October Update

What a busy summer! At Craven Open Door we certainly made the best of the dry, warm weather with various visits and activities.

We were delighted to welcome back Ukulele Band on 14 July. Members of the band entertained us with some old favourites where we could join in and sing along – some of us even got a chance to play with them! The band was superb as usual and we rounded the evening off with tea, coffee and biscuits! A huge thank you to the band.

The following week, on 21 July we had the first of two trips on the canal with the barge ‘Achieving Together’, a barge specially adapted for those with mobility issues. Not quite ‘messing about on the river’ but certainly sailing serenely along with wonderful scenery on both sides of us and clear blue skies was an absolute pleasure. Thank you to John Rhodes, the Skipper of the boat and his team for all their help.

And then on August 11th we had a marathon run on the Settle Carlisle Railway, catching the train at Skipton, crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct and arriving in Carlisle, the County City of Cumbria. What a smashing day with comfortable seats, the wild countryside outside our window and a packed lunch to munch on!

We completed our summer visits with a trip to Tropical World in Leeds on 25th August. Our coach took us straight to the door and after a browse in the shop and a visit to the ‘facilities’ we were set to see whatever Tropical World had to offer. We toured the Butterfly House, the Desert House and the Rainforest Canopy before visiting Creature Corner. Then it was time for lunch and stroll around the gardens before our journey home. This was a wonderful opportunity to see the animals up close, and we managed to get some wonderful photographs.

And we’re not quite finished – look out Blackpool! A trip to the zoo in October …