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Hardwick #50places2026

I had actually chosen to visit Hardwick Hall as I was on my way back from visiting Yorkshire and they had (according to the website) EV charging facilities. For me this meant that I could stop there, charge the car, enjoy visiting the house, walk the grounds and still have time for a scone and a pot of tea.

However… the EV chargers were not by the house, so I couldn’t charge the car. 

Of course I got my card scanned and headed off to the amazing house.

Hardwick

An English interpretation of Italian Renaissance Architecture. This impressive masterpiece casts a dramatic silhouette across the Derbyshire skyline.

Current saving £164.30
One adult £23.00
Parking Free
Total saving £23.00
Cumulative saving £283.30
Membership cost £96
Net cumulative saving £187.30

There were some amazing authentic rooms. It would appear (after a conversation with a volunteer) that after the death of Bess of Hardwick the woman behind the building of the hall.

Bess of Hardwick was the richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I, and her house was conceived to be a conspicuous statement of her wealth and power. 

A wide, winding, stone staircase leads up to the state rooms on the second floor, which include one of the largest long galleries in any English house. A tapestry-hung great chamber with a spectacular plaster frieze illustrating hunting scenes has been little altered.

The rooms get higher ceilings as you go up to different floors. Impressing those who entered the house.

After exploring the house, I went to see the ruins of the previous hall.

I drove to the East Midlands Designer Outlet. It was busy and I put the Funky Cat on charge there.

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Then and Now Take Two another time – Minehead Engine Shed

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. I have started to notice is that I have been doing Then and Now photographs unintentionally over the years and have been taking photographs of the same thing or place from the same view or perspective years apart. Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.

I took this photograph at Minehead Station on the West Somerset Railway in May 2026 using an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Minehead Engine Shed

Here are the other photographs of the same place dating back to September 2004.

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Grassington #50places2026

I enjoyed watching the Channel 5 series, the reimagined All Creatures Great and Small, having also enjoyed the 1978 series when that was broadcast.

The new series exterior shots are filmed in the Yorkshire Dales and the fictional village of Darrowby is filmed in Grassington. After my visit to Fountains Abbey, I took the B6265 through the Dales to Grassington. When I arrived in the village I parked in the Grassington National Park Visitor Centre car park (which I thought was quite expensive, however the proceeds do go to supporting the National Park). I did think it would be probably nigh on impossible to park in the actual village. Having parked I headed to the village.

They must have been filming as they were signs, and they were packing up props.

I explored the village before taking a coffee at Plaza Uno.

It’s quite a small place and it doesn’t take long to explore the village.

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Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden #50places2026

I have been to Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire before this visit, once in 1979 on a school trip and then again in 1993 when I was visiting York on a short holiday. I was back in North Yorkshire again and one of the things I wanted to do was visit the ruins of Fountains Abbey once more.

Having arrived and put the car on charge, I headed to reception to get my card scanned. After that it was into the grounds. I first went to Fountains Hall, which is a historical manor house in the grounds of Fountains Abbey. I don’t remember going there in 1993. I visited the mill as well.

It was then onto the ruins themselves, which are incredible. It was a huge building and the ruins are awe inspiring.

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden

Ancient abbey ruins and an awe-inspiring water garden and deer park. This World Heritage Site is a uniquely blended landscape full of secrets, curiosities and breath-taking views.

Current saving £143.30
One adult £21.00
Parking Free
Total saving £21.00
Cumulative saving £260.30
Membership cost £96
Net cumulative saving £164.30

This National Trust property is ruined, was burnt down by Henry VIII following his arguments with Rome over divorce.

After exploring the ruins I walked through the water gardens to the café. There I had a coffee and a scone as one does. I walked back to the ruins, this time though up the hill and to the viewing platform. 

I really enjoyed my visit to Fountains Abbey.

Though I was at the University of York in the late 1980s, I never actually got around to visiting Fountains Abbey again, in the main as when I was at University I didn’t have a car, and public transport wasn’t always an option back then.

I keep meaning to visit again, we went to York back in 2013 when we went on holiday to North Yorkshire, but the cold weather at the time (it snowed a lot) meant that we kept to indoor attractions such as the Castle Museum and the National Railway Museum.