Yorkshire Dales...Hawes and Richmond

We drove over the Butteretub pass again. Because it is open moorland it is actually an easier drive than on the narrow, twisty roads with close hedges and stone walls. We had gone to Hawes the previous day so knew that the main street was torn up with road works and that the one way streets were confusing, so we were better able to tackle it and found our first destination easily (we had been there the last time we were in the Dales)

The huge gift shop and cheese tasting room were much as we remembered them and we stocked up with Wensleydale Cheese and a couple of other items.

Heather had fond memories of the cafe so I had a cheese scone and coffee and she and Don had soup and a scone with jam and cream

while watching the cloud shadows skitter across the moors enclosing the Wensley valley.

After a brief walk to find the post office we were off to Richmond where we encountered rush hour traffic, lack of signage and finally a dead end street. Here we asked for directions and managed to find a place to park within walking distance of our destination...the castle.

Asking for directions again we were told to go

down the snicket beside the market building. (Googling the word later we found that it is a Northern English word meaning a passageway between houses, an alleyway).

We got to the entrance at 4pm and it closed at 5pm, it would be a quick visit.

Built on the edge of a cliff beside the river, most of the walls remain.

The large hall is still mostly standing.

What had started as a pretty miserable day, weatherwise, was turning out to have frequent sunny periods.

Fall foliage here is mostly yellows and browns but the castle gardens had some reds and oranges.

We climbed the keep

through a slightly more recent great hall with its fringe of pigeon droppings,

to see the views across the town, countryside

and the castle enclosure.

 

We slipped out as they were closing off the till and this time Don had the honour of the city driving. As it had been raining when we left home, none of us had thought to bring sunglasses and he drove, squinting into the setting sun with Heather and I observing the different breeds of sheep and the frequent pheasants. We again had dinner at the pub and a long chat with the owner, Andy.