During this time of uncertainty in lockdown due to the Coronavirus, I am unable to walk away from home. Therefore, walking the Welsh Coastal Path will be on hold. I have, however, a stock of outings to houses and gardens that I visited last year.

My husband and I went on a trip with the Llantwit Major Horticultural Society to Yorkshire. We stayed near Harrogate at a Warner’s Leisure Hotel, Nidd Hall. This is a Grade II listed mansion in in the North Yorkshire countryside. The hotel is set in 45 acres of stunning gardens and woodlands.

In the Elizabethan times it was a manor house belonging to the Trappes family. The present building was built in the 18^th century by a wealthy Bradford wool merchant, Benjamin Rawson. Of the original manor only the 14^th century vaulted cellars remain. It is rumoured that Edward VII met Wallis Simpson at a party here.

                                                         NIDD HALL

 

The terrace                               View of Knot Garden from the Terrace

Nidd Hall was our base, from where we travelled the North Yorkshire countryside and market towns, such as Helmsley and Knaresborough. We visited  several historic houses, mansions, and gardens. (Castle Howard, Scampston Hall, Newby Hall and Stillingfleet Lodge). A busy number of days which included a morning in Harrogate and Betty’s Tearooms, and another morning at RHS Harlow Carr. We also enjoyed a trip on a vintage steam railway from Embsay to Bolton Abbey and a canal boat ride from Skipton on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

VIEWS OF NORTH YORKSHIRE