#Yorkshirehour: Week 4

Well, that took my breath away!  What an hour.  The tweets were fast and furious and, according to Topsy, there were 826 tweets featuring our hashtag in the hour (although I know there were also quite a few in the run up to the hour – and just afterwards as well so the total by 10pm was 850 tweets).  I noticed that @LuckyDog_Tod tweeted, “STOP! my paws are burning!” at one point.  Sorry Tod!

Guest star tweeter this week has to be Denise Howard OBE, who gained quite a few followers, I see.  Great stuff!  And a special mention to @RipleyCastle (Just in case it was Sir Thomas Ingilby himself doing the tweeting!)

@Yorkshiredays asked people were asked to give three words to sum up Yorkshire.  Here are my favourites:

@Gedff - #yorkshirehour really, really big

@Msbailz - #yorkshirehour never ending tea-making

@yorkshirebusmkt #yorkshirehour ’champion by ‘eck’

@dragonheat only one is needed, perfect #yorkshirehour

And this gem from co-founder of Yorkshirehour, @RomanticCotHols My 3 words for #yorkshirehour? “Love Yorkshire people”  And for that, you really must show her some Twitter love and follow her!

I got sent to Twitter jail (for being up to my daily limit on the number of tweets you can do in a day) so, I’m sorry if I didn’t get to tweet with everyone.  I’ll try and catch up with you in the week.

It was great to see people tweeting about the fabulous event organised today by Welcome to Yorkshire at the Barbican in York.  We were there and it was great!  (Touching standing ovation for the Yorkshire Regiment too.)  I’m also pleased many people retweeted my plea for support for Welcome to Yorkshire’s ‘back le bid’ campaign to get the Tour de France to start in our glorious county.  As a long time fan of le Tour, I would love to see it come to my home county.  How great would it be to see Cav in the Yellow jersey at the end of the first stage?

Thanks to all of you who posted comments last week.  Again, I’d love to hear your comments about how #Yorkshirehour is working for you so, please get posting!

See you next week – 8-9pm Wednesdays.

Interiors

We love to promote the great places we visit – whether they’re are own personal holidays – or commissions.  These photos are a mixture  and feature both UK holidays and accommodation abroad.

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If you’re interested in photos of your accommodation for your website or other marketing, please contact us to discuss you’re requirements.  We can also write copy for your website and discuss reviews and marketing.

Barter Books

We recently discovered Northumbria’s best ‘bad weather’ destination and, once discovered, even the unseasonably warm sunshine failed to tempt us back outside, for the lure of Barter Books was simply too strong.

Barter Books is not just a second hand book shop: it’s a ‘phenomenon’; an Aladdin’s cave of books of all genre – as big as a municipal library but with all the charm of the Natural History Museum.  The impressive building which is home to the book store is part of a former Victorian railway station which was designed by William Bell in 1887.  It retains many of its original features including the waiting rooms with working open fireplaces where visitors could while away a whole day sipping coffee and reading anything from paperback fiction to art history.

This is not a place to merely ‘buy books’: Barter Books is about loving books.  There’s a reverential hush about the place (no need for ‘quiet please’ signs here) and often the only sounds to be heard are the over-eager turning of pages or the rattle of the model train working its way over the tops of the book shelves linking the classics to history via women’s studies  and philosophy.Barter Books is a Mecca for booklovers: one couple we spoke to had travelled from Manchester just to visit the shop.  Another told us they lived locally and called regularly on days out, which is not surprising given the relaxing atmosphere which envelopes you as you snuggle down into a cosy chair beside one of the real fires or take a seat in the Old Waiting Room with a pot of tea and a slice of cake.

 Reviewed by Angie Aspinall, Photos ©Aspinall Ink

 

New commercial website

We’re happy to announce the launch of our website: http://aspinallink.co.uk which promotes our commercial services and enables you to purchase canvas prints directly from Aspinall Ink.

What Aspinall Ink can do for you

Journalism, travel reviews, food reviews, guest blogs, commercial photography (interioirs, products, events), canvas prints, marketing and the use of social media to promote small businesses and events.

Areas of interest

Food, travel, lifestyle, countryside, historic houses, heritage gardens, coastal resorts, days out, marine biology, natural history, biodiversity and conservation.

Underwater photography: www.triggerfishphotography.co.uk

Eco house, Lesvos

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If you fancy an eco-friendly holiday in Greece, we’ve a recommendation for you on the island of Lesvos: Pyrgeli House, near the picturesque harbour town of Molyvos.  What a privilege it was to stay in such a lovely house. It’s so light and airy and has great views out to sea. The sunsets are amazing! If you want to relax, unwind and recharge your batteries, then this is the place for you.

Pyrgeli is also a foodie’s perfect getaway: as well as fresh eggs daily (from the chickens in the adjoining plot), there’s olive oil and plenty of herbs provided too. Also, all the cooking utensils you’ll ever need are provided in a spotlessly clean (and enviously spacious) modern kitchen.  Pyrgeli house is surrounded by a working garden so, depending on the season, you may get very local produce.  All the cleaning products, detergents, loo roll, etc are are eco-friendly too.

Karen is a delightful hostess, ensuring that you’ve everything you need from beach towels and eggs – to directions to the best places of interest.

Pyrgeli is perfectly situated just a few minutes’ drive from Molyvos – a spectacular coastal town (and the best place on the island for restaurants and tourist shops).

Lesvos is a popular destination for walkers and bird-watchers and it is easy to see why.  We did some great bird-watching whilst on Lesvos: some of the best of it without leaving Pyrgeli’s terraces!   All in all we saw, Bee Eaters, Crested Larks, Black-headed Bunting, Red backed Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, and Wheatears: the latter, nesting at Pyrgeli.