MATURE TRAVEL YORKSHIRE DESTINATIONS Yorkshire


Katie McGonagle finds out how to sell a UK staycation to retirees


@katie_mcgonagle I


t was a glorious summer’s day spent sipping Pimm’s in the sunshine while rowing boats ambled to and fro along the river and the occasional train trundled over the viaduct ahead. If I add it was that rare British event – a sunny bank holiday weekend – it might start to sound like I’m embellishing the scene for artistic effect. I’m not. The row of tea rooms, pubs


and occasional ice cream vans that line the walkway along Waterside, on the banks of the


River Nidd in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, really are as quintessentially British as it gets. That was in keeping with the theme of this stay, though, based at the Grade II-listed mansion Nidd Hall – all ivy-covered walls and manicured gardens, where afternoon tea or a spot of croquet are the order of the day. It’s part of Warner Leisure


Hotels’ portfolio, aimed at a more mature audience, for whom its classic British touches are a key selling point. So what is a stay at


this adult-only hotel really like, and what is there to do in the surrounding area?


w HARROGATE Guests who don’t want to venture too far will find stately home Ripley Castle just moments from the hotel, or the small spa town of Knaresborough – with its picturesque Waterside area, souvenir shops and market square – within a 15-minute drive. Harrogate is just a few


minutes further, and rewards


glee


day-trippers with a compact, pedestrianised centre where the typical high-street chains and charity shops are interspersed with independent delis and shops, including the delightfully old-fashioned frontage of Mr Arkwright’s Tool Emporium. Anyone looking for


recommendations here will be directed to enjoy afternoon tea at Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, something of a Harrogate institution in the artsy Montpellier Quarter – hence the two-hour


15 March 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 59


PICTURE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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