Visit to Beningbrough Hall

Having recently joined the National Trust and, taking into account the weather and winter opening hours, we decided to visit Beningbrough Hall. 

We started off in the gardens, but the rain drove us inside where we browsed the portraits, played with the interactive exhibitions and dressing up clothes and enjoyed the paintings on loan from the National  Portrait Gallery - Making Her Mark: celebrating creative women.  The latter included Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Iris Murdoch and the like with descriptions of how they have contributed to the arts.  Most impressive.

By this time the weather had improved and we were able to stroll through the gardens and marvel at the autumnal colours.  In various areas in the gardens were sound installations created by Yorkshire sound artist Rachel Sedman.  One of these soundscapes included The Last Post, particularly poignant as the date was 11/11, and as we walked by, the trees were shedding leaves.  It was most atmospheric, as was the exhibition in one of the rooms with memorabilia from the two world wars and the records of the high number of fatalities from the region.

 The architecture and history is fascinating

 Colours of autumn.  Even the asparagus is golden in the sunlight

 Interesting features in the gardens

A return visit to the gardens in other seasons is definitely on the cards.
 https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beningbrough-hall-gallery-and-gardens

The Lake District: “The loveliest spot that man hath found.” William Wordsworth

A painful toe made a short break in the Lake District a bit like a visit to an all-you-can-eat-buffet when on a diet; you can look but can’t experience it first-hand!   However, I did manage to do and see quite a bit, my toe has been sorted out and I can only imagine what it must be like to live with limited mobility.

Our base was Stainton, a small village very convenient for Penrith, Ullswater and the major roads.  Here are a few of the places we visited:

Brougham Hall

 

Once known as “the Windsor of the North” because members of the royal family stayed here but sold off by the 4^th Lord Brougham to pay off gambling debts, this site on the outskirts of Penrith is now being restored and has some interesting craft shops and teashops in its courtyard.

Penrith

 A small but busy town with many independent specialist shops and eating places

Ullswater

 On the Eastern fringes of the Lake District, the Ullswater Way is a 20 mile route for walkers around this lake.  Unfortunately my sore foot wouldn’t allow me to walk any distance, but we stopped off at both Pooley Bridge and Glendenning for a brief stroll. 

We then drove on to Lake Windermere over the wonderfully scenic Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside, then Bowness, which I have often visited as my sister had an apartment there.

 Kirkstone Pass

 

 beautiful planting scheme near the pier at Bowness

 On our way home, we visited Threlkeld at the foot of Blencathra, where we spent a lovely holiday in the hot summer of 1976  and Keswick where there was a wonderful market full of stalls selling local food and crafts.  I couldn’t resist buying a couple of plants.

 I hope to revisit the area again, this time spending more time on foot!

Costa Brava revisited

After a gap of many years, we recently revisited the Costa
Brava for the simple reason it was the most convenient place for everyone to meet for a family
holiday.

I was expecting nothing more than a good hotel, warm
weather and to please family members of all ages, but was pleasantly surprised to
enjoy the resorts which were the stereotypical package holidays for Brits abroad, back in the day.

We stayed in superb hotel in Lloret de Mar within
easy reach of Fenals with its beach, bars and shops, Lloret centre and Italian
gardens of Santa Clotilde.

The gardens with terraces, fountains, stunning sea views, sculptures and cypress hedges were designed in 1919 and are inspired by gardens of the Italian renaissance.

 Beautiful views from the gardens

From Fenals beach, we took a sea trip on a
catamaran to Tossa de Mar passing beautiful villas perched on the rocky
coastline.  The boat had an open upper
deck, a middle closed deck and a glass-bottomed lower deck from which the sea
bed and fish can be seen.

We ate at this charming restaurant with a pergola covered in grapevines and
nautical items on the walls

The walled, medieval town of Tossa with its views of the ruggedd coastline and coves, it's castle and lighthouse was a hit with the children, especially when we unearthed a large molar tooth, which we believe one belonged to a donkey, but the investigation is still ongoing  We climbed up the steep, cobbled path but, using a phone to take us on to our next port of call, the descent involved narrow, twisting steps which is not for the faint-hearted.  Surprisingly, people were actually living in houses situated within the walls of this winding route.

 

 

On the way to our next stop, the architecture of the buildings was fascinating, especially the doorways.

 

 

 

 This balcony was above a butchers shop

We made our way to the Ancient Hospital, founded by a philanthropist in 1773 to provide medical care for the poor of Tossa, with the children anticipating all kinds of ghoulish exhibits to find it is now a culture house and art gallery.  We viewed an exhibition by Josep Maria Sola, a painter who lives and works in the region and createswonderful, intricately detailed compositions
with rich colours which pick out the textural qualities of the landscape, almost like photographs.

http://www.josepmariasola.com/index.php
We have visited this area several times and there is plenty to do and see including Barcelona, Girona and Roses but not with children who want to spend every minute in the pool or the sea.  Regarding the latter, the beach at Fenals slopes immediately into the sea.  This was great fun as the waves brought you back.  FOMO (fear of missing out) made me take the plunge and it was exhilarating even though the force of the waves deposited you on the beach in a undignified manner!