Bolton Abbey Through The Eyes Of A Romantic
07/06/2024
Now That’s Moor Like It
14/08/2024
It’s pretty much the first thing you think of when buying or renting your home.
Well, it’s the same taking a trip abroad or just going out for the day. You want to go to a place that makes you happy. It makes perfect sense.
And that’s the one thing that has made Bolton Abbey the popular place it is today, attracting visitors and travellers for hundreds of years, going all the way back to the 12th century when hospitality was very much a part of medieval monastic life.
Famous figures such as William Turner, the master of Romanticism himself, and poet William Wordsworth also came here because of their love for natural beauty.
Simple treasures
But it wasn’t until the late Victorian period that tourism really took off when the urban working class could actually get here by train, making this beauty spot accessible to the many.
For them, Bolton Abbey would have had that good day feel about it, a place to rest and relax, and that meant taking in the clear countryside air, walking along the meandering River Wharfe, navigating the Stepping Stones and marvelling at the history of the priory.
Those simple treasures are still part of today’s experience, but we also want to create a memorable experience that’ll make you come back for more.
Well…that’s one way to get across the river. In fact, there was the only way to cross the river near the Priory until a bridge was built nearby in 1899.
So, let’s tell you about what’s happening this summer to tantalise you.
How about a little adventure with your kids taking them on the Welly Walk? Once that’s done, give yourself a well-earned rest and treat, stopping off at the Cavendish Pavilion for a cuppa, a slice of cake or an ice cream!
But don’t think for a moment your job’s done because when you’re all refuelled, take a little jaunt with your scallywags to the Pirate Ship that comes with a slide, a climbing wall and a pirate’s pole.
Alongside these activities, our Closer to Nature programme of events is already in full swing after our Curlew & Endangered Wader Safaris, Dawn Chorus & Introduction to Woodland Birds walks. And they’ll be closely followed by our fascinating Bat Walk in August, which has proved so popular, tickets have sold out in no time!
Ahoy there and full steam ahead on the pirate ship!
All year round, Bolton Abbey is a celebration of everything it has to offer while adapting to the needs of our visitors.
Adapting to those needs is also something others who live and work here recognise. One business that has certainly embraced the idea of change through diversification and made the most of what it has to offer is Catgill Farm.
For many years, it was a traditional dairy farm and a special place for Oliver Barker who as a young boy used to love spending his time there with his grandad Ken.
But his love for the farm also gave him the inspiration to take the business on a different kind of path when Oliver came up with the idea of having a campsite at Bolton Abbey after seeing them everywhere while on holiday in Italy.
After a little bit of persuasion, his grandad was “all on board” coming out of retirement in his late 70s. But, like all businesses, they had to start somewhere and in their case, that just happened to be where the heart is…Ken’s home.
“We used to just check people in, in the living room”, says Oliver.
“When it all started out, there was just a front field, a toilet block and me, my grandad and Cat (now his wife) in the living room and people used to come into the house and we just printed off who was arriving, how much they owed and he would check people in and speak with them.
“And people loved him. He was great with the customers, to be fair. Very, very sociable for a farmer!”
Changing with the times
Now, 10 years after starting the business, and raising a young family following the birth of their daughter, both Oliver and Cat describe the business as an overwhelming success.
“The greatest achievement is seeing people on holiday happy,” adds Oliver. “Just when you walk around my home and see people that have travelled from wherever, hours away, to be here and they’re making memories that are going to last a lifetime, that’s probably the most rewarding part of it.”
But, to stay ahead of the market, they’re always looking for new ways to take the business forward, offering what they call the ultimate in glamourous glamping with timber pods, bell tents, and the introduction of geo dome pods, giving you the impression you’re still outside.
Oliver and Cat Barker looking to introduce alpacas later this year to encourage more young families to visit
One of the many wonderful places you can stay at on Catgill Farm
Meanwhile, at their other site Howgill Lodge, they’ve also applied for planning permission to build a pod that will be underground, all except for a small window or sky light.
Oliver says the idea is to put soil back on top over it and plant some wild flower seeds so that they can grow and attract insects, making it really good for biodiversity.
Catgill Farm is just one of many other businesses embracing diversification – all very much a far cry from the time when it was probably something that hadn’t even been heard of.
In fact, when Geoff Pawson started working here as an accounts clerk and cashier in 1985, he doesn’t even recall a tourism department, just a couple of agents keeping an eye on the car park and shop staff.
Seeing the Priory really struck a chord
At that time, to park here, it was 50p a car with an extra 25p or 15p for adults and children respectively if they also wanted to go for a walk in Strid Wood.
And on good summer days, Geoff says both the Village and Riverside car parks would hit four figures when cars were smaller and could be packed in tighter, joking: “And people didn’t bring their gazebos with them.”
Incredibly, despite spending 38 years of his working life here before retiring, it wasn’t a place he’d visited often. Well, to be precise, definitely once. But that’s all it took for him to come across something that really struck a chord, matching anything he’d seen coming home from a holiday in the Lake District. And that was the priory.
Visitors packing out the car parks to enjoy the sunshine!
“For all the natural beauty, both in the lakes and driving across through the dales, this bit of man-made architecture on the bank, it was just something else. It matched anything that was natural,” says Geoff.
Under the looming presence of the priory, another iconic man-made feature that the tourists often come out to see is the stepping stones which, until the end of the 19th century, was the only way to cross the river near the priory. But that changed in 1899 when a footbridge was built close by.
Sadly, in recent times, the Stepping Stones became something of a stumbling block when some of them were washed away after winter storms.
Geoff Pawson
Many hands make light work
However, by re-investing up to £2 million a year into the future well-being of the estate, we are also protecting and restoring what we’ve inherited. And that’s enabled us to replace the missing stones, deliver on so many restoration projects that protect all our man-made features, and look after more than 300 tenants whether they’re agricultural, commercial or residential.
Keeping up these high standards is important to us and that’s why we’re looking for people with a wide range of skills to help us right across the board, from reactive work to short, medium and long term projects.
If you think you’ve got something to offer that will still make Bolton Abbey a wonderful place for future generations to enjoy, express your interest by completing one of our forms. It would be great to hear from you.
But that’s only half the story really. Protecting the past is one thing, but we also have to be conscious of the future which is sustainable and environmentally friendly, cutting back on emissions and waste. And that’s our duty. To make Bolton Abbey a beautiful location for people to live, work and play.