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A four-mile hop east from Harrogate, KNARESBOROUGH rises spectacularly above the River Nidd's limestone gorge, its old town houses, pubs, shops and gardens clustered together on the wooded northern bank, with the river itself crossed by two bridges ("High" and "Low"). The rocky crag above the town is crowned by the stump of a Castle (Easter-Sept daily 10.30am-5pm; GBP2) dating back to Norman times. Built on the site of Roman and Anglo-Saxon fortifications, it's now little more than a fourteenth-century keep in landscaped grounds, thanks to Cromwell's wrecking tactics during the Civil War. It was here that Henry II's knights fled after the murder of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral; here, too, that Richard II was held before being removed to Pontefract, where he was murdered in 1400. The town's two novelty acts are to be found on the west side of the river. Mother Shipton's Cave (daily: Easter-Oct 9.30am-5.45pm; Nov-Easter 10am-4.45pm; GBP3.95) was home to a sixteenth-century soothsayer who predicted the defeat of the Armada, the Great Fire of London, world wars, cars, planes, iron ships - falling short, however, in the most important oracular chestnut of them all, predicting the End of the World: "The world to an end will come", she prophesied, "in eighteen hundred and eighty one." Close by is an equally tourist-thronged spot, the Petrifying Well , where dripping, lime-soaked waters coat everyday objects - gloves, hats, coats, toys - in a brownish veneer that sets rock-hard in a few weeks. Both cave and well are reached along a fine eighteenth-century wooded "Long Walk"; the main entrance is just over the High Bridge, north of the town. The bus station is on the High Street, while trains pull up at the station just off the High Street. The tourist office is at 9 Castle Courtyard, Market Place (Easter-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm, Sun 2-5pm; tel 01423/866886). Free guided walks around the town leave from the Castle Yard; for information, call 01423/522588. Two good accommodation options are Ebor Mount , 18 York Place (tel 01423/863315; GBP40-50), and the Yorkshire Lass on High Bridge (tel 01423/862962; GBP40-50), a pub right opposite the entrance to Mother Shipton's Cave. Pollyanna's Tearooms up Jockey Lane, off the High Street, is the best cafe , while Bella Rosa , 25 Castlegate (tel 01423/869918; closed Sun), opposite the tourist office, is a good-value pizzeria.
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