r/Richmond_Yorkshire

Yorkshire Lead Mining at its peak dug hundreds of tons a month, the early mines were hand excavated and even after dynamite was invented holes for setting it had to be hand drilled. My wife's 3x Great Grandfather Elkanah Bell ran a herd of donkeys supplying the mines and hauling out lead. Today it is a haunting ghostly place, the wind whistles around the stones. There are no lists of the many who must have died to make owners rich, it was a hard life!

Just on edge of Richmond, walk from Round Howe carpark, there is a guide map at the start, takes about an hour. Beautiful woodland, bracing staircase, great views.

Looking from Castle Hill down towards Bargate, Cornforth, and Culloden Tower standing watch over it all.

A Georgian Folly on the edge of the Aske estate built around 1750. Today it marks the edge of the newer housing development built in the late 1980s on former Aske land. On a clear day you can see the turbines in the North Sea off the coast at Redcar.

Walking around Richmond is an absolute joy right now. Clematis, Forget -Me-Nots and host of other spring flowers are just everywhere. Its a delightfully random, unplanned, flower festival!

More changes than are immediately apparent. The Penny Bank to the left became the Yorkshire Bank. It subsequently closed leaving the town in the great banking exodus. It is now in the process of being converted into apartments. Heron Foods (on the Now pic) is a complete rebuild apart from the facade which was retained. It was done around 1980 with Woolworths moving into the brand new store until their demise. Have a look at the old shop fronts, so interesting!

In 1945 this was a through road, it was blocked off at the top end in the late 1980s. Today it has the look of a carpark! In ancient times Frenchgate was the main route down into the outer bailey and then the castle itself from the east. At the bottom was a forded stream emptying into the Swale. That part is still called 'The Channel' today. The name "Frenchgate" probably came from the numbers of foreign people, merchants and the like, who built homes and warehouses on its steep incline.

Just a short walk through Richmond golf club took me onto the estate. The path takes in some great views both of the grounds and the house. The house is the home of the Zetland's and has been since 1763. Zetland is apparently an archaic spelling of Shetland. At one time the horses lived in better conditions than the servants, (check out the pictures) but today the Mews is a rather nice business centre including a local chocolate makers who also serves delicious hot chocolate. There and back was about three miles. The photos are sequential, following my walk - enjoy.

Mature trees block much of the view. The large houses in the background on the older picture became a boarding school for soldier kids who attended Richmond School. Today it is a community hospital with a Lidl and carpark built next door. The gardens are lovely, well cared for and a pleasant place to sit. The Greyfriars tower was only completed a few years before the dissolution and is all the remains of the Fransican Friary founded in 1258. They were called the 'grey friars' because they wore habits of undyed wool.

Painted between 1746 and 1825 this shows a Richmond with Yorke House (by the river) still standing and the town clustered to the North of the castle. The view is from the Hudswell area but is now so wooded that I cannot take a comparison.

It was good to see a decent turnout of people supporting the march through and service of remembrance this morning. The band were stirring, the old soldiers so proud, and the army cadets brimful of youthful enthusiasm.

The burgages as they are known locally, are a former race course on Low Moor above Richmond. Built in 1775 the ruins of the grandstand are the oldest in the world designed by John Carr. The smaller building is Victorian and built for the Zetlands - local landed gentry. The last race was run in 1891 after which the course was eclipsed by Catterick.

This old oak tree just downstream of the railway bridge (now footpath) on the Easby loop is so cool. From this angle it looks like the prow of a sailing ship.