17 October 2023

 Up early for a cup of tea and some quiet time before the rush of packing and cleaning the apartment before we leave York. A quiet, green morning as I sit on the couch, thinking about the day and asking for blessing and protection. I will miss this place.

We were out the door and into the car by 10:10 a.m., just ten minutes after our scheduled departure, which was good timing, considering we left the place clean as a whistle. Our destination, once out of York, was Fountains Abbey, near Ripon. It’s been years since I was there, and Ruth had never seen it, so it was well worth a stop on our way toward the Lake District.

We found parking at the abbey and sought sustenance before embarking on a three-hour tour. And of course we had to make use of the wonderful scones we’d bought yesterday. I will admit, there was some clotted cream involved.

Fountains Abbey was founded by 12 monks who were fed up with the lax lifestyle of the Benedictines at St. Mary’s in York, so they broke off, received a small plot of land near what is now Ripon, and joined the Cistercian order, clinging to simplicity and hard work. Barely surviving their first year in the harsh elements, seeking shelter under the trees, they eventually became a wealthy and successful abbey. Fountains was built gradually over the 12th and 13th centuries, was dissolved by Henry VIII in the mid-1500s, and remains one of the most visited sites of the National Trust properties.

The ruins are impressive:

We also visited St. Mary’s chapel, constructed near the abbey to commemorate the death of a young Englishman who had been kidnapped and killed in Greece in the 1800s. A lovely little church, but sad.

The grounds around the abbey are spectacular.

Then we made our way to Kirby Lonsdale, our overnight stop before entering the Lake District. We chose a route that led us through the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, through little towns like Grassington. The scenery of the massive and sometimes forbidding hills and peaks was awe-inspiring. We found time to take a very short hike along one of the rivers, stretching our legs and enjoying the incomparable fresh air and scenery.

We arrived at Devil’s Bridge outside of Kirkby Lonsdale just as the sun was setting. Parking for free overnight by the bridge, we carried our bags about half a mile to our small bedroom apartment just off the town square. A tiny room but perfectly decorated and enough for our needs for one night. 

Ruth suggested we eat dinner out, as we had no kitchen in our room. We perused the Internet for recommendations and found a Chinese restaurant nearby that had mostly one- or two-star reviews (“most horrible food I’ve every tasted,” “miserable service,” etc.) along with a handful of five-star reviews (“always excellent, best I’ve ever tasted”). We decided that the poor reviews were probably the accurate ones, and the good reviews most likely written by the owner’s friends and relatives. So we texted our AirBnB host and asked for a recommendation. The result: The Red Dragon, just down Main Street.

A winner! Ruth and I ordered a half pint of ale each and some steak and ale pie. 

Flaky, steaming hot, full of flavor and meat, plus chips and veggies in abundance. We needed another half pint apiece to finish it. 

A wonderful finish to a very full day.