Chicken Wings cooked in the fiery Malaguata chilli sauce and Trace had Chargrilled Pitta with Chimichurri Dip,both were very nice.For our mains we had the same dish,the very nice Spicy Malagueta Chicken,but Trace had the Sweet Potatoe Fries and i had normal French Fries and it was also served with the refreshing in house Homeslaw.For our final course we both decided to have ice ceam sundaes,Trace had Brasilian Overload which contained Caramel Choc Chip icecream,White Chocolate 'Cupuacu' Icecreams with 'Brigadeiro' chocolate truffles and dulce de leite caramel sauce.I had Peanut Butter and Oreos,which was made from frozen Peanut Butter,frozen yoghurt sundae with crushed Oreos and dulce de leite caramel sauce.This along with three cokes came to a very reasonable £54.
After enjoying our very lovely meal we walked over to the O2 academy and waited in anticipation for the gig.
The support band,Twilight Sad were excellent and were a similar sound to Editors and a band i had never heard of,but have now and will be buying some of their back catalogue in the future.
Editors came on and played an amazing set and the 90 minutes they were on stage flew by,but it was great to see them live again....what a great night!!.
Next morning saw us having a very nice breakfast before heading over to the stunning Bolton Abbey Estate just inside the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park.
On arrival,the weather was wet to start with,but the stunning autumnal colours from the trees and lovely riverine scenery certainly made up for it.
It was quite good for birds on our visit today and to be fair usually is,with our highlights today consisting of a single Brambling,30 Redwing,3 Goosander,Dipper and a Kingfisher which we saw catch a fish along with all the usual woodland birds which gave some lovely views.
After enjoying this fantastic walk,we travelled over the short distance to nearby Bolton Priory and after parking and enjoying some nice lunch in the Tea Cottage we explored the Priory ruins and took loads more photos of this nice area.
Sadly it was getting late and unfortunately it was time to travel home,but what a cracking weekend away again,i'm a very lucky boy.

Malagueta Chicken Wings Starter.

Chargrilled Pitta with Chimichurri Dip Starter.

Malagueta Chicken,with Roasted Red Peppers,Main Course.

Sweet Potatoe Fries,French Fries And Homeslaw Sides.

Peanut Butter Sundae with Crushed Oreos.

Brazilian Overload,Sundae.

Editors.

The Stridd,Stridd Woods SSSI.

The River Wharf,Stridd Woods SSSI.

Trace At Bolton Priory.

Priory ruins,Bolton Priory.

Some of the amazing stained glass windows,Bolton Priory.

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Staithes To Runswick Bay,A Lovely Coastal Walk,Sunday October 4th October 2015.

After a good forecast for the day today,despite the chance of mist or cloud,Trace and myself planned to do the coastal path between the lovely seaside village of Staithes and the equally picturesque Runswick Bay.
After parking at the Bank Top car park in Staithes(At the top of the village,situated as you drive in to the village on the right hand side of the road),unfortunately i cannot find a grid ref or GPS marker for this car park,but it can be easily found.We used one of the pathfinder guides again and OS map OL27.
The car parking costs £5 for 24 hours,which is what we chose,but there are other options,it depends on how long it takes you to take part in the walk and visiting this lovely seaside town.
After getting our boots on,we walked down the hill into the village and spent some time taking a few photos before deciding to have a breakfast to start the day at the lovely Endeavour Kitchen.
This excellent B&B come restaurant was really quaint inside and the food was absolutely brilliant.The breakfast on offer is £9.95 and this includes fresh orange juice,cereal,the choice of full english fry up,Eggs Benedict or a vegetarian option followed by toast and tea or coffee.I chose to have the Eggs Benedict and Trace plumped for the Full English.The food was very nicely presented and was of a very high standard.
After enjoying this amazing breakfast and being absolutely stuffed afterwards we began the walk.
Our starting point was near to the Cod And Lobster pub were we accessed the cliff top path.Basically you follow the Cleveland way all along the cliff top until you reach Runswick Bay.The scenery along here is breathtaking,with the rugged,high cliffs and fantastic views out to sea and takes in several areas along the way which included Old Nab and Port Mulgrave.The path is a bit undulating in places and has a few steep parts,but the majority is on flat ground.
As always on my walks with Trace,i always have one eye on what birds are about and today was no exception,with us seeing a flock of south bound Pink-footed Geese,which numbered 53,a couple of Chiffchaff,3 Coal Tit and a couple of Grey Wagtail.
After eventually arriving at the lovely Runswick Bay,a first for us both,we enjoyed tea and cake/icecream at the very nice Sandside tea rooms overlooking the bay.
Full of tea and cake and after taking loads of photos we began the return leg back to Staithes,retracing our footsteps along the same coastal pathway.
In total we walked about 11.5 miles during the day and it took us about 5 hours plus stops,a very enjoyable day.
The following are some of the highlights taken during our day.

Staithes.

Inside the Endeavour Kitchen and B&B.

Old Nab.

Cliff Top scenery at Old Nab.

Runswick Bay.

Grey Wagtail,Runswick Bay.

Orange Cake at the Sandside Tea Rooms.

Staithes from the coastal path.

Staithes.

Thursday, 1 October 2015

Win Hill Walk And Ladybower Inn,Sunday 27th September 2015.

With the prospect of a good forecast today and a full day to ourselves,Trace and myself decided to partake in a 11.5 mile walk in the beautiful Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park taking in Win Hill,Hope Cross and Ladybower Reservoir.
After a bit of a nightmare getting through Sheffield due to the Great Yorkshire Run and many diversions,we eventually arrived at our starting point,Heatherdene car park(Post Code-S33 0AZ or GPS Waymarker point - SK 202 858)beside Ladybower Reservoir.All day parking cost only £2.50,which i thought was brilliant value and we used a book from the Pathfinder Guides series and O/s map OL1 to complete the walk.
At first we thought we had made a mistake with the weather,with the area blanketed in thick fog and fairly cool,but later on things improved dramatically.
The first section of the walk up to Win Hill itself is quite long and fairly steep in places,but the higher we got towards the hill,the more the views became more and more impressive.An added element to the superb views,was the wisps of low cloud and mist in the valley below,what an impressive area.
As we took a breather and chatted to some fellow walkers and were visited by some nosey local sheep a flock of 32 Pink-footed Geese passed by high south on their way to their wintering grounds in Lincolnshire or Norfolk,a nice sight and sound to see and hear.
After Win hill itself,the rest of the walk was all easy going and mostly down hill and provided more nice views towards Lose Hill,Mam Tor and the lovely valley of Edale.We also came across a few more welcome wildlife and bird sightings which included Crossbills,2 Common Buzzard and Buff Tip and Garden Tiger Caterpillars.
We eventually made our way to the final leg of the walk alongside the River Ashop and Ladybower Reservoir itself,with more lovely scenery along the banks and arrived back at Heatherdene car park,slightly tired,but what an enjoyable walk with some stunning scenery to boot.
After our lovely walk we made our way to the local Ladybower Inn,only a stones throw from Heatherdene for some well earned food.
Beware if visiting in nice weather,as this pub is always busy and the parking can be limited at times,but the food is worth persevering for as it is excellent.
Todays meal consisted of two courses each and for mains Trace had Slow Roasted Belly Pork with Sauteed Cabbage And Onion,Sage And Onion Mash And Cider Jus and i went for a traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding with Parsnips,Cabbage,Carrots,Roast and Boiled Potatoes,lovely it was too.For sweet Tracey had Lemon and Lavender Pannacotta,with Raspberries and Lavender biscuits and i had Bakewell Pudding and Custard.This along with two large cokes came to a very reasonable £36.00,which for the standard of food was very good value.After enjoying this cracking meal we made our way home back to North Lincolnshire,after another superb day out.