Along The Wharfe to The Strid

 

While at Bolton Abbey, I decided to cross the river and follow the Wharfe round to the infamous Strid.

Right from the moment go, at the bridge, the River Wharfe looked lively: 

But in some nooks and crannies, the river looked relaxed, showing off its brown-coloured water:

 

But dramatically started livening up as I approached The Strid:

 

And there it was, all at once, The Strid, in front of my eyes:

 

With water gushing everywhere:

 

In Wordsworth's The White Doe of Rylstone (1815), the narrator reveals that local noblewoman Alice de Rumilly's son dies while trying to leap over The Strid with his hunting hound, which leads to Alice giving the land for Augustinian monks to build Bolton Priory (Bolton Abbey) in the 12th century.

 

However, some historical records show Alice de Rumilly's son living on well after the assumed drowning episode.

 

But still, the drowning account adds poignancy to Wordsworth's book-length poem, as Alice de Rumilly, like the main heroine Emily Norton, tries to make some kind of (Christian) sense of life after suffering tragic loss (in Emily's case, losing her father and many brothers during the 1569 Northern Catholic Revolt against Queen Elizabeth I).

 

 

Of course, at some point, I came across a warning sign, as the rocks near The Strid were extremely slippy:

 I actually did start slipping on the rocks near The Strid but was thankfully wise enough to be stood some distance well away from the gushing water itself.

Yes, The Strid was amazing but also incredibly dangerous.