A Yorkshire holiday, through and through!

I've been on my hols!

... And I have had an absolutely fabulous time touring across Yorkshire! Such a nice time in fact, that I thought it might be nice to share it with you all!

My week long holiday started last Friday in the less than glamorous town of Goldthorpe. But never fear I was here for a reason! First we scouted the charity shops for bargains and found some excellent books and vinyl to buy but then, drumroll please... I went on my first ever visit to Waltons of Goldthorpe! This shop is literally packed to the rafters with fabulous fabric and is an absolute wonderland for anybody who works with textiles and I would definitely recommend a visit!

Saturday and Sunday was taken up with a two day craft fair at Beighton Lifestyle Centre in South Yorkshire where I was joined by my Yorkshire Made friends Nanny May and Our Little Craft Company as well as new friends Dack Images and Spire Face Painting.

Then after a good nights sleep and a bit of hasty packing we headed further north to the city of York for a spot of shopping. The Other Half visited practically every secondhand book shop in the city and bought a total of 10 books, but I got my own back by ensuring we visited every single charity shop too! We had lunch at a lovely little cafe called Picallilli's where I had a totally yummy freshly made beef and mustard  baguette!

York Minster

However the highlight this part of my trip was visiting the fabulous Gift Gallery York!

I had heard talk of this shop on the Folksy forums for a long time, but had never managed to go - until this week! This beautiful shop situated right on The Shambles (the most unusual and historic shopping street I've ever seen!) only stocks handmade items. And wow what a choice! I saw items from pants and paper, noodlebubble as well as Sheffield's Kettle of Fish, and that's just the few names I can remember. It is a lovely shop and I would well recommend a visit!

Spring Swallow Wooden Box by Kettle of Fish

The following day we headed even further North over the moors towards the village of Goathland which is apparently famous for being where they filmed a lot of scenes for Heartbeat - but we didn't stop (can't say I've ever been a fan of Heartbeat to be perfectly honest!) We were headed to the romantically named 'La Rosa'- Campsite Exraordinaire and were not disappointed! This certainly was an unusual, magical and memorable place full of all things cool and kitsch! (You can read more about it here)

After an evening spent around the fire and a night spent in 'Elvis' we headed towards the coast and to Whitby. This was our first ever visit and again we were not disappointed! We found...

Unusual tea rooms...

...some very good cake...

...wonderful views and fresh sea air...

...and the most amazing hotel!

 And of course we had fish and chips for tea!

Next on our Yorkshire tour was the city of Leeds for another 'first' 

- our first ever trip to the opera! 

We went to see Das Rheingold staged by Opera North in Leeds Town Hall and for the third time this holiday I was not disappointed! The opera was sung in German but was accompanied throughout by plot summaries and subtitles in English played on TV screens. Although not a full 'dramatic' presentation the performers were in helpful costumes (the giants had the distinct aura of the Kray twins and the trickster Loge looked just a little bit like Jeremy Kyle!) And the BBC were recording the whole event live!

Next morning we just had enough time to pop into the reetsweet event Handmade at the Corn Exchange, followed by a browse round the The Craft Centre and Design Gallery before finishing off with a well earned bowl of soup in the magnificent Tiled Hall Cafe. 

Then before you knew it, it was time to travel back home, 

come back down to earth with a bump and go back to work... 

...until the next holiday!

I'd love it if you could share your favourite places to go in Yorkshire so I can start to plan my next adventure!

Just leave a comment below

Laura x