Day 28 - York to the Lake District

First stop this morning was at the magnificent 18th century Castle Howard, Yorkshire's finest historic house and estate.  The Howard family has occupied this home for over 300 years.  At its greatest it was 35,000 acres with much having since been sold off.  The almost obscene opulence of the aristrocacy's lifestyle in earlier times is hard to understand and accept.

The remainder of today's journey was winding narrow roads through wonderful scenery of rolling hills and vales, bright green pastures, and stone fences.

The garden at the Howard estate was incredible, comparable to Canada's Butchart Gardens.  Include the vegetable garden and the acres of lawn, and it was magnificent.

The brilliant colours were amazing.

The house from here looks massive, but from the side it is three times as long.  The whole property is 10,000 acres so what we see here is a small portion of the total estate.

One descendants' family lives in this section, another at the rear.  This liveable portion is less than 10% of the total house.  The remainder is open to the public to view the amazing artworks and statues which date back to biblical times.

The opulence is hard to believe.  The statues, paintings and furniture are amazing.

This is the fireplace that caught fire in 1940 and burnt half the house down.  

The fountain, the pyramid, and of course a game of Polo set the stage for a sight never to be forgotten.

This dining room was small compared to those where hundreds of guests over the years dined with the Howard family.

One of the drawing rooms.

Here we go again.  The wheat farmer from South Australia is on the piano to the delight of the crowd.

It was hard to capture the beauty of the rolling hills and valleys throughout the Yorkshire Dales National Park.