It was a bright and sunny morning when the new 61 seater luxury Skills coach left Hucknall Market Place travelling north with 51 passengers on board.
The first stop was Harewood House near Harrogate, a beautiful Georgian house owned by the Lascelles family. We were given four hours to explore the house along with the bird sanctuary, walled garden, woodland walks and the many places to sit, eat and drink. Before arriving at our hotel in Newcastle we also had a stop to visit ‘Angel of the North’, a most impressive monument sitting at the side of the A1.
Saturday was spent exploring the sites and sounds of Newcastle City. Many opted to take the City tour bus which visited the Sage, galleries, cathedrals and the waterfront on the famous River Tyne. Our visit also coincided with Nottingham Forest playing their first match of the season at Newcastle.
In the evening we travelled to Bishop Auckland to see the main event of the weekend ‘Kynren’. It is an outside performance of 2000 years of North East history performed by actors and residents of the town, including animals, a wonderful show topped off by a spectacular firework display.
On the Sunday after breakfast we travelled from Newcastle over the moors to Whitby for an extended lunch break. Whitby was busy but the fish and chips were lovely. To finish the visit a brass band was playing near the pier, a wonderful ending to the visit before returning home in the early evening.