Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
attracted European nobility and other wealthy visitors to its iron, sulfur, and common-
salt rich waters, which continue to be bottled and commercially sold. Despite Dick-
ens's damning description of it as “the queerest place with the strangest people in it
leading the oddest lives!,” the town continues to be considered one of the U.K.'s most
desirable places to live, with for plant lovers the added bonus of the RHS Garden
Harlow Carr (see below) on its outskirts.
Learn all about the history of the spa town in the Royal Pump Room
( &   01423/556188; www.harrogate.gov.uk), where you can still find Europe's stron-
gest sulfur wells and taste their waters. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, it
costs £3.30 for adults, £1.90 for children. You might also visit the free Mercer Art
Gallery ( &   01423/556188; www.harrogate.gov.uk), with mainly 19th- and 20th-
century works; it's open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 2 to 5pm. The
town's highlight, however, is its Turkish Baths ( &   01423/556746; www.
harrogate.gov.uk), with Moorish arches and screens, glazed brickwork, arabesque
painted ceilings, and terrazzo floors newly restored to their Victorian glory. Splurge on
a treatment or just relax in the steam room. There are women's, men's, and mixed-
session times (entry £13-£19).
Just 4 miles north of Harrogate, charming little Ripley seems frozen in
time. Ripley Castle ( &  01423/770152; www.ripleycastle.co.uk), focal point of the
village, has been inhabited by the Ingilby family for 7 centuries, and Lady and St.
Thomas Ingilby work hard to keep its history alive—kids' tours, for instance, bring the
castle vividly to life for ages 5 to 13 through tales of Cromwell being kept at gunpoint
here, wild boar hunts, and resident ghosts. Secret doors, spiral stairs up to a priest's
hole, and lots of armor and weaponry add to the intrigue. Then there are the grounds,
with a play trail, treasure hunt, tree-top rope course (www.logheights.co.uk), and deer
park. The gardens are open daily 9am to 4:30 or 5pm, the castle for guided tours
only—see the website for times and prices. The cozy Boar's Head Hotel (p. 654)
is also owned by the Ingilbys.
Elsewhere in the village, the Old Farmyard, Orchard Lane ( &   01423/772962;
www.theoldfarmyard.co.uk; Easter-Aug Sun and bank-holiday Mon noon-5pm), has
displays of old farm machinery, animals, displays on the likes of butter- and rope-
making, and horse-drawn trap rides. Adults pay £3.50, children £3. Around the cor-
ner, Ripley Store ( &   01423/770044 ), looking like something out of a movie set,
stocks homemade ice cream, old-fashioned candy, and other local goodies.
Carry on up the road north from Ripley to the cathedral city of Ripon to reach
Britain's largest monastic ruin, Fountains Abbey within Studley Royal.
Also off this main A61, this time to the east, Newby Hall ( &   0845/450-
4068; www.newbyhall.com) is an impressive 17th-18th-century house with fine
Robert Adam interiors, often used as a movie location. Its fantastic Adventure Gar-
dens were designed to include something for all ages; there's also a miniature railway
through the lovely gardens, a sculpture park, a woodland discovery walk, and a farm
shop. The Hall is open April to September Tuesday to Sunday (plus bank-holiday and
July Mon); tickets to the hall and gardens are £12 for adults, £43 for a family of five.
Carry on to Ripon if you have a passion for ecclesiastical architecture: Ripon
Cathedral ( &   01765/603462; www.riponcathedral.info) has one of the country's
oldest Saxon crypts, sole survivor of a church founded on the site by St. Wilfrid in the
7th century, plus medieval wood-carvings thought to have inspired Alice in Wonder-
land author Lewis Carroll. Free to visit, it's open daily 8:30am to 6pm.
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