Walking Weekend
Between the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors lies an enviably-situated small city of magnificent historical buildings and beautiful choral music.
Ripon
ITMAY BE one of the smallest cities in the UK but North Yorkshire’s Ripon makes a big impression. Steeped in history with many quaint streets and unique shops, it lies just three miles away from one of the largest and best-preserved monasteries in the entire country, Fountains Abbey.
Both of our weekend walks start from the front of Ripon’s magnificent medieval cathedral. Music can often be heard echoing around the historic walls of this great building, with musicians performing weekly lunchtime concerts, and the choir singing evensong most days of the week. The cathedral is also home to an Anglo-Saxon crypt dating back to 672AD, making it the oldest structure in any English cathedral that is still in use today.
Our first walk is a long looping route to Fountains Abbey and back passing through the World Heritage Site of Studley Royal Park, which UNESCO describes as a ‘designed landscape of exceptional beauty’ with its world-renowned Georgian water gardens (walk is free; National Trust membership or fee payable to explore site more fully.)
The second walk stays close to the city itself, exploring part of Ripon’s Sanctuary Way on the banks of two of the city’s rivers, the Skell and Ure. The Sanctuary Way follows the boundary of the area in which fugitives could seek overnight sanctuary from the 10th century onwards.
Don’t miss…
There are plenty of foodie options in Ripon, including Storehouse Kitchen (store houseripon.co.uk) on North Street, wi
