Ripon 2025 - Day 7

Julia, our current landlady, had the day off on Monday (4 August), and we wanted to spend it together. Our original idea was to visit another National Trust property (to take advantage of our Explorer‘s Pass), but because of the storm warning, they were all closed.

She suggested a drive in the Yorkshire Dales instead, with stops when and where we felt like it. After tea and biscuits in her kitchen, we set off at around 11:00.

Wensleydale begins not all that far from Ripon, and we drove through Hawes (where years ago we visited the Wensleydale Creamery) and then on into Ribbledale. High winds were chasing dark clouds across the sky, and the weather changed rapidly from showers to sun and back again.

I‘d had Ribblehead Viaduct on my inner bucket list for years but never thought I was going to see it, as it is so far out. But when Julia said it was only another 20 minutes from where we already were, and did we want her to drive on, there was a heartfelt YES from me.

At my first glimpse of the iconic structure, I almost welled up, and my heart beat faster.

Getting out of the car wasn‘t easy - the wind was pushing the door shut on my side! But all three of us made it, and first went to the tiny Ribblehead railway station (no trains today because of the wind, but normally it‘s the Settle-Carlisle line) where one room is dedicated to the viaduct and its history.

You can read more about it here on wikipedia.

It was as windy as before but stopped raining, so we made our way along the winding path that leads to the viaduct. I‘d not expected to be able to get up so close and personal - for me, an impressive experience!

The tea and biscuits had been several hours ago, and all three of us were hungry. Julia drove us back to Hawes and up the hill on the other side to Simonstone Hall, a country house cum hotel.

It looked all very nice, and we found seats in the bar with glorious views, but unfortunately, we‘d arrived just after 2:00 pm, which meant they were only doing pizza and sides such as sweet potato fries, which is what we had. It wasn‘t brilliant, and the young woman who was in charge of the bar needed reminding that one of us was still waiting for tea, but it was alright, and those grand views made up for it.

For our way back to Ripon, where we arrived a little after 5:00 pm, Julia chose to drive through Swaledale. We passed through Muker and Reeth and several other villages with names familiar to me from books, without me ever having been there before.

The views we had during the drive were quite spectacular - we could have stopped every two miles for photos, but of course didn‘t do that, so you‘ll have to take my word for it. Think drystone walls and barns, sheep and cows, rough fells and high moors covered in heather, villages and lone farms.

For our evening meal, I made a sort of omelette with goats cheese and spring onions, a leafy salad, avocado and bread. There was rosé in our glasses and another episode of Ludwig on TV - a relaxing end to another great day out.