Ripon 2025 - Day 2

For Wednesday (30 July), the plan was to walk to Fountains Abbey, and that‘s what we did. Somehow, we were ready to go earlier than usual and left at around 10:00 am.

We know the way so well we could probably walk it in our sleep (not that we‘ve ever sleepwalked) or blindfolded (not that I would want to try that).

It being the school holidays, we found the visitor center rather busy, but the entire estate is so vast that we knew it wasn‘t going to be too crowded.

After the shop (which we love), our next stop was Fountains Hall where we found that a room formerly not accessible to the public was now open, hosting an art installation advertised as an immersive exhibition, ‚Between Chaos and Light‘ by Ed Kluz. You can read about it here.

Just being able to see a room we‘d never been in before would have been interesting, but the installation added to the overall experience. Unfortunately, we read all the background information only afterwards in Fountains Mill - we would have benefitted from that before we sat down in the room for the installation. But we‘ll be back next week; our National Trust Explorer Pass is valid for two weeks.

Another, even more pleasant surprise, was the newly accessible additional walled garden at the far end of the already existing one in front of Fountains Hall. It is called The Quiet Garden, and encourages people to just sit quietly among the beautiful flowers and other plants, much visited by bees and butterflies.

It was there we sat on a bench to eat our sandwiches and drink the elderflower lemonade we‘d bought at the restaurant.

Fountains Mill was next, and then the abbey itself - it never fails to attract and impress me, no matter how many times I have been there. 

Some photos I would have liked to take weren‘t possible because of there being so many people, but we enjoyed our stroll through the ruins nonetheless.

Further on towards Studley Royal Water Garden, and by the time we reached the tearoom by the lake, we were both quite ready for a break.

A coke and a chocolate brownie later, we walked back through the deer park and along the grassy path, through the gate in the wall, crossing the hamlet of Studley Roger, then the path between hedges and fences back into Ripon.

We reached the cottage at around 4:00 pm. After a rest, I sat with a mug of coffee on the bench in the sun in front of the cottage, where our landlady and a little later my sister joined me for a chat.

Before starting on our evening meal, my sister and I walked to the Leper Chapel, a very special place. It was locked for the night, but we know what it looks like inside, and of course we can return before our Ripon holiday is over.

It was my sister‘s turn to prepare our meal. New spuds, quark with chives and salad were perfect.