Harrogate – Hazel Manor

Well the last two days have certainly been interesting.. with thousands of visitors descending on our small village of Killinghall.

The Tour De France finally arrived on Saturday; After months of preparation and anticipation the famous Tour was upon us. We had both our rooms booked out months in advance for three day bookings and both cupels duly arrived one early and one late due to Northern Rail’s inflexibility in accommodating late arriving trains from London. We offered our guests a barbecue on Saturday evening as we thought it would be extremely difficult net impossible to eat (well) in Harrogate on the Saturday evening.

What a wonderful day , the weather was great and Killinghall indeed all of Yorkshire embraced the Tour. Our guests both wandered in to Harrogate to the first stage finishing line in the hope of witnessing a Cavendish victory (His mother is from Harrogate) ultimately to be disappointed by the outcome if not the event. We opted for the much easier option of a table wine and food at the end of the drive where the riders would pass at about 4PM. The Tour caravan passed and the riders in turn, what speed they were riding through the village and only about a yard away. We could’t tell one from another with a magnificent wind rush and wrrrr of rapidly turning bicycle wheels . We we were hugely impressed.

A once in a lifetime experience and very enjoyable. our gusts had a great time in Harrogate and returned to a lovely (we hope) barbecue in the sun.