Grassington and Bolton Abbey

I didn't realise that the weather was forcast to be so good when we set off for the Yorkshire Dales yesterday. We were totally unprepared, Eleanor and I were wearing jeans and Daniel was wearing tracksuit bottoms. Mick was ok as he always wears knee length tracksuit bottoms, he never feels the cold.

The first place we headed to was Grassington, a small market town in Wharfedale. We had a wander around the shops and I was pleased to find the three colours which my local yarn shop didn't have in stock when I purchased the yarn for my crochet blanket. The main street in Grassington is really pretty.

There are some gorgeous guest houses. This one took my fancy.

Mick treated me to this bag, Knitting is...good!!! I think he's fed up of seeing yarn all over the room and thinks I'll keep it in this instead. Eleanor got Shoes are...Good!!! Typical girl.

After Grassington, we headed to Bolton Abbey which is about nine miles from Grassington. It's on the banks of the River Wharf and within the estate is a ruined twelth century priory.

Sir Edwin Landseer painted Olden Time At Bolton Abbey, but I much prefer JMW Turner's Bolton Abbey.

To get to the river we had to cross a field. This sheep was very nosey and wondered what we were doing so close to her.

We decided we'd take one of the walks on the estate so we crossed the river and headed off. Some of the scenery we encountered was breathtaking.

I keep telling Daniel and Eleanor that money doesn't grow on trees but I began to wonder when we came across this fallen tree.

There are three money trees at Bolton Abbey, the first one fell in the late 1980's and was pulled to the side of the path by the Estate foresters to make it safe and provide a habitat for insects. Coins have been hammered in to the trunk, apparently bringing good luck, and it's now a much loved feature of this particular walk.

Further along the walk we came to a ford. By now we were all flagging under the heat, so the paddle was very welcome for Eleanor and Archie.

I decided that a paddle wasn't for me, especially after Eleanor squealed that the water was freezing cold. I crossed a little further down the path by this bridge.

A little while later we came to this stile through a dry stone wall. Here's Daniel crossing it.

I was wondering how we were going to get Archie over, but look what we have here... I was going to say a doggy stile but that sounds a little rude, instead I'll call it a doggy crossing point, a hole in the bottom of the wall.

Towards the end of the walk we were right at the side of the river. This gave Archie a great opportunity to jump in and cool off.

We had such a brilliant day yesterday, that although I've got many places yet to visit from my 'must go there' list, we decided to pay Bolton Abbey another visit today. This time were were prepared for the weather, Eleanor in her bikini, and the rest of us in shorts. There was no walking today, today was for relaxation. We parked up at the side of the river and didn't budge all day.

Eleanor enjoyed wading in the river and catching crayfish. I should mention that this critter only spent a couple of minutes out of the river for a photograph, he was replaced where he was found.

Archie enjoyed himself. His swim's certainly cooled him down in the heat of the day.

Everyone ran for cover when he emerged from the water. Just look at him shake. The water goes everywhere, and look at those big ears.

We've all enjoyed our staycation. Although the weather was rubbish on Bank Holiday Monday, it came good in the end. I'm sad to see Mick back at work on Monday and Eleanor back at school, though I'll have Daniel home with me now until September apart from the times he's got exams. I'm hoping to put some time in at the allotment tomorrow so I hope the weather is going to be fine but a little cooler.