Date: 29th May 2023
Travelled: 170 kms from Ribblehead to Pickering in North Yorkshire ย ย
Visited:ย Fountainโs Abbey and Pickering ย
Stayed: Big Bear RV, Pickering. ยฃ12, N54.24410, W00.78060ย ย
Budget: 7 days @ โฌ101 per day
Damn it was cold in bed this morning, I should have put the thermal cover on the Hymerโs front windscreen yesterday evening. The wind has dropped and the skies clear and itโs cold.
After sitting out Saturday and Sunday of the bank holiday weekend in Ribblehead itโs time to get moving. After coffee and fruit Pam heads off for a short walk whilst I get the Hymer ready to for the road.
Where on the road early once again hoping to avoid the holiday traffic. The road is narrow and winding, but thereโs little traffic. We stop in the market town of Leyburn for a shop at the COOP as the cupboards are empty.
Fountains Abbey, Fountains Lane, Markington with Wallerthwaite, Ripon, North Yorkshire, England, HG4 3DY, United Kingdom
By 10.30 we are parked at Fountainโs Abbey carpark, having had a second coffee, we prepare ourselves to pay the princely sum of ยฃ18 pp entry fee. No point joining the National Trust this year as we only plan a couple of their sites.
Fountains Abbey is the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monastery inย England. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 407 years, becoming one of the wealthiest monasteries in England until itsย dissolution, by order ofย Henry VIII, in 1539.
So enjoy the photos.
From the Abbey we follow the pathway to the Studley Royal Garden, created in the 18th century long after the monks had gone. The garden is traditional English in style, that is expansive lawns, fully mature trees and sculptured ponds. They are not gardens in the Monti Don style of imaginative creativity but more enduring from one season to the next, if that makes sense.
Our visit to Fountains complete, we drive on the market town of Pickering. Still in North Yorkshire itโs 45 minutes in the right direction. It has a small RV stop behind a bike shop with services at ยฃ12 per night a bargain for England I can assure you.
After chatting to our neighbour in another camper and an afternoon rest we head off exploring Pickering.
We find ourselves at The White Swan rather than The Black Swan. These two pubs stand at either end of Market Place. Pam quickly settles in to a local SB (see the cover photo). We chat with the barman who tells us Pickering is very popular with the shooting fraternity, grouse and pheasant he tells us.
Anyway that was our dayโฆ
Michael + Pam
