The Cellarium

Usha Gap, backblip 3

Another sweltering sunny day, far too hot for slogging up a hill! A trip to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden was decided upon, stopping off in Ripon on the way to pick up supplies of sun screen.

The ruins of the abbey (founded in 1132 and closed down abruptly in1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII) and the associated buildings were fascinating, and the cool of the Cellarium was most welcome today. The Cellarium, with its splendid vaulted roof, would have been divided in to sections serving as store rooms for foodstuffs and beverages when the abbey was in use, and the monks may have slept and socialised in part of it.

On to the water gardens which were very pleasant, but a little too formal for our liking. A contemporary art exhibition had been installed there - 'These Passing Things', three pieces by Steve Messam. We walked across one of them - Bridged (extra), a scarlet bridge over the river Skell, close to the site of a lost iron bridge from the 18th century. What do you think?

Sadly, we didn't have enough time to walk into the deer gardens, and had to hot-foot it back to the car park before it closed. Another time perhaps.

On a day with countless photo opportunities, I discovered that the camera battery was flat, and the spares were back at the camp site. Photos from the phone...