Why this ride
From York it runs 199 km to York; allow about 3 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of, Component 2, Saltaire and back through Component 2.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
York day out · Saltaire
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 199 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 37
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. York
York wears its history openly. The Romans founded Eboracum here in 71 AD, and in 306 the army proclaimed Constantine emperor within its walls. The Vikings turned it into Jorvik, a trading city on the Ouse, and the medieval merchants who followed left a tangle of narrow streets, among them the Shambles, where overhanging timber houses lean so close that the neighbours could shake hands across the lane. The Minster, England's largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps, rises over it all with a vast stained-glass window that took a craftsman years to make.
Read the complete York write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
York is where the day begins. Next is Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of.
2. Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
Fountains Abbey is the largest monastic ruin in Britain, and it stands in a valley so green and quiet that it hardly seems real. In 1132, a group of Benedictine monks, dissatisfied with the lax life at York, left their abbey and sought a stricter rule, and with the help of the archbishop, they settled in this remote valley beside the river Skell. They became Cistercians, and over the next four centuries the abbey grew rich on sheep and wool, building a huge church, a vaulted cellarium, and a tower that still rises above the ruins. Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1539, and the roofs were stripped for lead.
Read the complete Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of comes up 24 km in.
3. Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
48 km in you reach Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of. Next is Component 2.
4. Component 2
The monks who founded Fountains Abbey arrived in 1132, a band of Benedictines from York who were unhappy with the laxity of their house and decided to follow the strict rule of the Cistercians. They settled in a wild, wooded valley beside the River Skell, with, as the chronicle says, nothing but thorn trees and rough stones, and over four centuries they built one of the richest and largest monasteries in England. Henry VIII dissolved it in 1539, and the ruins that remain, the great church with its soaring tower, the long cellarium and the cloister, are among the most beautiful in Europe. In the eighteenth century the owner of the neighbouring estate, John Aislabie, turned the valley into a water garden, so the ruins are now part of a designed landscape of ponds, canals and temples. UNESCO listed the whole ensemble in 1986.
Read the complete Component 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component 2, about halfway. Next is Saltaire.
5. Saltaire
Titus Salt was a Bradford wool magnate who got tired of the smoke, the sickness and the squalor of the city, and in 1851 he began building a new mill and a new town beside the river Aire, a few miles north. Saltaire, his name joined to the river's, was a model community: tidy stone terraces of different sizes for different grades of worker, a hospital, a school, almshouses, a church, a park, and a huge Italianate mill with a campanile chimney. The mill opened in 1853 and was among the largest in the world. UNESCO listed the village in 2001 as an outstanding example of Victorian industrial planning.
Read the complete Saltaire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Saltaire sits at 96 km, about halfway. Next is back through Component 2.
6. back through Component 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Component 2 comes up 119 km in. Next is back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of.
7. back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
143 km in you reach back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of.
8. back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of, late in the day. Next is York.
9. York
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete York write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 199 km.
Leg by leg
York to Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
York → Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component 2 to Saltaire
Component 2 → Saltaire is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Saltaire to back through Component 2
Saltaire → back through Component 2 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of to York
back through Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of → York is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.