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Fountains Abbey

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In a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fountains Abbey is England’s best preserved Cistercian monastery. The abbey has been a ruin since the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the 16th century, but 500 years of decay have done nothing to diminish its majesty. Constructed in 1132, Fountains Abbey grew to become one of the country’s wealthiest monasteries, enriched by lead mining, stone quarrying, animal rearing and wool production. The abbey precinct covered 70 acres, and you can delve into its history at the Porter’s Lodge exhibition, in a contemporary building within the original gatehouse. Among the ruins you can investigate big pieces of the abbey church and cloisters, as well as the vestiges of what used to be one of the largest abbot’s houses in England. The great hall alone was more than 50 metres long.
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Best Things to Do in Ripon (Yorkshire, England)

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Dating back more than 1,300 years, Ripon claims to be England’s oldest city. Whether or not this is true, you can’t deny the weight of its historical wonders. Ripon Cathedral is an Early English masterpiece concealing the remains of an 7th-century Anglo-Saxon basilica in its crypt. Fountains Abbey, three miles outside the city is the largest monastic ruin in the country. The vestiges of the abbey church and abbot’s house are a UNESCO World Heritage site, along with the magnificent Studley Royal Park that took shape after the abbey was suppressed. Every night on Ripon’s Market Place the city’s hornblower sounds his watch, in a custom dating to 886. Let’s explore the best things to do in Ripon:
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Wendover Woods

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The Forestry Commission owns a beautiful parcel of the Chilterns close to Aylesbury. This 800-acre space includes the highest point in the range, at the 267-metre Haddington Hill. Wendover Woods are made up of a mix of broadleaf and softwood trees, and every now and again on the signposted trails you’ll be wowed by unending views over the Aylesbury Vale to the north. Wendover Woods also has a Go Ape high ropes park, with a challenging 685-metre Treetop Adventure course for people over ten, and Treetop Junior for youngsters, with a zip-line 85 metres long.
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David Bowie Statue

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In March 2018 a monument to David Bowie was unveiled under the arches in the Market Square. The town had a close connection to the star who passed away in 2016, as in the early 70s Bowie debuted his Ziggy Stardust character at Aylesbury’s Friars Club. The bronze sculpture shows an array of Bowie’s personas, with life-sized renditions of the Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust. The work is titled “Earthly Messenger” and has speakers that play a different Bowie song on the hour.
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Bedgrove Park

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On the southeast side of Aylesbury proper there’s a Green Flag park made up of woodland, wildflower meadows and sports pitches. Families can bring younger children to the massive fenced playground, which is landscaped like idyllic countryside with small rolling hills. On a sunny day you could visit for a picnic as there’s a lovely prospect of the Chilterns to the south, while the strange-looking round hall is a community centre hired out to residents on weekends, and used for children’s workshops, a dance school and exercise classes.
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Vale Park

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The main green space in the centre of Aylesbury, Vale Park is north of Hilda Wharf on the Grand Union Canal. There’s a contemporary design to Vale Park, with colourful flowerbeds, hard paved paths, a playground for children and a skatepark for bigger kids. On the north side is the Aqua Vale Swimming and Fitness Centre, which has a cafe while the tarmac-surfaced tennis courts can be used by anyone for free. Vale Park has plenty going on in the summer, like Play in the Park, a day out for children at the start of August with activities and games to mark National Play Day. At the end of the same month there’s a funfair, children’s entertainment and live music at the Parklife Weekend, Aylesbury’s biggest party of the year.
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King’s Head Inn

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One of the must-see buildings on the Market Square is this National Trust pub that has elements dating back 800 years. The King’s Head is among the oldest pubs with a coaching yard in the South of England, and was founded as an inn around the middle of the 15th century. It is thought that King Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou stayed here around that time, and there’s a stained glass panel brought here from the dissolved Greyfriars monastery, showing the king and queen’s personal coats of arms. The 15th-century Great Hall still has its wattle and daub walls, while the 13th-century cellars may have belonged to a friary on this site. Check out the Medieval hearth in the Gatehouse Chamber, etched with graffiti that may have been left by Parliamentarian troops in the English Civil War.
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