Tourist shots!

Just lately we've had beautiful, sunny mornings and cloudy afternoons with occasional light showers. I decided I must get up and 'get going' a little more quickly than I often do, to make the most of the days. I took myself off to Bolton Abbey and walked from the riverside car park along the far (east) side of the river to the abbey and then back along the west bank. 

I stopped at The Tea Cottage, which has a terrace with the most magnificent view over the abbey. It was glorious, with house martins scooting about overhead and the clouds making shadow patterns on the landscape; just the spot for a leisurely and contemplative coffee break. I was thinking about my first ever trip here, in autumn 1970 when I was newly arrived at university. As part of 'Freshers' Week', they offered a coach trip around the Dales and Bolton Abbey was one of the stops. I will always remember the coach squeezing its way improbably through the stone arch that spans the narrow road. (I can never take a pic of it as it's too dangerous to walk that way. But see HERE!) So that's 55 years ago. Yikes! I am thankful, however, to have had this and other similarly lovely beauty spots within easy travelling distance for all that time. 

It was such a lovely day that I decided it was acceptable, if not imperative, to take some proper 'tourist shots' of the abbey.