APPLEBY. Going To The Fair.

On the railway station, just so you know where you are.

The Weekend has been and gone and Monday finds me a bit breathless after a Saturday trip up to Appleby to see the horse fair. Checking back I was startled to see that it was ten years since I was last there. So I decided it was time for a catch up.

The train was the transport of choice, I’ve tried driving there before and the volume of traffic on sometimes narrow roads made that a no no for this years visit. So it was the train out to Leeds and up the venerable Settle and Carlisle line. I had thought about travelling up to Carlisle and down from there, in fact I think I’ll try that next year but Leeds won out this time around.

Taking it all in as the fair and the attendees swirl around.

The were no problems to report on either the journey to Leeds or up to Appleby, I’d allowed myself time at Leeds to get some food it, sandwiches drinks etc as from past experience getting anything at the fair could turn out to be a bit of a scrum. That said I did manage to get a very tasty pork and apple pie and a custard tart so wasting away on the day would not be an issue.

St. Vincent’s church, an oasis of cool calm on a hectic day.

It was a bit of a mixed bag of passengers that left on the train from Leeds is the bright and baking hot sunshine. Visitors for the fair and a large number taking advantage of the weather to walk through the stunning landscape that the railway passes through.

Appleby station is at the top of the town and as I made my way down the sounds and hubbub increased. One of the main locations for the fair is on the Sands, the road which runs alongside the River Eden, here the horses are paraded up and down for entertainment and inspection, after a few lengths they are walked to the river for a swim to cool down. Crowds line the banks on either side to watch the continuation of this years old tradition. The other centre of attraction is up on the hill just on the edge of town, the encampment is there along with a wondrous market of all things. I took a walk up there, it’s about a mile or so in each direction, throng with people all the way, dodging the horse drawn traps that scuttle to and fro from the town.

Crowds by the river and crowds in the river, the horses are ridden into the water to cool off on a baking hot day.

Crowds in the sun at the hilltop market, anything catch your eye?

Horse drawn traps trot between town and hill. Keep your eyes peeled, they don’t have horns!

Back in the town, horses are paraded and offers made.

If anything the market was more crowded that the town. I made a couple of dodgem like circuits, trying not to bounce off people and failing badly. It had crept on to mid afternoon by now and I had seen what I had come to see, recharging the memory bank along the way. I headed back down the hill and took in one more circuit of the town, by now baked hard in the heat, before heading back to the station. The platform was getting a bit full by now as the Leeds train pulled in on time then set off, threading it’s way back down through the Pennines, leaving the countryside behind as the Yorkshire metropolis approached.

I had planned one last treat for myself, I have a favourite bar in the city, Whitelocks. It’s a former coaching inn, tucked away down an alley, the sort of place where you have to know where it is to find it. Outside the tables were crammed and busy but inside was a mellow coolness. I had my pint, enjoyed it and to stop it feeling lonely I had another, then made my way back to the station a happy man.