Finally, a host of golden daffodils – 10 April 2010

Since Thursday, we have been enjoying the sort of weather everyone would have liked for the Easter break. Fortunately it lasted for the weekend, and we set off for Beaulieu, one of the most visited stately homes in England. The reason for this is that Beaulieu's current owner, 83year old Lord Montagu, developed the National Motor Museum in memory of his father, who was an early champion of the motor car, when it was considered smelly, noisy and dangerous.

The Motor Museum has an amazing collection of cars, motorbikes and other vintage vehicles. There is also a collection of James Bond vehicles and cars from the TV show Top Gear.

A monorail (or vintage bus) takes visitors through the Motor Museum to Beaulieu Palace. This stunning stately Victorian home is modelled on the Abbey nearby, which was dismantled by Henry 8th. While there, we also did a behind the scenes tour of the private wing with a very entertaining Irish guide, dressed as the butler, and learnt a lot of family history. The gardens were full of daffodils, and the Palace was complimented by a moat entirely carpeted with daffodils.

From Beaulieu, we started a circular driving tour, and the next stop was Exbury Gardens. These were developed by Lionel de Rothschild after World War I. The gardens are famous for their azaleas and rhododendrons and although we only saw the early flowering varieties, the daffodil meadow was well worth the visit. In a month's time, the garden will be a blaze of colour.

The circular drive took us through minor roads around the New Forest. Named “new” nearly 1,000 years ago by William the Conqueror, who developed it as his favourite hunting grounds.

The final stop of the day was the church in the lovely town of Lyndhurst. This Victorian church has a painting behind the altar by Lord Leighton and two stained glass windows by William Morris and Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

The scenic way home – 5 April 2010

We set off for London on a zig-zag course taking in small villages either side of the motorway south. These byways seemed predominantly daffodil lined, and it was a really stunning drive, from Richmond to Pontefract, taking in many small villages of interest.

The most scenic town of the route was Ripon. It has a lovely town centre, with a showcase of a cathedral. The cathedral is well worth a visit anytime, but today it was especially lovely with special Easter floral arrangements throughout. The misericorde are all elaborately carved, and each one different.

Other highlights were the daffodil lined approach to Snape Castle, the Gascoigne Almshouses in Aberford – built in the style of a university college and the Anglo-Saxon church within the 'newer' medieval church at Ledsham.

The mysterious case of the missing daffodils – 4 April 2010

After an early visit to Constable Burton garden to see their extensive area of daffodils (sadly about a week too early), we travelled an hour away to Kirkby Stephen, in time for their Easter Sunday service. As this was the town the Graingers originally lived in, it was very special to take part in the timeless Easter service.



We discovered there was a bus fair on in the town, and in neighbouring Brough, So we took a couple of rides on vintage busses, the other passengers seemed to be enthusiasts. We didn't realise old busses could create such excitement.

The rain was due to clear in the afternoon, so we carried on to Lake Ulllwater, said to be the place to see daffodils, as immortalised by William Wordsworth. We think Wordsworth used a bit of poetic licence, as there were less daffodils in the area, than we have seen on the roadsides around Yorkshire. But despite our expectations of 'a host of golden daffodils' being sadly shattered, we had a lovely drive around Ullswater and Windermere. It's hard to find fault when the sun is shining, although there was plenty of snow on the pass between Ullswater and Windermere.

The star visitor attraction of the Lake District seems to be the town of Ambleside. It was impossible to find a park in the large official car park, but we were fortunate to find a 30 minute roadside park. The town is a real showpiece of stone buildings.

The Moors – 3 April 2010

The morning was damp and misty, so we set off to visit Ripley Castle. The estate village, rebuilt in 1820, is very attractive, and the castle was most interesting to visit. The excellent guide made the history of the castle come alive. We saw the room where the lady of the house sat up all night, armed with two pistols, keeping guard over Oliver Cromwell the night he stayed.

From here, we went to visit nearby Newby Hall. This was built in the 18th century, and a very different style of dwelling. Built to show off 'new money', and remodelled to hold the huge quantity of treasures acquired by one of the descendants. Robert Adam was commissioned to design an interior to suit these acquisitions. So two tonne marble pillars, statues, exquisite tapestries were all planned into the design. The house is an absolutely stunning hidden treasure of Yorkshire. If this house is not the best and most complete example of Adam's work it must be a very close second. It is also home to the unique “Newby Chairs” and the only place where a complete set of Gobelins tapestries remains in the room for which they were designed. We really enjoyed our visit (and lunch) and by the time we finished the sun was out, and we were able to complete our circular drive around Nidderdale in bright sunshine.

This area is a National Park,and very scenic. We stopped at one picturesque village after another, starting at Pateley Bridge (with the oldest sweet shop in England) and finishing at East Witton. London and traffic seemed from another lifetime, in the timeless villages, hills and dales.

We passed near Bolton Castle again, and from a hilltop lookout near Leyburn,we saw where Mary Queen of Scots was captured after her escape from the castle.

Settle, Wensleydale and beyond – 2 April 2010

We made our way up from Settle to North Yorkshire, the temperature was extremely cold, and it was easy to visualise how bitter the winters must be up here. Fresh snow was on the tops of many of the moors.

Settle is another attractive village, and we did a short side trip to the Scalebar Force waterfall. North of here is the lovely town of Hawes, and after developing a taste for Wensleydale cheese, we had to visit the Wensleydale Creamery. This has almost closed twice, but thanks to Wallace and Gromit, it is now a very well known and popular cheese. The factory tour lets you see the cheese making process, and taste the various flavours they make.

The day had become bleaker and even colder, so when we visited Bolton Castle, it was easy to feel sorry for Mary Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned here. Although, as she had 51 attendants, they must have been able to make her somewhat comfortable.

The last stop of the day was rather more appealing and comfortable, Kiplin Hall was built in 1620, and added to over the years. The big contrasts of this lovely country house were the very liveable library downstairs, while upstairs one of the converted officer's flats was left untouched after its conversion by the army during World War II. The first room, made you want to live there (especially on such a miserable indoor day), the second was so run-down and awful, it was hard to believe they shared the same roof.

Yorkshire Moors – 1 April 2010

We saw the moors in sunshine, hail and snow. All weather conditions (except rain) seemed to take turns in the morning. Leaving Harrogate for Otley, we enjoyed a great drive to Haworth, passing through various towns of interest. Haworth is the town the Bronte sisters grew up in, and is a real delight to visit. From here, we drove west over the Keighley Moor, where overnight snow still covered the higher ground.

North from here is the very attractive town of Skipton. From here we drove via Bolton Abbey and Linton to the final stop of the day – Malham. This is a great place for walking. We did the easy walk to Malham Cove, a natural limestone amphitheatre. Originally the waterfall must have been quite stunning, but now the water disappears underground before it reaches the cliffs.

A walk up to the top of the cliffs, leads to the limestone pavements. These deeply fissured rocks were also made by water, and gives a great view over the Malham area.

Harrogate - 31 March 2010

In Victorian times, Harrogate was a popular spa town, ideally situated half way to Scotland. Just the place to stop off on the way to shooting holiday.

The town is full of grand stone hotels and former mineral spas. The tourist office has a 'Heritage Spa Trail' leaflet, which goes past many of the hotels, and the spas, most of which are now used for other purposes.