07/10/2012

Birdoswald Roman Fort, Castle Howard & Lyme Park



1910 Well at Birdoswald Roman Fort
The latrines still mostly intact after almost two thousand years

This holiday was planned around all the things I’d been dying to see in England. It’s been ten years since I had last been there and as my tastes changed so did my wishlist. My long suffering husband was happy to go along on my flights of fancy but there were a few things that were on his wishlist too. One of these was to see Hadrian’s Wall. On a cold and windy day we drove down the little country lanes with their dry stone walls and rolling hills beyond and found ourselves climbing a large hill to the remains of one of Hadrian’s forts on the wall. It was surprising how much of it remained intact for the fact it has stood for many centuries being constructed only a hundred years or so after the death of Christ. Nik and I didn't choose to read the material on the fort but used our brains instead to figure out the reasons for the different constructions and their placement and were rewarded by the little plaques around the place.

Fountain at Castle Howard

Temple of the Winds
The sky was full of heavy clouds tinted peach by the setting sun as we made our way to our next destination. We had nowhere to stay but trusted in luck and came across a little farm stay bed and breakfast near the gates of Castle Howard. 

The next day was a tribute to my favorite programmes the first being Brideshead Revisited. I adore the BBC adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s spectacular novel so we were there first thing before the maddening rush of tourists to see the place as it sat quietly in the landscape. It was for lack of a better term, magnificent. We wandered around the tracks for the lake and copse coming to views of the mausoleum and the spectacular ‘Temple of the Winds.’ The park was planted with the most splendid assortment of trees which I admired greatly for the thoughtfulness of their planting. These huge old sentinels were touched with autumn colours and the play of gold, copper, green and turquoise as well as their textures one against the other were truly delightful. It seems odd to be talking about how much I enjoyed the trees at such a place but I have never seen this kind of garden achieve such a sense of loveliness and continuity.

Even though I had seen the interior through my beloved Brideshead Revisited it was nothing compared to the reality of being there. This place was epic. It seemed as if I had stumbled on the biggest and most elaborate stage set complete with cupola, painted murals and carved stone everywhere. How dramatic it must have been to live in such a place.



Castle Howard

After tea and scones, necessary for any fantasy tour it was another long drive but this time to pay homage to Jane Austen. Anyone who loved the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice must have Lyme Park on their list of must do’s. It makes no difference that Colin Firth didn't swim in the lake by the house or that his stunt double got poisoned by the water, this place was well worth the visit. The older medieval house was rebuilt in the more fashionable Italian style but still they liked to recycle and little bits and pieces of the old house popped up now and again to add a quirky statements to this fantastic old mansion. The National Trust attendants were the friendliest people I’ve ever met, in each room someone would greet us and tell us fascinating stories about their part of the house. We only had an hour before closing so we had to rush through but we left with a very welcome feeling which was coupled by our combined love of the house. It was one of the highlights of our trip so far.



Lyme Park

That night we stayed in The Pack Horse Inn, a little old inn which sat at the top of a hill crest overlooking a valley which was a patchwork of fields and small farm houses.

The next morning the landscape was white. A deep mist had penetrated into the valley adding a ghostly demeanor to our travelling. Soon it thinned and opened up like a series of cut out silhouettes on a light box. We were heading south again towards Nottingham. The day was beautiful and perfect to wander through Sherwood Forest which was a real treat. I have an idea in my head based on a tintype I found last year for a Joan of Arc painting and these woods would be the perfect backdrop. I took many photos of the gnarled old trees and the Major Oak with its rotted out center and sheer age was something special to behold.


The Major Oak Sherwood Forest

Nottingham itself is sadly just another large town and the old castle, one of the three important medieval strongholds of England (if our tour guide is to be believed) was pulled down to build an Italianate pleasure palace. It was incredibly difficult to get carried away in the medieval drama of the Robin Hood myth and finally after an hour of wandering around the caves and tunnels under the new castle I had to admit defeat. Ah well we can’t win them all.

We spent the night in the new labyrinthine construction which was tacked on to D. H. Lawrence’s lovely old birthplace; a nondescript hotel room without charm or finesse but perfectly adequate as a place to sleep after such a day of such highs and lows.