After quite a few miles of walking over the last few days we decided to have a less energetic day today, so after getting up this morning I set about looking around the internet to see where we could visit. At this time of year many of the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Houses Association sites are closed for winter - as are many attractions in general. However, some of the bigger ones open in the run up to Christmas; and one of the most famous houses in the North of England is no different; Castle Howard.
This would be our third visit to Castle Howard, but the first time during their Christmas opening season, so we were really keen to see how they had decorated the house. We left Whitby at around 10:45am and by 11:30am had parked up and were ready to go. As it was close to lunchtime it was probably wise to eat now, so we headed into the courtyard restaurant and waited to be seated. But, within 5 minutes of sitting down we changed our minds as their were hordes of people coming off coaches and pouring in through the main gate, and as the number of waiting staff was simply nowhere near enough to cope we would have been waiting there for ages.
So, we bought lunch in the smaller shop just inside the entrance and took it to the car, where we took our time eating to allow the army of people set off on their tour and give us a little more time to enjoy the visit. Seeing as about 90% of the people visiting off the coaches were well into their twilight years we spent an hour or so walking around the grounds before heading into the house, hoping that by the time we got in many of them would by now be most of the way around the house; and so it worked out.
We all know what a grand house Castle Howard is, and the architecture and exhibits on show are truly stunning, but we were a little disappointed with many of the Christmas decorations; I laughed at Donna's comment that it was like a 'Lidl Christmas' - without disrespecting that well run supermarket chain, a lot of the decorations looked a little 'bargain bucket'. That said, one or two were stunning and worth seeing. The decorations we saw a few days ago at Burton Agnes just seemed a little more personal.
By far the highlight of the visit for me was listening to vintage vocalist Paula Marie singing in the Long Gallery; a mix of Christmas songs and songs from years gone by; she has an amazing voice. A we had been walking around the house we could hear some music in the distance but I just assumed it was piped music, even though we had read on the internet that there would be some live music. Paula was good in fact that we purchased her CD as soon as she had finished her set and popped it in the CD player on our journey back.
After a quick visit to the gift-shop we popped into the farm-shop and bought some mushrooms and granary bread and headed the 36 mile trip back back north for tea.
This would be our third visit to Castle Howard, but the first time during their Christmas opening season, so we were really keen to see how they had decorated the house. We left Whitby at around 10:45am and by 11:30am had parked up and were ready to go. As it was close to lunchtime it was probably wise to eat now, so we headed into the courtyard restaurant and waited to be seated. But, within 5 minutes of sitting down we changed our minds as their were hordes of people coming off coaches and pouring in through the main gate, and as the number of waiting staff was simply nowhere near enough to cope we would have been waiting there for ages.
So, we bought lunch in the smaller shop just inside the entrance and took it to the car, where we took our time eating to allow the army of people set off on their tour and give us a little more time to enjoy the visit. Seeing as about 90% of the people visiting off the coaches were well into their twilight years we spent an hour or so walking around the grounds before heading into the house, hoping that by the time we got in many of them would by now be most of the way around the house; and so it worked out.
We all know what a grand house Castle Howard is, and the architecture and exhibits on show are truly stunning, but we were a little disappointed with many of the Christmas decorations; I laughed at Donna's comment that it was like a 'Lidl Christmas' - without disrespecting that well run supermarket chain, a lot of the decorations looked a little 'bargain bucket'. That said, one or two were stunning and worth seeing. The decorations we saw a few days ago at Burton Agnes just seemed a little more personal.
By far the highlight of the visit for me was listening to vintage vocalist Paula Marie singing in the Long Gallery; a mix of Christmas songs and songs from years gone by; she has an amazing voice. A we had been walking around the house we could hear some music in the distance but I just assumed it was piped music, even though we had read on the internet that there would be some live music. Paula was good in fact that we purchased her CD as soon as she had finished her set and popped it in the CD player on our journey back.
After a quick visit to the gift-shop we popped into the farm-shop and bought some mushrooms and granary bread and headed the 36 mile trip back back north for tea.
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