I came to Skipton to find out about Anne Clifford. She owned Skipton castle. During the English Civil War she was a royalist. She had two brothers. One died when he was 5 and he is buried in Skipton Parish Church.

The town of Skipton existed in 1086 because the town is mentioned in  William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book.  Click on the picture to see this reference.

There are lots of interesting things in this church. The most mysterious is a cell like structure. It would appear that a hermit lived here and focused his life on biblical study. Once he entered he never left and stayed in the cell all his life.

Here in the Parish Church I found the Tomb to Anne Cliffords brother. He was born at Skipton castle. He died there when he was almost 6 years old.

Wondering down to Boots the Chemist I encountered this local mucian. He was enyoying the sunny morning entertaining the visitors with his music.

Dave Ferguson has been selling cycles in Skipton for many years. When he is not selling or repairing cycles he can be seen at various cycle races. He once represented Great Britain in an international Cycling event held in Jamaca.

The Leeds and Liverpool canal is the longest canal in Britain. It is 127 miles long. It was opened  in 1816. It took 46 years to build. In 1906 the Leeds Liverpool Canal carried 2,337,401 tons of cargo and collected a large amount opf revenue. You can take a narrow boat trip along the canal or as I did wonder along the tow path from my hotel to the centre of Skipton.

I found out who Anne Clifford was. She was the last Clifford to own Skipton Castle. It had been there property for 300 years. Anne decided to repair the castle after the Civil War left it damaged. Oliver Cromwell was not pleased to learn of her plans. He said he would pull down the repairs. Anne replied that if he did she would rebuild. Cromwell was so taken aback by this strength of character that he let her restore the castle.

A friend I have known since the time I explored the pyramids in Egypt turned out to be a Clifford descendent. I was taken aback when I discovered my friends decendents.