Upstairs/downstairs

Duncombe Park was holding a craft fair - an opportunity to see the inside of the stately home whose grounds I had previously walked in. What intrigued me most (and I requested permission to photograph) were the bells...

Very decorative.

These were only a small proportion of the total. One rang while I was close by. Certainly very audible! The reason for my interest is because my Aunt Nora worked as housekeeper for the Cracroft-Wilson family in Christchurch from the late 1950s - 1980s and their house, constructed post-1945, also had a built-in system for summoning household help. So a system more closely associated with the landed English gentry of past centuries was alive and well in twentieth century New Zealand! Enough said.

Grand estates...

My politics have always disinclined me towards any sort of aristocracy and opulent displays of wealth but I am beginning to appreciate the relevance of the great houses and estates in Britain today. Visits to Duncombe Park and, most recently, Castle Howard (both still in private ownership) have made me realise what an important part these estates play (alongside the National Trust and English Heritage)  in preserving not only cultural heritage but natural heritage as well. Hundreds of acres of land that might otherwise be gobbled up for development. And the families who still live in these grand homes are actively conserving the land, which often provides an oasis for humans and other animals/birds in an increasingly stressed environment.

When it comes to opulence it must be hard to beat Castle Howard (the setting for the 1980s? TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited). The approach alone (of which I have no photos since I was behind the wheel) is mind-boggling. Again, despite the cold, there were lots of families enjoying the grounds (house is closed over winter) and the wooded areas. Here is a selection of Castle Howard shots on a day that alternated between sun and showers. Click on the images for a larger version.

And here is a photo of the landscape typical of this Ryedale area taken from one of the boundaries of the Castle Howard estate.