It's a shame more tourists to the UK don't visit North Yorkshire because it's such an area of natural beauty, dotted with picture-postcard villages, Roman cities and edged by delightful seaside towns on the coast of the wild North Sea. I already looked at Scarborough in a previous post and today its the turn of Helmsley.
Helmsley is a small, medieval market town situated in Ryedale, North Yorkshire. A beautiful quaint town with a castle dating back to 1120 but Roman remains have been found in the area as have other discoveries that indicate that settlements existed around the area from as far back as 3000BC....even older than me!
There are many historical attractions around the areas as well as the castle, which was sadly closed to visitors today, such as Rievalaux Abbey, built in 1132 and which was one of the great abbeys of England.....until it was seized by King Henry the VIII (the same one who had a penchant for chopping off his wive's heads) in 1538 during the dissolution of the monasteries.
Today it's a typical bustling market on the edge of the stunning North York Moors, but again, I chose the wrong day as the market on a Thursday is simply a car park...
I hope you like the pictures from a bright, but freezing cold February afternoon.
The Church of All Saints
Sadly, this was as close as I could get to the castle today
North Yorkshire is a food lover's paradise with every small town having huge selections of fresh local produce
A statue of William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham towers above the town square. No idea what he did to deserve it.....
Likewise, I have no idea what award and who awarded this Butchers shop. I do know however, that they made exceedingly delicious sausage rolls!
Don't be fooled by the cornflour blue sky. It was actually just 1C....so time for a coffee. Thanks :-)
@nathen007