Nice day trip out to Richmond and the Easby Abbey

Our new friends Greg and Kerri came and met us where we are housesitting, and we all piled into one car along with the dogs and went for a drive inland to the town of Richmond.

Richmond is a market town and has a big open central square as well as an abbey ruins located two kms down river from the town.

Figuring out where to go and what to see.

There is an old castle tower.

Me, with Jasper the dog.

The River Swale at Richmond.

The water is sort of tea colored due to the high tannin levels.

We did a 2.5 km walk along the river down to the abbey ruins.

Beautiful old home.

The abbey was founded in 1152.

The ruined abbeys in UK are as a result of the reformation put in place by King Henry VIII. Around the year 1539 the abbeys were systematically destroyed, but some of them only got as far as having the roofs removed and left the walls standing.

Ruth, Maisie, and Jasper.

This would have been the monks dining hall.

An artists depiction of what the dining hall would have looked like back in the day.

Next door to the abbey ruins is a small church that is still operating. Built around the year 1150, the exterior is nothing special, but the interior is famous for its original paintings.

The small St. Agatha church.

The old organ. I couldn't find a date anywhere.

These are the original 11th century paintings, however they were professionally restored in 1994.

The Church and abbey ruins.

Then we walked back to town and found a place to have lunch. The restaurant we found was called Granny's Kitchen, and the meals were all totally homemade, and reasonably priced. 

Lunch at Granny's Kitchen in Richmond.

Then we carried on another half hour west into the Yorkshire Dales to the town  of Reeth. 

Reeth, North Yorkshire.

They have a pretty community gardens.

Nice day exploring, and it was about an hours drive to get back into Yarm. We decided to stop in and wander the town before popping into a pub for a drink together.

Kevin, Greg, Kerri, and Ruth.

Fun day with Greg and Kerri, and I'm sure we'll bump into them somewhere else in the world in the future.

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