Today was the second of my two planned rest days. After slogging through the rain yesterday I was ready for a bit of rest! Richmond is a popular stop as it is a town full of history, lots of hotels and B&Bs, and restaurants. For the first time since Grasmere I did not set an alarm even though I woke up fairly early anyway, around 7:30am. After an hour or so of stretching I went downstairs for breakfast. The other four guests, an American and a British couple, had already come down and were planning their day. They were also doing the coast to coast and I had met them briefly during my stay at the Keld Lodge. They, like me, were taking a rest day. Arriving in Richmond marked a bit of a milestone in that half of the crowd that had been more or less traveling together for the past week was stopping for a day and half continued on. For example, my Australian friends kept going and thus I doubt I will run into them again; they will always be a stage in front of me now.

Even though they have had a market here for centuries, a building was established in the 1850’s.

Our hostess, Liz, recommended several sites to see. She mentioned Richmond castle, which was definitely on my list. The castle was built just around 1100 before falling to ruin some time in the 1500’s. The town of Richmond more or less grew up around the castle and continued to thrive past the demise of the edifice that gave it birth. The city center still has a medieval feel to it although part of it has been turned into a parking lot. The streets are cobblestone and narrow, only allowing one way traffic in the areas where cars are permitted. They still have a town market although it sells more tourist and basic goods, not food. There are numerous hotels and pubs around the town square as well. Also located on the square are a grocers, a bakery, and two butcher shops reflecting a way of life that cannot easily be found anywhere else. I had explored a few of the side streets last night when I was hunting dinner but was looking forward to spending the day wondering around.

Need a button? You can find one at the market.

The sky was fairly clear although there were clouds in the distance. A quick check at the weather indicated no rain, however I took my rain jacket (now dry, thankfully), because, well, this is England. First stop of the day was the castle so I made my way to the city center, only a few short blocks from my B&B. Crossing the square towards the alley leading to the castle entrance I heard music playing loudly nearby. Detouring to the church, set in the center of the square where the music seemed to be coming from, I found a small band of what looked like students setting up instruments. Some were playing violin and others were dancing. There was a teacher/producer/marketer (I am not sure what he was) strolling through the gathering crowd to promote a musical that was going to be playing at the local Georgian Theater in a week. The students were performing parts of the play. I never did figure out if they were also part of the acting troupe as well. A small crowd was gathering and a few people were handing out hand bills to encourage people to attend.

Street performance to entice people to the theater a week hence.

Moving on I found the alley I needed and headed up to the castle entrance. After purchasing my ticket I went to examine the small castle museum to learn more about its history before strolling onto the grounds. The castle apparently changed hands quite a bit over the years as the owners backed this king or that one and depending on how well they chose, ether they kept the castle and surrounding acreage or not. Apparently the current title of “Duke of Richmond” has been with the same family since the mid-1600s. That either reflects good choices or a lack of necessity to chose, not sure. In any event, they don’t live in the castle!  Not much of it still stands but the keep tower, built in the 1200s, which is about 100 feet high, is in good shape and offers great views of the countryside. Since I did not get to see much of the surrounding area yesterday on the walk in, I climbed up to take a look around. There has been a lot of traffic up the tower steps over the years, the stone steps were well eroded. When I see stone that has actually been shaped by footprints like that over time I try to imagine how long and how many people had to pass through – and I simply can’t. The mind boggles….

The castle ruins as seen from the tower.

The views were great, including a straight down clear picture of the complete town center- basically what would have been right out the original castle gates. It is apparent that the layout of the town has not changed much over the centuries. Climbing down the steps (carefully) I noticed that the walls were incredibly thick, about 15 feet or so. Hard to imagine constructing such a sturdy, hefty building with, basically, brute force hand labor. There was a private garden, restored, off the corner of the compound where the lord and lady would have lived. Amazingly the flowers were also growing right out of the castle walls. I suppose over the years enough dirt had embedded in between the stones and mortar that seeds could take root. Nature probably would have taken over the whole pile of rocks if the National Heritage Society was not taking care of it!

The worn stone steps. Who knows how many thousands (hundred of thousands) feet did this?

After spending about an hour and a half wandering around I went to find my next destination, the local city museum. Located slightly off the city square it apparently was a good place to gather more information of the history of the community from the 1100s up to modern times. My book indicated the museum had a random collection of information but was interesting. There was a very nice, friendly lady working at the museum (who later gave me a good tip on where to get tasty pastries) who explained the set up. Then I plunged in. It certainly was a hodge podge of information! I learned about dairy farming over the years including milking and cheese making, saw an original frame for a cottage (they used wooden pins to hold the beams together), mining and ore, making lace (which looks intricate and time consuming), women’s fashion in the 1800s, the construction of the local train station, and the archeological activities nearby where they are digging up a roman outpost. Clearly the area has a lot going on. I rather enjoyed it and spent another nearly two hours just roaming around reading everything. Hunger, eventually, drove me out. Taking the advice of the kind museum attendant I went to the bakery and selected a cheese and onion pasty for lunch. Yum!

The city center from the top of the tower.

Outside entrance to the castle garden with flowers growing out of the stone.

There are several walks around town to historic locales and I decided to amble along the one that eventually would take me down to the River Swale that flowed by at the bottom of the town. It was actually quite wide and fast flowing (apparently “swale” means “swift” in some language, but I forget which). At the bottom along the river, was a wide trail occupied by all kinds of people and their dogs. From my observation over the past twelve days I have concluded that the British are dog lovers and they take their dogs everywhere- in stores, in pubs, in hotels, on walks- despite rain. The river trail eventually led to the train station, the one mentioned in the museum that was built in the late 1800s, which today is a cinema, a collection of shops, and the location of another great bakery. Since it was time for desert, I bought a “yorkshire scoundrel”, mainly because I had no idea what it was and it looked interesting. Biting into it I determined it is something between a scone and shortbread. In any event it was very good!

Desert. Yum!

My next destination was the Georgian Theater. Tours are available on the top of the hour and I headed in that direction as the top of the hour was approaching. The theater is the last original Georgian era theater in the country. Richmond was a fashionable spot for a long time due to the horse races that took place just outside the village and the town would become “the place to be” in September. The theater was a critical part of that social scene. It apparently was never torn down although it fell into disrepair and was renovated in the 1960s and again in the early 2000s. Of everything I saw today I have to say that the Georgian theater was the best. It was small, holding today only slightly more than 200 people (in its time, without health and safety rules it fit around 400). Sitting in the gallery, looking down to the stage, the pit, and the boxes I could just imagine the scene 200 years ago or so as Dorothy, our tour guide, described it; the wealthy in the boxes, the merchants in the pits, the common folk in the gallery. Since an evening event lasted five to six hours people brought food and drink (some of which got thrown at the stage!). The only lighting was chandeliers with tallow candles so the smell and smoke accumulation would add to the atmosphere. The actors were practically part of the audience due to the size and the construction of the theater. The dressing rooms were simple and the two fireplaces, one in each dressing room, the source of heat for the whole building. They still do performances in it today and if you are ever in Richmond and have a chance to see something there, I highly recommend it. (I’ll have to come back….). It was a great tour.

Georgian theater. View to the stage, looking slightly off to one side to see the boxes, from the galley.

On my way back to the B&B I passed the cricket ground, which is actually just across the street from the house. Two military teams were having a match and I stopped to watch, not that I had any idea of what I was watching. An elderly English couple was nearby and I asked about the rules. Consequently I now know what an “over” is and some of the rudiments of the game. I spent about 15 minutes watching and chatting with them and said good-bye. I am now in my room contemplating dinner, but it is raining, at least for the moment, so I have not yet reached a conclusion about how hungry I am. Looking out my window, though, I see another cricket match going on even though they are likely getting wet.

Georgian theater. View from the stage. It is hard to describe how small, cozy, quaint, intimate etc… this theater was!

Back on the road tomorrow.