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“She certainly seems to have foreseen boats made from metal, the internet, flight and even submarines.” |
Eventually we headed off to visit another local attraction, but this one has been drawing tourists in since the 16th century! In a beautiful Yorkshire town called Knaresborough, you will find Mother Shipton’s Cave and the petrifying well. I’ve seen this place so many times on television that we simply had to visit, even though we were sure it wasn’t really worth the £5.50 entrance fee!
All I really knew about Mother Shipton was that she was supposed to have predicted the future. I wasn’t even sure that she was a real person rather than a mythical witch. In fact she is very well documented and certainly seems to have hit the spot with a lot of Tudor visitors. So renown was she that King Henry VIII dispatched some men to find out more about her.
Many of her predictions do seem to have come to pass, but then perhaps we just don’t remember the ones that haven’t. She certainly seems to have foreseen boats made from metal, the internet, flight and even submarines. Who knows maybe she was just a visionary who recognised that man is capable of doing the impossible?
The other reason for visiting Mother Shipton’s Cave is the petrifying well. No it isn’t really, really scary – the well has the power to turn any object to stone. The water carries the same minerals that create stalactites and stalagmites in caves. If you hang a porous object under the water it slowly turns to stone. Well actually it takes about three months. Other objects are simply coated in the calcium carbonate. Standing in front of it today I saw umpteen teddy bears (available from the Gift Shop), some dinosaurs, a rather scary African mask and one of those awful jester’s hats beloved today by football fans. Further up, buried for all time in the stone, is a top hat and a ladies bonnet from the mid 1800s. The couple were on their way to the races, but failed to return to collect their objects.
Those are the main reasons for visiting the cave but the site also gives you access to a beautiful woodland walk alongside the River Nidd. Here you can admire a vast viaduct cutting across the valley, a Saxon castle and a mill with a currently very impressive weir next to it. In fact you can see all of these from the other side of the river, but the view from here is better.
Having finished walking down one side of the river we crossed the lower bridge and headed back along the other side. Eventually we found some steps leading first up to a lovely garden complete with children’s paddling pool and then up to the castle. I was expecting to find a lonely ruin at the top, balancing on a high crag. However the castle turns out to be a lot larger and is currently playing host to a Medieval open day, with most of the town in attendance! Once I’d recovered I take a quick look around and watch kids having sword fights on the bowling green. The castle area is actually quite large and even houses Knaresborough Museum.
Eventually I find another route back down the cliff to the road below. Here I find cafes and lots of places hiring out boats. It looks like something out of Three men and a Boat and much to my surprise I find myself falling for this lovely town. I’d expected a crass modern tourist trap, like Lands End, full of arcades and shops selling tat. Thankfully they’ve avoided this mistake and kept it just on the right side of tasteful.
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