The Tour de France comes to Yorkshire!

As you know, we are proudly based in Yorkshire, so imagine how excited we are about the Grand Depart tomorrow. Yes, the Tour de France is coming to Yorkshire, and passes just a few miles from our door!

The opening ceremony took place yesterday at Leeds Arena and all 198 riders travelled through the city on their bikes. The race begins at 11am tomorrow in the city centre and Stage 1 takes a route to Harrogate passing through Otley, Ilkley, Skipton, Harewood and Grassington.

Stage 2 on Sunday is York to Sheffield, and again, passes within a few miles of both the Shimu showroom and my home. The weekend will see the riders pass through some breathtaking countryside – the race really will showcase what Yorkshire has to offer. Around 2 million people are expected on the streets to wave the peloton by. Personally, I’ll be watching the race with my children and a few friends in Ilkley on Saturday and then heading over to Haworth village for Stage 2 on Sunday to watch the riders come up the famous steep, cobbled high street. I wonder what Howarth’s most famous residents, the Bronte sisters, would have thought of it all! If you want to see some of the beautiful places the route passes through, I’ve created a Pinterest board of some of my favourites.

If you’re coming to Yorkshire for the Tour, please do call in to our showroom at Albion Mills in Greengates and say hello. We will be open on Saturday from 10:00 – 4:00. We’re situated just off the Leeds and Bradford ring roads and within easy reach of both those cities.

You’ll be able to see pieces from all our collections of hand crafted furniture, including our Classical Chinese furniture in black lacquer and elm, and gorgeously lacquered and painted Chinese cabinets, each one handcrafted and finished using traditional techniques. We currently have 30% off all in stock pieces from the Canton Colour Collection. These brightly lacquered cabinets come in every size and have hand-painted interiors decorated with traditional Chinese designs. Each one is signed by the artist and is completely unique. You can also see our fantastic range of oriental antiques in the showroom. It’s not always easy to show the scale and drama of some of the larger pieces online, so if you’re considering investing in a Chinese antique, it really is worth dropping by. We also have a wonderful selection of accessories, lighting, wall art and soft furnishings.

We’re proud that the Tour de France is coming our way and if you are heading to Yorkshire for the weekend, we wish you a wonderful stay in our beautiful county.