UK Roadtrip - Eamont Bridge to York

4th October

 

Packing and fitting everything back in the car again, we piled in and headed off for the day. Our final destination was York, but of course we took the long way!

 














Today was Castle day.  Even that we knew there were lots of castles in the UK, about every town we had planned to drive through its own Castle.  Our first stops were Bowes, and Barnard Castle, both just off the A66, in North Yorkshire.  In both we stopped and looked around the local Castle, originally named as Bowes and Barnard Castle, and wandered the main streets and shops.


Set on a high rock above the River Tees, Barnard Castle takes its name from its 12th century founder, Bernard de Balliol. It was later developed by the Beauchamp family and then passed into the hands of Richard III.


Bowes Castle was built between 1171 and 1187 on the site of the Roman fort of Lavatris.  The impressive ruins of Henry II's 12th century keep, guard the approach to strategic Stainmore Pass over the Pennines.








Bowes Castle



Barnard Castle



The Bowes Museum lies just outside the town of Barnard Castle.  The magnificent building purpose built in the 19th century by John and Josephine Bowes houses internationally significant collections of fine and decorative arts.  We didn't stop to have a look around the museum, but the view from the front gates was amazing enough.




 

Bowes Museum

Next was Richmond and Richmond Castle.  It was originally called Riche Mount, 'the strong hill', and was constructed from 1071 onwards following the Norman Conquest of England.  The castle was originally built to subdue the unruly North of England it is one of the greatest Norman fortresses in Britain.  Here we also wandered the local shops and town centre.






Richmond Castle

Our final stop on our way to York was Ripon.  Once again we wandered the main town and shops before heading on our way.  Heading out of Ripon, we encountered a brown tourist sign for the Fountains Abbey.  Taking a chance we followed the signs, having no idea where we were going and taking longer than we expected to get there we came upon a National Trust Site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden. 


The dramatic Abbey ruins at Fountains are the largest monastic ruins in the country. The Abbey was founded in 1132 by 13 Benedictine monks from St Mary’s in York seeking to live a devout and simple lifestyle.  Within three years the little settlement at Fountains had been admitted to the austere Cistercian Order and with that came an important development – the introduction of the Cistercian system of lay brothers. The lay brothers relieved the monks from routine jobs, giving them more time to dedicate to God. It was because of the lay brothers that Fountains became so wealthy through wool production, lead mining, cattle rearing, horse breeding and stone quarrying.

 

In the 14th-century the monks had to cope with bad harvests and raids from the Scots which led to economic collapse. This was only made worse by the Black Death which struck the country in 1348.   Despite its financial problems, the Abbey remained important. The abbacy of Marmaduke Huby (1495 - 1526) marked a period of revival and the great tower built by Huby symbolises his hope for the Abbey’s future.  

 

The Abbey was abruptly closed down in 1539 in the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII, and the abbot, prior and monks were sent away with pensions. The estate was sold by the Crown to a merchant, Sir Richard Gresham. It remained in private hands until the 1960s. The National Trust bought the estate from the West Riding County Council in 1983.

The ruins were fantastic.  It was surreal to walk through the middle of what would have been a huge chapel, and the peace that resonated around the site was amazing, despite the constant drizzle of rain!





        

Fountain Abbey

 It was now about 5.45 pm, still raining and getting dark, so we decided to head straight to York.  When we arrived and found our hotel with a no vacancies sign we were a little concerned. However it was all ok and our booking meant that we had the second last room.  After climbing the three flights of stairs into the attic we found our room.  Getting the suitcases up from the car to the room was not so easy.  However the hotel owner who came to assist us with your cases owned the Lotus Exige I had fawned over and let me sit in it! 

Once we got settled mum and I went for a walk in the rain through York before coming back to the hotel room and a snoring Granny Nanny and went to bed.