Day 70: Running out of steam

03/10/2021

It was better weather today in Leeds and the first stop was Sandal Castle. Not far south of the City of Leeds. Eloise loved running about, although sometimes a bit too close to the moat for comfort. From the top of the castle, there was a great view of the city and the River Calder. Hard to imagine this was the setting for the major Battle of Wakefield in 1460.

After a week and a half, Darryl was getting restless, so took to the skies.

Sandal Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Sandal Magna, a suburb of the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, overlooking the River Calder. William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (1081–1138) was granted the Sandal estates in 1107. Shakespeare’s play Henry VI, Part 3 (Act 1, Scene 2) is set in Sandal Castle. It describes Richard’s sons urging him to take the crown before news is brought of Margaret’s approach. Act 1, scene 4 then depicts the death of Richard at the Queen’s hands. This brief fictionalised account bears little resemblance to the history as we understand it today. The play is sometimes performed on the castle ruins.

We even helped ourselves to some morning tea from Castle Cafe, enjoying our first British scone with clotted cream.

We then went to the Middleton Railway, “the world’s oldest continuously working railway, founded in 1758”. Eloise was bouncing with excitement as we quickly rushed through the museum to the steam train. Lachlan was not a big fan of the “choo choo”, but liked the vibrations on the rickety carriages.

We caught the steam train to the end of the track, Middleton Park. A nice place for a walk, of course there was a large playground.

We made our way back to the train track early to ensure we saw it arrive. It was running a wee late, unusual considering their precise timetable. It eventually rolled in, it was suffering a mechanical fault and was low on steam. Come to think about it, we were starting to run low on steam too. It has been such an exciting last week and a half. Eloise has had the time of her life. Lachlan has been happy coming along for the ride.

Running low on energy, but not out yet. We swung past Kirkstall Abbey on the way back to the hotel. We had to get the wellies out of the roof box because Eloise already had her eyes on puddles the moment we pulled up.

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c. 1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.

It was then back to the hotel to watch Liverpool vs Manchester City at Anfield. Crazy to think we were there just over a week ago. Sadly, we missed Salah’s stunner. We will have to look into getting tickets to a match soon. Apparently, it is a good time because a lot of the wealthy season member ticket holders live abroad, all around Europe, and flying in for a football match is slightly tricker these days.

Tonight was another date with ol’ mate Toby. In hindsight, an all you can eat buffet during a global pandemic seems odd, but the last one was just so damn tasty. It was bad news tonight though, Eloise suddenly decided she had a taste for roast lamb, pork, turkey and beef all at once. Even devouring most of “Daddas” Yorkshire Pudding.

Lachlan hardly made a peep during dinner and by the end, Eloise was crawling into the pram. They have been so tired the last few nights there has been no need for the late-night walk. However, seeing it was our last night in Leeds we thought we would have one final look around. We had finally worn out the kids, or the kids had finally worn us out, or… We were all out of steam.

Next stop, sunny Glasgow. Apparently, the fuel issues persist “in [UK] south but ‘over’ elsewhere“. Not an issue in Scotland as cars run off Irn-Bru and windmills.

No rest for the wicked though, there are many Bookbugs, Gymboree and Sweaty Mama classes to catch up this week.