Glorious sunny day. Decided to go to Ilton just outside of Masham to visit a new cafe, which is set in beautiful countryside next to the Druid's Temple - a stone circle folly built by workers from the Swinton Estate in 1820 to provide work for local labourers.

The licensed cafe forms part of a new venture, the Bivouac, which aims to make camping fun, a little bit glamourous and eco-friendly with its yurt tents and timber shacks- but is also open to walkers and the general public from 9am to 6pm and until 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays.


It is possible to park your car in the Bivouac car-park, go for a walk and then return for some much needed refreshment. We had coffee, cake and ice-cream and sat outside admiring the splendid views. 


It was extremely peaceful and we happily watched the swifts swoop and dive over the adjoining fields.


En route to the Bivouac cafe we noticed that the public footpath signs round and abouts had been renewed and we too renewed our vow to get our walking boots on and explore the beautiful countryside that is right on our doorstep!

Beer was the toast of choice in Masham when celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Not because the folks of Masham don't like a fine champagne but because they had their very own 'Royal Salute'.


Royal Salute is a full-bodied pale ale, which has been brewed specially by Theakstons to celebrate Her Majesty's sixty years on the throne. Its launch also coincides with the brewery celebrating its 185th anniversary and residents were invited along to take part in the celebrations over the Jubilee weekend with a glass on the house.


If you want to try their latest offering as well as sample some of their more established favourites then pop along to The Black Bull in Paradise - the cosy bar at their Masham visitor centre - and enjoy a tipple or two. The visitor centre also runs daily tours.

Now is an excellent time to get out and about and what better way to do it than by shanks' pony! The Yorkshire Dales are well known for their stunning scenery and great walking country. Masham has a host of lovely walks right on its doorstep and there really is something for everyone. I thought I would highlight The Ripon Rowel Walk - a circular walk which passes through Masham, and surrounding  villages as well as some historic local points of interest. 
The walk is some 50 miles in total and traverses moorland, woodland, green lanes and field and river paths. You may be pleased to know that the walk is made up of smaller distinct stages as well as some smaller circular walks, which branch off from these so no need to do it all in one go! 
Points of interest close to Masham, include the Druid's Temple at Ilton and Hackfall Woods. The temple is a circle of stones, a Victorian folly which was dreamt up by the landowner to give local men much-needed work at the time and which enjoys dramatic views of nearby Leighton Reservoir. Hackfall Woods, which was a pleasure garden for the Victorians, and which features stone follies, grottos, waterfalls and a fountain has been restored in recent years and is well worth a visit in its own right. Turner was so impressed by the landscape there he immortalised it in a painting. William Wordsworth also mentioned Hackfall in his guide for tourists.

Mock ruin at Hackfall

Druid's Temple, Ilton

A handy A5 size book/booklet of the walk has been produced by Les Taylor of the Ripon Group Ramblers Association and this can be purchased from the Masham Community Office in Masham's Little Market Place. The first stage of the walk, which starts in Ripon and passes the 14th century Markenfield Hall complete with moat and black swans, can also be read about on a walking enthusiast's website - terrysmithphotowalks.co.uk. For more details about Hackfall Woods and walks visit www.hackfall.org.uk

We've retained our Gold Award which is great news for us and our guests as well as being very appropriate for this Olympic Year! The cottage was found to be squeaky clean scoring the maximum 100% for cleanliness, which makes all the hard-work worthwhile. The Quality in Tourism inspector stated that the cottage was: 
"A traditional character cottage, which continues to provide a clean, comfortable and well-presented standard of accommodation in a popular village location enjoying close access routes to surrounding attractions." 

VisitEngland's unique Gold and Silver awards are given in recognition of exceptional quality within a property's star rating.

Quality in tourism annual inspection/assessment today so nerves were slightly frayed however I need not have worried as the assessor was very nice and put me at my ease. Looks as though we have retained our Gold Award but await written confirmation of this - so feeling very positive. Our new windows do look good and the quality assessor liked the feel of our new mattress and also our colourful bedlinen. She also said the cottage felt very homely.


continuing on the theme of local food, I finally got myself along to the Bedale Community Bakery. This is a new venture at Bedale Station - one of the stops on the wonderful Wensleydale Railway - just a ten minute drive from Masham. The breads on offer were fabulous - a large poppy seed round loaf, a dark brown sourdough loaf, a nutty walnut bread and a moist beer bread made with beer from a micro-brewery in Northallerton. There were also focaccia "pizza" slices with a sumptuous topping of caramelised onion, as well as flapjack, scones and dark chocolate brownies on offer as well as white and wholemeal loaves and lovely soft individual bread rolls. Rosemary and Lucy, who work at the bakery, which is open Tuesday to Saturday 9.30 to 3.30pm, told me that business was good and there were planning to introduce bread-making courses. Can't wait...

Attended a very thought-provoking workshop today about what makes Masham and the local area distinctively different and how we could highlight this uniqueness to our visitors. One of the many topics discussed was locally-produced food and this naturally got me thinking about some  of the tasty treats available. Masham sausages from Beaver's Butchers are served up at the famous Betty's tearooms in York, Harrogate, Ilkley and Northallerton. Rosebud Preserves from just up the road at Healey can be found in smart delicatessens up and down the country - their traditional Piccalilli - is our current favourite but it was Brymor ice-cream that played on my mind the most. So much so that I popped along afterwards to their farm at High Jervaulx to sample one of the 30 flavours on offer - a heavenly tub of blackcherry whim wham!

a view of the ice-cream counter

one of Brymor's gorgeous Guernsey cows

Welcome to Thorpe Cottage's blog!

the plan is to highlight availability and offers at our holiday cottage in the wonderful Wensleydale town of Masham and also to let you know what we have been up to at the cottage in terms of keeping it looking spic and span and a relaxing place for you to spend a few days away from it all.
it is also an opportunity to give you a real sense of Masham and what there is to see and experience in and around this great part of Yorkshire.


Enjoy...