Monday 2 August 2010

It's Holiday Time.


There are drawbacks to living in a Tourist hotspot - and they have all come to the fore over the last day or two. Living, as we do, in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (i.e. The Yorkshire Dale of Wensleydale) we know we have to share its beauty with others, but this week it is pretty horrible living up here.
Monday in our little market town of Leyburn is usually a quiet day with one or two people wandering about and a few cars in the car park. Today the town is very full. The car parks are full; the shops are heaving; there is a queue at the Post Office; the bank has a queue both at the cash machine and at the counter; there are queues of cars at every junction and an awful lot of caravans are passing through.

Yesterday I had my lunch with a group of friends at a pub carvery in the town (the farmer was out walking with his walking group). Usually there are just a handful of eaters - yesterday there were more than sixty.

Oh dear - we quiet country folk are not used to this crowd. Yet we have to be pleased that people are here. Several shops in the town have closed down through poor sales and several cafes have only been opening at weekends. Now suddenly everyone is doing well, trade is thriving and there is an air of busy-ness about the place. That has got to be good, so we must grin and bear the inconvenience.

This morning the farmer and I went into Northallerton on business and on the way back we were held up by a Steam train chugging away merrily between Leyburn and Leeming Bar - the only open bit of the Wensleydale Railway. Tourism in full flow again - and I do hope it continues throughout August - it will be lovely to see the business community thriving again.

18 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I know exactly what you mean!
Tourists are the very devil ( except when you are one yourself!!)
At the same time if there were NO tourists no one would have so much income.
Grin and bear it, I say!

deb said...

I too live in a tourist area, near Chautauqua Institution in upstate NY. It can be very trying when having to wait in line, but then I remind myself that I have this great cultural resource in my backyard because of them, and like you grin and bear it!!

deb said...

I too live in a tourist area, near Chautauqua Institution in upstate NY. It can be very trying when having to wait in line, but then I remind myself that I have this great cultural resource in my backyard because of them, and like you grin and bear it!!

Jenn Jilks said...

Tis a sad, and not unique tale, Weaver!
Our small lake is full of crazy loons.

steven said...

weaver - crop the car out of the picture and there's a scene from my childhood - yours as well i imagine!!! be patient. the dale will be back to its usual peaceful self in no time!!! steven

Heather said...

I have often been on holiday and felt sorry for the locals who can't even walk along their own pavements for the crowds. At least the local economy is getting some benefit and by the end of the month things will be quieter again.
What is the appeal of steam trains? I have a great affection for them and even like their sooty smell.

Gerry Snape said...

I'm off with family on Thursday on a steam train up to Windermere and I suppose I will be a tourist!We are the opposite. In term time hectic as there is a high school on the road and in the summer holidays quiet. Have to say Ilove the quiet. Hope it doesn't all get too much for you this month.

Caroline Gill said...

I love the steam train - but can see why it feels as though there are too many people out and about!

Thank you for popping over to my blog recently. I have a fractured bone near my elbow, but haven't really been slacking - just busy on my new blog, Wild and Wonderful, here...

George said...

When you have tourists in your area, just take it as a compliment for your good taste and judgment. They will leave in due course, and you will still have your quiet beauty of the Yorkshire Dales. And please stay where you are -- I enjoy reading about what is happening in your little corner of the world.

MorningAJ said...

I'm with George on this one. All those people get the glory of Yorkshire for a week or two. You have it all year round.

I grew up in Scarborough so I know what it's like. Summer was hard work. But I'd go back tomorrow if I could find a job round there.

Pondside said...

It really is a double-edged sword, isn't it? We are flooded with tourists from May through September, with the cruise ships heading up to Alaska. From November to March we have much quieter tourists - people from Saskatchewan and Alberta who come here to escape the harsh winter. They mostly walk quietly and happily by the water, wondering, as we do still, how the weather can be so warm and still be in Canada.

ChrisJ said...

Oh I know how you feel. Growing up in Flamborough, we hated the 'visiters. But it's a case of you can't live with them and you can't live without them!

Elisabeth said...

It's tough to have to share your neighbourhood with tourists,not that I've ever had to do it, city person that I am.

But I've been one of those tourists and many a time I've felt for the pain of the locals. Soon your quiet time will come back, Weaver. Take heart.

Unknown said...

Amen to that, Weaver! You can always send them up this way!

Mac n' Janet said...

Know exactly what you mean. We live outside Savannah, Ga and the tourists are here all the time. Some are lovely people and some come just to get drunk.
I know Savannah needs them but I wish they'd remember this is our home.

Golden West said...

Hi Weaver,

We're five miles north of a horse racing track that is open from July until early September - traffic backs up for miles in both directions. Our beaches attract thousands of what we call "flatlanders" - you can tell the tourists by all the equipment they drag along to the beach - towels, umbrellas, radios, coolers, buckets, shovels, plastic trucks, chairs, tents, barbeques, even playpens - amazing, really. And then, miraculously, the first Tuesday in September they're all gone!

thousandflower said...

Living in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, US, I realized years ago that if you choose to live in one of the special places of the world (and I consider Yorkshire, UK one of those) you are going to have to share it with people. It's crazy here this month but after the first of September it will all calm down again. Now I am selling my art to tourists and appreciating it and them.

Nancy said...

Oh, I know just how you feel. We used to live in Cooperstown, New York. Think Baseball Hall of Fame. The town was usually quite but absolutely packed in the summer. Then they built a summer camp for children with about 15 baseball fields and whole families came for a week at the time. I always felt they should gate the town like at Disney World and close the gates when the town was full!

I used to have a secret place to park down by the lake which meant walking only two blocks to the library and post office. Then it was discovered and I was better off to walk the mile and a half from my house but I lived at the top of a very steep hill.
Nancy