RIPON AND ITS VICINITY. 



BOLTON PRIORY, 24 miles from Bipon, 16 from Harrogate, and 6 

 from Ilkley, can be reached either by a direct drive, or by rail to 

 Ilkley and thence by conveyance. " Of the many attractions which 

 Yorkshire offers to the selection of its visitors, and to the frequent 

 enjoyment of its inhabitants, none should be preferred to that of a 

 ' SUMMER'S DAY AT BOLTON PRIORY.' Its elegant ruins, and its 

 unusually picturesque scenery cannot fail to charm every lover of the 

 beautiful in Nature and Art. There nature, and art, and time have 

 worked congenially; and, over their united triumph, genius, and wis- 

 dom, and virtue, and all that can exalt and ennoble human nature, or 

 invest one spot of earth with a superior interest, have shed their undy- 

 ing influence and associations. The ruins of this celebrated Priory stand 

 upon a beautiful curvature of the Wharfe, sufficiently elevated to 

 protect it from inundation, and low enough for every purpose of 

 picturesque effect ; in which respect, the competent judgement of 

 Whitaker has pronounced that ' It has no equal among the northern 

 houses perhaps not in the kingdom.' Its site is so shut in by rising 

 ground and embosomed in trees, that the visitor, who has come from 

 Harrogate, across the wilds of Knaresborough forest, may not be 

 aware that he is approaching it, until he is almost on the spot." 

 Speaking of the Strid, Mr. Walbran says : " About half a mile above 

 Bolton the valley closes, and on either side the Wharfe is overhung 

 by deep and solemn woods, from which huge perpendicular masses of 

 gritstone jut out at intervals. For awhile, the river sweeps on in 

 majestic undulations, exasperated by rocks and swelled by a tributary 

 stream bursting from a woody glen, exhibiting its native character 

 lively, irregular, and impetuous. Then for a few moments it reposes 

 by a delicious and verdant holm ; lingering noislessly in the shade of 

 luxuriant trees whose slanting boughs stoop to kiss its bosom. At 

 length, its subdued and solemn roar, 'like the voice of the angry spirit 

 of the waters ' disturbs the deep solitude of the woods, and announces 

 the tremendous STRID, where it suddenly greets the eye struggling 

 and foaming in the narrow trench of the rock, through which the 

 whole of the impetuous torrent is poured 'with a rapidity pro- 

 portioned to its confinement.' " Extracts from Walbran 1 s Summer's Day 

 at Bolton Priory. 



