Day 8

Day 8 Sutton on Derwent to Otley

A day of glorious sunshine and lots of impromptu visits & chance meetings. Called in to see Ian & Vivienne from 'Colour Options' printers who have always been very helpful to & supportive of the foundation.

I was just about to by-pass the centre of York since, although Walter has spent quite some time as a tourist in the city, I knew it like the back of my hand and I thought that my time would be better spent on the road to Wetherby. I'd just got over the Millenium Bridge & heading out to Acomb, when a phone call from Andrea from 'Lollipop', a social group for hearing impaired young people, had me back tracking to Bootham to discuss arrangements for an outing & to have a cup of tea. Phew! Saved from myself. It really wouldn't have been on to have had yet another day when I deviated from the original route.

Got the first views of the White Horse at Kilburn through the haze as I approached Wetherby and really felt I was making progress. Harvest was in full swing & I was back in summer.

Stopped to take in the view over Wharfedale & have a slug of coffee from my flask at the 'Travellers' Rest' at East Keswick. Walter Wilkinson mentions stopping there but most pubs nowadays would be unrecognisable to him. Until very recently, my cousin's daughter & partner, had been doing a great job of running the premises as a really high quality pub & restaurant. Sadly, they'd just that week given up. Such is the trade at present. By chance, Steve called in to collect a few things from the closed building when I was there - it was good to see him but also sad.

It was downhill all the way from Harewood & then along the flat to Otley. Photographed the cat in front of the hydrangeas just as we loaded the bike into the car. It seemed a perfect 'end of day' image.

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