Saturday in Ripley

Last night (Monday, 05.08.2024), I arrived home a little after 9:30 pm after a long but trouble-free journey. More about in another post; this is about Saturday (03.08.2024) when my sister and I were still in Ripon.

Although the town were celebrating their patron saint's day with the St. Wilfrid's Parade as well as rides and stalls on the market square, we chose not to join the festivities. Instead, we took the 36 bus to Ripley, a firm favourite of ours (the bus as well as Ripley).

Much to our surprise, the bus fare has been reduced considerably. Whereas in previous years we were regularly forking out a tenner each, now the bus company's claim is to offer no ride above 2 pounds, and with a total of 8 pounds for the two of us, they kept their promise. 

I don't need to mention that the day was yet again of the sunny kind! Not as warm as before, but that was fine; I was still able to wear shorts and short sleeves without freezing.

We started off our Ripley tour with a browse at "The Fizzy Fox", a shop I was originally attracted to because of its shop sign (you can see it in older posts about Ripley) but which really sells an array of nice things (mainly for ladies), most of them of the "I don't actually need it but it is really nice"-kind. This time, we didn't buy anything.

Next was the church. We had the place to ourselves but did not stay very long; after all, we were here for the grounds around Ripley Castle.

A few days before, we had learned that the castle and a few other buildings in Ripley are going to be sold. That news came as a surprise; the same family has owned Ripley castle and been living there for 28 generations, spanning more than 700 years. 

It certainly can't have been an easy decision to make, but one we can understand; who would want to live in such an old place, impossible to keep warm in winter, and the cost and staff involved for its upkeep? It is a huge responsibility, and we imagine that the current younger generation of the Ingilby family are not willing to take that on.

Apparently it will be on the market in October (they probably need time to assess the property). We kept joking that we should buy it, renaming it "Riley Castle" and the village "Riley" - only one letter would have to be removed from the road signs and maps :-D

Anyway, the castle itself was closed on that day (a wedding was taking place), and so we had to make do with the gardens and grounds, which were beautiful although it was obvious that the very wet and cold spring and early summer have taken their toll.

The scent of the sweet peas was delicate and wonderful.

They must really like artichokes at Ripley Castle (I do, too).

Wildflower meadow past its best, but still beautiful.

The silly big chair is still there, but it could really do with a good scrubbing and maybe a lick of paint.

The castle in the distance. That's how vast the grounds are.

A favourite view of ours

After a sumptuous lunch at the tea room (served by the same waiter as last year, the one who speaks like the Sebastian character in the TV series Shakespeare & Hathaway), we strolled through the village and visited the village shop before it was time for the bus back.

As we were approaching Ripon, the bus driver stopped at the bus stop near Morrisson's and announced that we all had to get off here - he wasn't allowed to go any further because of road blocks due to the St. Wilfrid's parade. For us, this was only surprising but not really a problem; we simply walked the 20 minutes or so it took us to get back to the cottage. But other passengers were quite upset; one lady said "I have MS", and what was she to do?

Many on the bus were elderly and certainly not prepared for a long walk. It wasn't the driver's fault, of course, but couldn't there have been some information beforehand? Some passengers might have been able to make other arrangements.

The parade had long passed and there weren't any road blocks in sight until we were really close to the market square. Sometimes one really wonders.

Anyway, we had a little rest and then (as usual) our coffee/tea and then set off again for a short walk before settling down for the evening.

There was now only one day left before our departure.