I have no idea whether any of my friends, family or colleagues read my blog, but if they do it probably gets a little tiresome with my references to the weather at the start of each one. However, when you think about it, it's the weather that often determines the day ahead. And of course, as an Englishman we do like to talk about the weather; don't we?
So here goes; more fog. After a full week of fog in Whitby in March, and then the same again in September we had hoped for a little more variety in the weather, how about some rain, maybe heavy winds, how about early snow and ice, but no; yet more fog! The forecast was for it to clear in the afternoon (which it didn't by the way) so we decided around 11am to leave the cottage, head down into Thirsk to do some shopping and have a walk around the town, then head over to Ampleforth Abbey for lunch and an hour or two walking around the grounds.
Well we did do some shopping, but as we came out of Thirsk Tesco it was raining; now that wasn't in the script for the day. So we abandoned our plans to have a walk around Thirsk town centre and just headed back up Sutton Bank onto the North York Moors to head over to Ampleforth. It was a slow drive back up Sutton Bank as we were on a long queue of traffic, so 1st and 2nd gears were the order of the day. As we rose higher to the plateau of the moors we hit the thick fog again, and I mean thick fog.
We managed to drive the 5 miles or so to Ampleforth but it wasn't without it's challenges as we picked our way along the narrow lanes, it was hard enough just seeing the edge of the road never mind anything coming in the other direction. Our journey though was very much worth it.
After parking up our first point of call was the visitor centre, quite a small set-up and I don't need to say that the information was very much based around religion but we actually found it to be very interesting. Just reading the history of the Order of Saint Benedict was fascinating, and learning about the life of a monk, and seeing video's of some of the Ampleforth Monks talking about their experiences was quite uplifting. That said, at heart I am not religious in the slightest but have nothing but respect for those that base their life around religion.
By around 1pm we were both getting a little peckish so off the the Abbey tea-room for lunch. It's a lovely little place to eat, with food that doesn't even know what a microwave oven is. Even the tables and chairs were a talking point as they are all Mouseman oak furniture; very well known in North Yorkshire.
The food was very tasty and freshly made so you don't mind waiting a little, we both had the same so no squabbling over our food. We had pork and apple burgers topped with crispy bacon and served with hand-made chips. Then for afters, an ample sized serving of upside-down apple and cider cake with fresh cream. The Abbey is famous for it's apple based produce particularly Ampleforth Cider, all their products are made by hand on the premises by the monks, and you might be surprised to know that it's the largest commercial orchard in the north of England. Hence our delight in being able to choose the food that we did as it all contained the famous local produce. A lovely lunch.
For the next hour or so we walked around the grounds of the Abbey and renown Ampleforth College. When I say the college, you aren't allowed in and around the actual college buildings as it is after all a working college with hundreds of pupils undertaking their daily studies, but much of the grounds is available to stroll around. They certainly take their sport seriously as we counted 10 rugby pitches, 3 cricket pitches, a couple of football pitches, an area of outdoor pitches and various other sporting facilities.
So time to head back to the cottage and a cosy evening reading and watching TV. Our visit to Ampleforth Abbey had been a very enjoyable and enlightening one; but with one frustrating caveat. We realised on the way back that we had completely forgotten to go in the abbey itself. Note to self.....
More photos here.
Well we did do some shopping, but as we came out of Thirsk Tesco it was raining; now that wasn't in the script for the day. So we abandoned our plans to have a walk around Thirsk town centre and just headed back up Sutton Bank onto the North York Moors to head over to Ampleforth. It was a slow drive back up Sutton Bank as we were on a long queue of traffic, so 1st and 2nd gears were the order of the day. As we rose higher to the plateau of the moors we hit the thick fog again, and I mean thick fog.We managed to drive the 5 miles or so to Ampleforth but it wasn't without it's challenges as we picked our way along the narrow lanes, it was hard enough just seeing the edge of the road never mind anything coming in the other direction. Our journey though was very much worth it.
After parking up our first point of call was the visitor centre, quite a small set-up and I don't need to say that the information was very much based around religion but we actually found it to be very interesting. Just reading the history of the Order of Saint Benedict was fascinating, and learning about the life of a monk, and seeing video's of some of the Ampleforth Monks talking about their experiences was quite uplifting. That said, at heart I am not religious in the slightest but have nothing but respect for those that base their life around religion.
By around 1pm we were both getting a little peckish so off the the Abbey tea-room for lunch. It's a lovely little place to eat, with food that doesn't even know what a microwave oven is. Even the tables and chairs were a talking point as they are all Mouseman oak furniture; very well known in North Yorkshire.
For the next hour or so we walked around the grounds of the Abbey and renown Ampleforth College. When I say the college, you aren't allowed in and around the actual college buildings as it is after all a working college with hundreds of pupils undertaking their daily studies, but much of the grounds is available to stroll around. They certainly take their sport seriously as we counted 10 rugby pitches, 3 cricket pitches, a couple of football pitches, an area of outdoor pitches and various other sporting facilities.
So time to head back to the cottage and a cosy evening reading and watching TV. Our visit to Ampleforth Abbey had been a very enjoyable and enlightening one; but with one frustrating caveat. We realised on the way back that we had completely forgotten to go in the abbey itself. Note to self.....
More photos here.
Comments
Post a Comment