Studley Royal is a water garden, owned by English National Trust which adjoins Fountains Abbey, it was created in the 1700s and its setting is very artificial looking compared with all the trees which surround it, but gardening has always been about fashion and I suppose the moulding and taming of the natural water to a man made shape was popular then. The photo below seems quite foreshortened somehow, it was actually taken quite a long way away from the bridge. The whole place is covered with hundreds of pheasants, you can just see a couple of them in the foreground. It was a surprise to me that there were so many of them because I thought that they mainly spent their time hanging about on the edges of roads, trying to chuck themselves in front of cars. They are handsome looking birds but terrifyingly stupid.

The photo below is taken from quite high up on the opposite bank from Fountains Abbey, as you can see, some of the trees were just beginning to get into their autumn colours. The water is home to quite a variety of birds.

This octagonal tower is one of several ‘folly’ like structures in the gardens, the others are mini classical temples but I thought this was the prettiest of them.

I couldn’t resist another view of the tree reflections. Studley Royal is a lovely place to visit, even on a cold and slightly misty autumn day. It involves quite a lot of walking and some steep paths but it’s well worth it if you’re fit enough. If you aren’t up to it then you can just enjoy the view from the water’s edge. You can see more views here.