Yesterday we went sightseeing with our visitors, and ended up at Rievaulx Abbey. All change now that Autumn is just around the corner, the big field for parking cars had been gated and two horses grazed within, so we wandered down the lane and went inside the 'slipper' church, no, not the place you leave your shoes, though I believe they do it at Walsingham, and walk the last mile with bare feet but... according to Wikipedia
"The word 'Slipper' comes from the word 'slipe' (or 'slype'), meaning to slide, to move out of the rest of England into the holy land of Walsingham, and probably has nothing to do with pilgrims actually walking in slippers or even barefoot."
Though here in this PDF, it states that the 'Gate Church' was situated between the gates of the abbey and people changed their shoes here for lighter wear.
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| Older tractors here, the little hamlet is very pretty |
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| Thatched cottage, with a glimpse of Lillie on the lead |
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| Approaching the church |
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| Austere and plain. |
We stopped off to wander round Helmsley, G being very taken with it, wandered into the craft display in the centre, and chattered to a potter, elegant but expensive ware, and then went to find a cup of tea at about five past four. Tea shops were closing down, at the precise hour you have a cup of tea. It was almost as if the turning of the season, and less tourists had dictated a retreat at 4 p.m. We did find a place eventually, after dismissing The Swan Hotel as too expensive at £19 for a cream tea......
I keep meaning to say Thelma how much I love your header. We can never get too much of Rievaulx - we love it. We also love Helmsley but the trouble is that market place in your photo is so full of motor bikes in the Summer and it is rare to find a parking place, even with my disabled badge - then in the Winter many of the shops/cafes are closed. That's a tourist area I suppose, but it is also a very beautiful area. Have you been to the mouseman place yet? I love to go just to see those wonderful slabs of oak weathering outside.
ReplyDeleteYes Pat we have noticed the bikers around. Yorkshire seems to be the 'in place' for motor bikes, must be the long stretches of roads. Forgotten about the mouseman's place, see you have to pay as well when I checked on the internet. We should join English Heritage, the warden at the abbey said we had all of forty places to visit in the area, it does get expensive being a tourist ;)
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