Brideshead Revisited

9th May - Thursday

Are we becoming geographically confused? 

A memorial to Daddy 

Many gates on the driveway 

Just a small section of the rose garden 

Castle Howard - this is actually the back of the building! 

The Atlas fountain 

Roman lady waiting patiently 

Long gallery with Roman statues 

Reconstructed for Brideshead Revisited - used as the dining room and Sebastian's bedroom 

 A bit of the big hole

Dead heather on the moors 

Sheep in the street 

 Waiting for Constable Bellamy to come back

Glendale B & B

Left Barmby Wood, near York, this morning and followed the usual back lanes to Castle Howard. Wow! The first hint of what was to come was the large (and I mean LARGE) memorial to one of the Earls of Carlisle beside the roadside. Then it was the long, straight drive with a couple of archways and walls before arriving in the car park. After paying the usual entrance fee at the stable entrance (also the site of a gift shop, coffee shop, café, butcher and farmhouse shop), we were able to wander the grounds for nearly an hour until the house opened for inspection. Given the time available, we only managed to see the walled rose garden (which had two permanent gardeners) and the southern lawns. This private residence was used for the productions of “Brideshead Revisited” and it is hard to imagine that a family of four live in it today. The inside of the house certainly lived up to expectations, with a visitors’ route carefully mapped out through major rooms and galleries in the West Wing. They have some amazing Roman sculptures in a long gallery. Part of this section of the house was destroyed by fire in the 1940’s and has gradually been restored, mainly by film companies wishing to use the house. Instead of paying for the use, they are required to restore the rooms which are needed for filming.


After leaving the castle, we drove through one of the five villages owned by The Hon. Simon Howard, current owner of Castle Howard. His older brother is the Earl of Carlisle, and he lives in the main family seat (wonder what that looks like!). We headed up onto the Yorkshire Moors, with the architecture changing once again to solid grey stone buildings. With the sunshine of the morning long gone and a very cold wind blowing, we had a quick stop at a very large crater – and didn’t bother paying for the privilege, despite the parking ticket machine asking for money! Back into the car for the drive through the dead heather to Goathland, aka Aidensfield of Heartbeat fame, or Hogwarts Station from the Harry Potter series.

We are staying at Glendale B & B, which was used as the surgery of Dr Ferenby in the early series of Heartbeat and our room is at the front and looks out over the moors. The house was built in the 1800s by a Mr Sewell, the uncle of Anna Sewell, author of "Black Beauty."  Our very friendly hostess showed us to our room (which is a bit small but has a great shower – very important) and then offered to put the kettle on for a cuppa. It is amazing how friendly most of the B & B owners have been. After the cuppa, and sliding the suitcases under the bed, we set out for a walk through the village (with its wandering sheep and associated sheep poo). That is when it started to rain; despite wearing down jacket, woolly hat, scarf and gloves, and raincoat with hood, we decided after arriving at the Aidensfield Store that it would be better to head back and hope the weather improved later in the day or tomorrow. We have been warned not to eat at the Aidensfield Arms – they do not appreciate being a tourist attraction and the food and service leave a lot to be desired! The temperature has dropped markedly as well.