There and Back

Monday dawned foggy. For a while we were undecided as to where to go, as the fog was slow to clear. As the weather looked to be improving, we decided to visit Tintern Abbey, a place we had promised ourselves for a long time. Roads were narrow, and mostly single track, until we reached the A466 where it became a normal width. When we parked we were almost the only people on the site. The place is stunning in its size and surroundings and warranted several photos, although it is difficult to get a feeling of its grandeur in a photo. In 1131 the Norman lord of Chepstow, Walter Fitz Richard, established the abbey here. Fitz Richard was a member of the powerful de Clare family, and his abbey was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales - and only the second in all of Britain after Waverley, in Surrey. The monks for the new abbey came directly from France, from the abbey of l'Aumone. It is intriguing that despite Tintern's early foundation, it established no furt...

Anglesey Abbey is a great place to visit and is very family orientated as well. A community of Augustinian canons built a priory here, known as Anglesea or Anglesey Priory, some time during the reign of Henry I (i.e., between 1100 and 1135), and acquired extra land from the nearby village of Bottisham in 1279. The canons were expelled in 1535 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The former priory was acquired around 1600 by Thomas Hobson, who converted it to a country house for his son-in-law, Thomas Parker, retaining a few arches from the original priory. At that time the building's name was changed to "Anglesey Abbey", which sounded grander than the original "Anglesey Priory". Further alterations to the building were carried out in 1861. Now it is a beautiful garden to visit, owned by the National Trust, and well worth spending the day here.  Heading toward the winter garden first, we encounter thes beautiful `touchable` trees Yo...

We visited here while based in a log cabin in Sherwood. We were mainly looking for different fungi on this trip, so this visit combined an historic site, with some fungi hunting. The former Augustinian abbey once belonged to Lord Byron and now has a Mixed Style romantic nineteenth century garden. The priory of St. Mary of Newstead, a house of Augustinian Canons, was founded by King Henry II of England about the year 1170, as one of many penances he paid following the murder of Thomas Becket. Contrary to its current name, Newstead was never an abbey: it was a priory. In the late 13th century, the priory was rebuilt and extended. It was extended again in the 15th-century, when the Dorter (A bedroom or dormitory, especially in a monastery.), Great Hall and Prior's Lodgings were added. The priory was designed to be home to at least 13 monks, although there appears to have been only 12 (including the Prior) at the time of the dissolution. The Valor Ecclesiasticus o...

The Yorkshire Moors have always been popular places to visit as they are beautiful and full of history. There are many novels also written about them which give them a dark and foreboding character - places of mystery! We found a beautiful place to stay in Pickhill, (which was far from `dark and foreboding`) near Thirsk, Yorkshire. The bungalow was on a farm, and was like home from home - Amazing! One of the first places that we visited was through Thirsk, and was called Sutton Bank.  Sutton Bank is a hill in the Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire in England. It is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray.  At the foot of Sutton Bank lies the village of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe; at 27 letters long, it has the longest hyphenated place name in England - how about that!  The A170 road runs down the bank with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%), and incl...