So…. who’s ready for more of England? Besides me, of course! Can I go back, please!? It’s great fun reliving the memories as I weed through the photos.

Our second full day was another day trip from our cute little house in Gargrave. More adventures of driving in the left side of the road, on the right (wrong!) side of the car. 🙂 Actually our first experience of Yorkshire Dales National Park was at the end of our previous day. We drove through the area that is just absolutely beautiful. And sparsely populated. And dotted with many stone house ruins.

There is so much we left unseen in all the countries we visited on this trip but a train ride through this area is on my bucket list!

We had considered staying in a cottage on a farm in this area but the logistics of getting there on Sunday night didn’t work out. The car rental place was not open on Sunday evening. And this was not anywhere near a train station like the place in Gargrave where we stayed.

We also toured the World of James Herriot, whose real name is actually James Alfred Wight. The museum is on the edge of the Dales, and much of his vet runs were in the Dales area. The museum is very well done and definitely worth a stop.

It is set up in his house and looks as if someone just stepped out of it. Well, actually, it looks like he’s still there reading the paper.

Kinda freaky, eh?

And they had a wax figure of Tricky Woo and his owner. Tricky Woo was a dog who was always needing to see or write letters to “Uncle James” and would always send him things for the holidays. He was owned by a wealthy older lady who fed him too rich food. He also had a condition known as “flop-bot”. Seriously, if you haven’t read the books, you should!

His apothecary:

His small animal surgery room was in his house.

His kitchen with lots of delightful details:

Mr. Herriot/Wight himself:

His barn had a short film, as well as display areas about the TV series.

For years he had threatened to write a book and never got it done. Finally his wife told him he never would. That got him going and he ended up writing many!

He remained a humble man, despite his books being known world-wide. His neighbors knew he had a written a “few books”, but had no idea of his fame until people started coming to look him up.

There was another whole floor dedicated to hands on learning, one room for kids and quite a few displays for adults, including a chance to see if you’re strong enough to “pull” a calf! I didn’t get any pictures of these areas, though.

We stopped in at the church where he was married, which was just up the street.

There were several people there giving tours of the church and we asked if we could sing. The acoustics of the old churches is just goose-bumpy beautiful and we tried to sing in as many as possible. They didn’t mind a bit!

On our way to the museum, going through the countryside, a driveway caught my eye and I begged to stop in on the way back through. Boy, are we ever glad we did! We couldn’t see the house that the gated driveway led to. I’m sure we weren’t the first or last tourists to stop in and soak in it’s beauty!

We also saw a bit of farmland in this area:

Canola Fields ^

We had seen a small sign at the road for homemade ice cream. We followed the long lane back to a most interesting sight! There was a new facility with lots of large playground equipment in front of the restaurant.

Those certainly didn’t look like anything else we’ve seen on this trip!

We went inside and discovered the place to be decorated in vintage coke/diner.

We chatted a bit with the workers, who told us a bit about the place. They have truck that take ice cream to fairs/festivals. The owner has been to the US many times. In fact, all the decor came from there. As we were leaving, the owner, who had been sitting at a table, came over and introduced himself. He mentioned that the playground equipment had been made by a Beiler from Lancaster County, PA. He and the Beilers are good friends and they have stayed at their house several times.

I’m pretty sure they were talking about us!

The last stop of the day was to Bolton Abbey. We had seen a photo on a brochure of the area. It was a delightful stop, at a time when most other tourists had left and the place had few people around. I don’t have any info on the Abbey. The Abbey itself is in ruins, although there is a church that is still functioning. I just missed getting in because I was waiting for the light to be “just right.”

Usually the stepping stones ^ are high enough out of the water to cross on them. Apparently they’ve had lots of rain.

There was  a long trail to hike and this gave us an opportunity to stretch our legs, as well as have some alone time. 🙂 Traveling for 30 days with the same people is great, but some personal alone time is great too!

Eventually the sun came out and smiled lovely golden light!

And another amazing day in the English countryside came to an end.