Knaresborough: Wild Flowers, Castles and Caves

Last week we visited Knaresborough, a small market town on the River Nidd, which we found to be thoroughly charming and endlessly photographable. It is about a 35-minute drive from York and 15-minutes from Harrogate but you could easily spend a whole day exploring Knaresborough.

After parking up (York Place is a cheap and nicely situated car park for the day), we started our Knaresborough adventure by walking down to the water and hiring a boat to go for a row on the river. We went to Blenkhorn’s Boats, which were painted a very striking red and green. I think they ended up being the slightly more expensive of the two companies, but we found the staff friendly and helpful when giving us instructions.

It took us (me) a little while to get into the rhythm of it – Ben was in charge of the oars and I was steering (which, I would actually argue, is the harder of the two jobs). But it was fun to see the town from the water.

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Knaresborough is built into the cliffs that go up the side of the river and the houses all look so individual and quirky. I could have sat in the boat all morning taking pictures of the black and white checker-board houses, the houses entirely covered in ivy, the houses with the glass fronts, and the beautiful gardens. From the water you also get an excellent view of the viaduct and the remains of the castle.

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You can’t go too far in the boats before you have to turn round, but we enjoyed the experience and I don’t think you can go to Knaresborough without trying it.

After the boat ride, we wandered back towards to the main market square for a mooch around the shops. Knaresborough is full of medieval streets, cobbles and surprises. There is a market in the square every Wednesday which is lovely to look round and pick up some local goodies.

There are so many places to choose from to eat in Knaresborough. We decided to have lunch at Six Poor Folk which had a lovely selection of sandwiches and local beer.

After lunch we headed back through the town towards what remains of the castle. The castle was built by the Normans and remained a stronghold until the English Civil War where Parliamentarian sliders largely destroyed and dismantled it. Now only a little remains but it, like all of Knaresborough, is very photogenic perched at the top of the cliff looking out over the river. We stayed a while as it is a great place to look out and watch the boats on the river.

One of the things I loved about Knaresborough that I wasn’t expecting, was all the wild flowers that were growing out of the buildings and gardens: both the castle and the viaduct had patches of pinks, yellows and blues peeking out. There is greenery everywhere and makes the place feel lush and wild, and really adds to the beauty of Knaresborough.

After watching the boats and the trains heading over the viaduct, we headed back down the stone steps which lead from the castle to the water’s edge. We wandered along the river, trying not to stare too much at the people grappling with their boat oars, to where Mother Shipton’s cave is located: this is also a must see when in Knaresborough, and also has an interesting story behind it.

Mother Shipton (born in 1488) was a prophetess famous throughout England in Tudor times for predicting the fates of several rulers and big events including the Spanish Armada and Great Fire of London. The cave (which is where she was born and lived), opened to visitors in 1630 and is the oldest tourist attraction in England. It is now part of a park which has some of the oldest and tallest beech trees in the country. Also to be found, is the Petrifying Wall where you can see everyday objects turned to stone by the running water. You can buy a souvenir stone teddy bear from the gift shop. There is also a wishing well and museum included as part of the park, so well worth a visit for something a little different!

Knaresborough surprised me with how much there is to do and I was completely wowed by how lovely it is (but then again, I shouldn’t really have been that surprised – it is Yorkshire after all!)