Studley Royal is the deer park next to Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire. It’s where I first drove a car (long private road) and the place Joan and I had a picnic at the end of our honeymoon. There’s a tranquility about this place that we love. 

On this visit we picked up fish ‘n chips from the chip shop on Bondgate Green in Ripon and drove up here to eat them. This was the first day this year it was pleasant enough to eat outside. The food was delicious. The chip shop fries only fresh fish and the order was cooked as I waited. When we lived in Ripon, Bondgate Green was the best chippie in the city, and 35 years later it still is – possibly better.

We took our eldest son, Warwick, with us. After tea we walked alongside the lake for a while until the air cooled and then made short detour to take in the city centre in Ripon as we drove home. Always fond memories of our early married life and the place where our first two children were born.