The weather 'up north' was appalling while I was there with high winds and plenty of rain. Luckily though, I only really got one 'drenching' and that was during my last half an hour in Grassington.
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| One of the oh so Christmassy shop windows in Grassington |
Things did not work out 'to plan' on a number of levels as far as my holiday was concerned. It took over 13 hours to get to our hotel in Skipton from Hastings because of bad weather, people not turning up at the collection points and the plethora of accidents on the roads. We were supposed to 'pop in' to Newark on the way up for our lunch stop but got 're-directed' to Melton Mowbray instead as the motorway was backed up due to an accident. Our driver then told us when we got back on the coach that according to his sat nav EVERY possible route from Melton Mowbray to where we wanted to go had an accident on it somewhere!
To make matters worse, our party (only 15 of us) were due to attend a 'Christmas Party' at the hotel that evening and so being constantly held up meant that when we FINALLY arrived the Hotel manager was under pressure to start serving the Christmas meals to the other guests! In the end we had 30 mins to basically 'chuck our bags ion our rooms, beautify ourselves and get down to the function room'. It wasn't ideal but I still enjoyed myself! In all there was about 20 tables of people to serve and with about 8-10 per table I could see why our being so late was giving the poor hotel manager the jitters!
I tell you what though, I was THRILLED with the hotel itself! The Rendezvous Hotel in Skipton may only have a three star rating but when you walk into the 'hospitality' area and see TWO FULL -SIZED REAL CHRISTMAS TREES adorned with lights, baubles and with presents underneath to your left it makes a BIG impact upon you - especially if you are a 'Christmas person', like me!
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| With an 'imposter' at the Rendezvous Hotel, Skipton. |
In fact, what with the friendly, smiley staff and the VERY comfortable seating areas (both in the foyer and about the upstairs bar) the Rendezvous Hotel has a 'showbizzy glitz' about it. All of the staff are 'well drilled' and the way that the waitering was done with 'military precision' at the Christmas Party was impressive! As far as the food goes, I didn't eat anything that I didn't like during my stay though I can imagine a 'proper foodie' picking one or two holes re the odd 'potato that was not cooked properly' or similar. Re- Craig Revel Horwood and his infamous '10 paddle' you do have to be ULTRA-PICKY to find real fault though.
After the main lunch some of the staff engaged their guests in some 'party games' (which was fun - even if people were reluctant to take part at first) with prizes of bottles of bubbly for the winners and then the D.J. handed over to a great duo who played guitars and sang along to backing tracks. That makes them sound 'naff' but they were actually very good and I danced to 'Let's Dance' by Bowie and their rocky version of 'Sweet Child Of Mine' by Guns n 'Roses. They also did a lot of other 80's classics by Erasure, Tears For Fears and Soft Cell, which was unusual...
Many of the other guests were dressed up in fancy dress and I (complete with my Christmas Elf jumper and soft pointed Elf slippers with bells on the end) thus didn't look quite the 'prat' I would have otherwise!(lol) I got to dance with 'Wonder Woman' as well!!!
Maybe because of the weather on arrival in Grassington I did not find quite so many 'hardy souls' dressed up in Dickensian costume as last year. The pretty lady who played the flute dressed as a fairy wasn't there nor were the two ladies who 'manned' the 'crumble and custard' stall but the village was every bit as festive and Christmassy looking as I remembered it.
Sadly, this year we had only 4 hours to enjoy ourselves as opposed to 6 last year. I fully understand how 6 hours at a place smaller than Rye might be a problem for most (especially the elderly) but for a Christmas fool like me who loves nothing more than staring 'gooey eyed' into Christmassy toyshop windows or staring lovingly at fairy lights it was no time at all!
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| 'Scrooge' and his helper plug my album! |
I DID manage to have a brief chat this time though with the man who plays 'Scrooge' and his accomplice. I thanked him for the wonderful effort he puts in each year and told him I had come all the way from Hastings to savour more of his antics. He said that he hadn't played in Hastings for an age but had some knowledge of the area. I gave him a copy of my 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' CD and explained that only 100 had every been made and that I had decided to give some of them to people like him who really go in for the traditional meaning of Christmas and give so much joy to others. he and his mate (who pulls him along in his barrow) seemed genuinely touched by this gesture and agreed to pose for a couple of photos for me as a result.
More from my adventures in Grassington next time! x
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