Posing in the Crathorne Arms- the local pub at Crathorne, Yorkshire, July 2016
This post has been written for the theme “26 Places, 26 Memories” for the #AtoZChallenge.
Y FOR YORKSHIRE:
Yorkshire is a county in North England. Known primarily for its Roman and Viking heritage, it has beautiful Norman castles, medieval abbeys, cities from the Industrial Revolution as well as national parks. The county town of York has gorgeous Tudor houses with noteworthy medieval walls.
My husband’s sister-in-law is British and her family hails from Crathorne in North Yorkshire. Though they live in London, summers are usually spent in the beautiful, sleepy environs of their country home. The river Leven flows through a magnificent valley, and words can’t describe the serene beauty of this part of the world.
I visited Crathorne in Yorkshire with my husband and 4-month-old son in July 2016, while vacationing in England. This was our first overseas trip with our son, which made it very memorable. However, today I’ll narrate one incident that really stood out.
YOUNG’UN YAPPING AWAY IN YORKSHIRE:
My sister-in-law runs an NGO to help children from marginalised communities in Delhi, by teaching them various forms of art. To raise funds for it, she organises an annual cricket match in Crathorne. Her family members and friends sign up to play and each player donates money for the cause, corresponding to the number of runs they score. We timed our trip with this cricket match, so my husband could join in the revelry and contribute as well.
July is the best time to visit Yorkshire, when the days are long, the sun shines bright and the weather is agreeable. The match took place on a lovely sunny day. While the men played, the women chatted and the children ran free on the open grounds, enjoying each other’s company and the delicious food.
My son, being the youngest of the lot, was on a feed-sleep-poop schedule, and life was predictably easy. He enjoyed being outdoors, and promptly passed out when he’d had his fill of milk. Once the match was over, everyone returned home to take it easy. My brother-in-law had volunteered to barbecue our dinner, which we were excited to eat outdoors in the fantastic weather. We sat with him in the front lawn for company, while he cooked. My son was comfortably perched on my husband’s lap.
As with most 4-month-old’s, the extent of my son’s vocabulary at the time, was the occasional “goo-goo-ga-ga”. You can imagine our immense surprise then, when our sweet little baby launched into a loud and vociferous commentary of gibberish! For a long interlude, he prattled on with noises that made sense only to him, maintaining a serious look on his face throughout. My brother-in-law whipped out the phone to record him, and by the end of the video, the whole phone was shaking as we all burst into uncontrollable laughter!
The video was circulated among family members, and was aptly titled “FP’s cricket commentary” 😉
Come back tomorrow for the letter Z, the last in this series, and another story!
Walking in beautiful Yorkshire
Enjoying the cricket match!
Book a stay in Yorkshire by clicking here.
*The copyright in all pictures belongs to nooranandchawla.
**This is not a sponsored post, but it contains an affiliate link. If you book a stay using my link, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
A for Amritsar, B for Bhopal, C for Cambodia, D for Delhi, E for England, F for France, G for Gwalior, H for Hemkund Sahib, I for Italy, J for Jim Corbett National Park, K for Kamakhya Devi Temple, L for London, M for Munich, N for Naples, O for Odisha, P for Prague, Q for Qila Mehrangarh Jodhpur, R for Rishikesh, S for Singapore, T for Tarifa in Spain, U for Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir, V for Velassaru in Maldives, W for Westminster City in London, X for Xi’an in China
Wow! Cricket with a cause. I have been an avid cricketer myself and could easily relate to the spirit of this post. You have got a cute little man out there. God bless him with health and peace.
Thank you so much 😊
He is so cute Noor 🙂 may be while he was sleep during the match hours the commentary hit his subconcious mind…LOL..kids are unpredictable
Haha yes maybe!
Thanks Priyanka!
Welcome😀
Loved this article!!!!
Thanks Trapti!
Your son is so cute…
good to know your husband took part in the match to make contribution.
you could have uploaded that commentary…would love to listen the “unique” one.
Haha maybe I will 🙂
Wow lovely clicks and it seems you had lots of fun during this trip. I had heard a lot about this place because of my cricket interest. would love to visit this place sometime in future. great series Noor and each post was so unique and awesome..I had a great time while reading your experiences of different places.
Thank you Surbhi!
The little one is cute as a button. I send him hugs and kisses. I feel he’s already showing interest in cricket, probably signs of a future international cricketer. Jokes apart, thus was a delightful read. It’s been such a pleasure to know you through this challenge.
Glad you liked it Sonia.. The pleasure is mutual!
What is it about cricket, that makes us all talk! See it made a 4 month old do too!:) What a precious memory, Noor! Someday your son will read this post and smile, like we are doing right now:)
Awww thanks Mayuri.. You’ve been a constant support to me through this challenge. Thank you so so much 😊
Lovely pictures Noor. Your son is really cute. It must be great to hear the commentary from him.
Thank you!
I know of one person, the great cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott, who is a proud Yorkshire man. He loves his Yorkshire pudding, specially made by his mother. Given Sir Geoffrey himself is hitting ninety, I am not sure if his mother is still alive and cooking pudding for her son.
That’s an interesting fact! 😊
I am visiting after a week’s hiatus, ufff crazy time. Love the memories Noor, as always you have an art of narrating incidents in such lucid manner. Lovely. And kiddo is adorable.
Thank you 😊
woow I loved his ppictures~!!
Thanks Vidhya!
your son is too cute 🙂 nice post
Thank you!
Aww.. He is adorable 🙂 Kids are funny especially when they don’t know hot to talk. They try to imitate parents in their own way.
Hahah that’s true!
To be honest he looks like a British. Well on days you too. Lovely way to connect it with a location. Will miss your quirky creative titles.
#ContemplationOfaJoker #Jokerophilia
Thanks Manas! Glad you appreciate my alliterative efforts.
My husband is half-Indian half-American, so my son is definitely more white than I am 😂
Wow. Didn’t know that. All the best for future endeavors.
Thanks! Same to you.. hope to be in touch through our blogs
Hopefully. You have something wonderful going with your blog. Keep going and you will see the benefits pretty soon.
Thank you!
What a fun trip to Yorkshire 🙂
And even more fun with a cutie like that! Your post makes me want to visit real soon
Thank you!
The little one😍 and his cute commentary! Loved it 👍
Thanks Aditi!
This is the best post so far Noor… just for the fact that the pics are adorable with your lil dude… Lovely read. I have planned my trip to London for may but i saw your pics of Yorkshire now… Wont be able to include this in my itinerary but the pics look very attractive.
Thank you Kushal! Do visit Yorkshire some other time- it’s really beautiful
The little master is adorable, I am glad he eventually entered the series. It would have been so adorable to hear him suddenly, probably he too was enjoying the vacay ♥️
Haha yes it was really cute!
hahah.. how cute, I can s related to the gibberish commentary. Must be fun to watch when he is old enough to understand.
Yes he enjoys watching it now!
I love anything giving off the vibes of Roman and Viking heritage. Definitely adding Yokshire in my travel list. By the way your son is so cute! 🙂
Thank you so much Snehal 🙂
That’s a adorable family picture.
That’s a fun trip to Yorkshire
I would love to visit there sometime with my family.
Thank you
Haha sweet! I want to the see the video too. How was it on the flight with the little one?
The first flight was actually one of the easiest because we didn’t have to run after him! If you feed on takeoff and landing, flights are not hard. Now he’s 3 years old and we’ve taken multiple flights with him. Now the real problem is keeping him entertained because he just wants to run everywhere!!
I have heard a lot of positive reviews on Yorkshire, this one was no less. Loved the blog, I am just imagining how interesting the cricket match would had been! Beautifully written.
Thank you!
Your sister in law and her family is doing a great work towards betterment of people. I would love to watch this match live one day.
Thank you Amrit 😊
Noor your son is so adorable. I never knew about yokshire, it is such a lovely place to explore. Love to know that your husband took part in the cricket match
Thank you Papri 😊
Even the title of your article is do catchy that one can’t resist clicking it. I have been following your writing on this series and it had been tremendous. Good job
Thank you 😊
Our little ones make our life morebeautiful. It would be so much fun at that moment to hear his voice like that. He likes cricket already.
Hahaha yes it was