Today was my birthday so I enjoyed a cup of tea in bed whilst opening prezzies. Breakfast was much as I remembered it although now it is completely self service whereas on our previous visit some of the breakfast items such as eggs were cooked fresh to order.

After breakfast we walked through misty Harrogate to Valley Gardens then through the Pinewoods to the RHS Harlow Carr.

By the entrance to the pinewoods, I stopped to take a photo of the beautiful autumn trees. A gentleman saw me and asked if Mr C and I would like him to take a photo of us together; he had also seen the photographic scene. After he had kindly taken the photo, we got chatting to him and his wife. They told us of a potential walk near Knaresborough where the trees are spectacular at this time of year.

It was mizzley and misty as we walked but by the time we had arrived at the garden the mist lifted to reveal brilliant sunshine. We enjoyed our early lunch of poached salmon and prawn sandwiches in a window seat in Betty’s where we enjoyed looking at the garden lit up by the sun.

Rather than follow our sandwich with a cake, we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather to enjoy the gardens at their best. The autumnal colours were spectacular. The sun graced us with its presence until we left the gardens through the shop and made a return visit to Betty’s for the cake we had promised ourselves.

The weather had become overcast as we walked back to town, with a lite sprinkling of rain. I had also been rather forgetful after my recent visit to Cardiff and had not recharged my second camera battery! So, part way through the return walk, I had to resort to plan B, my mobile phone camera.

Back in town Mr C took me to the board game shop, Gamers Crusade and bought me an extra birthday present, Kelp, the game that caught my eye the previous day.  Back in the hotel room we weren’t able to crack it open and play it. Although the room was large there was no table to play it on.

Later we dined in the hotel restaurant, The Pickled Sprout. Before dining we had an aperitif in the bar, once again perched on high stools which I found difficult to navigate in a skirt. When it was time to dine, we relocated to more comfortable seating in the restaurant. The lighting was rather dim making it difficult to read the menu (the couple next to us resorted to their mobile phone torches). I chose fish and chips; the fish melted in my mouth but the meal portion was enormous! Mr C chose salmon which was slightly overcooked accompanied by undercooked stringy beans. Perhaps not quite the gourmet experience for a ‘special’ birthday meal.

Before returning to our room we rounded off the evening with a nightcap in the bar where, thankfully, there was room to sit on the more comfortable lower-level seats.

Yasutani Roshi

Take a stroll along the path through The Pinewoods and you become part of a Harrogate tradition which stretches back decades.

A guide of 1891 describes what was then Harlow Moor as the ‘rough moor where furze, gorse and heather abound in profusion’. In 1898, the Corporation bought the land adjacent to the Valley Gardens and began the process of transforming part of the moor into the pure, pine-scented pleasure it is today. The rest was acquired in 1934, and what had been a large market garden was turned into a formal pine tree plantation soon afterwards.

The area became particularly popular amongst Edwardians, with ladies, gentleman and children alike striding out to take the air. It has remained a favourite to this day.

Now, the 75 acres of pinewoods are a living link of wonderful wildlife between the Valley Gardens of Low Harrogate and the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens at Harlow Carr.

The pines themselves are Scots pines. You will also see other species of tree including larch, beech, oak, ash, sycamore, birch, holly, rowan and hawthorn. There is eve a Rotary Centenary Woodland to explore.*

*From a signboard at the entrance to the woodlands

Japanese gardens have been built in Japan since the 8th Century. They were inspired by Chinese landscape painting and the spirit of nature.

Japan opened to global trade in the 19th Century followed by a greater interest in Japanese culture.

A Japanese Garden was created here in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens by 1930. Over the decades the Japanese character of the garden declined, leaving only a few Japanese maples, and was virtually forgotten.

Restoration work began in 2017 to bring the heritage of the garden alive again and finished in 2018.

The garden is called ‘Shijima’ the Japanese word for serenity and stillness. *

*from a signboard next to the garden

Valley Gardens, a grade II listed garden and the adjacent Pinewoods in the highly attractive North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate. Valley Gardens comprise about 17 acres of park, woodland, and beautiful floral displays.

It is believed that a greater number of mineral springs come to the surface in Valley Gardens than in any other known location on earth. Thirty-six of Harrogate’s eighty-eight mineral wells are found within the area of the gardens.

The gardens were developed as an attractive walk for visitors to the Spa town, part of their health regime between taking the waters, and as a means of access to the mineral springs of Bogs Field.

Valley Gardens include attractive historic buildings, such as the handsome sun pavilion with its Art Deco glass dome and the colonnades. The floral displays at Valley Gardens are truly spectacular and include a magnificent dahlia garden and colourful seasonal bedding displays that are regularly re-planted throughout the year. The Cherub Fountain was created by a young Australian called John Robinson and was installed in the centre of the gardens on the 23 May 1972.

I awoke after a cosy and comfortable nights sleep and had to remind Mr C that it was my birthday, he had taken control of my cards and presents and they were tardy in being given.

We descended to the dining room for breakfast. It seemed rather quiet and we found out that breakfast was in the Sky Lounge on the 5th floor, something they forgot to mention when we booked in. We eventually arrived in the breakfast room to find the room and breakfast choices were perfect, partly self service but with the cooked food being waiter served from the counter. We even had a window seat looking out over Harrogate, causing us to linger over breakfast.

Comfortably replete, we walked to Valley Gardens. Mr C needed to dial in to an office conference so he chose a suitable bench whilst I explored the gardens. I ventured further afield than on our previous visit and noticed a sign for the Pinewoods. I couldn’t resist the temptation to walk along the pathway. The walk was delightful in the autumn sunshine until, with reluctance, I turned back and retraced my steps to return to the gardens to coincide with the time I thought Mr C’s phone call might end. As I walked along the garden pathway Mr C was coming towards me and we finished my circuit of the garden together. In one of the trees next to the path I was treated to a display of birds playing in the lower branches, including a nuthatch that ventured quite close to me.

We headed into Harrogate town centre for a wander before lunch in Betty’s where I chose a Salmon sandwich and a cake with almonds. Something went wrong and our sandwich was delayed. We were given an apology and offered complimentary drinks for our patience (we hadn’t even complained).

We enjoyed the afternoon in Knaresborough, enjoying a town and river walk in glorious sunshine. The Remembrance Day display around the castle was spectacular and moving. After our walk we returned to the hotel to relax before dining in the Fat Badger at the White Hart Hotel.

I was considering the possibility of a bubbly aperitif whilst we perused the menu when out of the blue a couple of complimentary glasses of Prosecco arrived because it was my birthday. The restaurant was loud and bustly, the food and service excellent, I chose fishcake with an egg on top and was too full for a dessert.

After dining we returned back to the relative calm, but still vibrant, atmosphere of our hotel bar where we had a lovely phone call with my brother and his wife. They had tried to call whilst we were dining but we’d missed it due to the noise level.

Harrogate’s Grade II listed, award wining garden was originally simply a footpath beside a stream from the Royal Pump Room to Bog Field where there are thirty-six different mineral wells. Valley Pleasure Grounds were opened in 1887. The gardens were extended by the purchase of ‘Collins Field’ in 1901 creating an area of 17 acres.

Behold Bogs Field, a wonder of the natural world where a greater number of unique mineral sprigs come to the surface than at any other known place on Earth! 36 of Harrogate’s 88 mineral wells are found here, of which no two are alike. The waters are Magmatic or Plutonic in origin, having never existed as rain, and have flowed deep beneath the earth for 20.000 years before surfacing through vertical shafts in the strata. Know in C15 as Sauerkeld or Sour Springs, Bogs Field was investigated and developed by the Victorians who piped the mineral waters to the Royal Bath Hospital and to the Pump Rooms and Baths of Low Harrogate.*

*information from a sign in Valley Gardens

After a good nights sleep it was time to sample the hotel breakfast. In all sorts of ways, it was a vast improvement on the offering during our recent stay in a Cotswold’s hotel. There were several choices of cooked items and a continental option. I chose the continental option and was served with granola, fruit compote, yoghurt, fresh fruit and mini pastries (freshly baked), perfectly presented on a plate.

We had booked an early time slot in the Pump Room so after breakfast we set off at pace through The Stray (no time for photos) to make sure we got there on time. It took us a little while to find which street the Pump Room was in but we managed to arrive before it opened. Once inside we found it to be a museum rather than anything else. It wasn’t possible to sample the water due to Covid-19. Perhaps that was a blessing because I am told that the water tastes quite foul.

We spent the rest of the morning walking around the nearby Valley Gardens, ending up near the War Memorial and Bettys Tea Rooms for lunch. I chose a salmon, prawn and lemon sandwich followed by three dainty cake delights.

We walked back to the hotel so that we could pick up the car to drive to the nearby RHS garden at Harlow Carr where we had an enjoyable afternoon exploring the gardens.

Back at the hotel I was sitting and relaxing before dinner when I heard voices at the door and a comment ’someone is already in here’. I got up to find two people entering our room. They were most apologetic and beat a hasty retreat. As they left I could hear them say to each other ‘it is the room number we were given’. Clearly it was because they were able to enter with the card key they had been given. I felt sorry for them but a bit disturbed about the security breach of the mix up.

When we went for dinner we queried the episode with the hotel receptionist, who was most apologetic and said she would be raising the incident with her manager the next day. We had another enjoyable meal, in my case fish and chips, which was even larger than my meal the previous day. We arrived back at our room to find that our card key didn’t work. It had obviously been cancelled along with the other peoples’ keys. By this time the hotel reception was closed, leaving Mr C to hunt down the restaurant manager to help us with the problem. Luckily he knew a man that could fix the problem!