Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal

On Saturday (27th) we visited the National Trust property of Fountains Abbbey and the Studley Royal Deer Park. As time was limited due to the short daylight, we spent most of the time at the Deer Park.

The Deer Park at Studley Royal dates from medieval times and once surrounded Studley Royal House which burnt down just after the Second World War.

The entrance to the Deer Park takes you through an ornate stone gatehouse. Stone ice houses from the hey-day of Studley Royal House can still be seen in the Deer Park and avenues of ancient oak trees line the entrance and exit route. Situated within the Deer Park are St Mary’s Church and Chorister’s House. The Deer Park is home to 500 wild deer. Three breeds of deer live in the Deer Park: Red, Fallow and Sika.

The pictures below start at the Church and then we walked past the Chorister's House and into the Deer Park itself, where the deer were extremely tame, before walking across to the top of the ridge where the views down into the Studley Royal Water Garden could be seen. We finally returned back up past the Chorister's House and St Mary's Church to the car.

Boxing Day at Leeds Rhinos

For nearly 50 years I have been going to Rugby League matches at Headingley to see Leeds RLFC (now called Leeds Rhinos). So today Viv, myself and Matthew plus Matthew's friend Stephen went to the annual Boxing Day fixture, a friendly against Wakefield Wildcats.

Even though Leeds lost 22 points to 16 it was a good game and Leeds were fielding many youngsters from the Acadamy with only two regular first team players appearing against a Wakefield side with many more first team players in their ranks. Both sides scored 4 tries with a hat trick to Leeds left winger Jamie Broughton, one of the young Acadamy players who had appeared in a couple of first team games last season when Leeds again were Super League Champions!

Prior to the match we were asked to observe a minute's silence for ex players who had passed away in 2008 and also to remember any family or friends no longer with us but who may have been with us at matches in the past. I therefore remembered my late father who first took me to Headingley when I was 6 years old and also his friend Rowland who used to go to virtually all the games with us.

Below are some pictures of the occasion with various titles.

Entrance to the Stadium.


The ground in pristine condition.

Pre-match warm up by the Leeds team.

Leeds players celebrate after Jamie Broughton's second try.

Jamie celebrates after his hat trick.

Langdale's Winter Wonderland

I was in the Lake District on 10th December for the Lake District Conservation Partnership Dinner and took the opportunity to take the photos below showing some beautiful winter conditions. The first photo is of Ingleborough on the way up the A65 but all the remainder are around either Lake Windermere or Great Langdale.