Travelsleuth's Diary: September Garden Shows
Harrogate Autumn Flower Show
DATE:13 - 15 September, 2002.
GETTING THERE: The showground is a 450-acre site on
the edge of the spa town of Harrogate. It lies on the A661 just south of the centre of Harrogate, towards the Al southbound. There is easy access by car to the Ml and M62 motorways, the A59 to York, and the A61 to Leeds.
Trains run to Harrogate Station, from where the showground is a bus or taxi ride away.
Bradford is the nearest airport.
TICKETS:At the gate; on the telephone hotline at a discount: 0870 7583333; online at www.flowershow.org.uk/Online_Tickets/ticketorder. Tickets cost £8, (2002). Special concessions for wheelchair users and blind persons of one free ticket for a minder. Guidedogs admitted.
DRESS: There is no formal dress code.
ACCOMMODATION Harrogate has a wide range of hotels of all
categories and a number of good B&B establishments as well as many excellent restaurants. I can strongly recommend:
Ruskin Hotel, 1 Swan Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Telephone: 01423 502045 Fax: 01423 506131. English Tourism Council 5 Diamonds Silver Award.
Other good accommodation includes:
Alexa House Hotel, 26 Ripon Road, Harrogate HG1 2JJ; tel: 01423 501988; fax: 01423 504086; email: alexahouse@msn.co.uk.
The Valley Hotel, 93-95 Valley Drive, Harrogate, HG2 OJP; tel: 01423 504868; fax: 01423 531940; email: admin@valleyhotel.co.uk.
Boar's Head Hotel,
Ripley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 3AY, Tel 01423 771888, Fax 01423 771745, email reservations@boarsheadripley.co.uk
Historic award winning and supremely comfortable hotel with romantic candlelit dining room and cuisine to inspire the soul. Owned and run by the chatelaine of Ripley Castle 10 minutes from Harrogate. The lived-in castle is impressive and worth a visit while you are there.
SHUTTLE BUS: Leave your car at the hotel if you are stying in Harrogate itself. There is a shuttle bus service from Harrogate town centre to the showground and back.
Show photos courtesy of National Amateur Gardening Show, 2001.
Candlelit romance courtesy Boar's Head Hotel.
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