Where In The West Are The Garneys?: Day 3 - Fountains Abbey to the Yorkshire Dales

Day 3 took us out of the Fens of southeastern England. The Fens used to be swamps, but long ago some enterprising would-be farmer decided to drain one of these swamps and try his hand at growing something other than eels. It worked very well and now most of the Fens are farmland…very low farmland. The roads through this area are about 8-10 feet above the surrounding farmland, but the soil looks rich and black. I should have a picture of the Fens right here but, a) they weren't very exciting, and b) there were high hedges all along the roads so you could hardly find a place to take a decent picture. Trust me…flat…very flat.

So we made our way toward Ingleton, where our first bed and breakfast was located. Our daughter/travel agent, April, booked our accommodations for us and did a wonderful job! I highly recommend her. But first, on the way to Ingleton, which is on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, we wanted to stop at Fountains Abbey. This is a ruined Abbey, but sounded like fun so off we went. Here's the first glimpse of the Norman tower that sets off the ruin…

but first we went to the manor house to see it and its sculpted hedges and neato bridge…

There was an orchard on the other side of this bridge so we each grabbed an apple…they were great! And reminded me of when Sue and I used to pick apples on the south side of the BYU campus when we were starving students, but that's another story (great memory!) Ok, back to the Abbey…

…to add to the atmosphere, there was a flock of Rooks (crows) flying around the ruins and cawing…perfect for touring an ancient sorta-creepy place. The last picture above was a guest house that obviously used to have two stories. The rock masonry was really impressive, especially give that it's still standing. On to what's left of the basement and barracks, the main chapel, and the tower…

This place sits in a lovely little dale with a stream running through it. An idyllic setting…

Notice the floor detail in the last picture. That had to be a labor of love. But, I guess without TV or WiFi, they probably had some time on their hands. From the Abbey we walked around to the Elizabethan-age fountains that harbored pheasants and swans…

We sat down for some hot peppermint tea and enjoyed the surroundings. On our walk back through the grounds to the car, I saw this statue of a deer…then it moved! I was astounded…the "statue" then got up and trotted away. A deer with moose-like antlers, but not much bigger than Grizz, my dog!