Abbeys and great halls

As Sunday morning breakfast is not until 9am, we make the most of an early start by driving the short distance to Whalley. Yesterday's fine weather has given way overnight to a cold overcast morning with light drizzle. So it is at 8am on a grey, wet morning that we visit the  ruins of Whalley Abbey. 

Although a country house was later built on the site, and is now used as a retreat and conference venue, the original medieval abbey did not survive the dissolution of the monasteries during Tudor times and so only the ruins of the 14th century Cistercian Abbey remain. Except for a couple of people walking their dogs, the ruins are completely deserted. Some magpies chatter in the trees but otherwise it is still.

The newer religious retreat beside the ruins

Ruins of Whalley Abbey

Nature has been allowed to reclaim some of the ruins and soften some of the harsh grey stone ... and its terrible memories.

Whalley Abbey Nature Trail

There is also beauty to be found in small places.

A magical microcosm

The slumbering head of a sunflower at Whalley Abbey

The cold and damp start to chill us to the bone so we stop along the main street for coffee and then return to our lodgings for a hot breakfast. By the time we finish, the sun has reasserted itself and burnt off much of the morning mist. Our next stop is Stonyhurst College, an impressive heritage-listed pile in the middle of the countryside. 

The grand and rather imposing edifice of Stonyhurst College

Parts of the building date back to the 13th Century and remarkably, over the centuries it has mostly remained in Catholic ownership. The private country estate was eventually gifted to the Jesuits in the 18th Century and became a school. It still operates as a Catholic boarding school today but during the school holidays it is occasionally opened to the public for events. Its most famous association is perhaps with J.R.R Tolkien, who lived on the college grounds with his family and is reputed to have written much of the Lord of the Rings during his time in the Ribble Valley.

A rather scary place to go to school

Grand interiors

As luck would have it, there is an antiques fair on at the college today with around 80 dealers displaying their wares. Ross is in his element wandering around the stalls set up along the infinitely long corridors ... furniture, ceramics, paintings, jewellery... but to his dismay, not too many bronzes.

Stydd Gardens

We try to stop for tea and a scone at the nearby picturesque village of Ribchester but we're thwarted by the Sunday lunch crowds. Stydd Gardens is a lovely collection of cafes and tearooms around a little garden centre and discrete landscaped spaces ... but on a sunny Sunday, it proves impossible so we return to Padiham.

Our afternoon wanderings take us to Gawthorpe Hall, which is only a 5-minute drive from our accommodation. It is yet another grand country estate, this time an Elizabethan manor house on the banks of the River Calder. While some of the original Elizabethan features remain, it was extensively refurbished in the 1850s by Sir Charles Barry, the designer of the Houses of Parliament.

Gawthorpe Hall aka the 'Downton Abbey of the North'

Grand reception room - with original Elizabethan oak panelled walls and ornate ceiling 

Ceiling (detail)

To complete our extraordinarily full day and mark our last evening in the Ribble Valley, we go to the Freemasons Country Inn at Wiswell for dinner. It comes strongly recommended by our host at the B+B and has apparently won a squillion awards. Okay maybe not that many... Perhaps it is because we go there with very high expectations that we end up being a little disappointed. The meals are swimming in duck fat... even the complimentary bread rolls... and while the mains are nice, it's like the kitchen is trying a bit too hard to be clever - small but artistically arranged portions, strange ingredient combinations (using things you've never heard of) and there's that oil again... 

At least it gives us the chance to go for a stroll around Wiswell after dinner (to try and walk off the duck fat) and make the most of the long dusk. It is another tidy village with neat stone cottages and even an old red telephone box... although on closer inspection, the village has found a novel use for it.

Wiswell cottages

The village book exchange