Friday's Finale

Well, it's been a busy blogging week but we've come to the end of the saga that encompassed the humble weeks holiday. After the wild excesses of Forbidden Corner, we opted for a little fresh air and excercise at nearby Bolton Abbey. It's been over ten years since we last visited but it's certainly a lovely spot, peaceful and versatile with plenty of stopping spots en route so you can do as much or as little walking as you want. We saw modern art...
...and architecture (or rather the ruined remains of the abbey even though the other end is a fully functioning local parish church).

I surprised myself by walking all the way to this bridge (with a lunch stop along the way), the aforementioned aqueduct though there was no water up above.

We walked alongside the river for what seemed like miles and miles, uphill and downdale, through fields and forests on the right side of the bank and returned on the other side which looked (deceptively) more straighforward, it was less undulating than the other side anyway!

The modern art was provided by these, coins hammered into fallen logs at various parts of the route, given a stone you could easily do the same as we saw some less full versions further along, pre-scored to accept them.

It's funny to think of all the walkers participating in this open-air spectacle and have to admit that we may have added an extra coin or two on our travels ;-)

On our return trip, we passed thru a forest which had painted masks attached to the trees, it was a green man exhibit and obviously the handiwork of a number of people. Unfortunately, blogger in its infinite wisdom has been a true pain in the bum this evening uploading pictures and plain refused that one so you'll have to settle on this little scene which we happened upon almost at the ned of our travails...

...For the brave (or foolhardy), there was an alternative to the bridge to cross the river...more stepping stones! You can just about see a small black and white blob which is a collie attempting to trip up it's master in it's haste to get across...what happened next?

Here is the dog further ahead having pushed past its human, happily trolling along; but as they say....

...Pride comes before a fall (or a dip in this case!). You can almost see the indignant expression on his face a) that he's found himself in such a predicament and b) that he's not so confident about the rest of the trip...

...And here's another human tempting him out of the water to regain his perch...He managed the rest of the stones a little more thoughtfully than before and found a sandy dip on the opposite bank to roll around in which appeared to cheer him back up again, you can't keep a collie down for long!

After a brief stop at a gift shop for a wee tub of ice cream, we returned back to Grassington for our final time, pausing to grab a few minutes internet time, download the latest pattern from the Sock Madness crew and buy a posse of cows but maybe I'll leave that story for another time...