Hit the North!

Travelling around Scotland for the past month in our motorhome has been super fun, but all great things must come to an end. We are now gradually making our way back home, and have broken up the journey by spending a few days sampling the delights of the North of England.

My main photo above shows the Yorkshire Dales, taken from a walk along Leyburn Shawl. I love Wensleydale cheese, which is made not far away in the town of Hawes. It is a pale cheese with a chalky and crumbly texture, and is readily available in the local shops.

I enjoyed this Leek and Wensleydale Pastry Roll that we picked up in a local deli.

Warmed up in the motorhome’s oven, it was delicious, served with slaw we made from fresh veg bought in a local farm shop.

In this part of the world they also serve a wedge of Wensleydale cheese with a slice of fruit cake – see below.

I have had this before, and liked it, so ordered it again at an afternoon tea stop in a local cafe. The combination may sound a little odd, but the tastes actually complement eachother and work well together. When you think that there are other rich fruited puddings and desserts that are served with a dairy-based product, like cream or custard, it’s maybe not that strange a choice. The fact that the cheese is missing any sweetener doesn’t seem to matter, as there is so much sugar in the cake!

I am interested to know if there are any other parts of the world where fruit cake is served with a slice of cheese? Answers welcome in the comments below, please.

The Yorkshire wit is nearly as sharp as their cheese – what about this sign welcoming us to our stopover site for the night.

Don’t worry anyone, there was no cause for concern. Everyone had a good laugh about the sign – the Yorkshire welcome is a very warm one wherever you go.

By the time this post is published, I will be back home. I hope you have enjoyed the posts from my trip. It’s been a celebration of some of the culture and natural beauty that the UK has to offer, as viewed through my usual lens of Good Food, Great Music. We have tried to buy and eat local, and feature some of our great regional food and drink.

And speaking of Great Music, spending a few days in the North makes me think of this wonderful earworm of a track from The Fall. They’re not Scottish, or from Yorkshire, but I did nod respectfully to the memory of Mark E. Smith as we passed Manchester on the M62. And played this on the motorhome stereo: The Fall with Hit the North – Part 1.