Wetherby

Wetherby is a market town in West Yorkshire. We found a lovely little autumn walk after looking round the town that went along by the river into some woodland and passed by a golf course where you were warned to watch out for stray golf balls. Wetherby Bridge, pictured below, is a grade II listed structure crossing over the River Wharfe.

In 1824, the entire town of Wetherby (except for one house) was sold to finance Chatsworth House.

Hardwick Park

Hardwick Park is a country park in County Durham, near Stockton-on Tees. The park gates are open from half 7 until 7 at night through to the end of October. The car park is £3 all day, or you can pay £2 for two hours which is probably long enough to explore the whole park.

We visited in autumn, and all the trees had started to turn. I love the colours of autumn, so it was nice to walk through the woodland at this time of year. The lake is home to waterhens and geese, and we also saw a couple of swans swimming about.

There are several grade II listed old buildings dotted about the 18th-century park. Four of the ruins were restored in the early 2000s – the Temple of Minerva, Gothic Ruin, Gothic Seat and the Bono Retiro.

Afternoon Tea at Edinburgh Castle

At the beginning of September, I visited Edinburgh for afternoon tea in the castle. After the train journey there (which takes you along a scenic coastal route), we arrived in Edinburgh and headed up a really steep hill and made our way to the Camera Obscura. 

There are so many different exhibits, and I won’t spoil it for you, but my favourite one was the mirror maze, even though it did get a bit scary trying to find our way out. The Camera Obscura was founded in 1835, and the main feature allows you to see a real-time image of the city below.

Our next stop was Edinburgh Castle. The castle sits on Castle Rock and is a historic fortress dating back to the 12^th century. The portcullis gate is at the entrance to the castle, and just inside the gate is where the one o’clock gun is located. The gun goes off at one o’clock almost every day.

The afternoon tea was lovely – a pot of tea, the usual selection of sandwiches, two scones each and various cakes, my favourite being the strawberry tart.

There's much to explore inside the castle grounds, including Mons Meg, a 15th-century siege gun, the Great Hall, and the National War Museum of Scotland if history is your thing.

Beningbrough Hall in Autumn

In case you haven’t read my earlier post, Beningbrough Hall is a large Georgian mansion near the village of Beningborough in North Yorkshire and was built in 1716. I previously visited in the spring, so I decided to head back to look around now that the seasons have changed.

The carpet of snowdrops and crocuses was long gone, and instead, the walled gardens were in full bloom. The walls were covered by apple trees and grape vines, with the fruit all ready for picking. There were also pumpkins growing which is a definite sign that autumn has arrived. I love how cute the tiny pumpkins look.

The flowerbeds, as we walked towards the house, were overflowing with the last of the summer flowers. This time I was able to go into the house. After being too scared to use the lift last time, the main entrance had re-opened.