A gift with so much more than first meets the eye

At Bolton Abbey, we have a gift we’d like to share with you, but it’s not perhaps as obvious as you think and that may be down to the size of the estate – the 30,000 acres, the 80 miles of footpaths across different landscapes, the five miles of river and all the wildlife living here.

We’re not blaming you. It’s a big place to explore but those are the facts. We really value what we have here. It’s something we really treasure but we want you to come away getting the very most out of this place and feeling happier for it. And we want to help you do that.

Please tell me moor!

To give you an idea of what this place is really like and what we do to make it look the way it is, education is everything. The Let’s Learn Moor Programme last July involved something like 300 children from 9 primary schools giving them the opportunity to explore the natural habitat of our moorlands and see how they’re protected and managed.

With the wonderful work of our own outdoor learning officer, who also incidentally runs curriculum based school trips on the estate, our head gamekeeper, and organisations such as Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services, the interactive nature of the event was a resounding success, especially for those children who previously had little or no experience of life beyond their own town or city

Stone me! They’re back

It’s not just the flora and fauna we want to tell you about and bring you closer to though. The many other gifts we also offer you need a little TLC every now and then, when they show signs of wear and tear.

The priory church, understandably one of the biggest draws for our visitors, is one such place, dating back to the 12th century. So, when the wooden base of the bell tower was beginning to rot earlier in the year, we had to act. Thankfully, the damage has now been repaired and the tower is literally on a firm footing once again.

Another iconic feature the stepping stones were also finally brought back to their former glory after needing more than a little brush up. Just imagine for a moment you had 62 teeth, but then lost 14 of them. That’s about one in every four. You’d be pretty worried, or at least you should be.

And even when our trails are clear, we’ve still got our maintenance team to thank for keeping all the ones that run along both sides of the river in tip top condition all year round, resurfacing and relevelling areas damaged by erosion.

If you want to find out more about our riverside trails, please check out our interactive map. It’s packed with so much information to plan your day out. And as we’re an inclusive tourist attraction, we’ve also highlighted the trails which we know are suitable for families with pushchairs and those with mobility issues.

Who’s running this?

No matter what these challenges throw at us, making your experience a memorable one is one of our priorities.

And some of those memorable experiences involve charities such as Sue Ryder. For the 8th year, we have now hosted the Sue Ryder Runs that raise funds for palliative care at the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice.

In fact, one of those runs only happened recently, with more than 600 people taking part while the Solstice Saunter in June raised a staggering £25,000.

Whatever your motivation might be, there’s no doubt getting out and about in the countryside is physically good for you. But we also know how those physical benefits can make you feel better mentally.

That’s why we have teamed up specialist house and care organisation Anchor to introduce two chatty benches that we hope will inspire conversations between those who might be on their own looking for the chance to talk, and those who will join them for a chat, knowing a few words can mean so much. And trust us…you can’t miss these funky looking benches. They really stand out!