A Trip to Beningbrough Hall

Last Friday we visited Beningbrough Hall and Gardens, a National Trust property to the north-west of York.

Getting there, from Burn Bridge, is a challenge.  The sign-posted route from the A59 Harrogate-York road leads you to Aldwark, a small village on the banks of the River Ure.  To cross the river, there is an 18th century toll bridge, the Aldwark Bridge - as the ticket shows, the toll is 40p (cheaper than the cost of a 25 mile detour!).


Beningbrough Hall itself is a large Georgian mansion, built in 1716 by the Bourchier family of York.  After a period of neglect, the house was bought in 1916, and subsequently restored, by a wealthy heiress, Lady Chesterfield. During the Second World War, it was occupied first by the RAF bomber crew stationed at Linton on Ouse, and then by the Canadian Air Force.  It passed to the National Trust in 1958, and now houses portraits from the National Portrait Gallery.





The gardens at Beningbrough are exceptional.  There is a large area devoted to the growing of fruit and vegetables, and a number of herbaceous borders, all very well presented.

East Formal Garden

Herbaceous Border

Lily in Herbaceous Border

Trip to Scotland

Last week, we enjoyed a visit to Scotland, with trips to St Andrews, Muirfield and Forfar sandwiched between two days in Edinburgh visiting Dad.  The weather was warm and sunny almost all the time - notice the blue skies!

Thursday 18th July

We visited our friends, Malcolm & Jean Bain, in St Andrews for lunch - they are old friends from our Leicester days when Malcolm and myself began work at the same time at the Leicester University Computer Centre.  Before driving home, we had a round of putting at the Himalayas, a challenging course bordering the Old Course.  This is Trish putting at the 18th.

Friday 19th July

Today I had a trip to Muirfield to watch day 2 of The Open.  The course was very dry after the prolonged hot spell.  No cameras were allowed, so these pictures were taken with my iPhone.

Here Tiger Woods prepares to play his second shot at the long 17th hole.







Below, Tom Watson and Fred Couples are on the 3rd green.

Phil Mickleson (centre), with Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama, wait on the 4th tee for the green to clear.  Mickleson went on to win the tournament.

 Saturday 20th July

Today we had a trip to Forfar, visiting our friends Alister and Mary Patullo.  On our way we visited Glamis Castle, home of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.  A special feature is the Italian Gardens, shown here with the castle in the background.

A Day at Castle Howard

Friday 5th July 2013

We enjoyed a day trip to Castle Howard, one of Yorkshire's finest stately homes, still in private ownership by the Howard family.
 

A fire in 1940 destroyed a significant part of the house, and its central feature, the dome, collapsed.  The house is steadily being renovated and in 1960 the dome was re-built, and the 18th century painting The Fall of Phaeton by Antonio Pellegrini was re-created on the underside of the dome.












A centre-piece of the grounds is the Atlas fountain, created in 1850.

The house and grounds were used as a setting for television and film productions of Brideshead Revisited.  While we were there, filming of Death comes to Pemberley, the sequel to Pride and Prejudice by crime novelist PD James was taking place - to be shown Christmas 2013.