Helmsley In The Rain - 28th June 2013

An earlier start was the order of the day today, we had a lot to cram in and the forecast was very poor with heavy rain expected until the early evening, so packing the waterproofs was a definite priority. Our plan was to drive the 35 miles to Helmsley, have a walk around the village, visit the castle, then the walled garden and lastly go the short distance to Rievaulx Abbey. Well at least that was the plan..

We arrived in Helmsley just before 10am, and it had rained incessantly all the way across. As we had expected to be around for a while (fingers crossed hoping for the forecasters to be incorrect) we paid for 6hrs parking. It was also market day in Helmsley so always an added bonus, but as with many 'traditional' markets these days you get a few stalls selling chutneys, cheeses, cakes etc, but then plenty selling old records, kids toys and pet accessories. Unfortunately this was no different so a little disappointing.

The village itself though was beautiful, some lovely old cottages and historic buildings, and lots of lovely little shops and deli's. Plenty to pass an hour, and of course we bought a number of items of food from the deli's and bakeries; Well you just have to don't you, it's all about supporting the local economy and nothing about stuffing yourself...lol

Donna's corporate membership of English Heritage was again taken advantage of as we entered Helmsley Castle. I had expected it to be a few remnants of 900 year old stone walls and little else, but was actually surprised at how much was there. Ok a lot of the original medieval castle is in ruins, but there's still a lot to see, and there is a well preserved large Tudor dwelling packed with artifacts and information about the site.

We spent just over an hour looking around the site, mingling on occasions with the local school trip who were learning all about the site. As we exited through the site shop we decided that as we were already soaked and it was now raining even heavier, the trip to Rievaulx would wait until another day. Back to the cottage to dry off...