After several weeks of writing things other than Travel Tales (which I hope you enjoyed) I will now tell you about our return to York on the 9th June 2016. We were supposed to make our way to Stratord-on-Avon, see a Shakespearean play, enjoy the town, then return to Banbury by a series of trains with a major change in Birmingham.
However, after the recent terrifying drive through the storm in the Lake District, further possible adventures were removed from our itinerary and we decided to return to York on a road we now knew (sort of), spend a night in a hotel there and get back to Banbury by direct train the next day.
By ten o’clock we were loaded up and on our way out of Ambleside. The car had to be back at the depot in York by 5pm, but we had plenty of time.
A Gypsy Caravan. Sorry if the term offends, I don’t know what else to call them.
Susanne had never seen a gypsy caravan, so we stopped to photograph this colourful example, parked at the side of the road, as we drove into a village at about midday.
My tired sister, waiting for our pub lunch
Adding character to the decor
The establishment on the opposite side of the road offered typical English pub style food, of the sort that’s been popular for at least fifty years. Not a place I’d go out of my way to visit , but the decor was worth the stop and we were soon on our way again.
JMW Turner painted the priory in 1809.Not this angle, but definitely this building.
Bolton Priory is a landmark in northern England, and a must-see for those of us who love history and the ruins of beautiful architecture. Susanne and I had plenty of time, so we took the detour, parked in the designated area and walked through green fields to a view that I thought must be the subject of several famous paintings.
A popular view to capture
The landscape itself also cries out for canvas and brushes, but we did our best with cameras.
Augustinian priests set themselves up on this land, given to them by Lady Alice of Skipton Castle in 1154-5. Living like monks, they gained their income from farming, from renting out farmland and from mines and other enterprises. Hospitals and teaching were part of their duties, as well as prayers (lots of prayer times) and ministering to people in the local community. Over the years they made enough money to pay masons to build their great church but
The Choir in ruins, but still revealing beautiful lines.
when Henry the 8th decided to bring down the monasteries in 1539 Bolton Priory was wrecked and the estate given to the Clifford family and later the Cavendishes, Dukes of Devonshire.
The niche formerly held a bowl of holy water for blessing as one entered the church.
Ordinary parishioners are buried outside.
Important church people, their coffins inside the building
13th Century architecture, the entrance to the nave.
Above the doorway
Henry allowed parish churches to remain, so the the Prior secured the nave of the original structure as the new local church for the people who had regularly worshiped there.
Stained glass windows were installed in 1853
I was pleasantly surprised when we walked from the ruins into this ancient functioning church. It’s had a tough time, but with lots of work and donations, it has been beautifully restored. We were glad to add a little to their restoration target.
Gradually the walls of the former priory crumbled, so that now all we see are parts of the original structure and lots of stones
Thanks to traffic problems and my poor navigation, we barely made it in time to the Hertz Depot. Then, the chap in charge decided to minutely inspect every inch of the car. Probably thanks to our 
battle with the elements in Ambleside, we had apparently scraped a nick in the rear left wheel rim. Of course I didn’t make such an exact inspection before taking the car, and nor did they. Late on a Friday afternoon, no-one, including the Hertz guys, wanted to hang around arguing over a ‘maybe’ mishap on our part, so I signed the papers, left it in their hands, and hoped I would not find a large addition to the hire cost on my credit card when I returned to Australia.
Back at our favourite cafe in York.
A taxi took us to the Dean Court Hotel which is right opposite the Minster, but with quiet rooms at the back; pleasant and not too expensive. After a shower and change of clothes we were able to relax over dinner and a glass of wine at the cafe opposite the Minster, where we had earlier enjoyed lunch. It felt like we’d been gone for a month, but the same begonias were still smiling at us from the bench by the window.