Temple of the Four Winds at Castle Howard

Browsing through my photos from Yorkshire I couldn't get past the blueness of the skies on the day we visited Castle Howard, which was one of the places that went straight onto my "to visit" list, and I wasn't disappointed.   Today I'm sharing blue-skied pictures of the Temple of the Four Winds, which is at the eastern edge of the estate, at the end of the appropriately named Temple Terrace - I wonder which came first, the temple or the terrace?!

It had great symmetrical shape (apart from the statues) and great stonework too.  As we walked around the outside of the temple (sadly you can't go inside) I noticed the stonework had great attention to detail too.

The temple was originally used as a "place for refreshment and reading" so quite a grand place to take tea or read a book, but one that you can imagine would be quite inspiring.  There is apparently a cellar underneath the temple which the servants could prepare food for the family upstairs. 

Sounds a grand life, doesn't it - unless you were below stairs I'm sure.  

What amazes me about these places is the grandeur which is often at the edge of the estate and seemingly goes nowhere, just like the grand set of stairs in the photo above, which have been carefully fenced off.

The stonework too is always something that catches my eye with its lichen patterns and growths. I've several very similar photos and could have quite happily taken more until I was chivvied along by MOH, who it seems can't take as much lichen as me.

But just be pleased I'm only sharing two of the photos here, there could be many more, you're welcome!

I've much more to share from Castle Howard, including the walled garden which, well apart from being a favourite kind of garden, was my favourite space from our visit. There's also a spot of Brideshead Revisited to look forward to too, and between you and me, that might just have been my inspiration for visiting, not that I think I ever watched the programme avidly when it was on in 1981  (yes 1981!)

I need to go and lie down now, that's a super long time ago!

Cushion crazy

This week I'm sharing more from the Yorkshire interiors shop of loveliness.  Our cushion detecting radar must have brought us here as we keep saying we need to buy cushions for all three of our grey sofas.  The easy, and more traditional way of doing this would be to choose two or three designs and stock up.  But I'm not always a fan of the easy route, sometimes that's a good thing and at others it just means more shopping than either of us are used to...

There was certainly plenty of choice here and while many were lovely, and there was the pom pom edging that I've been banging on about for most of the year, many were a bit too pastel and soft for what I was after.  The hare did seriously test me though, isn't it lovely?

It wasn't all just animals though, there were florals and multi-coloured bobbles. These were getting to more of what I had in mind, something full of colour that could be switched between our main living room and our conservatory, but even so we moved on.

The fish cushions were admired, and they're quite obviously related to some of the cushions I've already shared.

And then, upstairs in one of the many rooms, we found our cushion.

Yeap, the orange stag was ours and is now proudly living on our conservatory sofa. I suspect it's quite lonely out there as while we find the right cushions for the main sofa, we've requisitioned the black and white geometric patterned cushions (these ones which have already been promoted from the futon).  But putting these together give you an idea of the bold approach we're aiming for in the conservatory, the living room might be slightly more sedate, but who knows...

Views of Yorkshire

One of the things that struck me about Yorkshire on our recent trip was the amazing views, and how it was a place that like Norfolk benefitted from large skies.  It was our first time holidaying in Yokshire, but I don’t think it’ll be our last, especially as our journey from London was relatively pain free. 

The Yorkshire Dales National Park was stunning, so much so that at one point I stopped the car, got out and enjoyed it firsthand, without the windscreen in front of me.  The undulating scenery, the traditional dry stone walls and really fresh, unadulterated (and un-pollute) air. 

While it’s large-skied like Norfolk, it’s very different.  There’s proper hills for one thing, and not just in the National Parks. The next two photos are ones MOH took as he paused during his daily bike ride.

But with hills come great views.  And the patchwork effect of fields.

Our trip wasn’t all about reconnecting with nature, although there were many garden visits, there were trips to the nearest town of Ripon too. Our cottage - or rather converted barn - was outside the village of Kirkby Malzeard and though it was a well stocked village, complete with local shops, pubs and a fish and chip shop, the barn and the farm it was on were remote enough to be cut off in bad weather, although I’m sure that doesn’t deter the Yorkshire folk, but to a townie like me, well yes… <shudder>

We’d chosen the area around Ripon quite at random, and because it was a good base to explore our -or rather my - must see places of RHS Harlow Carr and Castle Howard, but Ripon itself shouldn’t be overlooked. It has some interesting architecture. 

The stone arches on the building above immediately caught my eye, and then I noticed the detail of the arches above the windows on the upper floors.  That’s some fancy building, hey?

It wasn’t all about looking up though, as we wandered around I spotted these elaborate tiles in a shop doorway, which I can only presume are originals. The motif at the top reminds me of the pattern on a fireplace in my previous house.  

It was easy to imagine the market square transforming itself into a bustling hub on market day, even on the Sunday when these photos were taken there was plenty of activity, and it’s certainly an attractive town centre isn’t it?

I’ve much more to share from our Yorkshire Break, including a peak around the barn we stayed in as well as some fine Yorkshire products, and of course some garden visits. 

As I said earlier in this post, it’s a place that I’m sure we’ll return to in the future. I’d be keen to see more of Harrogate, but where would you recommend, and why?