We wake-up at 7, the tent is still wet, but the sun is shining. Tim and Olga share a shower while the kids sleep in. We wake them at 8, quickly eat our oatmeal and leave at 9. The tent is still wet, the sun was not strong enough to completely dry it.
Our first stop is the cathedral town of Ripon. The cathedral was founded as a monastery in 672 by st Wilfrid. The present day church is the fourth on this site and built between the 13th and 16th century. From the earliest building the crypt still survives, making this one of the oldest parts in any cathedral in England. When we enter we are told that it’s free but nothing is free so they expect a donation. We pay for a sticker to be allowed to take photographs inside.
There is a trail for Cleo to find different objects in the church. Which she dutifully does, we go round the church and marvel at the woodwork of the choir. The altar is also very beautiful, and the church being English Gothic is a bit lighter than the Scottish ones. When we exit Cleo is bitterly disappointed when she doesn’t get the extra sticker because the woman at the reception is telling an endless story to another visitor which we don’t want to interupt.
It’s just a short drive to Fountains abbey. We’ll need a full day to explore Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, an UNESCO World Heritage Site combining the UK’s largest (and most important) monastic abbey ruins with an 18th-century water garden and deer park. We cover the basic and start with playing in the playground and in the summer of play fields.
Sadly play time is never enough and there is a lot of disappointment (again) when we start a hike around the area. The first stop is Fountain Hall, the manor house of the lords of this estate. We dress up in 16th century clothing and take a family picture.
We pass through the garden to the water mill, the only surviving building of the original abbey as it was to useful to destroy.
The abbey was founded in 1133 and was one of the richest and largest in England. The surviving buildings are impressive. The church tower still stands tall above the huge arched nave. There also is a huge vaulted area, which was the larder. The size is a testament to the riches of the abbey. We continue along the river in the burning sun, once again it’s hot. Halfway the children and Olga return to the play area while Tim continues through the huge English landscape garden. There used to be large ponds to mirror the landscape but this summer, they are almost entirely mud instead. The draught is also taking its toll here.
We arrive back at the parking at the same time, Olga had to get into an argument to get the Pokemon stickers for the children (as we normally got one at the exit, but here we should have asked at the entrance), luckily she succeed and disappointment is avoided this time. Just around the corner is another National Trust site, the strange Brimham Rocks .
It’s a geomorphic area of large rocks formed by a river 100 million years ago. It’s very busy, we get one of the last parking spots. All rocks are literally littered with children, climbing and crawling on all surfaces. We do a short tour, eat an icecream and walk back as it’s too hot for us.
We have a long ride ahead as it’s three hours to our camping near Stoke on Trent. We arrive at 1730, put up the tent, cook and do the laundry. Then it’s time to plan the day of tomorrow, this sadly takes a disappointed turn as the ceramic museums we came for are closed on Monday and Tuesday… We’ll have to come up with an alternative.
