On our last day in the Dales we decided to go to Richmond, but on the way we stopped off in Leyburn to do some washing.
Whilst waiting for this to finish we first of all did a bit of shopping in a local supermarket, Campbells (actually a CostCutter but also a family run grocery store), and then a quick wander down to ‘The Shawl’ (I was intrigued by the name 🙂 )
We got some wonderful meat in the grocery store (which made us both a wonderful beef stew and a somerset pork casserole).
We found the initial part of the shawl to be playing fields leading up to limestone terrace that extends for almost 2 miles (but we didn’t have time to find this bit). Romantics like to think it’s called The Shawl as Mary Queen of Scots dropped her shawl in the area whilst escaping from her imprisonment at Bolton Castle. This may well not be true! But the views are amazing 🙂
We moved onto Richmond, where we drove around for a while trying to find a parking space – eventually parking halfway down the hill towards the old station. Before heading to the castle we had a drink overlooking the market place, followed by a quick mooch around a little market in the old Victorian market hall.
Then onto the castle that dominates the town. It’s not huge but is a pleasant enough way to pass an hour or so. The views from the top of the keep are wonderful :
After leaving the castle we again wandered through the market place and found the alleyway leading down to The Theatre Royal (a Regency theatre still in use today – in fact my friend’s daughter got married there in the summer!)
The alleyway itself was interesting though. We spotted tramlines that seemed to have no place in such a narrow area. They were used to push trolleys up to the market place.
At the end of the alley we found the Theatre Royal – I think I was expecting something a little more imposing!
Across the road we found the Friary Gardens with the remains of the friary (a single tower).
As we got back to the car the heavens opened! We then headed to Catterick where we found a number of large supermarkets and then straight back to the van, to get ready to leave in the morning (after visiting the West Burton Falls of course).
Next up will be posts about our time in the North Yorks Moors.
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