After a hard overnight frost and a short early morning dog walk, I packed the dogs into the back of the car and we headed over to Castle Howard for a morning walk around the grounds and surrounding woodland. I cannot believe it was the middle of January since our last visit some six weeks ago, where has that time gone?  It was just before ten o’clock as we walked into the café shop for a coffee and biscuit before heading across the cobbled stones of the courtyard, bathed in  warm sunshine this morning. After exchanging pleasantries with the reception staff and a short conversation about the merits of our Chocolate Labradors we headed back outside to enjoy the sunshine. Large clusters of Snowdrops were swaying gently in the light morning breeze under the canopy of trees and shrubs on the grass terrace leading to the house. The Walled Garden is currently closed for the winter period and not opening till the house opens in April, so we continued along the gravelled drive till we reached the west wing of the house. The sunlight was shining through the Lime Terrace on our right. The South face of the house was bathed in morning sunshine and looked magnificent, the huge gold leafed central tower glistening in the sunshine, continuing our walk along the South Terrace, we   walked around the Time Capsule and up the gentle slope lined with emerging Daffodils to Ray Wood. We stopped at the top of the hill to admire the view looking back to the house and the view looking over to the South Lake. On passing through the wooden gate and into the woods, the ground was covered in huge swathes of Snowdrops, many of the Rhododendrons were beginning to come into bud, it is hard to imagine that in two months’ time they will be in full flower. One of the nice things about walking through the woods this time of year, as well as the emerging plants and shrubs, are the views looking across to the South Lake, a view that you cannot see during the summer month due to the density of the tree coverage. The sound of chainsaws could be heard in the background along with lots of birdsong, Robin, Great Tits, Blue Tits and Long Tailed Tits could be heard throughout the woodland. Just before passing through the wooden five bar gate Meg had a good roll amongst the autumnal fallen leaves that had blown in to a large pile close to the fence line, after several minutes she had all but buried herself amongst them! On leaving the woods we headed over to the majestic Temple of Four Winds which was bathed in sunshine. The view looking over the Howardian hills is always a delight no matter what time of year we visit and today was no exception. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, most of the fields looked barren, and the red roofs of the farm houses and cottages looked quite tiny hiding away amongst the trees. On leaving the Temple, we headed down the slope and over towards the Temple Hole. Huge swathes of daffodils were in full flower along the Eastern side of the small lake, swaying gently in the slight morning breeze. The Mausoleum and New Bridge were bathed in sunshine as we climbed the gentle slope to the South Lake. It was still quite wet and slippery underfoot from the rain earlier in the week. The views looking across the South Lake towards the main house were amazing, the cloudless blue sky, the lake was flat calm and the reflections of the house on the water was as clear as looking in a mirror. We continued our walk along the South side of the lake, which was quite slippery in places as a result of the mid-week rain, stopping every hundred yards or so to admire the reflections of the house on the lake until we reached the mighty Atlas fountain adjacent to the house, the fountain had been drained of water for the winter period,  it will be having a good spring clean over the next week or so in preparation for the house re opening in April. The fountain was built in 1850 by the architect William Nesfield. The huge figure of Atlas carrying the globe on his back, stands proud in the centre of the fountain. The decorated basin, and the four tritons with their conch shells had been carved out of Portland stone by the Victorian sculptor John Thomas. Weighing more than 20 tons they were transported in sections by rail from London. The globe is made of copper with a gilded band showing the signs of the zodiac, it will certainly sparkle after its annual clean.

On leaving the fountain, we continued our walk across the South lawn towards the house where we turned left and followed the gravelled path, passing the ‘marbled Boar’ on our right which was still well wrapped up to protect it from the winter weather. We continued following the gravelled path alongside the Walled Garden before arriving back at the Courtyard where we enjoyed a very pleasant brunch sat outside in the sunshine at the Courtyard café.