September 01 Aysgarth

So much for the gorgeous Herriot Way!  Ten miles of today's 15 or so were on dead straight, flat, wide, rocky track through moors.  Excruciatingly dull and a killer on the feet. When, finally, the landscape developed a bit of texture it was truly exciting!  Then, stopped on the way to tour Bolton Castle, after which, the scenery and walking surfaces improved a lot.  But, for the most part, it was a long slog of a day.  Arrived at B and B at 3:00 to find sign on door saying something to the effect of "See you at 4:00."  (What is annoying about this is that I had e-mailed about arrival time but did not receive a reply, nor was arrival time mentioned on the web site.) The place—basic but OK—looked like a funeral parlour because it has windows that you cannot see through from the outside during the day.  Creepy!  It was not raining, so things could be worse.  A cute little tea shop near by served soup, so I had a bowl and a roll.  Returned at 3:50 at which time Jason let me in.

 Reward for out-the-door-early:

Roof ornament, honest!

See, you CAN see the wee gate:

Grouse.  I swear, these birds talk.  This one kept saying "Hello,"so I said "Hello" back, and then he said "Hello," so I said "Hello," back again and so it went!  They do chatter a streak!

Hunting lodge.  Peeked in windows.  There were long tables and chairs, very nice wood, and a beautiful brick fireplace.  That's it! (I hope birdie above does not become dinner.)

Bunny heaven.  Note the fine real estate....lush green patios.  Very high end:

Bolton Castle.  Ta-da!

Innards not so intact:

Of course a castle has to have a portcullis.  This one had abut four and all were different:

Placards in various rooms offered more or less interesting information.  For example, in the brewery,  one informed that people did not drink water back in the day; everyone drank beer.  In fact, the word "toddler" was thought to be derived from "tod" a drinking vessel with handles, (you can guess what is coming!) from which a small child would have drunk "small beer" as soon as said child was weened.

But he would not have used this toilet.  It was reserved for the important people:

I was so excited to see a genuine oubliette!  This is the very grate through which the unfortunate prisoner was lowered by a rope into a dark, damp and cold stone chamber.....and then..... forgotten:

Guess who slept here?  Why Mary Queen of Scots, of course!  She seems to have slept in a lot of places, which is very good for tourism:

Mary was a "guest" of Harry, 9th Lord of Scrope and Sir Francis Knollys at Bolton for six months.  During her captivity, she and her retinue took over the Solar and the whole adjoining suite of rooms including the Great Chamber, the Nursery, and two large bed chambers in the tower directly above.

The stunner of the day was Aysgarth Falls: