9th to 18th July

Saturday 9 July
Nipped out first thing to the ToysRUs that I have discovered to try and find something small and light for Holly for her birthday next week.

Then it was off to Ripon for lunch at the Water Rat where we were meeting Kate, Patrice and Matilde for lunch then a walk around Ripon Cathedral.

Sunday 10 July
Spent the morning sorting through the massive packets of school work that were waiting for us when we arrived here and which have been the elephant in the room ever since.

Took myself off for a wander around the city of York on my own in the afternoon while the kids and Aaron did some grocery shopping and relaxed at home.

Monday 11 July
The weather was not looking kind today and was damp and blowy, so we stayed in and worked through some of next week's work assignements.  In the afternoon the rain dried up and we decided to go into York for a little break and visit the Treasurers House. We found free parking in the Morrisons not far away, but by the time we had dithered about a bit and walked along the walls to get there, it was just moments after last entry.  Undeterred we decided to clock up some miles and walk the whole way around the city via the walls.

Tuesday 12 July
Remarkably the day dawns bright and sunny - very unusual to see the sun in the morning, but the forecast suggests it will cloud over but remain dry.  Taking our chances where we can, a day at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens quickly goes on the table.  Hoping for a coffee to start the day and wanting to try out the coffee shop at the Red Gate, we quickly organise and head into town to the free car park we discovered yesterday.  A bit of a walk (along the walls of course) finds the coffee shop not open!  Never fear, we have a back up plan and pop into Waitrose for some supplies for lunch and a free coffee.  Best yet.

Then we are on our way towards Ripon..  Not knowing which way exactly our sat nav will go, we get caught up on the last mile to the M1 with the Yorkshire Show traffic, which delays us quite a bit, so we don't arrive at the Abbey until after 11.30.
It is a large estate and the Abbey was one of the largest and is the best preserved Cistercian abbey in Britain.
We had a brief look around on the walk down to the abbey from the entrance and spent some time in the mill

, then paused to have our lunch enjoying the view, so we would be able to do the guided tour.

Our tour guide was Mike and he spent nearly 3 hours explaining a great deal of the history.  The abbey was founded by a small group of Benedictine Monks in 1132 after a disagreement with their Abbot.  The Archbishop gave them the opportunity to find a place on his land down the River Skell and set up for themselves.  Within 50 years the monastry was established and housed 80 monks and many more lay brothers who did the labouring.  The abbey mill is the only intact building remaining and was operating until the 1920's.

Leaving the Abbey ruins our tour continues to the water gardens of Studley Royal

swan egg

After the tour we complete the circuit of the gardens up the high ride to see the view from Anne Boleyns seat.

Wednesday 13 July

The Great Yorkshire Show

Firstly, I love that they just put it out there and call it great.

After being caught in some of the traffic yesterday, we were expecting a really long trip to get there but were pleasantly surprised at how well the traffic was flowing and made it in under an hour.  Just in time to seek out the gun dog display, though it took us a good 20 minutes to walk from the entrance to the other side of the show ground to find them.

There was so much to see and in the end we didn't cover all of it.  Plenty of walking around, lots of displays, including such delights as a 'Year in the life of a grouse moor' or  'Decoying Woodpigeons, a scientific approach'.  We did manage to catch the Falconry display, examine some tanks and let Holly try her hand at shooting

  We looked at the cattle, the horses, watched some showing, sampled some food, learnt about rabbit catching, got caught in a short but heavy rain shower (thank you to the army who had earlier had the foresight to hand out rain ponchos!)

We watched the cattle parade in the main arena, saw the motorbike display by Bold Dog, watched the small pony scurry and the heavy horse pairs, some show jumping and the kids had a ride in the Petronas Formula One Team Simulator.

8 hours after we arrived things were winding down and we made our way home.

Thursday 14th July

Not wanting to travel too far afield today, we set us for Beningbrough Hall where we spend a couple of hours wandering the gardens, play area and exploring the house. 

Aidan in the ha ha

Friday 15th July

Determined today to try out the 'artisan' coffee at the Gatehouse so we head there this morning.  It's a bit cold so we cosy up inside but have a good look around the barbican afterwards. 

For a warm up we set off for a last walk around the walls, after I make a stop in town at Boots.  Then seeing as we are in the neighbourhood we stop by the Treasurer's House near the Minster for a short visit before returning home for lunch.  In the afternoon I run a few errands sorting out a couple of small items for Holly's birthday  then we go into York to find a nice pub for a meal.  It is lovely to walk around in the quiet of the evening. Still enough people around to be interesting, but not the crowds of the daytime, particularly in the Shambles.  We decide on the Ye Olde Starre Inne, and enjoy some tasty pies and a baked camembert, washed down with a toffee beer which is pretty amazing. 

Our attempt to have a final walk to the car along the wall is foiled by the night locking but it turns out to be quite nice to walk on the other side of them for a change.

Saturday 16th July

Last morning in York, as we pack up our stuff and do the last of the cleaning before we leave.  We head first towards Manchester to visit the house in Oldham where Aaron grandmother was born and lived before she emigrated to New Zealand.  As we were gawping from outside it was clear that someone was home, so Aaron knocked at the door just to let them know why we were stalking outside the house. The lady of the house was quite relieved to know what we were doing and informed us that the lady from next door was 98 and had lived there all her life.  Unfortunately she had only 2 weeks before gone to a nursing home.  Would have been interesting to talk with her.

Leaving Oldham we travelled on to our 3 nights holiday let in Shustoke.

Sunday 17th July

After a restful nights sleep in our comfy bed in the eaves, we awaken to a sunny (yes, SUNNY) morning and the promise that it will last all day.  The people in the other cottage are a wedding party and spend the morning getting in their finery for the big day.  We enjoy the peaceful surroundings and churn through some school work before lunch before setting off for a walk.  We after attempting to do the walk backwards in order to end up at the pub rather than passing it early on, but we are unsuccessful finding the path away from the road, so retreat and follow the walk in the proper order.
It is fairly overgrown, but the instructions are reasonably straightforward to follow if you are careful, so we make our way through woods, across wheat fields, along rivers, under railway lines, through muddy and dry fields, around the reservoir, past the pub and finally back down the road to home after doing the 10km circuit.  We well earned our sit in the courtyard tonight!

Monday 18th

Arrangement this morning to call in at our next house sit to collect the keys and go over any instructions so we head there after breakfast and arrive just after 11. No problems at the house and the kids get gerbil and hamster instructions from the resident twins and we leave them to get on with their packing and laying down of a brew. 

As we have 3 weeks in the neigbourhood, there is no need to rush off and see anything, so after a supermarket stop we are back home again for a quiet afternoon in the garden.