endlessrarities | Celebrating the Underdog...

Six months back I had a moan about a poll which gave a list of Britain's 'Least Visited' (i.e. Worst) towns. I pointed out that I'd visited several of these towns already, and found them wonderful, and that I had plans to tick off a few more.

Well, I can now add another to the list - Ripon, which came in at #9 in the list.

I've wanted to visit Ripon for years, but until last week I hadn't got around to it. The lure was partly the cathedral, but most of all I wanted to witness the Wakeman in action. The Wakeman's wonderful - he'll be getting a post in his own right tomorrow!

Unfortunately, Ripon's in a miserable state. It's suffering the contemporary malaise of the small town (though in this case, it's technically a city!) - loads of empty commercial properties, and a surfeit of pubs and nightclubs. It's not exactly tourist-friendly. But the Italian restaurant we visited was very pleasant, and the bands of marauding young males we encountered were polite and restrained in their manner. Small wonder - they were probably all squaddies gearing up for a tour in Afghanistan. If anyone's entitled to letting their (very short!) hair down and getting blootered, it's them! (NB: even though a lot of properties were run down, and miserable, and in dire need of a lick of paint, there wasn't much sign of vandalism or smashed windows or whatever.)

Evidently, Ripon's lost a lot of trade to nearby Harrogate, which is the 'trendy' place to shop and visit. It harbours a few town planning disasters in its huge central market place, but there are still a few lovely Georgian (and earlier!) buildings to admire there.

Here's the town hall, which is very Georgian, and which celebrates the tradition of the Wakeman:-

And the obelisk in the middle of the square is again an integral part of the town's traditions (but more of that tomorrow!):-

Some of the streets are very picturesque:-

And there are a few nice 19th century hotels and inns overlooking the market square, too:-

And last but by no means least, there's a very splendid cathedral, which dominates the skyline:-

My verdict? Ripon's lovely. We stayed there one night, and we will definitely be making a return visit. For all those cathedral-holics out there, Ripon Cathedral's definitely one for the Must Visit List - put it up there in your North of England Ecclesiastical Sites Tour along with York Minster, Durham and Lindisfarne. I'll give you a guided tour later in the week - and don't forget, Ripon Needs YOU!!!!