The Events of Wednesday, June 1, 2011

                The Yorkshire Dales are comprised of the repetition of several elements: green grass, rolling hills, scattered rocks, dry stone walls, bunches of cows, and flocks of sheep with their lambs. Although these keep repeating themselves, each turn of the road makes us gape at this spectacular countryside. Suddenly the countryside ended and town began; this was Skipton, a historic market town. Driving down the crowded High Street, it was evident that the market business is still thriving. Stalls crowded both sides of the street, enticing the throngs of pedestrians. Eager to join the fun, we found a place to park and walked to the bustling street.

                Stall after stall, tent after tent, we browsed through the stacks of goods. Compared to our market experience in Arles, France, this was just a large garage sale or outdoor mall. There was a bit of produce, but very little when compared to the masses of farm-direct products we found in France. There was certainly a great variety of products here—everything from pet supplies to food to clothing to technology—and all the salesmen spoke English! Making our way from stall to stall, we browsed through each shop’s goods, decided that none were necessary or cheap enough, and moved onward. We only made two purchases: fruit and vegetables for the next few days and a couple of CDs for Dad.

                Once we had finished shopping, we headed back to the car. There, we transferred the picnic lunch from our cooler to our backpacks and headed off on foot to Skipton Castle. Following our tour sheets, we explored the castle and discovered what a real English castle was like. The instructions on our sheet were far from clear, so half the fun was trying to figure out exactly where we were supposed to go next. We wandered up and down spiral staircases, turned through doors, and crossed the central courtyard over five times. Our tour led us through almost every room of the castle, giving us a glimpse of the history and unique features of the castle.

                The first “castle” on this site was a Norman fort built in 1090. With time, the timber fort grew into a huge stone castle. In the 1300s, it came into the hands of the Clifford family. It continued to grow until the English Civil War in the 1640s. The Civil War was a battle between the Parliamentarians, who supported the founding of the English Parliament, and the Royalists, who supported the monarch’s divine right to rule. Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Parliamentarians, fought his way to win over the castles of England. For a while, Skipton Castle was the last remaining Royalist bastion in northern England. However, it eventually succumbed to a three-year siege. After the Royalists lost the war, the castle was lovingly restored by Lady Anne Clifford. Although much of the restoration work was accurate, we saw in several places where the Lady’s wishes won.

                Walking through the thick stone walls, it was clear how it more or less survived such a devastating siege. The walls of the watchtowers were almost ten feet thick. These mumiments, or round towers, were each three stories tall and provided the main way of defending the castle. The rest of the castle was functional living space, with storerooms, kitchens, a banqueting hall, and the former royal apartments. All of the interior buildings were built around the “Conduit Court”. Here stands a large yew tree, which was planted by Lady Anne Clifford to memorialize the castle’s reconstruction. Of course, we found the privy fascinating (why are we so interested in 500+ year-old privies?). Located right next to the kitchen, it consisted of a hole and a long drop into the bushes and former stream below.

                After our exhaustive tour we headed over to the picnic area located on a scenic terrace near the chapel. We enjoyed a delicious meal with great views of the castle. To finish our castle experience, we visited the chapel. Unfortunately, because Henry VIII forced Anglicanism on England, this Catholic chapel fell into ruins. We toured the remaining shell of the church, trying to imagine colorful glass back in the empty windows. It must have been a spectacular chapel! Before we left, Dad and I (Ben) had a debate about the use of a side chapel. Since there was an angled window that gave a view of the front, I guessed that the Lord of the castle would sit here to worship discreetly. Dad disagreed, saying that (as an exhibit said) it was used so the priests at the front could view a certain sculpture. Even though Dad and the placard said otherwise, I know I was right.

                We left the town of Skipton and headed out into the countryside. Once we were out of the city, the scenery started to repeat itself again. Grass, hill, rocks, stone walls, cows, sheep, lambs. It was absolutely stunning. After passing through a couple small villages, we arrived at Malham Tarn. This is the highest elevation lake in England. We walked over the green grassy meadows to the grayish blue lake. Lindsey and Abby dipped their toes for their Which Waters We Waded blog before we headed back to the car.

                Driving on, we went through the town of Malham. As part of some festival, there was a “Malham Safari”. Scattered throughout the town were several large paper mache statues of animals playing instruments. It was just a little weird to see elephants with trumpets and a rabbit playing a Swiss Alphorn as we drove through the Yorkshire Dales!

                We soon arrived at our next stop, the Gordale Scar. The “Scar” is really a huge canyon, with massive stone walls towering above us as we walked. Soon, the trail ended at the waterfall. It wasn’t anything spectacular; just a steady flow of water flowing down the jagged rocks. We climbed up a ways, took a couple photos, and then headed back to the car.

                Soon, we were back at Hanlith Hall, relaxing and working on the computer. Once we had settled down and gotten comfortable for a night at home, Caitlin snapped up and said, “Time to go to dinner!” We reluctantly extracted ourselves from our cozy couches and headed out into the cool air. The Victoria Inn was just down the road, so we really felt like locals walking to dinner at our neighborhood pub. We decided what we wanted, ordered at the bar, and then found a table in the corner. While we waited for our food, Dad struck up a conversation with a gentleman at the bar. They talked about the beer, the food, the specialties, and the Yorkshire Dales.

                Our food soon arrived, and we enjoyed the Yorkshire specialties. The Yorkshire pudding, essentially fried batter filled with gravy and meat, was crispy around the edges and very flavorful when soaked with gravy. We tasted three—one filled with chips (fries) and two with huge sausages. They were absolutely delicious. The other two dishes, while not necessarily local specialties, were fabulous. There was Steak and Ale Pie and a small order of Fish and Chips to satisfy our hunger.

                With full stomachs, we headed home. Walking up the road was invigorating; there’s nothing like an after-dinner walk to burn off those fried calories! When we finally arrived at Hanlith Hall, we headed inside to finish our relaxing evening. While enjoying dessert, we watched some Wallace and Grommit. It provided some good British humor before we headed to bed.