Bolton Abbey

Bolton Abbey has been on my list of places to visit years. Somehow it just never happened until today. We needed a gentle walk following a pulled muscle last weekend (the dog not me) and everything I had heard and read about Bolton Abbey suggested that it fitted the bill. We parked on the first car park we came to after leaving the A59, in the village itself. The £7 car parking charge was not unexpected and I was happy to pay, unlike some reviewers on Trip Adviser, knowing that there are no other charges and the income goes (to some extent at least) to maintain the estate. We took the simple route up one side of the river Wharfe to the Srid, and back dwn the other. For most of the walk we were not quite as close to the riverbank as I had excepted, but it was lovely all the same. Must have been torture for the dog as he was unable to get to the water for most of our walk, and it was on lead all the way. The Strid itself is a spot where the river narrows, forced between rocks standing sme 6 feet or so high. Signs warn people to take care and point out that people have died at this spot in the past. Signs also warn dog owners to keep their dog on the lead through Strid wood. Despite this I saw some plonker with three dogs all off lead and 2 minutes later observed a tense minute whilst he managed to grab his dog out of the strong eddies between the rocks. Thankfully it wasn't a child knocked in by uncontrolled dogs. I have to say it hacked me off as he could have killed his dog, someone else and in any event was one of those people that gives dog owners a bad name. Anyway, rant over. There is loads of information on the web about walks along the river. Bear in mind that dogs are not permitted on the adjacent Access Land. Plenty of places to eat and drink en route.