LYD1A KERR

On a clear Sunday morning, we made the decision to finally visit Castle Howard. This spot has been on my “places to visit list” for quite some time, probably since we moved to York.

Our first glimpse of Castle Howard after walking through the courtyard

Known for being a grand country house attracting the rich & famous, I had high expectations! But of course, deciding to go at such last minute meant that tickets to go inside the house were sold out. This meant we had “Gardens Only” tickets, which we were quite happy with as people who love the outdoors, a good walk & some pretty gardens. For £12 per person we happily jumped in our car and made our way.

Castle Howard

However! Be aware if you are planning a visit in Winter 2023/2024 because to our shock, once we had already paid for our gardens only ticket, we discovered that the walled gardens were closed for winter maintenance. Perhaps we were blind to this on their website and should have done more due diligence, but we felt suitably dubious when we realised we had essentially paid £24 to wander round the grounds. Oh actually, £31 when you factor in the £7 car park fee.

Described on the visitors guide map as being a good view for a photo! James posing as a monolith, or an obelisk, we’re still not sure of the difference.

Once we had gotten over the closure of the gardens and stopped questioning why we were sold a gardens only ticket, we made our way towards Skelf Island. After reading the rules and regulations closely, we were overjoyed that adults were allowed to enter the adventure playground. Finally some redemption, and we begun to have a fun day.

With a combined weight of many kilograms, it’s no wonder I was terrified on the rope bridge.

We crossed the famous rope bridge onto the adventure playground island, and had a go climbing & playing on the various equipment. “I am way too big for this” and “I think I’m stuck” and “no I don’t want to go down the slide its dirty” were statements I can remember us saying fondly. This place really is geared towards the family unit, and for people with less negative body talk.

Our cameras only caused mild inconvenience swinging around our necks & knocking into as much wood as possible.

After getting all of our energy out, me having to eat some jelly babies to treat a hypo caused by having too much fun, we set off on our walk through Ray Wood.

Temple of the Four Winds

We really enjoyed our walk around here, the clear blue skies & crisp winter air made for a refreshing wander. We even spotted some birds which made us twitchers happy.

Me & Castle Howard

Finally, the iconic shot of Castle Howard! We were very happy once the crowds cleared, which included some children getting seriously disciplined, and we were able to get some photos of us in front of the castle. Naturally the only photos I have include one of us, but that’s neither here nor there.

James & Castle Howard

And here ends our eventful morning at Castle Howard! At this point my blood sugar was low so I asked a man at the restaurant if I could buy a soft drink to take away. Despite initially looking at me like I was speaking a different language (my Northern Irish accent is basically non existent at this point let’s be real) I got directed to a café and drank a juice box in the queue. And bought a cupcake & piece of chocolate cake for dessert when we got home, obviously.

What’s this blog got to do with type 1 diabetes you ask? To be honest, nothing. I just wanted to write a little entry on our day away. Sue me!!!

Thank you so much for reading, and do drop a comment or send me a message if you like.

Love, Lydia x