Jasper once again is safely stowed in the Cozy Pets Boutique Hotel in an A1 cell (that's what it says on it). And we're safely stowed in a Brooklands self-catering cottage in Bellerby. An easier drive up from Cambridge - Google Maps did take us on a scenic route to add artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing navigation. It may have saved us tens of minutes. We were impeded by work going on a bridge on the A1M road where the two lanes were reduced to one. We got supplies at Tescoes in Catterick Garrison and refueled. Found our holiday home easily enough, and kindly they have provided us with a stove that isn't a Mensa level puzzle to operate. There's also a traditional pint of milk in the fridge, fruit cake which I'll leave to Virginia, Yorkshire crisps and Yorkshire tea! We had our normal Chinese meal for two provided by Mr Tesco, I then tried the shower to discover it was solid if cold water was what was desired, not so much if anything warmer was what one wanted. Ah well. I did succeed later on in persuading it some like it hot.

We're just back from a visit to Aysgarth in North Yorkshire. A lovely area, pastoral and peaceful. Dry stone walls divided up the snow streaked hills. Sheep grazed the hills. Villages retained their age-old character. The Aysgarth falls could be heard from the well appointed Robin Hill holiday bungalow we were in, we walked from the bungalow and saw three sets of falls. A great area for walkers not that we count as such. We dined twice at the Aysgarth Falls Hotel which had a peculiar backwards clock, and books around the walls. The weather wasn't brilliant - it rained quite a bit, we had to riskily drive through a flooded road to get home. The Satnav wasn't that trustworthy, it wasn't sure where the bungalow was, and it took us down a one-track country lane which was blocked when we tried to see Fountains Abbey. Very stressful reversing back to where we could turn around. The weather smiled for once as we gave up, and instead saw the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey, which were impressive hinting of when it was a major monastery. Also worth seeing was the Wensleydale Creamery, not just for its Wallace and Gromit connection. Cheese seemed to be an ingredient of all the dishes in the restaurant! The cheese production seemed to be a factory process, but they produce a lot of cheese. We had a good visit to the White Scar Cave, seeing the Ribblehead Viaduct en route. The safety helmets were a must in the cave, particularly for the two low sections. The cave was wetter than others I've been in, a lot of the path was over a stream, there was a noisy waterfall, water was running over the rocks beside the path. The Sword of Damocles stalactite was held up by string and glue as someone deliberately broke it on the first day of public access! We also appreciated a visit to the Richmond Georgian Theatre, a bit of panicky rush getting there as parking was more than difficult in Richmond. The tour was enlightening about the revolting habits of theatregoers in that era. A view into the past. We also saw the Dales Countryside Museum, a lot of detail about the history there. I was tempted and fell into the sin of buying a teapot at Ceramic Inspirations in Leyburn, and we also got a few chocolates at the Inspired Chocolate place next door. We did see a couple of castles - Bolton Castle and Middleham Castle. The ruins weren't inspiring for us on our visit, though the muddy conditions and bird droppings didn't help. There was some drama before we set off. We did our best but Amelia seized an opening and hid in the spare room bed. Virginia used the hoover to force her out leading to a traumatised cat which took refuge inside a cat tree! We had to tilt the cat tree over to capture Amelia. My packing wasn't perfect either - this time I forgot leads to recharge my razor and a new vest! Lists to take are similar to software testing. You build up software tests based on what you think need testing, as well as problems found. So I've expanded my to take lists based on what I've forgotten.

Virginia and I spent a long weekend in York, an old city with Roman / Anglo-Saxon / Viking and Norman pasts. York is haunted by old buildings and walls and ruins and history. Ghosts too to judge by the number of "Ghost Walks" on offer. We first went and saw the National Railway Museum. Being able to see such a range of engines in one place is great, technology in that era looked so good with all the levers and dials and tubes, but the highlight for me was the warehouse of railway related material. Items from china to clocks to models of liners. In their heyday the railway companies not only had trains and lines but also hotels and ships. We visited York Minster after the Remembrance Day services. I climbed the tower (275 steps, very narrow spiral staircase) to see the eagle eye view over York. My knees and I wondered if I would make it up! Surreal was the Chapter House, with the seats set into the octagonal stone walls. We saw the interesting Victorian Street in the York Castle Museum, and took the ride in the Jorvik Viking Centre. This well done ride through a mockup of Viking York (which they called Jorvik) reminded me of the better rides in Disneyworld EPCOT (now mostly replaced by rollercoaster routines.) The staff had good information to impart. I learnt of a Viking board game called "Hnefatafl". One does live and learn.