A morning of cutting oak worktops for a friend nearby, followed by a trip to the remarkable Fountains Abbey, which describes itself as “…. full of contrasts and surprises”. Which it is. 

The art installations are not to everyone’s taste, but I love them. It’s almost as if the new is trying to break out of the old. The National Trust website has the following descriptor;

These Passing Things ….
The original designers of the Studley Royal Water Garden created many sculptures and follies to surprise and delight their 18th century guests. Since 2015 The National Trust at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal have been celebrating these fashionable and whimsical structures and the Georgian water garden they sit within, through pop-up art installations

The original Georgian follies were designed as ‘eye-catchers’ – ornate, eccentric installations in the landscape, designed to draw the eye and convey a sense of exoticism and playfulness.
When John and William Aislabie created the garden, their designs deliberately included curious, fanciful objects and alternative viewpoints of the landscape.  The idea behind These Passing Things is to develop and re-imagine these concepts through art today.