A Fountains Abbey to Ripon walk

I want to start by wishing you all a Happy New Year and to say that in the same way that I have commenced it with a different personal concept and part biographical with specific friends both near and far, so life has took a new direction as I come to terms in dealing with ill health in my family.

The journey that I am about to take you on may seem like a walk in the country or a wander around a town but it means a bit more to me than that as I seek direction onwards. I'm usually very modest about some of my photographic work, for example this particular post, but some of these trips were worthy of staying on for a few more days to depict some visual delights that you will not disappointed with.

I have inspiration for this concept and post from Farmchick @ its a small town life who uses humorous alias names to protect identities and cranberry morning ( @ fountains abbey ) whose inspiration keeps me going in many more ways than just one. It puts me to shame that someone has to travel half way around the world to see extensive portions of Yorkshire and yet there is so much that is only 90 minutes away from my doorstep that I have just driven past to places further afield.... speaking of which this was a walk around the exterior perimeter fence !! ... and it's been about 15 years since I paid to go in.

My "Scarborough Sandcastle manager" (september 2010)

As an introduction and part biographical post... Following the ending of my 5-6 years with "The Bristol connection", I met up with a lost friend due to house moves and my constant travels to the south west of England. You can imagine his surprise when I spoke to him on the telephone after I received a circular e-mail from "The Leeds link"saying that he was organising a walk in Richmond, North Yorkshire. My rendezvous in London with The Bristol connection didn't happen and so began a story within a blog joining a Yorkshire walking group on outings to Grassington and later Masham. Around this time, the "Seaside Star" organised a fun trip to Scarborough as a social day out with an overlapping group that included non walkers and I later met up with in her home town of Sheffield for a day. The "Scarborough sandcastle manager" inspired me to join him in many more things such as Yorkshire dales walking and a Borrowdale weekend that included four posts during last May and early June.
(all place names in blue are links to the relevant previous posts)

The Scarborough sandcastle manager is a very busy person and organises walking events and town tours for voluntary and fee paying groups. On this particular day he was wanting my advice on the suitability of his planned route for the fee paying "Amblers" !  It was at this point in the walk above that I gave him .... my opinions !! .... something for the (Grassington) "Ramblers".

It was with interest and half a smile that I noticed that this walk was put on this years programme during March. It looks like that I might have some pressure applied to me to attend !!

Following a riotous dispute in St Mary's Abbey in York, thirteen Benedictine monks founded the Abbey in a sheltered and more peaceful valley in 1132. Due to its business in the wool trade, Fountains Abbey became an affluent location home for the monks for a mix of wealthy times followed by economic hardship in the 400 year period leading up to the destructive Henry VIII in 1539.  When the visiting Victorians tourists in the mid nineteenth century arrived, they were governed by strict rules so as not to damage the site. In more recent times the National Trust acquired the site from Yorkshire County Council in 1983 and were the organisation to best preserve it.

Fountains Hall was built over a period of six years at the start of the 17th century partly with the stones from the ruined Abbey and was occupied by successive family descendants for about 150 years. The new owners that purchased didn't need it as they lived on the nearby Studley Royal Estate so it was rented out to various tenants until renovation about 1930. King George VI stayed here a few times and it was a haven for World War II evacuees before falling into a state of disrepair. As with the other buildings on the estate, Yorkshire County Council had to pick up the pieces before the National Trust as I said in the previous paragraph commenced preservation in 1983.

Anyhow, I don't want to bore you with any more history as I was thinking about lunch and Ripon Cathedral seems like .... lunch in Ripon won't be happening for some time !!

Sorry, I can't wait and I have to fast forward to lunchtime in Ripon square where the "Scarborough Sandcastle manager" inspired me in the local Tudor butchers shop (below) with two things I hadn't eaten before, a special herbed pork pie and Yorkshire curd tart.

Just to let you know that I must come back here again on my own to re sample it, visit Ripon Cathedral and tell you a bit more about the place in a separate post ... sometime !!  ... as there is quite a bit of history about the town ...

We rejoined the footpath at T and R Williamson Varnish and enamel works built in 1775 ...

... and made a start on the return journey following the river for a short distance through the town.

After a mix of river, road and hedgerows, it finally felt that we were back out in the country again at Studley Roger.

.. where I would like to tell you about my feet !!

My fellow companion checked his map in order that we didn't miss the scenic route back.

We paused at a gate ...

... before joining the popular walking route back on the unpaid section of the Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Estate.

"The Valley of the Seven Bridges" was the short return route that my friend decided to take the "Amblers" on in the end from the Fountains Abbey car park.

Finally we reached the lake on the estate signifying that the walk was nearly over ...

Maybe I could just rest my feet in here for a minute or two !!

As the long and weary day ( !! ) was coming to an end , it was time to reflect on some thoughts ...

... apart from a walk filled with ... Curd tart and tired feet !, it was a walk with many peaceful animal scenes ...

Ashness - Seatoller walk

On the final day of our Lake District Borrowdale walking trip, most of the group opted for a 5 & 1/2 mile linear walk which involved taking an open top bus from the Seatoller terminus to the shores of Derwent water.

On this occasion we had a different walk leader and she had difficulty trying to point us in the right direction away from the Lake shore bus stop as the view here was so good. There was enough time given though to take in the scenery and have a few last thoughts about yesterday's windy experience as I looked towards the hill of Catbells.

I had walked most of the route before and was keen to try new ground in the middle section between Watendlath and 2/3 the way down the hill to Rosthwaite (for the benefit of the walkers amongst you ...where the Grange Fell path leaves to the north).

(The previous time I had walked the first section to Watendlath was also with a different large group many years ago, however on that occasion the weather wasn't pleasant or suitable for photographs !! Interestingly enough, I had covered the last section from near Rosthwaite with the same group a few years before on a day when the walk leader misread the distance with his fingers !! On this occasion we started from Seatoller and covered all of the hills going north to the left and dropping down into the valley before Catbells for the return route. A fellow walker bought a map measuring pen the following day and we both concluded that it was a distance of ... 14 miles !! Consequently, another section of this walk that had previously been unpleasant as we were longing for Seatoller car park to come into view !!)

Today's weather was ideal and I was up for finishing this Lake District Bank holiday weekend with a pleasant gentle experience after yesterday's wind.

We set off from the bus stop and passed Derwentwater Youth Hostel before climbing up through a tree covered slope onto the Ashness to Watendlath road

Ashness Bridge.... Derwentwater & Skiddaw

We were treated to one of the most popular views in the English Lake District immortalised by postcard publishers and Artists stretching back to Victorian times. (On a side note, when I was younger, my Mother went to an art class and painted this scene. On some of the postcards she had, the lake was more prominent ... maybe someone needs to trim those trees a little before it is lost forever in this view !!)

Surprise view

A little further on past the bridge, there is a deviation from the road to the right through the trees to a clearing at the top of a high cliff or rock face where the expansiveness of Derwentwater is breathtaking.
(One of the Keswick Launches can be seen left of centre on the lake.)

We continued up the Watendlath road a little further until the contours levelled before branching off on the pleasant footpath route to the village. It was at this point that the walk leader thought it was a good idea for a short break and what a break it was .....

"Are you going to throw that stick or not ?"

One of the group came with a Camper van and brought her dog Jessie. Fantastic dog and entertainment.

All too soon, we spotted a roof and that was a sign that we were approaching ..... lunch ... at Watendlath.

It was time for a last look back at where we had just walked from ( path on the left hand side at the base of the hill) .....

Watendlath Tarn

.... and settle down for lunch on the left hand side of the river bank with views the other way of this ...

A few friends joined us for lunch

After lunch, it was time for a quick tour of the very few buildings of Watendlath (the most famous thing being a plaque that denotes the home of Judith Paris chosen by the writer Hugh Walpole in 1931)....

...and to get some refreshment in the only place where you can spend money for miles.... The Caffle house tea room.

It was time to descend the hill into Borrowdale once more. it may be of interest that the distant valley  and the curving rounded ridge in the left of the image was the ascent & descent route respectively on the Allen Crags & Glaramara post two days earlier.

The Borrowdale valley floor signalled the arrival of Rosthwaite or rather afternoon tea !! ...

Carrot cake on sheep plates !!

Regular blog readers will know that this flavour is not quite top of the list, but hey, it was a relaxing day and with these views anything is fine !!

Rosthwaite house

The last section of the walk was a well trekked path being part of the Cumbria way. There was an unusual section that I remembered from the previous occasion where the path disappeared across rocks, sloping down into the river. There was a long rope attached to the ground to aid the un sure walker .... fun.

As the walk and the weekend was coming to an end, it was appropriate that we should see the rear of our accommodation from the path. (There was of course still a fair distance to cover on the approved path in a large anti clockwise loop to the right and in front of the distant trees before walking up the drive.)

Seatoller, our destination and home for the weekend .... which I didn't get a chance to photograph until it was nearly time to leave !

Seatoller street !!

After the drive down to the Borrowdale valley from Keswick, the most famous thing about Seatoller is the road sign that separates the mountaineers from the tourists on route to Seathwaite !! However, your transport may prefer that route unless you can catch the minibus to go over the torturous Honister Pass !! ....

"Borrowdale Bus Station" ... the other Seatoller sight !!

I'll finish the weekend with a video that I've just found on Youtube ... Enjoy.

Durham (4) a riverside walk to.... the Garden centre !!

There are several reasons for doing this post from Durham, least of all because it was the next thing in the diary ... 26th February. Over the last few posts, I have noticed that the focus quality on transfer to blogger has suffered on compression to the size I transfer too. I have removed the "/s320 or /s400 " as directed by the help pages. Any comments and help appreciated here.

The second reason for this post was the inspiration that brian walking has been to me in providing me with the incentive of a route map. Brian seems to like walking in the same areas that i am familiar with and like me, loves to armchair walk at home at times. This post is dedicated to him as it has been a hard six months to get to this stage... It's not ideal but it's a start.....

The route starts at a car park on the top edge of the map, circles the outside river bend around the Cathedral and continues down the right hand side of the river to a garden centre at Shincliffe. For information, the city centre is also in the top left hand corner.

Finally the last reason for posting this walk even though the weather was not very good, was to show that I had not deserted the local walking group that I help to organise  (Previous blog walks ... post 2 - Craster,  4 - Leyburn Shawl, 14 - Etal to Ford and smaller groups to ... 29 Seahouses to Bamburgh & 43 Waterfalls walk). There have been several operational problems recently to do with my availability, the structure and facilities on the walk. I'll say no more on that one except that the original idea was to start from the Garden centre and walk into Durham. How shocked was I to discover that the walk had been reversed and the objective of the walk was to reach a Garden centre !!

Hopefully, there will be enough interest to capture your imagination by images along the route although I wasn't overjoyed with the material available today.

Riverside apartment for sale

River restaurant with a view

Alternative cathedral view

The first section of the walk I covered on Durham (2) Winter riverside walk and don't wish to repeat these images here so I opted for alternative angles..

Arrive by bike.....

... for boat practice

The 11th century chapel of St Andrew on Elvet bridge now a trendy Italian bistro called Melanzana.

It was time to leave the city and all the tourism features that involved and pretend that we were out on a serious walk !

A view from the bridge....walk down the left and back up the right

Lemon Drizzle trophy at the other end

On the return journey, we passed a pagoda next to Durham City cricket club. The weather seemed to get darker as I opted for black and white and the grim reaper was evident on the roof...

Cricket seems like it has always been played here next to the river as the club was formed in 1829 and was one of the first to join the local league many years later in 1903. In more recent years, Durham County cricket club was given senior status to play with the big teams and have done rather well. The people of North East England are historically passionate about their chosen sport and cricket is no different here.

On crossing the bridge, we entered urban life again and found a man.... fishing for his lunch. Is the cost of food this expensive in Durham City? !!

A couple of skyline shots to finish with of the 11th century Cathedral and Castle keep, the latter being rebuilt in the 1840's for University student use.

After a quick trip across the city centre we reached the "restaurant with a view" but there was no customary tea shop at the end of the walk so I remembered my earlier visit into the Garden centre wearing my full mountain equipment... the embarrassment of it !! It's just as well it was a large cup.... because it had to last a lot longer than I thought it would !!