Route: Castle Howard
Area: North Yorkshire
Date of walk: 29th June 2017
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 2.0 miles
Weather: Overcast
Castle Howard is a magnificent stately home set in the rolling landscape of the Howardian Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The castle hosts a flower festival every year, so we decided to visit the festival and then have a walk round the grounds. After admiring the stunning and highly original floral displays we wandered outside into the gardens. There are over 1,000 acres and it would be hard to take everything in in the course of a single visit. We were content to explore the area around Ray Wood, which we’ve not visited before
The woodland has benefitted from a 3 year restoration program by Yorkshire Arboretum and is home to a collection of plants from all over the world. Many of the trees, shrubs and flowers in the wood are the original introductions of species to this country, gathered by the great plant-hunters of the 19th and early 20th centuries. There’s a network of paths in the wood and we wandered around these for a while before heading across to the Great Lake
From here we made our way back to the start. It had been another wonderful visit
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for a location map
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Map of the grounds which is available on entry
On the way from the car park to the house, we passed through the walled garden
The rose collection, rather battered by recent torrential rain
The ornamental vegetable garden
Castle Howard
The floral display, with arrangements in various rooms....
An amazing waterfall of 3,000 white carnations and 3,000 stems of gypsophila tumbling over the balcony in the Great Hall
We continue to walk round the house...
The chapel, decorated in the pre-Raphaelite style with designs by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones
Not part of the floral display, a trailer load of foxgloves on their way to the compost heap
View of Castle Howard
The Atlas Fountain
That's what I call a plant pot!
Looking towards the 18th century pyramid in the distance
Bench looking over the South Lake
Views back to the castle as we head up to Ray Wood...
Entering Ray Wood
Some photos of our stroll round this atmospheric place...
Leaving Ray Wood
The Great Lake...
We make our way back to the start
A final glance back to Castle Howard
