After lunch we headed back to the Pump House Museum. Harrogate was (and still is) a spa destination with the strongest sulphur spring in England. The Pump House was built to cover the spring. People would come to Harrogate to drink the spring water (it looked and smelled foul), get involved in the society life, go to the therapy spas for "treatments".
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| Back of the Pump House. |
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| Pump House Museum from the Valley Gardens. |
The displays in the museum described the spa treatments and the history of Harrogate and had a temporary exhibit of clothes used in Agatha Christie movies and TV shows, most set in the 20s and 30s. Agatha Christie's connection to Harrogate is that she disappeared for 11 days, in 1926, and was found in Harrogate. Even in her autobiography she gave no explanation for this. It happened after her mother died and her husband had an affair. The costumes were lovely and accessories came from the museums own collection. Of course I couldn't take any pictures in there.
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The public tap for the sulphur spring still works outside the pump house. Heather pushed the button,
water poured out and stunk to high heaven. Yuck! |
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| Pretty ironic considering that people used to be prescribed up to 3 glasses a day. |
We wandered some more and decided it was time for our first pub visit.
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Hales Bar, oldest pub in Harrogate. There are 2 sides and we went in to the right side. The bartender
was wonderful and let Don taste the beer on tap until he decided which he wanted. She then let me
taste the ciders on tap too. |
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Heather was happy she was moving, so no picture of her. Don was happy with his Hale Ale. Once we
settled the bartender came over and explained that the room had been a coach house and is still gaslit.
The 3 chandeliers are run by gas and so are the 2 plumes of flame, cigar lighters, on the bar. |
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