A Good-Bye Treat

For the last day of our holiday, we had a special treat planned. My sister-in-law had booked the day off especially for us, which gave us the chance to get somewhere by car instead of using buses and trains. Months before we arrived in Yorkshire, we'd already agreed that we really, really wanted to see Castle Howard.

So that is where we went. My sister-in-law chose to drive along country lanes instead of getting on the motorway, which gave us an additional bonus scenic tour of the beautiful countryside. One market town in particular looked so pretty we said it would be lovely to stay there - if it weren't for Ripon being "headquarters" for us for various reasons.

We spent a great day out, exploring the house, gardens and grounds and having very nice meals. About a quarter of all pictures I took during this holiday were taken there - don't worry, I won't bore you here with all of them, but still want to show you enough to cover three or four posts.

Let's start... at the beginning:

The first part of the huge Castle Howard estate where visitors arrive from the car park is what used to be the stables. Today, this handsome square of buildings around a courtyard houses the ticket office, a restaurant and several shops selling produce and plants from the estate as well as souvenirs and books. 

We arrived at lunch time and enjoyed very nice food there:

The sight of this peacock reminded me of last year's visit to Nunnington Hall: 

Walking on from the stables, this was our first glimpse of Castle Howard:

You know I have a thing for doors and doorways. There were plenty of those here:

View from the lawn in front of the house:

And then Castle Howard in full view:

Even the bins here look posh:

We went into the house, but the pictures I took there will appear - you guessed it - on my next post.