Wednesday at Beningbrough

On Wednesday (31.07.2024), our friends Sheila and Neill took us to Beningbrough Hall, a stately home and gardens about 20 miles from Ripon. We‘d never been before, and so we were looking forward to another place new to us - during our holidays, we enjoy the mix of revisiting favourite and familiar places and ones we have not seen before.

Neill chose the scenic route through Boroughbridge and Aldborough, famous for its Roman ruins. I made a note of it so that we will remember to visit there next year. Villages like Great Ouseburn are very picturesque, every house and garden along the road looking well cared for.

At Beningbrough, we had a stroll around the wondeful gardens first before sitting down for refreshing drinks at a table in the shade - it really was too warm to sit in the sun!

The hall was next. Some rooms on the ground floor are furnished, and in the largest one, we came across a volunteer guide who was as knowledgeable as he was entertaining. We could have listened to him and asked more questions for hours, but of course we wanted to see the rest of the house, and other visitors wanted to talk to him as well. It‘s great when people are so enthusiastic about a place, or their jobs or hobbies, isn‘t it!

Upstairs is largely unfurnished, the space mostly being reserved for changing exhibitions. I liked the views across the gardens from up there.

Moved in, brought my yellow armchair! (It really is the same model from IKEA, not what you‘d necessarily expect to find in a stately home run by the National Trust.)

By now, we were all ready for a bite to eat and went to have sandwiches and cold drinks, again at an outdoors table in the shade.

Browsing the shop (National Trust again, so we had seen most of the products already at Fountains) was the last part of our visit before heading back to Ripon.

After my sister and I had our evening meal, I headed out once more, this time to see the Hornblower. 

Ripon Town Hall

The obelisk on the market square; the horn is blown at all four corners.

Long time readers of my blog will remember older posts about this ceremony unique to Ripon, which has been going on for well over 1,000 years. You may also remember my sister and I having made friends with George Pickles, who was the Hornblower for years, and his wife Lilian. 

Sadly, George died very suddenly in 2022, only four weeks after we‘d been out for a meal with him and Lilian. Back in 2017, he introduced us to the first female Hornblower in the history of Ripon. I have posted an interview with Allison on my blog later that year, and was pleased to see her again this time. 

We had a brief chat after the ceremony, and then I went home; it was around 9:30 pm by then and getting dark.