After a busy few days rebuilding the kitchen after we had a new boiler fitted, I was in need of a little escape, so over the weekend I prebooked a ticket for a walk round the Castle Howard grounds. Tuesday morning was dry and sunny after a little overnight rain, I packed the car with some extra dog drying towels, just in case.  From home it is a steady 45-minute drive to Castle Howard, the only hold up tends to be where the A64 meets the York ring road at the Hopgrove roundabout, fortunately today there wasn’t the volume of traffic to make it a problem.

 I, along with Meg & Gracie arrived at the grounds for around 10.15am, the car park was reasonably quiet, so after parking the car I took M & G for a short walk into the woods at the rear of the cricket pavilion, the daffodils had died back but the warm and sunny weather had brought out all the wild flowers along the fringes of the woodland, huge swathes of Forget me not lined the edge of the woods, their tiny, pretty blue florets dancing around in the gentle breeze.

From the stable yard we passed through the booking office and headed over to the walled garden. After passing through the lovey wrought iron gate we followed the path trough the gardens, it was a hive of activity this morning with many volunteers/ gardeners busily tidying up the borders and planting bedding in other areas of the gardens. The beds of cream and purple Tulips looked absolutely beautiful.

After leaving the gardens we headed towards the house and walked along the south terrace towards the time capsule, stopping occasionally to look back at the house, some restoration work is currently being carried out on the eastern aspect of the house with the area affected covered under a huge white tarpaulin to protect the workers and fabric of the property beneath. From the time capsule we made our way up the gentle slope to the top of the hill and the gate leading into Ray wood. I wasn’t really prepared for the feast of colour that was about to hit me, the rhododendrons and Azaleas were in full flower and the woods were a mass of colour, reds, lilacs, white, cream and pink. I don’t recall having seen the woodland as colourful as this in all the years of visiting the grounds. Needless to say I must have spent over an hour just walking through the woods admiring the different colours, the scent was quite over powering in places too as it drifted through the air. On a warm, hot, sunny day Ray Woods is a great place to visit, especially if you have a dog with you as there is plenty of shade and protection from the sun. small trails lead to the small pyramid and to the reservoir, we came out of the woods adjacent to the Temple of Four Winds, the views looking over the Wolds to the North and the New bridge and Mausoleum to the Southeast were beautiful. We headed back towards the house, following the trail alongside the South Lake admiring the Azaleas and Rhododendrons. Clumps of Cowslips were in full flower and provided additional colour as we made our way towards the house. I headed over to have a look at the Atlas fountain which had been drained in order for it to be inspected, serviced and cleaned prior to the start of the new season.

From the Fountain it is just a steady five-minute walk back to the Stable Courtyard and a welcome cup of tea at the outdoor Courtyard café. Another very pleasant morning with Meg & Gracie.