Long vacation in England

[Alan]

The only place we've ever wanted to go back and live is a market town in N. Yorks where we spent 6 years, '79 to '85, and where both of our children were born. In fact, although we did not know it at the time, I have direct ancestors that lived here all the way back in the 1700's. Our kid's 9 x Great Grandad was baptized in the same church they were. I've included a photo showing the church, through an arch of the 13th century Priory, plus a shot of the main street and one from the hills directly behind our house, which you can walk to in an hour.

 

[Alan]

Renting a house

Normally when we go on long vacations we like to rent a furnished house, but since we were fixed on staying in Guisborough we couldn't find a furnished one so we have leased a house for 6 months that is unfurnished.

On arrival we rented a car for a week to make the moving in process go much easier, but we fully intend to manage without a car over the next 6 or 7 months, renting only when we have visitors to ferry around etc.

Family and friends have been brilliant loaning us stuff for our stay. TV, coffee and kitchen tables. Dining chairs, DVD player, mini hi-fi, pots and pans etc. We've bought a very nice 3 piece 'leather' sectional sofa and 2 easy chairs for a total of £156 from charity shops, plus computer desk (£15) and various small items. The only new items we've bought are beds and mattresses, and this was the largest expense. 2 double beds, 1 single bed plus mattresses. Our mattress is part memory foam and part springs and is extremely comfortable (I have a dicky back and DW has bursitis in the hips so we need good mattresses). The total cost of the beds and mattresses was £654 including delivery but well worth it to us.

The house is very modern, 3 bed detached, on a very quiet street at the back of the development at the foot of the hills that lead up onto Gisborough Moor. I've attached a view from the front and back. Rent is £625/month, 6 month minimum lease although we expect to stay for 7 months.

 

[nun]

Alan, you're doing my head in with the pictures looking down Westgate. My mum will be doing her shopping there at the Thursday market!

 

[Alan]

Walking up hills

As we discovered in Colorado last year, there is no exercise that prepares you better for walking up hills than walking up hills. DW quit on me yesterday saying that no matter how good the weather is, she needed a day off. The weather has been so good since we settled into the house that we have taken hikes into the hills and over the moors of between 5 and 11 miles for 4 days on the trot. Add onto that the fact that the town center is 2.2 miles away and the walk back loaded with shopping is uphill. There is a local set of shops only 10 minutes walk away which is great for most of our daily needs.

Here are a few photos from some of the walks we have done already. We also plan to walk to places much farther away, including on the coast and get the bus back.

 

[Alan]

Alan, you're doing my head in with the pictures looking down Westgate. My mum will be doing her shopping there at the Thursday market!

It was Thursday yesterday and we split up to do our shopping. Dw said the place was absolutely packed and she was sure she was going to injure someone as she moved around with a full backpack plus carrying a mop and bird feeder Market days are very busy here as you know.

 

[Purron]

Beautiful pictures Alan. Looking at the moors and hills had me visualizing Heathcliff and Catherine walking hand in hand.

 

[chris2008]

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[nun]

Beautiful pictures Alan. Looking at the moors and hills had me visualizing Heathcliff and Catherine walking hand in hand.

Brontes lived farther south and west, heck Haworth is almost in Lancashire.

 

[simple girl]

Enjoying this thread and hearing how you set yourselves up in the leased apartment. What a great adventure!

 

[W2R]

What a beautiful place in which to have ancestral roots. Thanks for starting the thread so that we can enjoy your stay as well.

 

[nun]

Normally when we go on long vacations we like to rent a furnished house, but since we were fixed on staying in Guisborough we couldn't find a furnished one so we have leased a house for 6 months that is unfurnished.

On arrival we rented a car for a week to make the moving in process go much easier, but we fully intend to manage without a car over the next 6 or 7 months, renting only when we have visitors to ferry around etc.

Family and friends have been brilliant loaning us stuff for our stay. TV, coffee and kitchen tables. Dining chairs, DVD player, mini hi-fi, pots and pans etc. We've bought a very nice 3 piece 'leather' sectional sofa and 2 easy chairs for a total of £156 from charity shops, plus computer desk (£15) and various small items. The only new items we've bought are beds and mattresses, and this was the largest expense. 2 double beds, 1 single bed plus mattresses. Our mattress is part memory foam and part springs and is extremely comfortable (I have a dicky back and DW has bursitis in the hips so we need good mattresses). The total cost of the beds and mattresses was £654 including delivery but well worth it to us.

The house is very modern, 3 bed detached, on a very quiet street at the back of the development at the foot of the hills that lead up onto Gisborough Moor. I've attached a view from the front and back. Rent is £625/month, 6 month minimum lease although we expect to stay for 7 months.

Alan, I'm reading this carefully as there's some good numbers for my planned return to North Yorks. Did you use rightmove.co.uk to find the house? I'm thinking about Great Ayton or Stokesley. I left 25 years ago and came to the US with 2 suitcases. It will be an adventure to sell up in the states and do the return trip......although I'll be bringing a half a shipping container of stuff back.

This place is a bit big for me, but it's gorgeous

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32280026.html

This is closer to what I'm looking at.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31435430.html

 

[Alan]

Beautiful pictures Alan. Looking at the moors and hills had me visualizing Heathcliff and Catherine walking hand in hand.

The countryside is very similar to "Bronte country". We went to college in Bradford, West Yorks, and loved the whole area. My final year project was using a radar station situated on top of the moor right close to Haworth an I used to spend every Wednesday afternoon up there.

Alan, I'm reading this carefully as there's some good numbers for my planned return to North Yorks. Did you use rightmove.co.uk to find the house? I'm thinking about Great Ayton or Stokesley. I left 25 years ago and came to the US with 2 suitcases. It will be an adventure to sell up in the states and do the return trip......although I'll be bringing a half a shipping container of stuff back.

This place is a bit big for me, but it's gorgeous

6 bedroom detached house for sale in Levenside, Stokesley, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, TS9

This is closer to what I'm looking at.

3 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in West Green, Stokesley, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS9

Rightmove is the main website we used to find houses in the area. Great Ayton and Stokesley are still as beautiful as ever so I don't think you'd go wrong there. We used to have friends who lived for many years in Hutton Rudby and we had a little drive through there as well last week before we turned in the hire car - it hasn't changed either.

As you know, the nice thing about the area is that the National Park still has the same boundaries, so 30 years on there has been no urban creep at all. My sister came for a visit a few days and noted the same thing, that it is exactly as she remembered.

You are going to have a great time planning and moving here.

 

[ladypatriot]

Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures, since DH and I are planning to tour GB next year. We had planned to spend two weeks there, but I'm starting to think we may need more time. Hiking the moors in "Bronte country"....<sigh> I think I felt the green envy monster just bite my a**.

LadyPatriot

 

[Alan]

Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures, since DH and I are planning to tour GB next year. We had planned to spend two weeks there, but I'm starting to think we may need more time. Hiking the moors in "Bronte country"....<sigh> I think I felt the green envy monster just bite my a**.

LadyPatriot

A couple of days ago we set off from the house at ~9:30 and headed for the village of Commondale. As usual the grouse would get the heart pounding every now and then when they would stay hidden in the heather until you were alongside them and then burst loudly into the air.

It feels like you are on top of the world as you stride across following the little paths that cut through the heather. Being so early in the year we lost the path a couple of times because of peaty bogs and were pleased to have our hand held GPS to indicate the paths and point us in the right direction. In the old days I prided myself on my ability to navigate using an Ordnance Survey map and a Silva compass. Today I have no shame in using an Ordnance Survey map and our new GPS that we got for Christmas - great fun playing with a new toy.

We only saw one other person, a lone male walker, in his 60's, who overtook us but did stop to chat. He pointed out a small diversion to visit a small monument in the middle of the heather to the fallen men of WWI from Commondale, and also recommended the guiness at the pub in Commondale. When we got there he was sitting outside and had told the landlord we were close behind as he was about to close the pub and go pigeon shooting. The landlord had kindly waited and as soon as he'd served us, he picked up his shotgun, locked up and strode off with his happy, bouncy, springer spaniel leading the way.

The distance was 5.5 miles and it had taken us 2.5 hours. An hour later, fed and watered, we walked back completing a very nice walk.

Today we walked into town and investigated the local gym and the local swimming pool as there will be plenty of days to come when the weather won't be so cooperative for us to get our daily exercise by walking. The pool looks our best bet, and is on the other side of town, so we'll get in a 3 mile walk as well as a swim when we go.

 

[Isadora]

You are doing what I did after 40 years when I returned to Hungary. Enjoy even the tedious details - it makes you feel able.

Alan, I'm reading this carefully as there's some good numbers for my planned return to North Yorks. Did you use rightmove.co.uk to find the house? I'm thinking about Great Ayton or Stokesley. I left 25 years ago and came to the US with 2 suitcases. It will be an adventure to sell up in the states and do the return trip......although I'll be bringing a half a shipping container of stuff back.

This place is a bit big for me, but it's gorgeous

6 bedroom detached house for sale in Levenside, Stokesley, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, TS9

This is closer to what I'm looking at.

3 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in West Green, Stokesley, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS9

 

[Isadora]

I've heard it said that there is no such thing as "too rich" or "too skinny"
For me, I don't believe there is such thing as a house too big for me. I once house sat for friends with a mansion that had seven bathrooms. It was perfect!

"This place is a bit big for me, but it's gorgeous

6 bedroom detached house for sale in Levenside, Stokesley, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, TS9"

 

[bbbamI]

Ahhhhh.....a long vacation. ....but, wait....from retirement?



Lovely photos and descriptions Alan. I hope y'all continue to have a pleasant stay....

 

[Alan]

Ahhhhh.....a long vacation. ....but, wait....from retirement?

Good point, to which I reply, ummm...,

how about, retirement is vacation is spelled with a capital V

 

[e86s54]

Alan,

Have you tried looking into the church archives? Many of these parishes are making a few bucks making public some of their long held data.

One near Ipswich has all kinds of very interesting stuff on my family. The best one I found was a letter my great grandmother (4 gens back) wrote to her mother about her daughter's wedding day.

Here's an excerpt...
"George (father of the bride) gave a gallon of beer to every family in the parish and being afraid of rain he had a tarpaulin stretched in the avenue and the polls ornamented with evergreens. " Sounds like he was a nice guy!

Might be a bit of fun to it...

 

[Alan]

Alan,

Have you tried looking into the church archives? Many of these parishes are making a few bucks making public some of their long held data.

One near Ipswich has all kinds of very interesting stuff on my family. The best one I found was a letter my great grandmother (4 gens back) wrote to her mother about her daughter's wedding day.

Here's an excerpt...
"George (father of the bride) gave a gallon of beer to every family in the parish and being afraid of rain he had a tarpaulin stretched in the avenue and the polls ornamented with evergreens. " Sounds like he was a nice guy!

Might be a bit of fun to it...

Oh yeah, DW is a real expert in Genealogy, and I could spend hours telling you about the interesting stuff she has found out on both our families.

Apart from church records she has recovered all sorts of stuff from wills, census returns, military records etc. She loves getting into all the social aspects of the times, what folks did, how they came to be where they were etc. For example, she not only knows that my 8 x great grandfather was baptized here in Guisborough in the 18th century she also knew that he was a stone mason and made some of the headstones in the church here.

While we were in England last year we visited the archives at Kew (she's been there before) so she could find out more about one of her direct relatives who was a drummer in Wellington's army at the battle of Waterloo. She found his muster records for his army career, and it was interesting to see that drummers were paid a penny a month more than regular privates, probably due to the higher skill level and training required.

 

[Avalon]

Nice to see you've gotten settled in Alan. Have you ever made the coast to coast hike? It runs west to east starting at St. Bees and ends at Robin Hoods Bay.

http://www.lehigh.edu/~wwt1/C2C/ukmap.html

 

[Moemg]

Thanks Alan so much for doing this . I love England .

 

[Purron]

I watching Wuthering Heights in your honor tonight Alan. Been on my mind since I saw this thread.

The classic with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon of course

 

[nun]

A couple of days ago we set off from the house at ~9:30 and headed for the village of Commondale. As usual the grouse would get the heart pounding every now and then when they would stay hidden in the heather until you were alongside them and then burst loudly into the air.

It feels like you are on top of the world as you stride across following the little paths that cut through the heather. Being so early in the year we lost the path a couple of times because of peaty bogs and were pleased to have our hand held GPS to indicate the paths and point us in the right direction. In the old days I prided myself on my ability to navigate using an Ordnance Survey map and a Silva compass. Today I have no shame in using an Ordnance Survey map and our new GPS that we got for Christmas - great fun playing with a new toy.

We only saw one other person, a lone male walker, in his 60's, who overtook us but did stop to chat. He pointed out a small diversion to visit a small monument in the middle of the heather to the fallen men of WWI from Commondale, and also recommended the guiness at the pub in Commondale. When we got there he was sitting outside and had told the landlord we were close behind as he was about to close the pub and go pigeon shooting. The landlord had kindly waited and as soon as he'd served us, he picked up his shotgun, locked up and strode off with his happy, bouncy, springer spaniel leading the way.

The distance was 5.5 miles and it had taken us 2.5 hours. An hour later, fed and watered, we walked back completing a very nice walk.

Today we walked into town and investigated the local gym and the local swimming pool as there will be plenty of days to come when the weather won't be so cooperative for us to get our daily exercise by walking. The pool looks our best bet, and is on the other side of town, so we'll get in a 3 mile walk as well as a swim when we go.

Alan here are a couple of pictures I took May 2009. I rode my bike from London to Middlesbrough and on the final day rode from Malton, through Kirbymoorside, Hutton-le-Hole, Blakey Rigg (stopped for lunch and a pint) Westerdale and past Roseberry Topping.

 

[nun]

I watching Wuthering Heights in your honor tonight Alan. Been on my mind since I saw this thread.

The classic with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon of course

It's the only version. Classic gothic, romantc melodrama, with a few ghosts for good measure