You might have read yesterday that I decided to embrace Mothers Day this year rather than stick my head in the sand and pretend it’s not happening for the most part. The kids were over the moon with this news and have spent the entire day spoiling me and showering me with love, attention and presents!
We started off with some lovely treats at home followed by a surprise trip to York designer outlet where I was stunned to be steered into the Micheal Kors shop and treated to a new watch. My objections to the cost were silenced by Mr Frugal who told me that they’d never bought me more than a CD on Mothers Day before so today they were making up for lost time. 😉
On the way home, despite the fact it was just starting to snow, we decided to stop off at Byland Abbey which is somewhere we’ve never been before pass every time we go to York.
Byland Abbey is probably one of the more basic properties we’ve visited since we got our English Heritage membership last year. It has just a small (but free) car park over the road for a few cars to park in and a little cabin at the entrance manned by a solitary (and very cold looking) member of staff.
Don’t let that fool you into thinking that the Abbey itself is anything less than spectacular because it really was a lovely place to visit and probably my favourite property so far as the kids ran about from the moment we stepped through the beautiful entrance to the minute we had to drag them away before we froze!
It’s always interesting to visit places like this as a family because you have Mr Frugal wandering around reading signs and trying to share some facts about the place, the kids running around everywhere and playing hide and seek and me, trying to capture it all on camera. We all love these afternoons out but for very different reasons!
I know that after visiting this afternoon, I really should be able to tell you a little bit about the history of the place but to be honest, I just enjoyed watching the kids play today so if you’re after a bit of historical knowledge, this is what the English Heritage website says about it:
Once one of the greatest monasteries in England, Byland Abbey inspired the design of church buildings throughout the North. A truly outstanding example of early gothic architecture, it inspired the design of the famous York Minster rose window. The Museum displays colourful interpretation panels together with archaeological finds from the site, giving the visitor a fascinating insight into monastic life in Yorkshire.
This is what the kids had to say in the car on the way home (note the lack of anything historical or cultural from them both):
Can we go back when it’s not so cold? On a nice day with a picnic we could spend all day there climbing!
Master Frugal, aged 10That was so much fun, I loved climbing everywhere but it would be great to play Hide and Seek.
Miss Frugal, aged 13
We used our English Heritage membership to visit Byland Abbey but if you don’t have a membership or you don’t want to get one then it will cost you £13.50 for a family of 2 adults and up to three children including gift aid.
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