I love a small specialized museum. A specific topic, a single person or industry, the narrower the focus the better.
Doing my research about the area where we booked a house sit, I searched on museums. I quickly extracted a promise from Rich that we would not miss this one. James Herriot’s books were a big hit with my sister and I when they were published in the US starting in 1975. She went on to become a veterinarian. Did the books have an influence on her? I asked her and she said “They probably did.” How could they not?
If you’re not watching the current adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small, or haven’t seen the older versions, you might be tempted to start watching after a visit to this museum. Even a long time fan like me learned a few fun tidbits. Since it was frowned upon for a Vet to advertise, Alfred James Wight choose a pen name, the surname of a favorite Scottish footballer, James Herriot.
We had a rental car during this house sit, which was in a small town without bus service. Although the train station at Darlington was only about a 20 minute cycle away, there was nowhere safe to lock our touring bikes at the station. There were bikes locked there, but our bikes would have stood out like sore thumbs, or tempting morsels, among the commuter bikes. Could we have enjoyed a day out knowing our bikes were not really safe at the train station? No. So the rental car gave us the freedom to roam Yorkshire. And we took advantage of it.
While my bike was in the shop for a tune up we checked out the map and a museum caught my eye. Captain Cook’s birthplace! We’ve been to the big island of Hawaii a few times and kayaked to the white obelisk memorial at Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook died. Or was killed, more correctly. The opportunity to bookend the life of the famous cartographer, explorer, and naval officer was not to be passed by. It was a good little museum, and gave us a new appreciation for how brave and talented Cook was. From the Hawaiian point of view, which is the one we’re familiar with, his arrival – the first documented European to visit the Hawaiian Islands – was the beginning of the end of the Hawaiian Kingdom. This museum gave us a more full picture of the man, rather than just the image of the man who began the destruction of native Hawaiian culture.
Cook’s first voyage was to Tahiti, where he and a team of astronomers observed the transit of Venus across the sun in 1769. The transit helped astronomers to calculate the distance between the sun and the earth. The HMS Endeavor then went on to explore the uncharted, by Europeans, southern oceans.
We left the museum with a new respect for Captain Cook and empathy for his end in the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. That is a successful museum.
Our next car enabled outing was not a museum, exactly, although the Yorkshire Dales could be viewed as a timeless experience. Not a living museum, but a living and evolving region.
Fueled with a picnic lunch we headed out for a loop hike that quickly got rerouted due to a high running river.
We rambled from a sunny green valley to a windy and mizzly (misty drizzle) ridge. Always under the watchful eyes of sheep.
We rambled over bridges and through a tunnel, had a quick lunch sheltered from the wind and watched by sheep, and as we came to the last bit of our loop, we were confronted by a sign. Cattle free alternative route, with an arrow. Pointing to a sheep, of course.
I know there are folks who are frightened of cattle, it’s understandable, they are huge! But I’m not. I’m respectful of their size, but not scared of them. But the next sign gave us pause.
Bull in field. We’ve encountered this sign before in our UK rambling, but never actually encountered a bull. So, through the stile we went. First field, empty. We continued to the second field, also empty. Then we had a choice, a divergence of paths worn in the grass. One to a marked stile, one going to the right across a tumbled rock wall. We kept on the marked path and when we reached the stile we could see the cattle at the bottom of the pasture, quite close to the stile leading out of the pasture. Any country side person would have laughed to hear us discuss the situation. “Is that a bull?” “No, I think that’s just a heifer.” We started to cross the stile and then, from behind a lovely stone out building sauntered the bull.
Reverse course! Back to the other path, climb over the tumbled down stone wall and hope we don’t have to cross Mr. Big and Scary’s field. We did. We ended up behind the stone out building and had to cross about 30 yards of field and before we got to the end, when we had to cut left, towards the bull and heifers and calves, to exit the field. Quietly. Calmly. Discussing what to do if charged by a bull. Neither of us knew. Bear, mountain lion, those we have been taught to react to, but a charging bull? No. Well, we said, think of a bullfighter. They jump aside at the last moment and bulls can’t change direction quickly. So we’ll go with that. Thankfully the bull totally ignored us, and we exited the field with new respect for bull signs.
So, for future reference, I did look it up, and if you are charged by a bull, step to the side and run in the direction from which the bull came and run in a zig zag pattern- the bulk of a bull makes it hard for them to quickly change direction. Throw your backpack or shirt to distract the bull. While running in a zig zag pattern. Or, just pay attention to the signs and avoid the bull. I’m going with that one in the future.
Having safely negotiated the bull and his herd we went for tea, coffee, and scones. I totally give the tea award to Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Gold tea bags I love taste even better made with yummy Yorkshire water. Honestly some of the best tea I’ve ever had. And always an extra pot of hot water to make even more tea!
With our Yorkshire/Durham County housesit wrapping up, we got ready to endure a two train day from Darlington to London, then on to Cardiff, Wales. UK trains with bikes can be stressful. But we made it. More fun museums and cats await us in Wales.
Less Car, More Life 