Another country house

Today, we went to Harewood House, north of Leeds, with the promise of a new science attraction. We have previously been Harewood Card holders (annual passes) but like all these things, the novelty wore off with extensive use and we eventually balked at the renewal price.

We gave the house a miss on this occasion and even with basic grounds admission and declining the 10% gift aid deal we didn't get much change from £30.

Passing the house, we headed for the new Yorkshire Planetarium, housed in three geodesic domes...


...but we are disappointed to find that they aren't finished yet. You could go into the middle one to find out about it and the estimated opening is for three weeks time. It looks promising, and their website has a blog that tells some of the challenges they are facing.


We then headed down to the bird garden, which is located behind the stable block.


The courtyard area is part of the cafe with gift shop nearby along with various corporate rooms.


On the way in to the garden, I noticed the zoo license, note the serial number. I saw the Blackppol Tower one too (for the aquarium) but the photo didn't come out for that one! I am saving up various animal photos for another posting.


There is an extensive play area which kept David amused for a while.


On the main lawn, there was the chance to practice circus skills.


Eventually, we began the long walk back to the overflow car park for the trip home.


We will go again to visit the Planetarium, but on a low season day or tied in with a bigger event.

Country houses

I'm a fan of country houses, both the architecture and the scale.

Just a few junctions up the M1 from us is Temple Newsam, now belonging to Leeds City Council.

It doesn't feel very lived in (unlike Chatsworth or Osterley) because it isn't at present and was a hospital for a period so much of the treasures were lost. However, the conservationists painstakingly preserve and recover this amazing big U-shaped house.

This is a view from the current south wing entrance to the north wing, only the centre floor of which is accessible (but is an enormous picture gallery nearly the full length of the house).

This is the south wing from the ornamental garden, which surprisingly is offset from the symmetry of the building, despite being Capability Brown. (Having said that, the grounds are extensive and roll over the countryside without the nearby motorway being obviously intrusive).

The west wing boasts a cupola, although the bell was in the lobby of the main staircase last year.

Photography was only by prior arrangement, but I did sneak a shot of the secondary stone staircase as I rather liked the geometry.

I also liked this weathercock on the very substantial stable block.

Down on the farm, this building held a surprise:-

It was the former Dovecote and was full of Perches!

The grounds are used extensively for events and one had just finished. There must have been a lot of people there...

(Daddy, are all of those toilets full of Poo?)